An analysis of attitudinal resources in news reports about us china trade war

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUY NHON UNIVERSITY HUỲNH HỮU ĐỨC AN ANALYSIS OF ATTITUDINAL RESOURCES IN NEWS REPORTS ABOUT USCHINA TRADE WAR Field: English Linguistics Code: 8.22.02.01 Supervisor: Dr Bùi Thị Đào BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN HUỲNH HỮU ĐỨC PHÂN TÍCH NGỮ LIỆU “THÁI ĐỘ” SỬ DỤNG TRONG CÁC TIN TỨC CNN VÀ CHINA-BRIEFING VỀ CUỘC CHIẾN TRANH THƯƠNG MẠI GIỮA MỸ VÀ TRUNG QUỐC Chuyên ngành: Ngôn Ngữ Anh Mã số: 8.22.02.01 Người hướng dẫn: TS Bùi Thị Đào ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to the following people for their great support to my thesis First and foremost, I owe heartfelt appreciation to my supervisor, Dr Bui Thi Dao, for her patient guidance, valuable critique and enthusiastic encouragement during the planning and development of this work Without her persistent help, the thesis would not have materialized Besides, I am deeply grateful to Dr Vo Duy Duc for his great lectures that have been contributed to my research typically In particular, I would like to express my gratitude to Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Thi Thu Hien for her insightful comments Also, I owe a great debt of gratitude to the lecturers who provided me with knowledge and foundation for the work Last but not least, my special thanks go to my beloved family and friends who give me generous support so that I could accomplish my research STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby certify that the thesis contains no material which has been submitted for any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution and, to the best of my knowledge, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text Quy Nhon, 2021 Huỳnh Hữu Đức ABSTRACT The study presents an investigation into attitudinal resources in news reports about US-China trade war from the two reliable websites CNN and China-Briefing The data for the analysis consists of 30 samples of US-China trade war news reports (15 in each website) Appraisal theory of Martin and White (2005) is used as a framework for the data analysis with the aims at examining the use of attitude in CNN and China-Briefing news reports about US-China trade war and drawing a distinction between them in terms of attitude values This research employs a number of methods such as comparatives, contrastives and descriptives in the combination with quantitative, qualitative approaches The findings of the study reveal that all the three sub-types of attitude occur frequently in the texts despite their different distribution in each website Based on the results, we make a distinction between the ways the American speakers utilize attitudinal resources and the Chinese counterparts To some extents, implications on teaching and learning English are put forward in the hope of providing useful and comprehensive knowledge TABLES OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ABSTRACT LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES ABBREVIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1.Rationale of the study 1.2.Significance of the study 1.3.Aims and objectives 1.3.1.Aims 1.3.2.Objectives .3 1.4.Research Questions 1.5.Scope of the study 1.6.Organization of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Overview of appraisal .6 2.2 Attitude and their sub-types 2.2.1 Affect .9 2.2.2 Judgment 14 2.2.3 Appreciation 18 2.3 News reports in CNN and China-Briefing about US-China trade war 22 2.4 Previous studies 23 2.5 Summary .29 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 30 3.1 Research design 30 3.2 Data collection 30 3.3 Data analysis 31 3.4 Data procedures 31 3.5 Validity and Reliability 32 3.6 Summary .33 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 34 4.1 Types of attitudinal resources and their frequencies in news reports about trade war between US and China .34 4.2 Similarities and differences between CNN and China-Briefing news reports about US-China trade war in terms of attitudinal resources 35 4.2.1 Sub-categories of affect in CNRs and CBNRs 35 4.2.2 Judgment in CNRs and CBNRs 43 4.2.3 Sub-categorizes of appreciation in CNRs and CBNRs .52 4.3 Summary .59 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS .62 5.1 Recapitulation .62 5.2 Pedagogical implications 64 5.3 Limitations and suggestions for further study 65 5.4 Summary .66 REFERENCES .67 LIST OF TABLES Table Title number Page number 2.1 Judgment – social esteem 15 2.2 Judgment – social sanction 16 2.3 Types of appreciation 21 4.1 Types of attitude and their frequencies in CNRs and CBNRs 34 4.2 Types of judgment in CNRs and CBNRs 43 4.3 Composition in CNRs and CBNRs 55 4.4 Valuation in CNRs and CBNRs 57 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Title number Page number 2.1 An overview of appraisal resource 2.2 Overview of attitude subsystems 2.3 The affect system and its lexical instantiations 13 2.4 The judgment system and its lexical instantiations 18 2.5 4.1 The system of appreciation and its lexical instantiations 19 Types of attitude and their frequencies in CNRs and CBNRs 4.2 Sub-categories of affect in CNRs and CBNRs 