Nghiên cứu đối chiếu một số mẫu thức văn bản phổ biến trong các phần tin điện tử

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES


VŨ THỊ MAI ANH

A CONTRASTIVE STUDY OF SOME COMMON TEXTUAL
PATTERNS OF DISEASE OUTBREAK ONLINE NEWS IN ENGLISH
AND VIETNAMESE

NGHIÊN CỨU ĐỐI CHIẾU MỘT SỐ MẪU THỨC VĂN BẢN PHỔ BIẾN TRONG
CÁC PHẦN TIN ĐIỆN TỬ NÓI VỀ CÁC ĐỢT BÙNG PHÁT DỊCH BỆNH
BẰNG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT

MA. MINOR THESIS

Major: English Linguistics
Code : 60220201

HÀ NỘI – 2016


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES


VŨ THỊ MAI ANH

A CONTRASTIVE STUDY OF SOME COMMON TEXTUAL PATTERNS OF

DISEASE OUTBREAK ONLINE NEWS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE

NGHIÊN CỨU ĐỐI CHIẾU MỘT SỐ MẪU THỨC VĂN BẢN PHỔ BIẾN TRONG
CÁC PHẦN TIN ĐIỆN TỬ NÓI VỀ CÁC ĐỢT BÙNG PHÁT DỊCH BỆNH
BẰNG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT

MA. MINOR THESIS

Major: English Linguistics
Code : 60220201
Supervisor: Dr. Huỳnh Anh Tuấn

HÀ NỘI – 2016


DECLARATION

I, Vu Thi Mai Anh, certify that this work is my own study. The data, results and
finding in this thesis are true. The thesis has not been submitted for a higher degree to
any other university or institution.

Signature:

Vu Thi Mai Anh
Email:
Mobile phone: 01684381468

i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Firstly, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Huỳnh
Anh Tuấn, for setting me on an interesting path and for continuous support of my
thesis, for his patience, his motivation and immense knowledge.

Without his

invaluable advice and instruction, the study could not have come to fruition.
Besides, I am also very grateful to my teacher Dr Huỳnh Anh Tuấn for his
value lectures about Information Structure that inspires me to conduct the study on
textual pattern.
My sincere thanks also goes to the Department of Graduate Studies for their
kindness and support.
Lastly, I wish to thank my parents, my husband, my son and my friends, who
always encourage, sympathize and be aside me. Without their previous support, it
would be impossible for me to conduct this research.

ii


ABSTRACT
The study is conducted to investigate the common textual patterns and their
signaling devices and to find out the similarities and differences of these issues in
English and Vietnamese diseases outbreak online news. Correspondingly, three
research questions are raised, which are (1) What kinds of textual pattern are
commonly used in disease outbreak online news in English and Vietnamese? (2) What
are the signaling devices that help to identify textual patterns in disease outbreak
online news in English and Vietnamese? (3) What are the similarities and differences
between textual patterns and signaling devices of disease outbreak online news in

English and Vietnamese? In order to answer the research questions, the researcher
combines different methods of data analysis (quantitative, qualitative, descriptive and
contrastive). The research is conducted on 100 news on diseases outbreak, half of
which are in English and the other half are in Vietnamese. The result reveals that the
most common textual pattern in both English and Vietnamese is Problem – Solution.
General – Particular pattern ranks the second with a much smaller percentage.
Question - Answer is only found in Vietnamese news. The other patterns do not exist
in the surveyed news. Regarding signaling devices, there are two kinds: lexical signals
(noun, verb, adjective, adverb) and structural signals (changes in verb form).

iii


TABLE OF CONTENTS
Declaration.............................................................................................................................i
Acknowledgements...............................................................................................................ii
Abstract.............................................................................................................................iii
Table of contents.................................................................................................................iv
List of abbreviations, diagrams.........................................................................................vi
PART A: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1
1. Rationale of the study ................................................................................................. 1
2. Aims of the study ........................................................................................................ 2
3. Scope of the study ....................................................................................................... 2
4. Significance of the study ............................................................................................. 2
5. Research question and research methods ..................................................................... 3
6. Design of the study ..................................................................................................... 3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT ............................................................................................ 5
CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND & LITERATURE REVIEW ................. 5
1.1. The concept of discourse and text ............................................................................ 5
1.1.1. Discourse ......................................................................................................... 5

