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INTRODUCTION

RATIONALE

This research work posited itself in the theoretical world of tourism discourse study, taking multimodality as its analytical approach with an attempt to decode the tourist gaze at Vietnam from the linguistic and visual meaning-making resources in travel blog posts It was inspired practically by the growing importance of positive reviews on social media to the development of tourism industry in Vietnam.

Traditionally, tourism studies have been influenced by positivist and post-positivist paradigms, focusing on economic aspects and being based on quantitative research methods (Jennings, 2009, as cited in Francesconi, 2014, p.7) Recently, tourism studies have been relocated in social sciences and environmental sciences, with a focus on social interactions in tourism discourse The analysis may be approached from several other dimensions, seeing how tourism discourse spells out the relations between tourism and persuasion (Bruthiaux, 2000; Beeton, Weeler & Ham, 2005), tourism and the consumption of place (Snepenger, 2007; Yui, 2008; Urry, 2010), tourism and national identity (Palmer, 1999; Pretes, 2003), tourism and the destination image (Calzati, 2013; Denti, 2015), and the tourist gaze at the destination

(Francesconi, 2014; Denti, 2015; and Zhang & Hitchcock, 2017) The overwhelming subjects of tourism discourse study are the language use in conventional tourism materials, such as advertisement and promotion webpage of the destinations On the other hand, travel blogs, a modern genre of tourism discourse, are often treated as an object for discussion in a study rather than the subject of the study itself When travel blogs are approached linguistically, mostly they function as data for studying the tourist gaze and destination image.

The increasing popularity of travel blogs, which often take the form of

“autodiegetic narratives” (Calzati, 2012, p.2), has indicated that the source of data on offer to linguistic study is becoming richer and richer It is obvious that travel blogs afford both verbal and visual narration Bloggers now hold a dynamic role in communicating the meanings they build through an integration of tourist texts, images and videos in their posts The more embedded medial factors like images and videos are in travel blog posts, the more easily they signify the bloggers’ gaze and construct a corresponding destination image, which may ultimately leave an impact on “the reader’s travel choice and decision-making process” (Cachiani, 2014, p.196, as cited in Denti, 2015, p.49) The co-occurrence of visual and linguistic signs, methodologically, requires approaching travel blogs multimodally so that analysis can be done on both meaning-making resources.

Besides, unlike conventional tourism promotion media, travel blogs have gained the reputation of being a useful source of travel information for frequent internet users who trusted their reviews, trip photos and advice (Pabel & Prideaux, 2015; Kassegn & Sahil, 2020) The implication is that the gaze placed by the bloggers on a destination and the destination image shaped by their experience of exposure to the destination are authentic and not distorted for marketing purposes like the one in tourism promotional materials Therefore, there is room left to investigate into how the bloggers, by using a combination text and visuals on their travel blogs, have portrayed the destinations and explicitly or implicitly encouraged/ discouraged the travel decisions of their readers This room for research may be even larger in the case of destinations being Asian countries, such as Vietnam, which are often thought of as an exotic and mysterious land by travellers-to-be from countries of Western cultures

The practical motivation for this current research lies in the fact that tourism plays an essential role in the economic structure of Vietnam and so, understanding how Vietnam is portrayed and appreciated as a tourism destination by travel bloggers may assist the promotion of Vietnam travel

The statistics by Word Tourism and Travel Council (2021) has shown that after two years of COVID-19 pandemic, the tourism sector has suffered great losses with its contribution to global GDP plunging by nearly half compared to the 10.4% of world GDP in the year 2019 Employment destruction occurred, and 62 million tourism-related jobs have been lost. While the 2021 has seen subtle improvements, estimates for tourism in the years to come are hard to make because of its dependence on how the pandemic is going to evolve Yet, stakeholders in tourism are working hard on adaptive solutions to recover the industry Particularly in the case of Vietnam which was honoured twice with the World Travel Award as Asia’s leading destination (in 2018 and 2021), the country has been chosen by an increasing number of international tourists as a destination for their leisure pursuits and discovery of Asian cultures This is a good signal for Vietnam since the country has identified tourism to be a key in its strategic development scheme Specifically, in Decision No 147/QĐ-Ttg signed on 22 January 2020, the general objectives to Vietnam tourism are:

By 2025, Vietnam will become an attractive destination, striving to be among the top three countries in tourism development in Southeast Asia and top 50 countries with the world's leading tourism competitiveness, of which all 14 criteria will have been strengthened in line with the sustainable development requirement.

By 2030, tourism will have become a spearhead and sustainable economic sector Vietnam will have become a particularly attractive destination, in top

30 countries with the world's leading tourism competitiveness, meeting sustainable development goals.

(https://english.luatvietnam.vn/decision-no-147-qd-ttg-on-approving-the- strategy-of-tourism-development-for-vietnam-by-2030-180149-Doc1.html)

To realize such objectives, it is important that tourism policy makers as well as travel agencies be proactive about the growth and preservation of their industry Over the tough years of the Covid-19 pandemic, the importance of maintaining prospective travellers’ interest in the country has been emphasised This has been realised through a number of efforts, for example, to encourage digital transformation in tourism sector so as to get ready for restarting safe tourism activities, and possibly, spread words-of-web that recount positive tourism experience in Vietnam Many questions are therefore posed, for instance, is there a consistent picture of Vietnam in online travel reviews? In discussions about Vietnam tourism on travel blogs, are the appreciations positive or negative? Is it true that the visuals posted on travel blogs about Vietnam can contribute to the creation of such a portrayal of Vietnam? And do the posts on travel blogs show an inclination for authenticity and strangeness, or do the play nature and the cultural/ ideology clash that the travellers experienced during their Vietnam trips make more sense?

The fact that more and more people are blogging about, responding to and sharing travel-related contents about Vietnam indicates that such blog posts can provide rich information to construct a portrayal of Viet Nam and offer valuable data for linguistic study However, as for Vietnam, there have not been any linguistics studies to date in either Vietnamese or English on travel blogs in general, and few research works have focused on how the country is depicted in the content of posts by international bloggers in particular Given that the concept of multimodal analysis is relatively new in linguistics and the number of travel blogs being analysed multimodally for tourist gaze and an Asian destination image is still modest, a research work conducted in this direction can offer new insights into the issue Therefore, the current study entitled “BRITISH TRAVEL BLOGGERS’

PORTRAYAL OF VIETNAM: A MULTIMODAL ANALYSIS” was conducted to fill in the current research gap in terms of subjects for study,research methods and the data base for research and hopefully provide further insights into travel blogs as a genre of tourism discourse while contributing practically to the development of tourism and tourism English training inVietnam.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The study aims to investigate into British travel bloggers’ gaze at Vietnam as a tourism destination which rooted from their experience of touring the country from a multimodal perspective.

In order to achieve the overall aims, the following objectives were set out for the study:

This research aims to understand how British travel bloggers perceive and represent Vietnam through their online content By analyzing the linguistic and visual elements of their blog posts, the study seeks to uncover the bloggers' perspectives and how they shape the image of Vietnam for their readers.

+ to grade the level to which the four sociolinguistic perspectives of tourism discourse are reflected in the linguistic and visual signs of the British travel blog posts.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

With the aforementioned aims and objectives, the study sought answers to the following research questions:

(1) What did the British travel bloggers in question gaze at and appreciate through their portrayal of Vietnam?

- Which aspects of the country did they gaze at?

- What degrees of appreciation did they have about Vietnam as a tourism destination in each aspect?

- In what ways have texts and still images interacted to realise their appreciation?

(2) How are sociolinguistic perspectives of tourism discourse reflected in the British travel bloggers’ gaze at Vietnam?

- Which sociolinguistic perspective(s) of tourism discourse can be found prominent in the travel blog posts?

- How do the texts and still images in the travel blog posts co-contribute to the exhibition of these perspectives?

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study draws upon the social semiotic approach to multimodality, particularly focusing on the interpersonal metafunction of language and visuals in travel blogs The study examines the tourist gaze and destination image, common topics in travel blog discourse, through a multimodal framework based on Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) This framework incorporates appraisal language to analyze appreciation qualities and visual designs to explore interactive meanings.

In terms of appraisal language, the focus was on evaluative adjectives, and for visuals, still images were selected While there are many types of multimedia (or visuals) embedded in travel blogs, still images are the most frequently used and in fact, there is hardly any blog post that goes without the inclusion of at least one photo In addition, the analysis of still images is a feasible start for researchers who do not have a media background The researcher could “read” and comprehend a still image with accuracy instead of taking risk by decoding an audio or video file without specialised media knowledge and tools Also, a multimodal study does not need to include more than two modes Multimodal data are by themselves condensed and rich in information, so the greater the number of modes to include, the higher the risk of not able to analyse data and interpret meanings thoroughly This explains why this study had its scope narrowed to two modes of meaning-making to ensure accurate and meaningful findings They were studied concurrently so as to discover the aspects of Vietnam being gazed at by tourists, the destination image that was created from appraising the gazed, and the sociolinguistics features of the travel blog posts that arose from language and visual modes.