4.3 Sub-categorizes of appreciation in CNRs and CBNRs 34 35 52 ABBREVIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS (a) Abbreviations + ‗Positive‘ - ‗Negative‘ CNR News reports about US-China trade war in CNN CBNR News reports about US-China trade war in ChinaBriefing (b) Conventions CNR (1-15): CNN data numbered from to 15 CBNR (1-15): China-Briefing data numbered from to 15 65 present some contribution to not only those who are interested in appraisal but also those who teach and learn how to write news reports For the ones who are interested in appraisal theory, the findings of the study reaffirm the importance of appraisal Besides, based on the comparison between the use of the resources in CNN and China-Briefing news reports about US-China trade war, this study provides readers with knowledge of attitude in CNRs and CBNRs, which can be seen as a material for those who are going to study the matters and provide them an important opportunity to advance the understanding of the domain For teachers and learners, we hope that the results of the thesis can provide teachers with useful knowledge of teaching writing The study helps teachers understand more about attitude and convey the knowledge to students effectively Based on the understanding, teachers can prepare some tasks and guide students to realize and apply attitude in their writing, especially writing news reports about US-China trade war For learners, the study is expected to help learners understand the knowledge of attitude and the role of using it in writing news reports to attract more readers‘ attention Besides, based on the comparison between news reports about US-China trade war in CNN and China-Briefing, teachers and learners can recognize the differences in terms of culture to have a better understanding of what writers convey 5.3 Limitations and suggestions for further study Due to limitations in scope and time of an M.A thesis, a full description of all news reports about US-China trade war could not be done, which may lead to tentative conclusions rather than generalizations In addition, the thesis 66 only presents the similarities and differences between CNN and ChinaBriefing news reports about US-China trade war based on attitude without looking at other perspectives like cultural differences of the two resources There are also some parts which are not taken into consideration: engagement and graduation Finally, with respect to news reports about US-China trade war, I would like to offer two suggestions for further research, such as an investigation into the use of graduation in CNN and China-Briefing news reports about US-China trade war and a study of cultural and social aspects on using evaluative languages in news reports about US-China trade war 5.4 Summary This chapter provides the summary and pedagocial implications of the findings They are followed by limitations and recommendations for further research 67 REFERENCES English: [1] Alamsya, A., Rahmah, W and 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Strategic writing for emerging and established media (5th ed) London: Taylor & Francis Ltd [22] Tuchman, G (1972) Objectivity as Strategic Ritual: An Examination of Newsmen‘s Notions of Objectivity The American Journal of Sociology, 77(4), 660-679 Chicago: The University of Chicago Press [23] Van Dijk, T A (1988) News as discourse Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum [24] Wang, H (2010) Interpersonal meanings in Nobel Prise for Literature Acceptance Speeches – An Analysis from Appraisal perspective, M.A thesis, Jiangxi Normal University [25] West, Bernadette M., M Jane Lewis, Michael R Greeburg, David B Sachsman, & Renée M Rogers (2003) The Reporter’s Environmental Handbook (3rd ed) New Brunswick and London: Rutgers University Press 70 Vietnamese: [26] Do Huynh My Lien (2015) A comparative study of interpersonal meaning realized through Attitude values in showbiz news in English and Vietnamese newspapers M.A Thesis, Quy Nhon University [27] Le Thi Hien (2015) A multimodal analysis of attitudinal aspects in health news online in English M.A thesis, Quy Nhon University [28] Ngo Ai Quynh Nhu (2017) An investigation into the attitudinal resources in English and Vietnamese news about enviroment: a comparative study M.A Thesis, Quy Nhon University [29] Nguyen Thi Thanh Dao (2014) An investigation into the evaluative language in football commentaries in English and Vietnamese online newspaper: a comparative study M.A Thesis, Quy Nhon University [30] Van Thi Thu Van (2014) Appraisal analysis of interpersonal meaning in letters to the editor written in English and in Vietnamese: a comparative study M.A Thesis, Quy Nhon University [31] Vo Duy Duc (2011) Style, Structure and Ideology in English and Vietnamese Business Hard News Reporting: a comparative study, PhD thesis, University of Adelaide AP-1 APPENDIX A DATA LINKS