1.1.2. Text .................................................................................................................. 5
1.2. Discourse analysis and Text analysis ....................................................................... 5
1.3. Textual patterns and signaling devices ..................................................................... 6
1.3.1. Definition of textual patterns ............................................................................ 6
1.3.2. Signaling devices of textual patterns ................................................................. 6
1.4. Kinds of textual pattern ........................................................................................... 6
1.4.1. Problem – Solution pattern ............................................................................... 6
1.4.2. General – Particular pattern .............................................................................. 7
1.4.3. Question – Answer pattern ............................................................................... 8
1.4.4. Goal - Achievement pattern ............................................................................. 9
1.4.5. Hypothetical – Real pattern .............................................................................. 9
1.5. Disease Outbreak Online News ............................................................................. 10
1.5.1. The notion of news ......................................................................................... 10
1.5.2. Features of online news .................................................................................. 10
1.5.3. Disease Outbreak Online News (DONs) ......................................................... 11
1.5.3.1. Previous studies on news ......................................................................... 11
1.5.3.2. Notions of Diseases outbreak online news (DONs) .................................. 12
CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............................................................... 13
2.1. Subject of the study ............................................................................................... 13
2.2. Research methods.................................................................................................. 13
2.3. Data collection method and data analysis procedure .............................................. 14
2.4. Analytical framework ............................................................................................ 15
CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION .................................................. 16
3.1. TEXTUAL PATTERNS AND THEIR SIGNALING DEVICES IN DISEASES
OUTBREAK ONLINE NEWS IN ENGLISH .............................................................. 16
iv


3.1.1.Problem – Solution pattern ............................................................................... 19
3.1.1.1.Lexical Signals of Problem ........................................................................ 19

3.1.1.2.Signals of Response ................................................................................... 25
3.1.1.3.Signals of Evaluation ................................................................................. 28
3.1.2.General –Particular pattern ............................................................................... 29
3.1.2.1.Cardinal numbers as signals of enumerables/general .................................. 30
3.1.2.2.Ordinal numbers as signals of matching relation/matched particular .......... 31
3.2.TEXTUAL PATTERNS AND SIGNALS OF PATTERNS IN DISEASES
OUTBREAK ONLINE NEWS IN VIETNAMESE IN COMPARISON WITH THAT IN
ENGLISH .................................................................................................................... 32
3.2.1.Problem – Solution pattern ............................................................................... 36
3.2.1.1.Lexical signals of Problem ......................................................................... 36
3.2.1.2.Signals of Response ................................................................................... 40
3.2.1.3.Signals of Evaluation ................................................................................. 43
3.2.2.General – Particular pattern .............................................................................. 44
3.2.2.1.Cardinal numbers as signals of enumerables/general .................................. 44
3.2.2.2.Ordinal numbers as signals of matching relation/matched particular .......... 45
3.2.3.Question – Answer pattern ............................................................................... 45
3.2.3.1.Interrogative structures .............................................................................. 46
3.2.3.2.Repetition between question and answer .................................................... 47
3.3. SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TEXTUAL PATTERN AND
SIGNALING DEVICES USED IN DONs IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE........... 48
3.3.1.Similarities ....................................................................................................... 48
3.3.2.Differences ....................................................................................................... 48
PART C: CONCLUSION .............................................................................................. 50
1. Summary of the study ............................................................................................... 50
2. Summary of the main findings .................................................................................. 51
3. Implications .............................................................................................................. 52
4. Limitations of the study ............................................................................................ 52
5. Suggestions for further research ................................................................................ 52
REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………….53
APPENDIXES ……………………………………………………………………………55

APPENDIX 1……………………………………………………………………………55
APPENDIX 2……………………………………………………………………………61
APPENDIX 3……………………………………………………………………………61
APPENDIX 4……………………………………………………………………………67
APPENDIX 5……………………………………………………………………………68

v


LIST OF ABBREVIATION
DONs: Disease outbreak news
LIST OF DIAGRAMS
Page
Diagram 1: Analytical framework

15

Diagram 2: Nouns as signal of Problem in DONs in English

18

Diagram 3: Verbs as signal of Problem in DONs in English

20

Diagram 4: Signals of Response in DONs in English

23

Diagram 5: Signals of Evaluation

26

Diagram 6: Signals of Genenral-Particular in DONs in English

28

Diagram 7: Nouns as signals of Problem in Vietnamese DONs

32

Diagram 8: Signals of Response in Vietnamese DONs

36

Diagram 9: Signals of General-Particular in DpONs in Vietnamese

39

Diagram 10: Signals of Question-Answer in DONs in Vietnamese

41

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Common textual pattern of DONs in English