This qualitative case study examined seven British travel bloggers, aged 25-40, who had visited Vietnam at least twice, ensuring consistent evaluations British travelers represent Western culture, relevant to the study's use of the Grammar of Visual Design, a theory specific to Western visual communication This age group was chosen due to its alignment with Western cultural norms and its significance in Vietnam's tourism statistics, as Britain held the second highest number of arrivals in 2017-2018.

Data were limited to 10 posts on their travel blogs which date from

This study analyzed blog posts and photos from 2014 to 2022 to understand how Western travel bloggers perceive destinations in Asia The database consisted of 21,062 words and 133 photos, with 256 adjectives appearing 1162 times Content analysis revealed sociolinguistic perspectives in the bloggers' descriptions, offering insights into how they appreciate Asian destinations By focusing on a manageable database, the research aimed to achieve quality findings by decoding meanings from both text and images.

METHODS OF THE STUDY

In light of Creswell & Creswell (2018), this study lent itself to the social constructivism paradigm, or worldview, taking a social semiotic multimodal perspective, and being a case study Methodologically, constructivism has it that knowledge is constructed, which allows the observer to recognise different views and the interdependence of factors like subjectivity, sign systems and power relations (Meethan, 2011) In the study, the image of Vietnam as a tourism destination was extracted from the accumulated knowledge constructed in the posts of British bloggers While the bloggers had their personal experience of the trip, the larger meaning could emerge through the negotiation and comparison of their evaluation, which could be captured in their verbal narration and choices of photos on their blog posts In addition, this study characterises itself as case study in that it describes an “event”, and furnishes the researcher with a proven set of procedures for investigating an empirical topic within a naturalistic setting(Yin, 2003).

This research employed content analysis on multimodal data to address two key questions The process involved collecting and coding data, utilizing computer programs for thematic analysis by domains and adjectival constructions, and conducting qualitative analysis to gain comprehensive insights into each domain.

Computational tools, including Keyword and Frequency analysis, were employed to process text data from travel blogs, identifying common themes and perspectives on Vietnam, effectively establishing the "domain" of the research.

At the same time, POS Tagger and Concordancers helped tag and count adjectives and provide materials for deciding on evaluative adjectives and determining the constructions of evaluative adjectives and their collocating lexis/ phrases, which established the “specific instances” – or appraised items that corresponding to each domain The still images, on the other hand, were counted and arranged according to domains manually The categorisation of still images according to domains also helped identify whether there was an equal representation of still images for each instance in the domain

Then, the constructions [evaluative adjective] + [specific instance] which had been determined by means of Concordancers were further analysed to determine the positive/ negative appreciation of the appraised items Still images were also analysed to capture the embedded interactive meaning through their image act, size of frame, camera angle, the presence of background and degrees of representation Such analysis of the language mode and visual mode also contributed to the decision on prominent sociolinguistic characteristics expressed in travel blogs

Analyzing a larger database of blog posts increases the likelihood of identifying meaningful patterns However, it's crucial to conduct thorough analysis on both modes of investigation to ensure accuracy and reliable findings.

This study meticulously analyzed a vast dataset of 21,062 words and 133 images, ensuring comprehensive attention to detail in both language and visuals By prioritizing depth over breadth, the study successfully decoded meaning from each mode without sacrificing quality for quantity.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Theoretically , this study has made efforts in contributing to the acknowledgement of the SFL multimodal framework and filling the current gap in tourism discourse analysis The concept of “multimodality” was introduced and promoted by Kress and Van Leeuwen (1996, 2001) The advent of internet and communication technologies has boosted an unprecedented growth of visual materials in tourism media, particularly in travel blogs However, while there have been a few multimodal studies that take travel blogs as their subject, the number has not increased in parallel to the significantly rich data source that travel blogs are capable of providing As young as it is in the world, multimodality is of course a promising area of study in Vietnam where tourism discourse is under-researched Therefore, the study is hopefully beneficial to those are interested in theoretical backgrounds and literature on SFL multimodal framework, especially researchers and students of linguistics and tourism studies

This research offers practical insights for tourism communication and English language education in Vietnam By understanding how travelers perceive Vietnam, tourism stakeholders, especially destination marketers, can develop strategies to enhance travelers' experience of "authenticity" and promote Vietnam's unique qualities.

Blog posts related to tourism can provide valuable authentic materials for translation training, cross-cultural communication lessons, and topical vocabulary teaching in English language courses for EFL students.

STRUCTURE OF THE DISSERTATION

The dissertation is composed of five chapters, each of which deals with a different aspect of the study

Chapter 1, Introduction, briefly presents the rationale, the research aims and questions, the scope, the significance of the study, and the organization of the thesis

This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the multimodal approach used in this study, drawing on Halliday's SFL, Appraisal theory, and the Grammar of Visual Design It critically examines the relevant literature, including the linguistic and visual characteristics of tourism discourse and travel blogs, the concept of tourist gaze and destination image, and the sociolinguistic perspectives of tourism discourse The chapter also delves into previous research related to these topics.

Chapter 3 delves into the research methodology, outlining the study's context, justifying the chosen research approach, design, and method The chapter examines the pilot study's two stages and utilizes this analysis to defend the multimodal data collection procedure and its analytical framework.

Chapter 4 and 5 present and discuss the findings of the study in line with text analysis and still image analysis in order to answer the first research question

This study explores the perspectives of British travel bloggers on Vietnam, examining the specific aspects they highlight and appreciate By analyzing their content, we aim to identify how their portrayals align with the four sociolinguistic features of tourism discourse, offering insights into how these features are reflected in the bloggers' gaze on Vietnam.

Chapter 6 concludes the thesis, drawing implications for theory, practice, and future research It also acknowledges limitations and provides recommendations for further exploration.

References and Appendices come at the end of the dissertation.

LITERATURE REVIEW

MULTIMODALITY IN ENGLISH

2.1.1 Halliday’s social semiotic theory in multimodality

Multimodality is an inter-disciplinary approach which attributes communication and representation to more than one communication mode.

As stated by numerous linguists, “all communication is inherently multimodal”, with various semiotic systems complementing each other for meaning-making (Matthiessen, 2013, p.1; O’Halloran, 2011, p.120; Andersen

& Boeriis, 2012, p.75) According to Jewitt (2009), with reference to the study of multimodality,

To fully understand a culture's meaning-making processes, we must broaden our perspective beyond just language This includes analyzing a wide range of representational and communicative modes, or semiotic resources, like images, writing, gestures, gaze, speech, and posture.

The development of multimodal theories is heavily influenced by Halliday's Systemic-Functional Linguistics (SFL) and social semiotics (Halliday, 1978) SFL views language as a social semiotic system, acknowledging its role in communication and meaning-making within social contexts.

Social language, according to Halliday, is shaped by social structures and its use in various social contexts SFL and social semiotics focus on how language functions in social situations and analyze its use in context Language is viewed as a system of interrelated decisions made in multiple systems, reflecting the meaning potential exploited in social circumstances.

A text is the product of ongoing selection in a very large network of systems

Systemic theory views language not as a collection of structures, but as a network of systems While structure is important, it's seen as the outward manifestation of choices within the system, not the core of language Language is fundamentally about making meaning, and this meaning arises from the systemic patterns of choices within the network.

According to Halliday (1978), signs fulfill three simultaneous functions: the ideational, the interpersonal, and the textual Ideational resources represent meaning about the world, interpersonal resources negotiate social relations, and textual resources manage information flow within a text, creating coherence between signs.

The notion of metafunctions continues to be explored and developed for the analysis of meaning-making in linguistic discourse in a number of works by Halliday and Halliday & Matthiessen (2004) These works present attempts to capture the relationship between the internal forms of the language and its use in contexts of social circumstances As for visual mode,

Kress & van Leeuwen's groundbreaking work in the late 1980s, culminating in their influential "Reading Images" (1996, 2006), established a social semiotic approach to visual analysis, particularly in print media Drawing on Halliday's social semiotic theory, they developed a paradigm for analyzing images and employed functional linguistic systems to understand visual meaning O'Toole (1994) further contributed to this field by applying Halliday's SFG to the study of sculptures and artworks These works laid the foundation for the development of Multimodality theory.

This article explores key concepts in Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), including text analysis, visual design within SFL, and the Appraisal theory's focus on interpersonal meaning It also delves into the Grammar of Visual Design, examining resources for creating interactive meaning in still images.

2.1.2 Text in SFL (Verbal mode)

The ideational metafunction, focusing on how language reflects users' experiences and perceptions of reality, plays a crucial role in shaping meaning It encompasses both experiential and logical components The experiential component represents reality, while the logical component establishes relationships between clauses, shaping the logic of language.

TRANSITIVITY grammatical system in which six types of processes are identified, together with concepts of participants and circumstances

Figure 2.1: Types of process (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004, p.172)

Logical component is characterised with two systemic dimensions that provide the functional framework to describe clause complexes (Halliday

1994, p.216) The SYSTEM OF INTERDEPENDENCY, or TAXIS, is the first dimension, and it depicts the relationships between sentences in a clause complex.

Parataxis and Hypotaxis are two contrasting sentence structures, while the Logico-Semantic System, which focuses on linked sentences, constitutes the second dimension of logical function This system encompasses a diverse range of logico-semantic relationships between a clause complex's primary and secondary members, categorized into Expansion and Projection groups These relationships can be found in both paratactic and hypotactic structures.