CNN: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/27/politics/china-us-trade-war-trumpxi-intl-hnk/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/24/investing/caterpillar-earnings-uschina-trade-war/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/30/asia/china-us-peoples-daily-tradewar-intl/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/27/investing/asian-market-latest-uschina-trade-war-082819/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/23/economy/trade-wareconomy/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/26/politics/joni-ernst-farmers-tradewar-cnntv/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/05/business/us-china-trade-wareurope/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/20/perspectives/us-china-trade-wareconomic-costs/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/10/economy/us-tariffs-china-tradewar/index.html AP-2 10 https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/03/economy/us-china-trade-warwinners/index.html 11 https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/03/politics/hassett-trade-war-us-12 companies/index.html 12 https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/29/investing/us-china-tradewar/index.html 13 https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/18/investing/stock-market-todaychina-trade/index.html 14 https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/14/business/china-united-stateseconomy-trade-war/index.html 15 https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/26/investing/premarket-stockstrading/index.html China-Briefing: https://www.china-briefing.com/news/china-free-trade-zones-sixprovinces/?hilite=%27uschina%27%2C%27trade%27%2C%27war%27 https://www.china-briefing.com/news/china-extends-tax-breaks-circuitdesign-software-industry-trade-war-drags/?hilite=%27uschina%27%2C%27trade%27%2C%27war%27 https://www.china-briefing.com/news/china-makes-us-trade-war-tradedeficit-buying-asean-belt-road-countries/?hilite=%27uschina%27%2C%27trade%27%2C%27war%27 AP-3 https://www.china-briefing.com/news/chinas-new-trademark-laweffect-november-1-2019/?hilite=%27uschina%27%2C%27trade%27%2C%27war%27 https://www.china-briefing.com/news/eu-businesses-china-lookmitigate-trade-war-impact-eucham-2019-survey/?hilite=%27uschina%27%2C%27trade%27%2C%27war%27 https://www.china-briefing.com/news/how-will-us-china-trade-warend-3-scenarios/?hilite=%27uschina%27%2C%27trade%27%2C%27war%27 https://www.china-briefing.com/news/prospects-2020-us-chinabilateral-investment-treaty/?hilite=%27uschina%27%2C%27trade%27%2C%27war%27 https://www.china-briefing.com/news/shifts-chinas-industrial-supplychain-trade-war/?hilite=%27uschina%27%2C%27trade%27%2C%27war%27 https://www.china-briefing.com/news/spief-2019-xi-putininternational-institutions-begin-push-back-us-tradeimpositions/?hilite=%27uschina%27%2C%27trade%27%2C%27war%27 10 https://www.china-briefing.com/news/us-china-trade-deal-phase-twodigital-trade-intellectual-property-cyber-intrusions-bilateralinvestment-treaty/?hilite=%27uschina%27%2C%27trade%27%2C%27war%27 11 https://www.china-briefing.com/news/us-china-trade-manufacturing- AP-4 decline/?hilite=%27us-china%27%2C%27trade%27%2C%27war%27 12 https://www.china-briefing.com/news/us-china-trade-war-reachestruce-china-market-lessons-learn/?hilite=%27uschina%27%2C%27trade%27%2C%27war%27 13 https://www.china-briefing.com/news/us-china-2019-trade-will-hitus560-billion-sectors-worth-investing/?hilite=%27uschina%27%2C%27trade%27%2C%27war%27 14 https://www.china-briefing.com/news/trade-war-tip-china-basedamerican-manufacturers-vietnam/?hilite=%27uschina%27%2C%27trade%27%2C%27war%27 15 https://www.china-briefing.com/news/real-size-us-china-tradedeficit/?hilite=%27us-china%27%2C%27trade%27%2C%27war%27 AP-5 APPENDIX B [CNR (11)] New York (CNN Business)The trade war with China has been a two-steps forward, three-steps back affair The current thinking is in the "twosteps forward" camp The president told reporters Monday his negotiators are moving ahead on a so-called Phase One trade agreement: "We're looking probably (+ judgment, capacity) to be ahead of schedule to sign a very big portion of the China deal." The president teased a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the APEC summit in Chile next month and said progress was "a little bit ahead of schedule, maybe (+ judgment, capacity) a lot ahead of schedule." The contours of this first phase include purchases of US agriculture, promises (+ affect, in/security) on intellectual property rights and in-roads for US financial firms in China "It will (+ judgment, tenacity) also take care of a lot of the banking needs (+ affect, desire)," the president told reporters It's a dose of optimism in a trade war that has dragged on for a year and a half On Friday, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He by phone, according to a statement from the US Trade Representative's Office, and made "headway." Earlier this month, Beijing said it would (+ judgment, tenacity) buy $40 to $50 billion in US farm goods and the US dropped a planned October 15 tariff increase AP-6 The trade progress — and hope (+ affect, desire) for an interest rate cut this week from the Federal Reserve —has propelled the Standard and Poor's 500 to a fresh record high this week So what could (+ judgment, capacity) go wrong (- appreciation, valuation)? For starters, investors have been fooled (- judgment, capacity) before Tariffs threatened (- affect, fear), then delayed The Chinese