16

Table 2: Part of speech as lexical signals of Problem in DONs in English

17

Table 3: Common textual pattern of DONs in Vietnamese

30

Table 4: Parts of speech as lexical signals of Problem of DONs in

31

Vietnamese
Table 5: Problem – Solution pattern in DONs in English and Vietnamese

48

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Common textual patterns in DONs in English

49

Figure 2: Common textual patterns in DONs in Vietnamese

49

vi


PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the study
Textual pattern is an interesting field which provides insights into the structure

of discourse. It is regarded as an important tool for readers and learners to process a
text because it functions as navigation for readers (Coulthard, 2000). It is to be noted
that textual pattern, although a challenge to researchers and learners, has attracted
much of their attention. The works by famous linguists such as Winter (1977); Hoey
(2001, 1994) and McCarthy (1994) have opened ways for further comprehensive
analysis into the application of textual patterns in language teaching and learning. The
researcher is also inspired to carry out the analysis on textual patterns in the two
languages of English and Vietnamese and the chosen topic is diseases outbreak online
news.
The reason for choosing this topic is that news is a kind of discourse which has
been studied in terms of its linguistic features and discourse structure. However, none
of the researchers has taken into consideration of online news regarding its textual
patterns. Moreover, online news is an invaluable source providing updated information
and knowledge in the most rapid way. Understanding the patterns of news and its
signaling devices would be beneficial for users to access information. On the other
side, the researcher has worked in the field relating to health care and know that news
reports on outbreak of diseases are very essential, in which the latest incidents and
events surrounding the sudden occurrence of diseases are updated. The information
provided can help readers to protect themselves and to spread to the community so that
everyone is cautioned about the outbreak.
The question that how to help popular readers to get in the content effectively
encourages the researcher to perform “A Contrastive Study of Some Common Textual
Patterns of Disease Outbreak Online News in English and Vietnamese”. Besides, the
study is expected to be a good reference for popular readers to access information in
the most effective way and for language learners in improving reading and writing
skills.

1

2. Aims of the study
The study aims to:
-

Investigate some common textual patterns and their signaling devices in
Disease outbreak online news (DONs) in English and Vietnamese.

-

Find out the similarities and differences between the textual patterns and
signaling devices in DONs in English and Vietnamese.

3. Scope of the study
There are nine textual patterns suggested by Hoey (1994, 2001), McCarthy and
Carter (1994) including Problem –Solution, Hypothetical - Real, General – Particular,
Question – Answer, Goal – Achievement, Narrative, Opportunity taking, Design
arousal – fulfillment, Gap in knowledge filling. However, due to the limited time, the
study will deal with only five kinds of textual patterns based on Hoey‟ concept:
Problem – Solution, General – Particular, Question –Answer, Hypothetical - Real, and
Goal –Achievement. The data will be collected through news on some websites of
World Health Organization (WHO), BBC, CNN, Ministry of Health in Vietnam
(MOH), dantri, Vnexpress, thanhnien, nhandan and so on. The topic is the outbreak of
infectious diseases such as Ebola, Hand – foot – mouth disease, Measles from 2013 to
August 2016.
4. Significance of the study
The study is expected to bring about some benefits in terms of theory and
practice.
Theoretically, it helps to give an overview of English textual patterns,
discourse, text, discourse analysis and text analysis. Then some concepts of online
news discourse and their features will be reviewed.

Practically, it provides an effective way of the processing of online news
discourse, which particularly helps readers to comprehend and exploit the information
successfully. Moreover, the finding of lexical signals in the study can be applied in
language teaching and learning, especially in reading and writing skill. Learners can
predict the flow of one text in reading passages and use the knowledge in textual
patterns and their signaling devices to produce successful pieces of writing.
2


5. Research questions and research methods
5.1. Research questions
1. What kinds of textual pattern are commonly used in disease
outbreak online news in English and Vietnamese?
2. What are the signaling devices that help to identify textual
patterns in disease outbreak online news in English and Vietnamese?
3. What are the similarities and differences between textual patterns
and signaling devices in disease outbreak online news in English and
Vietnamese?
5.2.