TAXIS (Halliday 1994, pp.216, 251-260; Eggins, 2004, pp 270-275).

The interpersonal metafunction, as described by Halliday (1994), focuses on the social dynamics and attitudes within a text Language users adopt specific speech roles, assigning complementary roles to their audience These roles involve giving or demanding, with the clause structure, known as Mood, shaping the exchange.

A clause consists of MOOD + RESIDUE According to Thompson

The Mood of a sentence, indicated by Mood tags, is crucial in short answers and exchanges The Finite element, representing the core of the proposition, is the key aspect that conveys the validity of the statement.

Between the two functional constituents of the clause, namely MOOD, which carries the argument, and RESIDUE, which can be left out or elided, the

The MOOD element, a key component of a sentence, consists of two parts: the SUBJECT and the FINITE The SUBJECT, a nominal group, refers to the entity about which the proposition is made, while the FINITE, realized by a verbal group, makes the proposition finite The FINITE represents the arguable element, bringing the proposition into the practical realm through PRIMARY TENSE, MODALITY, and POLARITY PRIMARY TENSE anchors the proposition in time, while MODALITY expresses the speaker's assessment of probability or obligation Modality can be further categorized into MODALIZATION, which pertains to propositions, and…

In proposals, modalization and modulation convey the speaker's attitude towards the proposition Modalization expresses probability and usuality, reflecting the speaker's belief in the statement Modulation, on the other hand, conveys obligation and inclination, revealing the speaker's judgment or stance on the actions or events described Both modalization and modulation can be expressed at different degrees, ranging from low to high Additionally, verbal operators can be categorized as positive or negative based on their polarity, as outlined by Halliday.

Evaluation, defined as the expression of a speaker's attitude towards events or propositions, is a crucial element in language, shaping how writers and speakers convey their stance Evaluation is embedded in all language levels and plays a significant role in different genres, particularly in promotional texts where the author aims to influence the reader The degree of positive evaluation in a text often reflects the author's level of interest, and this principle applies to tourism genres, where the communicative purpose dictates the level of evaluation employed.

TOURISM DISCOURSE

Tourism, as argued by Dann (1996), possesses its own distinct discourse, characterized by a specialized language with its own vocabulary, jargon, registers, and stylistic elements This language, through a system of symbols and codes, aims to persuade potential tourists to purchase travel products and services.

2.2.1 Verbal dimension of tourism discourse

Dann (1996, 2000) identifies four properties that are often present in tourism texts, which are

Regarding the first property, Dan (1996, 2001) explains six main functions

Tourism texts are highly subjective, reflecting the writer's emotions and judgments about their travel experiences This expressiveness often manifests through the use of first-person narration and evaluative language, for instance, "Wow! We can get fantastic lunch here!" or "I feel comfortable now!" These personal insights can significantly influence potential travelers' decisions.

Tourism texts often employ conative and directive language, aiming to persuade, recommend, or even warn the recipient This can be seen as a form of social control, where speakers use language to influence the actions of tourists.

Tourism texts engage in communication, fostering interactions between sender and receiver This communication can utilize non-verbal cues such as facial expressions, gestures, and postures, adding to the overall message.

(4) Tourism texts can have metalinguistic/metalingual/reflexive function In certain cases, the language itself, may provide meanings or imply the need for extra explanations For example, the question “What do you mean by this?” has a metalinguistic function as it require further explanations for better understanding

(5) Tourism texts are often poetic and aesthetic, especially in the case of tourism promotion and travel reviews that create a sense of uniqueness To be poetic aesthetic, the message may be formed using unusual constructions, for example, metaphors, jargons, and so on, such as à la carte, table d’hôte.

Tourism texts serve a referential function when both the speaker and listener, or writer and reader, share knowledge about a particular subject These communications often introduce new information about this shared referent.

Tourist promotional materials, whether brochures or websites, often employ distinct structural patterns Brochures typically feature a horizontal layout with key information positioned on the right, while travel website homepages are vertically divided The top section of a website uses visuals to emphasize the allure of the travel experience, while the lower section provides textual details about options and tour operators This structure generally adheres to the AIDA principle, capturing attention, building interest, fostering desire, and prompting action.

Interest – create Desire – get Action).

In tourism, time is almost always present The present tenses represent a

Tourism marketing often employs "denial of time" (Dann, 1996, p.49), using present tenses to emphasize relaxation and limitless enjoyment This creates a sense of "standing still" or "eternal time" at the destination Narrative strategies like "tense switching" – shifting from past to historic present – enhance the vividness of past events and make the destination and activities more engaging.

Imperative mood, a potent linguistic tool, encourages tourists to seize opportunities, often found in travel blog posts and reviews It persuades, advises, and gives instructions, sometimes even expressing future events For example, a tour description might outline the itinerary using imperative verbs, stating: "arrive lunch time, drive to Seronera, depart with picnic breakfast, descend into the Ngorongoro Crater floor for game drive."

As a property in the language of tourism, magic is defined by Dann

(1996, p.55) as a feature through which “instant transformation can take place without any other explanation than the miraculous power of magic itself”.

Nomenclature is a common strategy to create magic in tourism language It is believed that a change in the name of a place, food, drink etc can result higher tourist attendance.

Dann (2007) identifies four "divergent properties" that distinguish tourism language from other forms of communication: lack of sender identification, monologue, euphoria, and tautology These characteristics further emphasize the unique nature of tourism discourse.

2.2.2 Visual dimension of tourism discourse

The role of visuals in tourism discourse can be summarised as in Urry’s words as follows.

Holidays often revolve around capturing the same iconic images seen in brochures and TV, turning travel into a quest to personally experience and recreate those visuals Ultimately, travelers aim to prove their journey by presenting their own versions of these familiar images, signifying they were truly there.

In the world of tourism materials, from promotional texts to travel reviews and narratives, be they printed-based or screen-based, visual designs,which include images, videos and layouts, have been made use of extensively.

The visual dimension of tourism discourse is characterised by a number of features

Images play a crucial role in tourism marketing as they are descriptive, emotionally engaging, and offer valuable advice As Jenkins (2003) notes, tourism consumption is primarily visual, with images often proving more persuasive than written or spoken descriptions Visuals shape tourists' anticipation, experience, and memories of travel (Crawshaw & Urry, 1997), influencing their destination choices, reviews, and repeat visits This preference stems from the belief that images, unlike other forms of media, offer a truthful representation of reality, as they "record what was in front of its lens when the shutter snapped" (Rose, 2001).

Tourism texts often use images to evoke emotions and express experiences The rise of photography has empowered tourists to capture and control their encounters with exotic destinations, transforming "travelling equals seeing" into "travelling equals showing that one has seen."

REVIEW OF PREVIOUS STUDIES

2.3.1 Tourism studies in social science research

Traditionally, tourism studies have been influenced by positivist and post-positivist paradigms, focusing on economic aspects and being based on quantitative research methods (Jennings, 2009, as cited in Francesconi, 2014,p.7) However, social sciences and environmental sciences have gradually taken their parts in redefining tourism as “complex, multifold, and plural”(Francesconi, 2014, p7) This has led to a growing interest in studying tourism from multidisciplinary perspectives As Djafarova (2008, pp.12-13) remarks,the marketing experts analyse “marketing tourism objects”, the economists work on “economic issues of tourism”, the anthropologists observe effects of tourism on culture, the sociologists look into “the effects of tourism on members of societies” and the semioticians study “the meaning of linguistic signs in tourism signs”

Tourism studies have become increasingly institutionalized, evidenced by the creation of academic departments, conferences, and numerous publications Notably, research and publications in tourism studies draw on a wide range of disciplines Key journals in the field include the multidisciplinary *Annals of Tourism Research*, published by Elsevier and edited by John Tribe, and the *Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change*.

Change, published by Routledge and edited by Mike Robinson and Alison

Leading academic journals in tourism research include the Journal of Travel Research, published by Sage and edited by Richard R Perdue, and Tourist Studies: An International Journal, published by Sage and edited by Tim Edensor and Adrian Franklin Globally recognized research centers in tourism studies include the International Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Research at Bournemouth University (UK), the International Tourism Research Institute at the University of South Carolina (USA), and the Centre for Tourism and Services Research at Victoria University (Australia).

One prominent researcher whose works focus on c For Urry, the movement from a production society to the modern consumption society has resulted in tourists’ desire for independent travel and individual care (Urry,

Tourists seek pleasurable experiences and unique destinations, driven by a desire to consume leisure This "tourist gaze," as sociologist John Urry (1990) describes it, reflects the expectations tourists place on local populations when engaging in heritage and leisure tourism This gaze emphasizes the search for authentic and significant experiences, shaping the tourist's perception of the destination.

Tourism and modernity are deeply intertwined, as evidenced by scholars like Taylor, Williams & Bjorn, and Oakes & Claudia Modernity has enabled smoother communication and travel for tourism stakeholders, while tourism itself fosters the preservation of local cultures, strengthens identity, and revitalizes unique destination elements.

Tourism studies should delve into social interaction, recognizing the co-presence of stakeholders like tourists and locals, and analyzing their social relationships Tourism discourse can be further explored through the lens of persuasion, examining the influence of tourism narratives, and the consumption of place, analyzing how tourists engage with and consume destinations.