backtracking Talks crumbling New tariffs The president's trade adviser Peter Navarro tells me there is always the chance of Chinese miscalculation "The Chinese have consistently (+ judgment, tenacity) miscalculated going back to Mar a Lago, they misread the signal of resolve and strength by the president And as a result they've slow walked us and reneged on deals and all they've gotten is a tougher and tougher stance (+ judgment, tenacity)." Navarro is a proponent of a fundamental course correction in how the US does business with China What's on the table today, though, is a mini-deal, to keep the parties talking, with the hopes (+ affect, desire) of another deal later Thornier(appreciation, reaction) issues are left unresolved (- judgment, tenacity) Still, the US has plenty of leverage to keep the Chinese negotiating for this mini-deal and beyond The administration is still planning a new 15% tariff on Chinese-made laptops, smartphones, footwear and clothing 10 days before Christmas And none of the other taxes on since the start of the trade war have been dropped That pressure remains AP-7 [CBNR (2)] On May 22, 2019, the Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation announced (+ affect, in/security) an extension to the tax breaks for certain integrated circuit design and software enterprises The details (+ appreciation, complexity) of the extended preferential (+ appreciation, valuation) tax policies can (+ judgment, capacity) be found in Cai Shui [2019] No 68 Qualified (+ appreciation, quality) integrated circuit design and software enterprises will (+ judgment, tenacity) continue to be eligible (+ appreciation, valuation) for corporate income tax (CIT) incentives for the first two years if they become profitable (+ appreciation, valuation) before the end of 2018, and will (+ judgment, tenacity) pay half of their 25 percent CIT rate (that is, 12.5 percent CIT rate) for the third to fifth year High-tech industries receive government assistance Media reports indicate that the Chinese government is attempting to incentivize key high-technology industries amid the uncertainties (judgment, veracity) of the US-China trade war As the trade war drags on, the US government has now doubled down on Chinese high-tech firms; Huawei has already been banned from buying American products, and five video surveillance companies are under consideration (+ appreciation, composition) to be blacklisted ―The megatrend is that China will (+ judgment, tenacity) have to develop its own chips and software on a large scale (+ judgment, capacity) to reduce its reliance on the US We’ll (+ judgment, tenacity) see other support measures and that‘s big (+ appreciation, reaction) positive (+ judgment, propriety) AP-8 news for China‘s technology sector in the long turn‖, according to Wu Kan, an investment manager at Soochow Securities in Shanghai In response, the Chinese government is moving quickly (+ judgment, capacity) to support domestic high-tech businesses For example, the one-year extension of the preferential (+ appreciation, valuation) tax policy for integrated circuit design and software enterprises allows more businesses to avail of CIT exemptions and tax cuts – previously set to expire in 2022 As before, enterprises who work predominantly on the manufacturing or design of integrated circuits or software product, and who also satisfy (+ affect, dis/satisfaction) the legal (+ judgment, propriety), income, and capability thresholds set out in Article 10 of Cai Shui [2012] No 27 will (+ judgment, tenacity) be eligible (+ appreciation, valuation) to these preferential (+ appreciation, valuation) policies In addition, key enterprises who meet this definition and fall within the national planning layout may (+ judgment, capacity) be eligible (+ appreciation, valuation) for a further discounted CIT rate of 10 percent For more details about the eligibility criteria, businesses should refer to Cai Shui [2016] No 49 and Cai Shui [2012] No 27 How will this affect businesses? China is restructuring its economy to weather the negative (- judgment, propriety) effects of the ongoing trade war This has increased the pace of regulatory reform as well as the number of investment and tax incentives available to businesses in the country AP-9 Businesses within this industry should consult their tax and accounting teams to determine whether they are eligible (+ appreciation, valuation) to benefit from new tax incentives In addition, taxpayers that have already submitted their 2018-19 tax returns should amend their returns to claim (+ affect, in/security) refunds ... attitudinal resources especially the ones in news reports about US- China trade war is taken into consideration 2.3 News reports in CNN and China- Briefing about US- China trade war News to defined in a... in news reports about US- China trade war in the two websites - Coding data CNRs for news reports about US- China trade war written in CNN and CBNRs for those in Briefing -China - Discussing the... To investigate types of attitude and their frequencies in news reports about US- China trade war 4 - To find out the similarities and differences in news reports about US- China trade war in terms