Research methods

An integration of qualitative, quantitative, descriptive and contrastive method is
employed to conduct the study. The quantitative method is employed to count the
percentage of each textual pattern or how frequently each textual pattern is used in
English and Vietnamese online news. The qualitative method is used to build the
researcher‟s own framework based on Hoey‟s theoretical framework. The two later
methods are employed to give deep description into the structure of text and to find out
the similarities and differences between the two languages in terms of textual patterns.
6. Design of the study

The study is organized in three main parts.
Part A: Introduction
This part consists of rationale, aims, scope, significance, research methodology and
design of the study.
Part B: Development
This part includes four chapters.
-

Chapter 1 deals with theoretical background and literature review. It presents
the issues related to discourse and text, discourse analysis and text analysis,
textual patterns, news, features of news discourse, online news discourse.

3


-

Chapter 2 presents the research methodology in which the subject of the study,
research approach, research methods, data collection and data analysis
procedure are clarified.

-

Chapter 3 is the data analysis and discussion in which common textual patterns
and signaling devices used in DONs in English and Vietnamese is fully
analyzed, their similarities and differences are also pointed out.

Part C: Conclusion
This part is in charge of recapitulation of main findings, implications, limitations and
suggestions for further studies.

Following this part is references and appendixes.

4


PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND & LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1.

The concept of discourse and text

1.1.1. Discourse
The term “discourse” is conceptualized in a number of different ways by
different writers. According to Crystal (1992), discourse is a continuous stretch of
language rather than a sentence which often constitutes a coherent unit such as a
sermon, argument, joke or narrative. In his theory, the term is used especially in
spoken language rather than written language. Cook (1989) also considers discourse as
“stretches of language perceived to be meaningful, unified, and purposive”. He makes
no distinction between spoken and written language in the definition.
Nunan (1993) gives a clear definition of discourse which is the interpretation of
the communicative event in context. From his point of view, discourse is perceived in
spoken language, which shares the same opinion as Crystal.
1.1.2. Text
Like the term “discourse”, text also attracts lots of attention from scholars and
researchers. Cook (1989) defines text as a stretch of language interpreted formally,
without context. In a more detailed way, Crystal (1992) makes it clearer by the
assumption that text is “a piece of naturally occurring spoken, written, or signed
discourse identified for purposes of analysis. It is often a language unit with a
definable communicative function, such as a conversation, a poster”. However, while

Brown and Yule (1983) assume that text refers to the verbal record of a
communicative act, Nunan (1993) uses the term “text” to refer to “any written record
of a communicative event”. Clearly, these definitions are different in one or more
aspects. They all share the same idea of a communicative event, but the term is
considered whether in a written record or a verbal one.
1.2.

Discourse analysis and Text analysis

The distinction between discourse and text leads to the distinction between
discourse analysis (DA) and text analysis (TA). DA examines how stretches of
language, considered in their full textual, social, and psychological context, become
meaningful and unified for their users. According to Nunan (1993), DA involves the
5


study or analysis of language in use within context whereas TA is concerned with an
analysis of the structural properties of language divorced from their communicative
functions.
1.3.

Textual patterns and signaling devices

1.3.1. Definition of textual patterns
According to McCarthy (1991), when functional textual segments combine,
they form the logical structure of the whole text called textual patterns. In other words,
textual pattern is the pattern of text organization. There are 9 patterns mentioned in
Winter (1977, 1978), Hoey (1983, 2001), McCarthy (1991), and McCarthy & Carter
(1994): Problem-Solution, Hypothetical-Real, General-Particular, Question-Answer,
Goal-Achievement, Narrative, Opportunity-taking, Desire arousal-fulfillment, Gap in

knowledge filling. Due to the limited time and scope, the study will deal with only five
of the patterns including Problem-Solution, General-Particular, Question-Answer,
Goal –Achievement, Hypothetical-Real to investigate how outbreak news discourse
operates.
1.3.2. Signaling devices of textual patterns
Signaling devices are signals that help to identify a pattern, which composes of
lexical signal and structural signal. Hoey (2001) states that lexical signals are a direct
linguistic reflection of the pattern, so identifying the signals is important in any
analysis. However, the frequency of signals found will be vary somewhat according to
genre in which signals in popular science report is more than in academic scientific
writing (Hoey, 2001). Hoey (1994) also states that structural change is predicted by a
change in verb form. This is mostly found in Problem –Solution where Response is
often triggered by verbs.
1.4.