Research on the relationship between tourism and identity, promotion, and destination image often focuses on promotional materials like advertisements, logos, slogans, and brochures However, studies on the tourist gaze are prominent within travel writing, including travel books and blogs.

Tourism discourse research encompasses various perspectives and text types Business researchers focus on destination image construction through promotional materials, while linguists analyze tourist language to understand destination perceptions However, this distinction is not absolute, as tourist reviews are often analyzed for destination strengths and weaknesses Moreover, most multimodal analysis studies on travel writing are case-based.

2.3.2 Destination image studies in travel blogs

Prior research on destination images primarily focused on how marketers, travel websites, and tourism authorities utilize online platforms for destination promotion These studies often analyzed multimodal data, combining photographic representations with text More recently, tourists' reviews have emerged as a valuable data source for studying destination images However, even these studies tend to focus on the marketing efforts of travel stakeholders rather than the independent online circulation of destination representations.

In terms of studies on destination images of countries in the world, there are works by Klein, Ettenson, & Morris (1998), Orbaiz & Papadopoulos

Several studies, including Li & Vogelsong (2002) and Elliot (2011), have used tourist reviews to develop analytical models of destination image Li & Vogelsong (2002) emphasize the role of Destination Tourism Organizations in building and promoting destination image, using tourist feedback as a source of information Elliot (2011) highlights the interconnectedness of destination, product, and country image, demonstrating that cognitive country image influences product perception more than destination factors Furthermore, the study reveals that affective country image directly affects receptivity and indirectly influences beliefs, confirming previous findings by Klein, Ettenson, & Morris (1998) and Orbaiz & Papadopoulos (2003) While familiarity influences product and destination beliefs, it does not impact affective country image.

To discover a perceived destination image in travel blogs which imply further tourism service improvement, there are works such as those by Pan,

MacLaurin & Crotts (2007) and Wenger (2008) Pan, MacLaurin & Crotts

(2007) explore online travel blogs on Charleston, South Carolina to gain insights into what bloggers were communicating about their travel experience, and based on that to gather a rich and authentic repertoire of unsolicited customer feedback Using semantic network analysis and content analysis methods, the researchers hope the findings will help destination marketers assess their service quality and improve travellers’ overall experience Meanwhile, Wenger (2008) analyses the content of blog entries concerning travels to Austria posted to www.travelblog.org primarily in order to identify positive and negative perceptions of Austria as a tourism destination She also compares these perceptions with other research works onAustria’s destination image and makes an effort in finding out the similarities and differences between the blog entries in questions and information fromAustria’s tourism markets She concludes that such blog entries offer largely consistent positive content about Austria as a holiday destination; however,information and comments on specific destinations, attractions, styles of transport or accommodation and such are modest From this case study,Wenger suggests that further research needs to be carried out on whether there are other groups of travel writers who either blog about Austria or other destinations, and to what extent useful information about destination image can be drawn from their blog posts Though they are of more concerns with marketing and branding than with linguistics, both of the research articles are interesting to read in order to understand the nature of blogs as online word- of-mouth and the procedure of doing content analysis on text types like travel blogs

Existing research on travel blogs and destination image primarily comprises master's theses from business schools, offering limited novel models for destination image analysis These studies often combine destination image analysis with an exploration of tourism language characteristics.

Research on Vietnam's destination image is limited and often focuses on a single data source Luong (2019) examined online travel reviews to identify key attributes and descriptors of Vietnam's image, revealing both positive and negative perceptions among international tourists Food, friendly people, and natural landscapes emerged as strengths, highlighting the need for branding strategies that leverage these competitive dimensions However, Luong's findings also highlight a disconnect between tourist perceptions and the "timeless charm" promoted by the Tourism Administration Board While valuable for marketing and branding, the study relied on textual data from various online platforms, limiting its multimodal perspective and linguistic implications.

Dinh (2020) investigated Vietnamese travellers' photographs and captions to understand the destination image of Northwest Vietnam, focusing on visual perception Unlike Luong's (2019) study on international travellers' perspectives, Dinh's research revealed "nature" and "indigenous culture" as key elements in the perceived image of the region Dinh employed a thematic and narrative approach to analyze the photographs, although her reasoning for concluding these elements as highlights was not fully elaborated While acknowledging the interplay of photographs and textual information, her analysis did not delve into the linguistic and visual characteristics of the data.

A MULTIMODAL CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

2.4.1 The Appraisal theory to study the interpersonal metafunction of the text body on travel blogs

This study focuses on the interpersonal metafunction of texts and images, analyzing the travel bloggers' perspective on Vietnam as a tourism destination We used the Appraisal Framework to examine the bloggers' linguistic choices and their expression of value, revealing their appraisal of different aspects of Vietnam.

The following table summarizes metafunctions and their corresponding linguistic realisation choices.

Table 2.3: Linguistic realisation of Metafunctions

Appraisal, a theory analyzing attitudes expressed in language, sits within the discourse semantics level of language, as it transcends grammatical boundaries and utilizes various grammatical categories and even grammatical metaphors Martin & White (2005) highlight this placement, further outlining how Appraisal is realized through specific lexicogrammatical and phonological choices.

Table 2.4: Appraisal, in relation to lexicogrammar and phonology

The Appraisal Framework analyzes interpersonal communication by focusing on evaluative meanings It consists of three interconnected domains: attitude, engagement, and graduation Attitude, or ways of feeling, encompasses emotion (affect), ethics (judgement), and aesthetics (appreciation) Affect reflects positive and negative feelings, while ethics evaluates behavior through admiration, criticism, praise, or condemnation Aesthetics, on the other hand, focuses on appreciation and evaluation of experiences.

This research aims to understand the destination image British travellers construct We focus on the system of "appreciation," which prioritizes the "appraised" (the destination) over the "appraiser" (the traveller), reflecting the value judgments inherent in destination image formation.

Appreciation, as defined by Martin & White (2005), involves positive or negative assessments of objects, artifacts, processes, and states of affairs, and can also extend to human participants when their behavior is not judged as right or wrong Martin & White (2005) further categorize appreciation into reaction, composition, and value, which Eggins (2014) suggests mapping to mental processes grammatically and interpreting under corresponding metafunctions metafunctionally These appreciation sub-types can be linked to transitivity systems and metafunctions, demonstrating their interconnectedness.

Table 2.5: Sub-types of appreciation (Martin & White, 2005, pp.56-57)

Appreciation Mental process type Metafunction reaction affection interpersonal composition perception textual valuation cognition ideational

Adjectives play a crucial role in tourism discourse, particularly in travel blog posts, by providing evaluative descriptions that enhance the impact and desirability of destinations These adjectives evoke aesthetic feelings, allowing readers to compare sites and assess their appeal, ultimately influencing their travel decisions.

Overall, the study of tourist gaze embedded in travel blogs and how it contributes to the portrayal of the destination country were conducted by analysing the appreciation value of evaluative adjectives being used in the blog posts.

2.4.2 The Grammar of Visual Design to study interactive meanings of still images in travel blogs

Visuals, while appearing objective, can reinforce societal ideals (Crawshaw & Urry, 1997) Destination images are shaped by tourist exposure to photos from various sources, including promotional materials and online reviews Travel blog photos play a multi-faceted role, initially establishing pre-trip expectations, then serving as comparison points during travel, and finally refining or discarding initial perceptions Still images achieve this through their interactive relationship with viewers.

This linguistic research focused on analyzing elements discernible without image processing tools, such as contact, social distance, attitude, and modality markers.

Visual offers present represented participants as objects of information, devoid of personal connection This is characterized by participants looking away from the viewer, as defined by Kress and van Leewen (2006) Examples of visual offers can be found in diagrams, maps, and scientific illustrations.

Figure 2.10: Contact – Example analysis of visual offers

(Retrieved from https://sun-chaser.travellerspoint.com/44/ )

[The researcher’s analysis: One represented participant in this picture, the boatman, is doing his job The viewer looks at the picture to get information about the daily job of a boatman rather than to establish a connection with the boatman.]

The realisation of a visual demand depends on the presence or absence of a gaze which can always form an imaginery vector which commences from the glance of the animate represented participants outwards to the viewer of the visual, possibly accompanied by some kind of physical gesture The demand is expressed through a direct look of the animate represented participant(s) at the viewer and what is demanded depends totally on how the look is conveyed For example, a smile may suggest social affinity, whereas a stare may imply scorn or even a sexual offer The viewer is expected to respond by stepping into some types of social relation, to accept or refuse the demand.

Close-up shots, focusing on the head and shoulders, create a sense of intimacy and connection between the subject and viewer, fostering a friendly relationship Conversely, long shots, where the human figure occupies half the image height, maintain a public distance, positioning the viewer as an observer rather than a participant.

The use of frame size is meaningful to both the display of objects and the representation of the environment According to Kress & van Leeuwen

The size of a frame can influence our perception of social relationships between ourselves and the surrounding environment, including objects, buildings, and landscapes Three distinct distances, corresponding to our everyday experiences, can be identified within a frame, suggesting a connection between visual composition and social dynamics.

