Interactional meta-discourse and phraseology in newspaper editorials during the Russia-Ukraine War

Aisha Saadi Al-Subhi 1 *
More Detail
1 Department of English, College of Social Sciences, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, SAUDI ARABIA
* Corresponding Author
Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, Volume 13, Issue 3, Article No: e202331. https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/13259
OPEN ACCESS   1771 Views   1295 Downloads   Published online: 10 May 2023
Download Full Text (PDF)

ABSTRACT

The massive influence of media in our daily life has led to an increased interest of analyzing media discourse among linguists. A newspaper editorial is a distinctive register of print media that expresses the newspaper’s opinion about current issues in the world. The present study showed the results of a linguistic comparative analysis of the language of newspaper editorials that are published recently during the Russia-Ukraine War. The investigation is based on samples taken from leading newspapers in the USA and the UAE. The corpus consists of 24 editorials totaling about 16,673 words written in English. The study aimed to investigate two fundamental principles of language use, namely: meta-discourse and phraseology in the genre of newspaper editorials adapting a quantitative content analysis approach. Hyland’s (2005b) interactional model of meta-discourse has been applied in the analysis. Data showed a high level of similarity between the USA and the UAE editorials in terms of frequency of several linguistic markers. Data also showed that stance markers were significantly higher than engagement markers in both corpora. Moreover, results reported a variety of use of collocations, modality, and idiomatic expressions. The study concluded that newspaper editorials are argumentative texts that are distinguished by the use of hedges, attitude markers, and other persuasive devices. The study combines key linguistic concepts and contributes to the field of discourse analysis as it provides useful insights about media discourse and newspaper discourse particularly editorials.
Keywords: media discourse, interactional meta-discourse, editorials, genre analysis

CITATION

Al-Subhi, A. S. (2023). Interactional meta-discourse and phraseology in newspaper editorials during the Russia-Ukraine War. Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 13(3), e202331. https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/13259