Kinds of textual pattern

1.4.1. Problem – Solution pattern
1.4.1.1.

The concept of Problem-Solution pattern

The Problem – Solution pattern is the most common pattern of all as stated by
Hoey (2001). The expanded version of this pattern might include the following
elements: Situation (What was the situation?) – Problem (What problem arose?) Responses (What did you do about it?) - Evaluation of responses (positive or
6


negative). Notably, McCarthy and Carter (1994: 55) claimed that in this pattern, the
key element is a „positive evaluation of at least one of the possible solutions offered ‟.

„A text which ends with no positive solution offered leaves the reader with a feeling of
unease‟. Coulthard (1994) pointed out that the pattern can be complicated in several
ways, e.g. when the evaluation of the solution is negative, which is itself a problem,
there is an alternative suggested solution followed by evaluation.
1.4.1.2.

Signals of Problem-Solution pattern

According to Hoey (2001), the Problem – Solution is “characteristically
lexically signaled”. It can be identified either by means of inscribed signals or by
means of evoking signals. Inscribed signals or inscribed evaluation are those which are
encoded explicitly such as “unfortunately”, “solution”, “too noisy”. Evoked signals
refer to lexical choices that raise in readers‟ mind an evaluation. For example,
“Illiteracy” is a factual description, however, it evokes a negative evaluation which
refers to a problem. Non-evaluative signals which are regarded as “problematic” such
as “disease”, “poverty”, “burglary” are called evoked signals. Besides, he also adds the
phrase “do something about x” which he emphasizes as one of the most “fundamental
and common signals” of the pattern.
McCarthy (1991: 58) lists the following terms as lexical signal of Problem Solution pattern: “problem”, “drawback”, “approach”, “response”,

“result”,

“outcome”, “solution”, “answer”.
1.4.2. General – Particular pattern
1.4.2.1.

The concept of General-Particular pattern

The basic structure of this pattern is that text includes “an initial general
statement, followed by a series of (progressively) more specific statements,

culminating in a further generalization” (Holland and Johnson 2000: 21). In a typical
case, a passage including a general statement is followed by another passage, which
expands the generalization, such as exemplifying, explaining, and/or justifying.
Hoey (1983) pointed out that definition is one of the most typical examples of
the detail in the preview-detail relation. There can be at least three types of detail:
composition, structure, and function.

7


1.4.2.2.

Signals of General – Particular pattern

There are two major signals of General – Particular pattern that is enumerables
and matching relation (McCoulthard). According to Tadros (1985), enumerable
comprises undefined sub-technical nouns which typically predict a subsequent
particularization (eg: “advantages”, “functions”, “aspects”) and discourse selfreference nouns such as “definitions”, “examples”, “illustrations”. Winter (1977) and
Hoey (1983) state that matching relation can be identified as the signal of the
realization of hyponyms in text, that is “ the partial repetition of a piece of text where a
combination of repeated constant and new variable forces the reader to see items not
otherwise overtly linked as comparable”. In other words, this relation is composed of
the element of repetition and differences which emphasize the significance of being
different.
1.4.3. Question – Answer pattern
1.4.3.1.

The concept of Question – Answer pattern

This pattern is similar to the Problem-Solution pattern. The difference is that

there is an explicitly posed question followed by a satisfactory answer. The main
elements are question, answer and positive/negative evaluation. The evaluation is
obligatory when the answer is ascribed to someone rather than the author. When the
answer is made by the author, the evaluation can be optional. Question-Answer differs
from the other patterns in that there is no intermediate stage between question and
answer and there is no logical sequence relationship between question and answer
(Hoey, 2001). It is noted that while other patterns are found in both long and short
texts, this pattern rarely occurs in short texts because making a question explicit would
be “heavy – handed” if the question‟s currency did not extend over a considerable part
of the text.
1.4.3.2.

Signals of Question – Answer pattern

This pattern can be easily identified by signals including interrogative
structures, question marks and repetition between question and answer. A number of
cohesive links between question and answer can be found through the use of repetition
or restatement of the question. For example:

8


Q: What, then, is the advantage which we may hope to derive from a study of
the political writers of the past?
A: If this is what political theory is there is no difficulty in determining what
advantage may be expected from the study of great political works.
1.4.4. Goal - Achievement pattern
1.4.4.1.