Close-up shots in media create a sense of engagement, drawing the viewer into the action Conversely, long-distance shots establish a clear separation between the viewer and the subject, highlighting the object's role as a passive element for observation This distinction emphasizes the different levels of engagement possible within a visual narrative.

SUMMARY

Chapter 2, Literature review, has laid the foundation for the construction of a multimodal framework to study travel blogs

This chapter explores the semiotic approach to multimodality in English, drawing on Halliday's SFL and social semiotic theories The Hallidayan approach highlights the need for selective analysis due to the complexity of multimodal texts, leading to the adoption of Appraisal Theory and the Grammar of Visual Design to understand the interpersonal metafunction in both text and visual modes.

Then, the chapter discusses the characteristics of tourism discourse in general, and travel blogs as a genre of tourism discourse in particular By critically reviewing theoretical concepts, a number of salient issues have been brought to discussion First, tourism discourse and travel blogs are informative, descriptive, evaluative, affective and reflexive Travel blogs have become a platform for experience sharing and travelling advice, and therefore, a constructed destination image can be communicated This suggests an interpersonal relationship between the readers/viewers and the writer/speaker of the blog, which triggers the need to focus on interpersonal metafunction and/ or their extensions Second, tourism texts, including travel blogs, are multimodal, which means that they rely on both verbal and visual resources for meaning-making, and as a result, studies that take travel blogs as the subject had better be done multimodally rather than focusing just either texts or images

While tourism discourse studies often rely on promotional materials, the rise of travel blogs presents a rich source of data for linguistic analysis However, few studies have explored this corpus for linguistic purposes Existing research on travel blogs focuses on tourist gaze and destination image, often for marketing purposes The limited research on Vietnam's destination image in travel reviews highlights the need for a model integrating visual elements and appraisals to understand destination image formation Additionally, the dual nature of blog posts, combining text and images, offers insights into the sociolinguistic qualities of travel blogs.

Drawing upon existing theories and identified research gaps, this study proposes a multimodal conceptual framework This framework integrates the system of appreciation (Martin & White, 2005) for analyzing texts and the properties of interactive meanings (Kress, 2010) to provide a comprehensive approach to understanding meaning in multimodal communication.

& van Leeuwen, 2006) for analysing still images in travel blogs in order to understand them interpersonally and from a sociolinguistic gaze.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

CONTEXT OF THE STUDY

This study analyzed 10 travel blog posts from seven British travel bloggers, identified as B1 through B7 for anonymity The specific blog post links are provided in the References section.

The bloggers are all from the UK Due to the nature of their travelling, they moved from one place to another, or even relocated for a short time in another country The Covid-19 pandemic has brought most of them back to the UK, from where they continue their blogging activities and look for opportunities to travel and write From the self-introduction on their blogs, it can be seen that they all define the purpose of their blog and travel sharing as to inspire the readers to travel and discover as well as to help them plan their trips A brief of their profiles is provided in Appendix 1.

Several bloggers had visited Vietnam previously, with some making standalone trips and others incorporating it into Southeast Asia tours While most alluded to past visits, B1 and B7 explicitly mentioned two separate trips to Vietnam The duration of these visits varied, ranging from 10 days to 6 weeks, with longer stays often correlating to a higher volume of Vietnam-related posts.

In total, these seven blogs feature 70 posts about Vietnam Each blogger published at least two posts Among them, B7 had 32 posts, accounting for nearly half of the whole number, followed by B1, with 13 posts and B3, with 9 posts The rest bloggers had blogged about Vietnam six times or less The length and coverage of the posts were no way similar among these bloggers While posts by B1, B3, B6 and B7 tended to be short and focused on trivia aspects such as “Tips for riding a night bus” or “Unique places to stay in Vietnam” and contained multimedia like photos and videos from livestreams or their Youtube channel, those who wrote fewer posts seemed to provide a longer and comprehensive account of their travel experience.

The time mark for their visits to Vietnam was between 2014 (B1) and

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, travel bloggers were actively updating their content, ensuring their information remained relevant During the lockdown period, many bloggers continued to refine their travel itineraries, keeping their blogs dynamic and informative This is evident in examples like B2's 2016 Vietnam post, updated in 2021, and B7's 2013 Vietnam itinerary, consistently updated with the latest version in February 2022 As a result, the travel information they provide about Vietnam appears to be consistently current.

The above features served as an extra filter for travel posts to be selected and added into the data base of this current study.

RESEARCH APPROACH

This study utilizes a social constructivist paradigm, drawing on a social semiotic multimodal perspective, and employing a case study research design to investigate the research questions Following Creswell & Creswell (2018), a content analysis approach was implemented to analyze multimodal data, involving data collection, coding, thematization using computer programs, and qualitative data treatment for in-depth understanding.

This study investigates the interpersonal metafunction of travel blogs from a social constructivist perspective Recognizing tourism as a social phenomenon, the study emphasizes the need to observe and interpret travel experiences within their specific contexts, as argued by Hollinshead (2006).

A worldview is a fundamental set of beliefs that influence actions (Guba, 1990, as cited in Creswell & Creswell, 2018) Terms like paradigms (Lincoln, Lynham, & Guba, 2011; Mertens, 2010), epistemologies, and ontologies are often used interchangeably with "worldview."

(Crotty, 1998) By identifying the larger philosophical ideas that they espouse, the researcher will be able to justify their choice of research approach.

Creswell & Creswell (2018, p 45) summarises four widely discussed worldviews in literature

Figure 3.1: Four worldviews (Creswell & Creswell, 2018)

The ideas of constructivism, and social constructivism, stem from works by Berger & Luckmann (1967), Lincoln & Guba (1985), Crotty (1998), and more recently, Mertens (2010) and Lincoln (2011), to name but a few. Social constructivism informs qualitative research Among the guiding principles of social constructivism is the belief that individuals create meaning through interactions with others and environments, such as historical norms and cultural norms that operate in their lives as well as the specific contexts in which they are living and working In other words, they develop meanings of their experiences which are directed towards certain objects or things These meanings are varied and manifold, so researchers who follow social constructivism need to visit the context and gather information by themselves so as to understand the setting of the participants

Constructivism posits that knowledge is constructed, acknowledging the role of subjectivity, sign systems, and power relations in shaping perceptions (Meethan, 2011) This framework allows us to analyze how tourism artefacts, landscapes, and local lifestyles facilitate direct interaction with tourists, contributing to their constructed image of the destination through the consumption of symbolic meaning This interaction also accommodates the expression of tourists' sociolinguistic perspectives, enabling us to understand the communication and meaning-making processes between visitors and their chosen destinations.

As being mentioned above, constructivism informs qualitative research. The concept of qualitative research, by the words of Creswell & Creswell

The distinction between qualitative and quantitative research, while often focused on data analysis methods, hinges primarily on philosophical underpinnings, research strategies, and specific methods employed This study on travel blogs, though benefitting from a larger data pool for generalization, prioritizes in-depth qualitative analysis of both text and image data This approach allows for a thorough exploration of themes and patterns within a manageable database, ensuring a rich and nuanced interpretation of the data.

Qualitative research is inductive, with interpretations emerging from data and influenced by the researcher's perspective (Crotty, 1998) While this study lacked a cultural focus, interpretations occasionally considered Vietnamese cultural features and ideologies, highlighting the potential for cultural context to shape research findings.

In a nutshell, the social constructivism paradigm enabled the researcher of this study to extract the image of Vietnam as a tourism destination from the accumulated knowledge constructed in the posts of British bloggers While the bloggers had their personal experience of the trip, the larger meaning could emerge through the negotiation and comparison of their evaluation, which could be captured in their verbal narration and choices of photos on their blog posts

3.2.2 The case study research design

This study characterises itself as case study in that it describes an

This study examines British bloggers' travel experiences in Vietnam, analyzing their blog posts to understand how they described the events and their perspectives on the destination The research focuses on the reciprocal relationship between bloggers and their audience, where social capital motivates bloggers to share their travel narratives and advice By analyzing these narratives, the study aims to delve into the bloggers' unique gaze and appreciation of Vietnam.

The case study method delves into a specific, bounded system, examining a contemporary phenomenon such as a program, event, or individual (Merriam, 2009; Creswell & Creswell, 2018) Researchers collect detailed information over time, considering the case's location, time, concept, and other factors (Stake, 1995; Yin, 2009) Cases are embedded within a larger context, requiring researchers to engage directly with the source of information and its attributes.

Case study methodology is versatile and robust, accommodating quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods to address diverse research questions Its adaptability across disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, psychology, and business, highlights its scientific rigor and widespread application This "all-encompassing method" (Yin, 2009) allows for systematic study and description of phenomena within real-world contexts.

This case study focuses on seven British professional travel bloggers who documented their Vietnam travel experiences on their blog websites These bloggers were chosen because they are professional, earning income from their blogs, ensuring ethical practices and appropriate language for a general audience Their professional writing skills suggest careful language and visuals reflecting their genuine appreciation Additionally, their age range (25-45) indicates mature perspectives on social situations and responsible evaluation, aligning with their main audience, frequent internet users between 20 and 45.