REFERENCES

  • Ädel, A. (2006). Meta-discourse in L1 and L2 English (studies in corpus linguistics). John Benjamins Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1075/scl.24
  • Afzal, N., Jabeen, I., Hameed, A., & Sheikh, A. R. (2021). Use of persuasion and newspapers’ representations of conflicts. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 17(1), 398-411. https://doi.org/10.52462/jlls.24
  • Aguilar, M. (2008). Meta-discourse in academic speech: A relevance-theoretic approach. Peter Lang.
  • Ahmad, M., Mahmood, M. A., & Farukh, A. (2020). Use of modals as stance markers: A corpus-based study on Pakistani English newspaper editorials. Asia Pacific Media Educator, 30(1), 108-125. https://doi.org/10.1177/1326365X20945424
  • Alghazo, S. M., Al-Anbar, K., Jarrah, M., Rabab'ah, G., & Al-Deaibes, M. (2023). Engagement strategies in English and Arabic newspaper editorials. Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, 10(22), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-01519-y
  • Al-Saied, N. (2020). Media in the UAE: Crating a national voice. In N. Mellor, & N, Miladi (Eds.), Routledge handbook on Arab media. Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429427084-57
  • Al-Subhi, A. S. (2021). Writer–reader interaction: Investigating interactional meta-discourse in the advertisements of Arab universities. The Scientific Journal of King Faisal University: Humanities and Management Sciences, 22(2), 43-48. https://doi.org/10.37575/h/lng/210046
  • Al-Subhi, A. S. (2022). Meta-discourse in online advertising: Exploring linguistic and visual meta-discourse in social media advertisements. Journal of Pragmatics, 187, 24-40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2021.10.027
  • Anderson, W. J. (2006). The phraseology of administrative French: A corpus-based study (language and computers 57). Rodopi. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789401203128
  • Bal, K. (2014). Analyzing opinions and argumentation in news editorials and op-eds. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, Special Issue on Natural Language Processing, 22-29. https://doi.org/10.14569/SpecialIssue.2014.040104
  • Bednarek, M. (2006). Evaluation in media discourse: Analysis of a newspaper corpus. Continuum.
  • Bell, A. (1991). The language of news media. Basil Blackwell.
  • Bell, A. (1998). The discourse structure of news stories. In A. Bell, & P. Garrett (Eds.), Approaches to media discourse (pp. 64-104). Blackwell.
  • Bhatia, V. K. (2013). Analyzing genre: Language use in professional settings. Taylor & Francis.
  • Blackledge, A. (2005). Discourse and power in a multilingual world. John Benjamins Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.15
  • Buresh, B., & Gordon, S. (2006). From silence to voice: What nurses know and must communicate to the public. ILR Press/Cornell University Press. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-7657.2007.00550.x
  • Buschfeld, S. (2020). Modelling world Englishes: A joint approach to postcolonial and non-postcolonial varieties. Edinburgh University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474445887
  • Cowie, A. P. (1991). Multiword units in newspaper language. In S. Granger (Ed.), Perspectives on the English lexicon: A tribute to Jacques Van Roey (pp. 101-116). Notebooks of the Institute of Linguistics of Louvain. https://doi.org/10.2143/CILL.17.1.2016699
  • Curry, N. (2021). Academic writing and reader engagement: Contrasting questions in English, French and Spanish corpora. Routledge, Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429322921
  • Dafouz-Milne, E. (2008). The pragmatic role of textual and interpersonal meta-discourse markers in the construction and attainment of persuasion: A cross-linguistic study of newspaper. Journal of Pragmatics, 40(1), 95-113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2007.10.003
  • Everaert, M., van der Linden, E. J., Schenk, A., & Schreuder, R. (Eds.). (1995). Idioms: Structural and psychological perspectives. Lawrence Erlbaum.
  • Fairclough, N. (1995). Media discourse. Edward Arnold.
  • Fellbaum, C., Mahlberg, M., & Teubert, W. (2007). Idioms and collocations: Corpus-based linguistic and lexicographic studies. Bloomsbury Publishing.
  • Fowler, R. (1991). Language in the news: Discourse and ideology in the press. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315002057
  • Fu, X., & Hyland, K. (2014). Interaction in two journalistic genres: A study of interactional meta-discourse. English Text Construction, 7(1), 122-144. https://doi.org/10.1075/etc.7.1.05fu
  • García Orosa, B., López García, X., & Gallur Santorum, S. (2013). Analysis of the adaptation of the editorials of five newspapers from different European countries to the online environment. Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 68, 485-500. https://doi.org/10.4185/RLCS-2013-986
  • Gillaerts, P., & Van de Velde, F. (2010). Interactional meta-discourse in research article abstracts. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 9(2), 128-139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2010.02.004
  • Granger, S., & Meunier, F. (2008). Phraseology: An interdisciplinary perspective. John Benjamins Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1075/z.139
  • Gray, B., & Biber, D. (2015). Phraseology. In D. Biber, & R. Reppen (Eds.), Cambridge handbook of English corpus linguistics. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139764377.008
  • Hackett, R. A., & Zhao, Y. (1994). Challenging a master narrative: Peace protest and opinion/editorial discourse in the US press during the Gulf War. Discourse & Society, 5, 509-541. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926594005004005
  • Hawes, T., & Thomas, S. (1996). Rhetorical uses of theme in newspaper editorials. World Englishes, 15, 159-170. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-971X.1996.tb00102.x
  • Hensley, D. E. (2012). How to write what you love and make a living at it. Water Brook Press.
  • Howarth, P. (1996). Phraseology in English academic writing: Some implications for language learning and dictionary making. Walter de Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110937923
  • Hunston, S. (2011). Corpus approach to evaluation: Phraseology and evaluative language. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203841686
  • Hunston, S., & Su, H. (2019). Patterns, constructions and local grammar: A case study of ‘evaluation’. Applied Linguistics, 40(4), 567-593. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amx046
  • Hyland, K. (1998). Persuasion and context: The pragmatics of academic meta-discourse. Journal of Pragmatics, 30(4), 437-455. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(98)00009-5
  • Hyland, K. (2002a). Directives: Argument and engagement in academic writing. Applied Linguistics, 23(3), 215-239. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/23.2.215