The concept of Goal-Achievement pattern

According to Hoey (2001), the component parts of Goal- Achievement pattern
are Situation, Goal, Method of achievement and Evaluation and/or result. As may
happen in other patterns, we can see another pattern, e.g. Problem - Solution
embedded in this pattern. The major difference between this and the Problem Solution pattern is that Goal is defined as “an intended change in situation” (Hoey,
2001:146). The following questions can represent this kind of pattern: What was the
situation? What goal did x want to achieve? What method did x or y use to achieve it?
How successful was this in the opinion of x, y or z?/ What was the result for x?
Here x, y, z may be the same person(s) and one or more may be the writer.
1.4.4.2.

Signals of Goal – Achievement

Hoey (2003) lists some of the lexical signals that trigger the script such as “How
to”, “method”, “want to”, “would like to”, “aim”, “objective”, “means”, “way”,
“strategy”, “by V-ing” and so on. In general, such kinds of signals indicate desire,
wishes and hope and the method carried out to reach the goal.
1.4.5. Hypothetical – Real pattern
1.4.5.1.

The concept of Hypothetical – Real pattern

This pattern consists of two elements: the hypothetical, which reports what has
been said or written, and the real, which states the writer‟s affirmation or denial of the
hypothetical. The hypothetical reports somebody else‟s statement, the truth-value of
which is unknown or controversial. The real states whether the hypothetical is true or
not true. Winter (1977) commented that unlike the Problem-Solution pattern in which
the problem can be implicit, in the hypothetical-real pattern, the hypothesis must be
explicitly signaled as hypothetical.

9


Hoey (2001) uses another term for this pattern, that is the Claim – Respond
pattern. He also states that a claim may be affirmed or denied and then corrected with
or without reasons being given for the claim, the denial or the correction.
1.4.5.2.

Signals of Hypothetical – Real pattern

This pattern is signaled by means of lexical items that frequently occur in
argumentative discourse. Winter (1977) claims that the writer has to “signal explicitly”
that the situation is hypothetical. He also points out some of the signals that indicate
the pattern: “assumption”, “claim”, “hypothesis”, “hypothesize” which is for
hypothetical element; “demonstrate”, “prove”, “contradict”, “confirm”, “evidence” are
to indicate the Real element.
1.5.

Disease Outbreak Online News

1.5.1. The notion of news
According to Oxford Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary, news is defined as new
information about something that has happened recently. In his book “The Language
of Newspapers”, Danuta (2002:4) sees news as a late Middle English word that means
“tidings, new information of recent events” and “information about recent events that
are of interest to a sufficiently large group, or that may affect the lives of a sufficiently
large group”. From this notion, news is perceived to be important because of its
affection on a large group of people.
In his book “News as Discourse”, Van Dijk (1988) gives the notion of media
news in everyday usage which consists of the following concepts: New information is

about events, things or persons; A (TV or radio) program type in which news items are
presented; A news item or news report, i.e., a text or discourse on radio, on TV or in
the newspaper, in which new information is given about recent events. It can be seen
that Van Dijk‟s definition of news covers all aspects relating to news, which can give a
full understanding of the news concept.
1.5.2. Features of online news
Internet is an invaluable source for information and knowledge. Online news is
one of the most common types among various kinds of news, which derived from the
internet. There are three main features of news, that is, multimedia, interactivity and
hypertext.
10


1.5.2.1.

Multimedia

It is possible to combine different modalities in online news rather than in
traditional media. Beside text and images, online news also includes sound,
slideshows, links, graphics and video, which facilitate the process of information.
Sunder and Limperos (2010) states that this presence of multiple modalities may have
a positive impact on perceptions. They also play an important role in attracting readers
because of their liveliness and colorful images.
1.5.2.2.

Interactivity

Sunder (2008) argues that this feature of online news transforms from a passive
to an active behavior in which media users can engage with content in personal way.
Specifically, readers can give comments, feedbacks and reply to the articles right at the

end of the page. Besides, it is possible for users to rate and review items or stories in
news media. This information is very important for other users as they would know
what are advantages and disadvantages of the thing they are interested in.
1.5.2.3.

Hypertext

Nelson (1999) shows that hypertext is “a delivery system for separate closed unit
– a system which allows only embedded links pointing outward”. Through hyperlink,
users can be provided with background information and related information that make
the process of information easy and convenient.
1.5.3. Disease Outbreak Online News (DONs)
1.5.3.1.