To ensure authenticity and relevance, the study focused on travel blogs that met specific criteria Bloggers had to personally visit Vietnam, experiencing diverse regions firsthand to avoid biased perspectives Furthermore, posts included in the study were not commissioned by tourism providers, as indicated by disclaimers Lastly, all posts regarding Vietnam and its tourism experiences were chosen from 2014 onwards, offering up-to-date information for readers.

Case studies are particularly valuable when researchers have limited control over events, as they provide a detailed examination of a specific situation This approach allows researchers to gain deep insights into complex phenomena, even in situations where traditional experimental methods are not feasible.

& Hughes, 1995, p.317), the following ones make perfect sense with regards to this research:

 It is concerned with a rich and vivid description of events relevant to the case.

 It blends a description of events with the analysis of them

 It focuses on individual actors or groups of actors, and seeks to understand their perceptions of events

The “event” being dealt with in this study were the bloggers’ travels toVietnam, so it was of course out of control or manipulation of the researcher.The data collection consists of 21,062 words and 133 photos, which was manageable for the researcher while at the same time possible to provide rich materials to explore the bloggers’ description and perceptions of the country.This potentially richness and vividness were achieved by interweaving the analysis of texts and visuals in answering each research question and drawing out implications.

DATA COLLECTION AND PROCEDURES

Benzemer & Jewitt (2010) outline a four-step process for conducting multimodal research using a social semiotic approach While this methodology shares similarities with general ethnographic procedures employed in linguistics, such as those described by Erickson (1986), it offers a unique framework for analyzing the interplay of various modes of communication.

Green & Bloome (1997) highlight the systematic approach to meaning and representation in travel blogs Their research focuses on how different modes, particularly static texts and still images, are used to engage readers and foster social interaction This analysis is based on a study of blog posts from seven British professional travel bloggers.

Figure 3.2: Steps to collect multimodal data

Step 1: Collecting and logging data

This study focused on readily available travel blog content on web pages To manage the vast number of blogs, a matrix was created in Excel, summarizing key information about promising blogs These blogs were selected based on specific criteria, including the blogger's nationality, age, travel experience in Vietnam, blog content structure, and independence from commercial sponsorship.

In doing so, from the initial list of top 50 British travel blogs, the data log was narrowed to 12 promising blogs.

Repeated viewing of the data is crucial for multimodal analysis This involved multiple viewings of each Vietnam-related post in the narrowed list of travel blogs, allowing the researcher to closely examine the interplay between text and visuals By questioning the meaning of the text in relation to the images and layout, five blogs were removed due to insufficient Vietnam-specific content or reliance on external sources, leaving seven blogs for the study.

Analyzing data alongside logs, organized according to research questions, facilitates the development of analytical concepts, refines existing questions, generates new ones, and provides criteria for data sampling.

Analyzing multimodal travel blog data is challenging due to its richness Selecting relevant posts for analysis is crucial, focusing on those that detail the bloggers' experiences in Vietnam, offering itineraries or descriptions of their travels Posts must include both text and still images, excluding interactive media like videos or livestreams to avoid interfering with the visual interpretation This purposeful data sampling ensures the selected posts provide valuable insights into the bloggers' perspectives and experiences in Vietnam.

The researcher meticulously selected key features for analysis, ensuring their validity by repeatedly referencing the original data pool This process yielded a sample of 10 posts totaling 21,062 words and 133 still images.

Step 4: Transcribing data for analysing

While travel blog content is static, data security is paramount for analytical purposes To ensure data integrity, travel blog pages were captured as they appear online, with post content copied into separate files Images were included in two ways: alongside corresponding text in the master data file, and in a separate folder preserving original resolution and size.

A summary of word counts and photo counts from each blog is presented hereafter.

Table 3.1: Summary of word and photo counts

The researcher was aware that there might be a question of whether or not it was necessary to contact the travel bloggers in order to gain their consent to use the blog contents for research purpose Considering the nature of the study and several related factors, it was decided that by following a set of guidelines suggested by Stainton and Iordanova (2017), this web-based study could ensure research ethics without having to gain informed consent from the bloggers.

This study analyzes travel blogs written by professional bloggers, who publish their content publicly While the nature of travel blogging is public, the distinction between private and public spaces depends on the blog's purpose Professional bloggers, who monetize their content, are aware that their writing exists in the public domain and may be used for non-commercial research, with the condition of anonymity.

Besides, this current study on travel blogs fell into the category of non- intrusive web-based research (Kitchin, 2007) in the sense that there was no interaction between the participants and the researcher, and the research relies solely on the analysis of data available on the webpages The study took travel blog posts as its subject, with the blog contents acting as a primary data source for research While they are written by human participants, the posts are in the public domain and is thus not human data (ESRC, 2012, as cited in Stainton & Iordanova, 2017, p.3) Therefore, it is not required to adopt the same standardised regulations to collect human data in this study

To ensure data integrity and ethical research practices, the study carefully screened travel bloggers' profiles to exclude any members of vulnerable communities Robust data security measures were employed to protect the information gathered from blog posts, guaranteeing accurate and reliable findings during analysis.

On journeying this dissertation, the researcher conducted two stages of pilot study At stage 1, the work was entitled “Vietnam in the Eyes of

British Bloggers: An Analysis from Multimodal Approach”, the report of which was presented in 2017 Viettesol International Conference The second one entitled “Good Morning Hanoi!: A Multimodal Analysis of Travel

Blog Posts by British Travellers” was published in 2018 International

This graduate research symposium showcased works grounded in Halliday's Systemic Functional Linguistics theory and its visual analysis extension, Kress and van Leewen's Grammar of Visual Design, highlighting significant theoretical and practical implications for both stages of the research.

This study, titled "Vietnam in the Eyes of British Bloggers: An Analysis from Multimodal Approach," employed a multimodal analysis approach to explore the perspectives of British travel bloggers on Vietnam It utilized a descriptive case study methodology with differentiating comparative analysis as the primary data collection and analysis tool The study focused on two blog posts by British travel bloggers, Vicky (33, female) and Audrey (female), recounting their personal experiences with leisure and heritage travel in Vietnam.

Analysis was performed on text types and four qualities of still images (Participants, Focalization, Social Distance, and Modality markers) in order to find out the themes under which Vietnam is described, and how the texts and images in the examined travel blog posts contributed to the description of such themes.

ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE STUDY

This study employed content analysis of multimodal data, utilizing evaluative adjectives to assess appreciation values and still images to explore interactive meanings, focusing on contact, social distance, attitude, and markers of modality This analytical framework aimed to analyze these linguistic and visual resources within the study's conceptual framework.

3.4.1 Analysing appreciation values in evaluative adjectives

The chart below presents representative adjectives for each sub-types of Appreciation

Figure 3.5: Sub-types of Appreciation (Martin & White, 2005, p 56)

Martin & White (2005) suggest a coding system to mark appreciation

+ “positive” - “negative” reac qual imp

“appreciation: reaction” quality impact comp bal compl

“appreciation: composition” balance complexity val “appreciation: valuation”

These codes, such as +reac, -val, +qual/-qual, +imp/-imp, +bal/-bal, +compl/-compl, and +val/-val, represent a detailed system for analyzing reactions, evaluations, and other aspects of a text This system allows researchers to systematically categorize and interpret various elements within an extract.

… Delicious street food… … slurped on hearty beef Pho… many street cafés on Pho Bat Dan … My first Vietnamese iced coffee (super strong, so delicious!) (B4 ) resulted in a table as follows.

Table 3.2: Sample analysis of appreciation (Tran, 2018)

Food Delicious street food +val

Hearty beef Pho Supper strong coffee

According to Martin & White (2015), it's important to differentiate between inherently negative feelings and grammatically negated positive feelings For instance, "sad" is inherently negative ("-hap"), while "not happy" should be coded as "neg +hap" to reflect its grammatical structure.

This research analyzed adjectives used to describe Vietnam tourism as appreciation resources, categorizing them into four sociolinguistic perspectives (Dann, 1996, 2007a, 2007b) to understand their frequency and order.

(2018) points out in her research that authenticity is exposed in the travellers’ narration of the places they went, the food they ate and people they met The use of adjectives to show valuation and impact in these themes suggests an indicator of authenticity.

3.4.2 Analysing interactive meanings in still images

Since images in a blog post can combine with verbal description to tell the blogger’s appreciation of the destination, the analysis of images typically focused on answering these questions:

- What are the represented participants in the images?

- What message(s) – interactive meanings would the blogger like to send to the audience via their choices of images?

The identification of represented participants in the images depend largely on what has been previously described verbally (appraising items). For example, following her verbal description of Vietnamese food, “The almighty and delicious Pho – my favourite meal in Vietnam”, B7 posts this photo:

Figure 3.6: Example analysis of represented participants

The level of detail included in a visual description depends on the connection between the verbal description and the image's content In this image, featuring two bowls of Chicken Pho, beverages, and assorted ingredients, we focus on the closer bowl as the primary participant By analyzing the interactive meanings encoded in this image, we can explore Vicky's perception of Pho as "almighty and delicious."

Identifying interactive meanings in still images hinges on analyzing contact, social distance, and attitude This involves examining elements like gaze, shot distance, angle, and other modality markers Examples of these properties in action can be found in the work of Kress & van Leeuwen (2006, p.148).