  • Hyland, K. (2002b). Authority and invisibility: Authorial identity in academic writing. Journal of Pragmatics, 34(8), 1091-1112. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(02)00035-8
  • Hyland, K. (2005a). Meta-discourse: Exploring interaction in writing. Continuum.
  • Hyland, K. (2005b). Stance and engagement: A model of interaction in academic discourse. Discourse Studies, 7, 173-192. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445605050365
  • Hyland, K., & Milton, J. (1997). Hedging in Ll and L2 student writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 6(2), 183-206. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1060-3743(97)90033-3
  • Hyland, K., & Tse, P. (2004). Meta-discourse in academic writing: A reappraisal. Applied Linguistics, 25(2), 156-177. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/25.2.156
  • Jaki, S. (2014). Phraseological substitutions in newspaper headlines: “More than meets the eye”. John Benjamins Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.46
  • Khalil, E. N. (2000). Grounding in English and Arabic news discourse. John Benjamins Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.82
  • Khanbutayeva, L. (2019). Hedging in newspaper editorials in the English and Azerbaijan languages. International Journal of English Linguistics, 1(10), 91-100. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v10n1p91
  • Lavid, J., & Moratón, L. (2018). Contrastive annotation of interactional discourse markers in English and Spanish newspaper texts. In M. Á. Gómez González, & J. L. McKenzie (Eds.), The construction of discourse as verbal interaction (pp. 75-108). John Benjamins Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.296.04lav
  • Le, E. (2004). Active participation within written argumentation: Meta-discourse and editorialist’s authority. Journal of Pragmatics, 36(4), 687-714. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(03)00032-8
  • Le, E. (2006). The spiral of “anti-other rhetoric”: Discourses of identity and the international media echo. John Benjamins Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.22
  • Leonhardt, D., Rudoren, J., Galinsky, J., Skog, K., Lacey, M., Giratikanon, T., & Evans, T. (2017). Journalism that stands apart: The report of the 2020 group. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/projects/2020-report/
  • Markkanen, R., & Schröder, H. (1997). Hedging and discourse: Approaches to the analysis of a pragmatic phenomenon in academic texts. Walter de Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110807332
  • Mason, O. (1997). The weight of words: An investigation of lexical gravity. In B. L. Tomaszczyk, B., & P. J. Melia (Eds.), PALC’97: Practical Applications in Language Corpora (pp. 361-375). Lodz University Press. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004485211_022
  • Mason, O. (1999). Parameters of collocations: The word in the center of gravity. In J. M. Kirk (Ed.), Corpora galore: Analyses and techniques in describing English (pp. 267-280). Rodopi.
  • Mauranen, A. (1993). Cultural differences in academic rhetoric: A textlinguistic study. Peter Lang.
  • McNair, B. (2011). An introduction to political communication. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203828694
  • Moon, R. (1998). Fixed expressions and idioms in English. A corpus-based approach. Clarendon Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(99)00089-2
  • Morely, J. (2004). The sting in the tail: Persuasion in English editorial discourse. In A. Partington, B. Morley, & L. Haarman (Eds.), Corpora and discourse (pp. 239-255). Peter Lang.
  • O’Keeffe, A. (2011). The media. In J. Simpson (Ed.), Routledge handbook of applied linguistics (pp. 67-80). Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203835654
  • Pastor, G. C., & Mitkov, R. (2019). Computational and corpus-based phraseology. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30135-4
  • Pawley, A. (2001). Phraseology, linguistics and the dictionary. International Journal of Lexicography, 14(2), 122-134. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijl/14.2.122
  • Pennock, B. (2000). A genre approach to re-entry patterns in editorials. Universitat de Valencia.
  • Reah, D. (2002). The language of newspapers. Routledge.
  • Richardson, J. (2007). Analyzing newspapers: An approach from critical discourse analysis. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-230-20968-8_7
  • Rokoee, R. (2021). Historical grounds for a rational grammar in academic Persian. In A. Aghdassi (Ed.), Perspectives on academic Persian. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75610-9_2
  • Sinclair, J. (2008). The phrase, the whole phrase and nothing but the phrase. In S. Granger, & F. Meunier (Eds.), Phraseology: An interdisciplinary perspective. John Benjamins Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1075/z.139.33sin
  • Sterling, C. H. (2009). Encyclopedia of journalism. SAGE. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412972048
  • Stubbs, M. (2007). An example of frequent English phraseology: Distributions, structures and functions. In R. Facchinetti (Ed.), Corpus linguistics 25 years on (pp. 89-105). Rodopi. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789401204347_007
  • Talbot, M. (2007). Media discourse: Representation and interaction. Edinburgh University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780748630073
  • Teo, P. (2000). Racism in the news: A critical discourse analysis of news reporting in two Australian newspapers. Discourse & Society, 11(1), 7-49. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926500011001002
  • Van Dijk, T. A. (1985). Discourse and communication: New approaches to the analysis of mass media discourse and communication. Walter de Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110852141
  • Westin, L. (2002). Language change in English newspaper editorials. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004334007
  • White, P. (1997). Death, disruption and the moral order: The narrative impulse in mass-media “hard news” reporting. In F. Christie, & J. R. Martin (Eds.), Genre and institutions (pp. 101-133). Cassell.
  • Yu, X., & Zheng, H. (2022). A critical discourse analysis of different news reports on the same event: Illustrated with examples from China Daily and The Guardian. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 10, 348-363. https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2022.1011023
  • Zarza, S. (2018). Hedging and boosting the rhetorical structure of English newspaper editorials. UKH Journal of Social Sciences, 2(1), 41-51. https://doi.org/10.25079/ukhjss.v2n1y2018.pp41-51
  • Zarza, S., & Tan, H. (2016). Patterns of schematic structure and strategic features in newspaper editorials: A comparative study of American and Malaysian editorials. Discourse & Communication, 10(6), 635-657. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481316674754