Previous studies on news

A number of researches on news relating to advertisement, information
technology, headlines, and discourse structure have been carried out so far. For
instance, in his PhD dissertation (1998), N.Hoa focuses on discourse analysis of news
which is on political, economic and social issues, then followed by some other MA
thesis such as T.H.Nam (2008) “A comparative study of discourse structures and some
major linguistic features in information communication technology news in English
and Vietnamese” T.N.H.Trang (2012) “A discourse analysis of stock market news in
English and Vietnamese”. Such studies focus on discourse structures and linguistic
features of news of different field. Nevertheless, no study on the textual patterns of
disease outbreak news has been performed.
11


1.5.3.2.

Notions of Diseases outbreak online news (DONs)

According to WHO‟s definition, a disease outbreak is “the occurrence of cases
of disease in excess of what would normally be expected in a defined community,
geographical area or season”. An outbreak, which may last for a few days or weeks or
for several years, may occur in a restricted geographical area, or may extend over
several countries.
The above definition helps us to visualize what disease outbreak is. As a result,
the news on DONs can be understood as the information relating to the occurrence of
disease that exceeds the expected number of cases. WHO also lists some common
infectious diseases such as Ebola, Measles, Hand-foot-mouth disease, Dengue fever,
Zika virus and so on as examples of DONs . The outbreak is reported every hour so
that readers worldwide can assess the information in the quickest way.

12


CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

2.1.

Subject of the study

The subject of the study is textual patterns used in DONs in English and
Vietnamese. To be more specific, among the five textual patterns of Problem-Solution,
General-Particular, Question-Answer, Goal –Achievement, Hypothetical - Real, the
study will find out the most common used in DONs in English and Vietnamese. In
addition, lexical devices that trigger the patterns are also the subject of the study. The
news is selected from daily news on different websites on the internet, mostly achieved

from WHO website (www.who.int) and Ministry of Health (moh.gov.vn) and some
other popular webs like BBC, CNN, Vnexpress, Dantri, cdc.com and so on.
As a matter of fact that online news are blooming with thousands of press
everyday. Therefore, this research is only expected to select a limited random of news
pieces from 2013 to August 2016. During this period, there are some outstanding
outbreaks of infectious diseases such as Ebola, influenza, Hand - foot - mouth disease,
Measles, Mers-CoV, Zika virus.
2.2.

Research methods

An integration of different research methods is used to carry out the study.
-

Quantitative: This method is used to find out the percentage of each textual
pattern and signaling devices in English and Vietnamese DONs.

-

Qualitative: Basing on the framework of Hoey, the researcher finds her own
framework of analyzing textual patterns of DONs. There are two criteria that
help to identify the textual pattern of a piece of news:
 The components of a pattern (eg: Situation, Problem, Response,
Evaluation in Problem-Solution pattern)
 Signaling devices of a pattern including lexical signals and structural
signals.

More details of the analysis are illustrated in chapter 3.

13

-

Descriptive: this method is employed to give in-depth description and analysis
of the structure of text to find the most common textual patterns and signaling
devices in DONs in English and Vietnamese.

-

Contrastive: this study is conducted to find out the similarities and differences
between the textual patterns and signaling devices in DONs in English and
Vietnamese
2.3.

Data collection method and data analysis procedure

The data is collected on the internet. Firstly, English news is collected on the
official website of WHO and some other famous like CNN, BBC, CDC. The most
convenient way is to google the phrases of words “WHO Disease Outbreak News”.
Then the sector of disease outbreak news will be immediately displayed on the
website. The news is presented in chorological order with the latest news coming first.
Secondly, Vietnamese news is selected with the same method in the websites of MOH,
dantri, Vnexpress, Vietnamnet, thanhnien, nguoilaodong, “Tin phòng chống dịch
bệnh” is a separate section of the official website of MOH (moh.gov.vn) for example.
The researcher goes into the sector, and a list of disease outbreak news is presented
with the most current ones coming first.
In this thesis, a random collection of 100 news pieces on the internet, half of
which are from English news, the other half are from Vietnamese news, will be chosen
as the representatives of the whole population.

As the news on the internet is continuously blooming with an unlimited number
of press every day, only data released from 2014 to August 2016 are chosen as the
suitable sample of the study. The data is analyzed in three steps:
-

Step 1: analyzing textual patterns and their signaling devices in DONs in
English

-

Step 2: analyzing textual patterns and their signaling devices in DONs in
Vietnamese in comparison with that in English.

-

Step 3: generalizing and concluding

14


2.4.