Figure 3.7 Realizations of interactive properties (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006)

When applying such codes, a report of analysis of these resources in a still image would read like this.

Figure 3.8: Example analysis of Interactive meanings

[Researcher’s analysis: (1) Contact – Image Act: Demand, Gaze: Direct; (2) Social Distance – Size of frame: Close shot; (3) Attitude – Subjective/Involvement: Horizontal & frontal angle; (4) Modality – Colour: full colour saturation]

The animate represented participant in this photo is the blogger herself She is looking directly at the viewer, her left hand holding a skewer of Vietnamese grilled pork and her right hand a fresh spring roll The inanimate represented participants in the forefront are the skewer of grilled pork and fresh spring roll The direct gaze from the human participant, which shows a high degree of engagement, together with her large smile, invite viewers to enter into an imaginary social relation with the blogger and to acceed to her invitation of sampling new food The close shot, showing the head and shoulders of the subject, express a friendly relation between the blogger and the viewer This is confirmed by the choice of the horizotal and frontal angle for the photo, which projects a message of inclusion, and the full colour saturation which shows high modality or high level of reality being displayed in the image All in all, the image places the viewers and the represented participants in a close relation: the viewers are invited to step into the world of the animate represented participant and share the joy for Vietnamese foods with her. This complements what she later on writes about Vietnamese cuisine (“ Fresh, flavourful, healthy, filling – what else do you need in a meal?”).

This article explores how interactive elements within still images were integrated with accompanying text to create a unified narrative By analyzing both the text and visual elements, we uncover meaningful patterns that are informative, expressive, and emotionally engaging.

This framework outlines the qualitative content analysis of multimodal data, focusing on specific qualities and incorporating computer tools when necessary It details steps 4, 5, 6, and 7 of the data collection and analysis procedure, providing a visual representation in Figure 3.6.

Figure 3.10: The analytical framework of the study

This research used a coding system to analyze text and image data from Vietnamese travel blogs Thematic analysis was conducted on both text and images, identifying key domains related to Vietnam travel These domains were then used to categorize and describe specific instances, utilizing tools like POS Tagger and Martin & White's instructional toolkit to analyze appreciation values The analysis of still images focused on contact, social distance, and attitude, connecting these codes to the main themes Finally, the interrelationship of appreciation values in the text and interactive qualities of images informed the formulation of the destination image and its sociolinguistic features This included considering positive/negative appreciation values and instances of offer/demand, power degrees, orientation, involvement, and engagement.

3.4.4 Potentials and limitations of conducting research multimodally

Multimodal studies, influenced by Halliday's social semiotic theory, are characterized by their eclectic nature, drawing on cognitive and socio-cultural research This approach to multimodality is still in its developmental stages, with ongoing research focusing on theory, transcription, description, and analytic processes.

There are certain limitations to multimodal analysis, especially in striking a balance in its scope and scale For example, the challenge of paying excessive attention to multiple modes at once may take away opportunities to understand how a particular mode is working Meanwhile, when too much attention is paid to a single mode, the researcher may run the risk of looking into just one of many ways in which people make meaning Also, multimodal analysis focuses on micro-interaction, and therefore questions of how the analysis can be generalized to answer larger questions about culture and society are often raised

Multimodal analysis, when integrated with social theory and contextual considerations, can overcome its inherent limitations and offer a richer understanding of human meaning-making By bridging the gap between social and semiotic perspectives, multimodal techniques have the potential to expand our knowledge of how meaning is constructed.

SUMMARY

In short, this chapter has stated the context for the study to be conducted and provided justifications to the choice of its research approach, which include the social constructivism as the research paradigm, qualitative case study as the research design, content analysis as the research method, and social semiotic viewpoint to multimodality as the ground for an analytical framework of multimodal data in travel writing The collection and treatment of multimodal data from travel blogs were explained, together with a description of the procedure for data collection and analysis.

An essential issue that has been explored and justified in this chapter was why content analysis was chosen as the strategy to bring out meaningful findings from the data pool As Krippendorff (2004) and Smith (2010) remark, content analysis can involve the observation and interpretation of the text by coding and grouping words or images into categories or themes defined by the researcher, a more subjective technique As a result, content analysis can be either empirical, by means of counting words or phrases or measuring observable text qualities like ad spaces and photos in printed materials (Smith, 2010); or subjective, by means of encouraging the readers to make sense of what is written The meaning of a text is dependent on the surrounding environment and the reader (Krippendorff, 2004), and therefore, it is the researcher’s role to infer meaning from texts while taking the research context and objectives into account

Finally, a thorough elaboration on the development of the analytical framework to conduct content analysis on multimodal data from travel blogs was presented The study expected to investigate British travel bloggers’ portrayal of Vietnam as a tourism destination which rooted from their experience of touring the country The construction of a destination image of the country would be based on the aspects of the country that the bloggers gazed at and the degrees of appreciation they had about Vietnam as a tourism destination in each aspect, and the interaction between texts and still images in realising their appreciation The portrayal of the country also helped explain which sociolinguistic features were prominent in the given blog posts,and how texts and still images have co-contributed to the exhibition of such features.

THE BLOGGERS’ GAZE AT AND APPRECIATION OF VIETNAM

ASPECTS OF VIETNAM BEING GAZED AT BY THE BLOGGERS

4.1.1 An initial sketch of the country

Bloggers B1 through B7 began their Vietnamese adventures in either Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, highlighting these vibrant metropolises as ideal starting points for exploring nearby regions such as the Mekong Delta.

Travel bloggers who visited Vietnam, exploring destinations like Ha Long Bay and Sapa, unanimously recommended extended stays to fully experience the country's beauty and immerse themselves in its culture Their itineraries ranged from a week to six weeks, and each blogger highlighted the value of taking their time to fully appreciate the unique offerings of each destination.

All the 10 studied blog posts in the data collection started with a brief introduction about Vietnam before presenting an account of their trips and/ or describing different aspects of the country A scan of adjectives being present at the beginning of each post shows that all bloggers portrayed Viet Nam as a vibrant place which feature diversity.

Vietnam is a magical place, with so much culture and cool things to do (B7)

… bustling Saigon….the lush vegetation of the Mekong Delta, … the charming town of Hoi An … chaotic Hanoi with its distinct French flair, … the beautiful hillside town of Sapa… (B1)

…chaotic streets of Ho Chi Minh, and Hanoi, Vietnam’s deep history, delicious food,… one of the world’s most pristine natural wonders, Ha Long Bay… (B3)

… an interesting place with bustling cities, floating markets, terraced green rice fields and white sandy beaches (B6)

Contrasting adjectives, such as "bustling" and "lush," highlight the duality of Vietnam, showcasing both its vibrant energy and natural beauty Furthermore, bloggers' carefully selected title photos contribute to the initial impression of the country.

Table 4.1: The title photos of the blog posts

Ho Chi Minh City Post Office (B7) Vietnamese lifestyle (B1)

A woman in Ninh Binh (B5) Dawn in Lagoon, Hue (B3)

Japanese Bridge in Hoi An (B6)

While bloggers B3 and B7 relied on stock photos, the remaining five bloggers showcased original or edited images These photographs, featuring both representatives and interactive participants, highlight Vietnam's multifaceted identity From bustling city life (B7) to tranquil countryside scenes (B5), from cultural traditions (B1) to scenic landscapes (B3, B4, B6), and even the national flag (B4), these images capture the country's rich diversity and unique characteristics.

Vietnam's blog posts presented a captivating blend of contrasts, hinting at a destination rich in discovery for travelers willing to explore and delve deeper into its complexities.

4.1.2 Domains of the tourist gaze

This research employed qualitative content analysis, supplemented by statistical analysis, to explore the aspects of Vietnam highlighted by travel bloggers Analyzing both text and still images, the study utilized computational tools to identify keywords and their frequencies, as well as POS tagging By analyzing the concordances of keywords, particularly adjectives, researchers confirmed their use in presenting and appreciating the bloggers' perspectives This analysis revealed five key aspects frequently mentioned in the blog posts: places to visit (including destinations and specific locations), activities to do, food to try, local life to contemplate, and accommodation options.

First, the key word processing action performed on cleansed data has returned the following list of 71 keywords

Table 4.2: List of keywords from the database

Concordancers enabled the researcher to identify keywords within their lexical sets and analyze their context related to tourism For instance, "clothe" (lemma for clothes/clothing) appeared alongside "markets," "shopping," and "tailored" in Hoi An, while "sightsee" was found in phrases like "go + sightseeing" and "[time] best + for sightseeing."

“sightseeing in + [place] This represents activities that the bloggers did when they were at the destinations Similarly, “chaotic” goes with “streets”,

“vendors” in “Ho Chi Minh”, “Hanoi”, which represents the bloggers’ evaluation of traffic and the local life Other topics that stem from keywords and concordances analysis include food, destinations, and accommodation

By means of counting word frequency, a ranking list was produced,with the highest count for the word “Vietnam” This is easy to understand because Vietnam is the overall key word that characterises these blog posts.Removing “Vietnam” and cleansing the database out of functional words, the researcher came up with a list of top 50 words/ phrases being most mentioned The bar chart below visualises the 50 words/ phrases in highest frequency.