Analytical framework

The below diagram is to illustrate how the thesis will be developed:
Analytical
framework

Common textual patterns

Problem
Solution

Situation
Problem
Response
Evaluation

General
Particular

General
statement
Specific
statements
Specific
statements
…..
General
statement

Question
Answer

Question
Answer
Evaluation

Signaling devices

Goal –
Achiev
-ement
ment

Hypothe
-tical
Real

Lexical
signals

Situation
Goal
Method of
achievement
Evaluation/
Result

Hypothetical
Real

Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Cardinal
number
Ordinal
number

Diagram 1: Analytical framework

15

Structural
signals

A change in
verb form
-past simple
to present
perfect
-past simple
to present
continuous


CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
3.1. TEXTUAL PATTERNS AND THEIR SIGNALING DEVICES IN DISEASE
OUTBREAK ONLINE NEWS IN ENGLISH
The survey of 50 DONs in English reveals that the most common textual
pattern is Problem – Solution pattern which accounts for 78%. General – Particular
pattern accounts for a percentage of 22%. Of course, they function as major structure
of texts in which there comes minor structure embedded in the stream of words. For
instance, the investigation shows that one - third of 39 texts organized in Problem –
Solution pattern having General - Particular pattern embedded in the overall major
structure. Correspondingly, 11 texts are identified to have the major structure of
General – Particular while the Problem – Solution is embedded as minor structure.
Unsurprisingly, there comes no text belonging to the other kinds of pattern. The data

are expressed in the following table.
Problem – Solution

General – Particular

78%

22%

Table 1: Common textual patterns of DONs in English
This unsurprising result can be explained due to the fact that DONs is a kind of
typical news that reports daily and current events relating to disasters in medicine in
which infected patients are fighting to gain lives, so it would be not suitable to write a
news under the pattern of Goal – achievement or Opportunity taking. Meanwhile, the
Problem – Solution and General –Particular are the most effective way to convey the
information as they help to present the current situation of the outbreak and possible
solution to the problem as well as generalize and summarize the up-to-date cases.
Therefore, the readers will get the clear picture of what is occurring around the world.
Following parts are examples and analysis of pieces of news

16


Examples of the Problem-Solution pattern
News 1: Thailand confirms MERS CoV in traveler, WHO cautions against continued risk of importation

New Delhi, 24 January 2016: (1) (a) Thailand today confirmed Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus
(MERS CoV) disease in a traveler, the second such case in the country in the last seven months, (b) as WHO
cautioned other member states in its South-East Asia Region against the continuing risks and the need to remain
vigilant.

(2)“The new case of MERS CoV is a reminder of the continued risk of importation of the disease from countries
where it still persists. All countries need to further enhance surveillance for severe acute respiratory infections,
focus on early diagnosis, and step up infection prevention and control procedures in health-care facilities to
rapidly detect any case of importation and effectively prevent its spread,” Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional
Director, WHO South-East Asia Region, said.
(3) (a) A 71-year -old national from Oman, who arrived in Bangkok, Thailand for treatment on 22 January, (b)
and was admitted to a private hospital, tested positive for MERS CoV. (4) He has since been transferred to the
Bamrasnaradura Infectious Disease Institute. (5) Measures are being taken to trace all those who could have
been in his contact during his journey to Thailand, and within Bangkok.
(6) This is the second MERS CoV case in Thailand and in the WHO South-East Asia Region. (7) Earlier, on 18
June 2015 another Omani national who arrived in Bangkok for treatment, was tested positive for MERS CoV.
(8) In the recent past, countries in the WHO South-East Asia Region have been reviewing and strengthening
preparedness to respond to MERS CoV.
(9) WHO has been strongly advocating for strengthening health systems and ensuring strict infection control
measures are in place in countries to respond to infectious diseases such as MERS CoV.
(10) In the Region, WHO is supporting Ministries of Health to build capacities and strengthen preparedness as
required under the International Health Regulations (2005) to effectively detect and respond to outbreaks and
other hazards.
(11) MERS CoV is caused by a virus. (12) Typical symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath. (13)
Pneumonia is common, but not always present. (14) Gastrointestinal symptoms, including diarrhea, have also
been reported.
Situation (sentence 1a, 3a)
Problem (1b, 3b)
A 71-year-old traveler from Oman
He was confirmed to acquire
to Thailand
MERS CoV

Evaluation of Response (9,10)

WHO‟s actions is strongly and
effectively

Responses (5,8.9,10)
Health care workers are taking
measures to response to MERS CoV

17