Figure 4.1: 50 most frequent words/ phrases in the database

The rank of frequency indicates that three most mentioned words are Hoi An, Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City Ha Long Bay and Nha Trang were addressed many times, too This means “destinations” is the most frequently named in the database Similarly, words like food, drink, cuisine, pho, coffee and beer can be categorised as discussing the “Food” theme Streets, in their concordances, were all about the traffic and lifestyle of local people (e.g. colourful/ busy/ smelly/ crazy streets), so “streets” was arranged to the “Local life” theme When these top frequent words/ phrases were grouped according to themes, an interestingly consistent list of topics being discussed in the travel blog posts was found.

Figure 4.2: Percentages of words/phrases by themes

The keyword list and the frequency ranking list suggest that to these bloggers, topics in discussion range from places to see (e.g Hoi An, Ha Noi,

Ho Chi Minh City, beach, market, museum, temple, etc.), activities to do (sightseeing, cooking classes, shop, etc.), local life to gaze at (motorbike, culture, local people), food to try (food, coffee, pho, beer) to accommodation (hotel, homestay) There are adjectives and verbs that denote the travellers’ evaluation of these (delicious, good [food], beautiful [scenery], crazy [traffic], fascinating [country, history]) together with their travel advice

A further quantitative analysis using a language tagger tool to label the text in the database with the appropriate parts of speech was performed so as to investigate the use of adjectives It was found out that there are 256 adjectives, many of which were used repeatedly and contributed to 1162 counts of total occurrence in the database Among these, 124 are evaluative adjectives, which accounts for 48% of the total number of adjectives This proportion of evaluative adjectives is comparable to the figures for many tourism promotional texts, indicating that evaluative adjectives can offer meaningful insights into the tourist gaze and appreciation of the tourism destinations.

When taking the collection of still images shown on the blog posts into consideration, a consistent correlation was revealed with regards to the topics of gaze between the photos in use and the text body The table and the column chart below provide a summary of photo distribution by bloggers and by themes It is notable that photos of places might contain local people or the bloggers doing some activities, and so the number of photos as pictured in the charts comprise more counts than there are actually in the database

The table summarizes the use of still images by each blogger in their blog posts

Table 4.3: Photo distribution, by bloggers

The bloggers in activity Food Local people Accommodation

The column chart illustrates how many photos of each theme were found on the nine blog posts.

Figure 4.3: Photo distribution, by themes

The order of photo distribution for each theme correlates positively with that of lexis frequency rank, showing that places (destinations) is the most commonly appreciated topic, followed by activities that the bloggers experienced at the destination, lifestyle of the local people, local cuisine and finally accommodation At this point, it can be concluded that the British bloggers in question were portraying Vietnam as a tourism destination by presenting their gaze at five aspects: (1) places/ destinations, (2) activities,

(3) food, (4) local life and (5) accommodation On presenting their gaze, the bloggers make use of such linguistics devices as evaluative adjectives and still images

4.1.3 Instances of the gazed domains

Qualitative content analysis of the text database shows further information about each domain

THE BLOGGERS’S APPRECIATION OF THE GAZED

The ratio between images and words is 133 : 21,062 In other words, still images act as evidences of “been there, done that” to clarify the textual account This section takes the initial sketch of the country that were presented in 4.1.1.1 as the springboard for diving deep into the positive and negative appreciation of which the seven travel bloggers expressed Such appreciations were uncovered by analysing evaluative adjectives and the interactive features of still images The section is structured around the five aspects of Vietnam as found in 4.1.1.2, with specific adjective and image evidence being worked on as intertwined entities

4.2.1 Appreciation of places to see

In general, all bloggers complimented Vietnam on its amazing landscape Ranking top in the frequency list are words about destinations, such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh city (and/ or Saigon), Hoi An, Ha Long, Nha

Trang, Sa Pa, Hue, Phu Quoc, Beach, Market, Boat, Lake, Da Lat, MeKong (River Delta) The travellers also advised places of interests like pagoda, waterfall, [War] Remnant [Museum], lantern [night in Hoi An], lush [green rice terrace/ vegetation], temple, puppet (theatre), cathedral In all places, sightseeing and eating were recommended Other activities were suggested for specific destinations.

Analysis of the text database shows that although Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) came second and third in the frequency list, it was Hoi

An and Ha Long Bay that were the two most favourite places, being praised by all travellers in all respects HCMC was appreciated positively for their traits of a cosmopolitan, but negatively for the busy, messy and dusty characters Nha Trang and Phu Quoc, though being complimented on the beach quality, were given lower scores than their Thailand counterparts Sapa, Hue and Da Lat were mostly appraised positively by travellers who visited them, albeit minor negative values Hanoi and Nha Trang received higher counts of negative appreciation than other destinations in the list It is also well worth noting that the “chaotic” feature of Hanoi, though marked as negative composition, does not necessarily express negative appreciation of the travellers Instead of feeling uneased by the chaos, most travellers found it a characteristic of this city, and were happy to gradually emerge themselves in such chaos

Adjectives expressing valuation, composition and reaction variables are found in this theme “Beautiful” and “unique”, for example, are confirmation of quality (the answer to the question “did I like it?”) and value (the answer to the question “was it worthwhile?”), while “different” exhibits the composition balance property (the answer to the question “did it hang together?”). Examples of appreciated destinations can be seen in the table below.

Hoi An charming town (B1) probably one of the prettiest towns (B2)

+imp+qual+imp the exotic orient that we Westerners dream of discovering

Colourful, Enchanting, Quaint (B4) the most relaxing part of my trip (B6)

Bay the most beautiful place in the world (B7) the natural marvel (B1) this magical landscape (B4) Spectacular, Memorable, Unique (B4)

+qual +val +val +imp, +val,

Sapa The scenery we saw was truly breathtaking (B1)

[Citadel gardens are] beautiful (B5) breath-taking valley of lush green rice terraces (B4)

Da Lat a completely different side of Vietnam (B2)

Phu Quoc The water is gorgeous … amazing sunset (B2) a beautiful beach on the Southern part of the island (B3)

Crazy city life (B7) bustling Saigon (B1) [Mekong Delta] … astonishing wildlife…

Buzzing (B5) Cosmopolitan, Crazy, Fast-paced (B4)

Trang crazy party life (B7) [Nha Trang] doesn’t offer much in terms of culture (B1) a fairly decent city beach and nightlife (B2) touristy, characterless (B4)

Hanoi I didn’t feel very inspired to go out … (B1) chaotic Hanoi with its distinct French flair neg +val-comp, +imp

… isn’t the most friendly or relaxing place to start your travels…

Chaotic, Fascinating, Exotic (B4) Hanoi is a tough city to love (B6)

+qual neg +imp neg +comp, +val, +val, +comp -comp

The two most favoured destinations, Hoi An and Ha Long Bay, were appreciated for different characteristics While Hoi An received positive impact and quality reactions for its cultural richness, Ha Long Bay was loved for its natural beauty, with evaluative adjectives mostly showed the invaluable beauty of the destination Other places that were appreciated for natural beauty include Sa Pa and Phu Quoc Sa Pa was on the breath-taking side of a mountainous character that left great impact on the bloggers; on the contrary, Phu Quoc was complimented on its spectacular ocean feels As for the rest destinations, there were mixed appreciations Hue city, although valued for its historic nature, received negative appreciation in terms of its commerciality, which was attributed to the crowded cafes, street entertainments and market vendors along the Perfume River at night Meanwhile, the two biggest cities in Vietnam, Ha Noi and HCMC shared common negative appreciation for their hustle and bustle, together with hygienic problems in certain areas but possessed distinguished features to be appreciated positively HCMC leaves a strong and consistent impact of a “crazy” city life that is moving very fast while Hanoi has got a distinct flair of culture and history being earthed under a messy, chaotic and, sometimes, indifferent cover As noted by B4 and B6, at first, they did not find Hanoi a friendly place; however, after two days in the city, they fell in love with it and enjoyed discovering the fun contrast characteristics of Hanoi.

When scanning for what collocated with the four most used evaluative adjectives that the bloggers used to describe the places (beautiful, chaotic, amazing, spectacular), the following constructions were found They contributed to the evaluative meaning-making process of these travel blogs.

Figure 4.4 shows that the adjective [beautiful] was used in collocation with both destinations and places of interest in each destination The construction could be in the form of [beautiful] + [destination], such as [beautiful] ancient town, beautiful Hanoi and HCMC, beautiful city of Hue, beautiful Ha Long Bay, beautiful hillside town (Sa Pa), beautiful Da Lat; beautiful lake, ocean road, beach, scenery, pagoda, boutique room; or [destination] be [beautiful], such as Da Lat, the garden, the assembly hall + [be] + [beautiful] All destinations were complimented as “beautiful” by the travel bloggers.

According to figure 4.5, [chaotic] was collocated with [Ho Chi Minh City], [Ha Noi], [streets] of HCM and Hanoi], [the old town] and [the Old quarter] It is obvious that according to the travel bloggers, HCMC and Ha Noi were characterised as being in chaos, especially in the old town areas

According to figure 4.6, [amazing] was collocated with three aspects namely places, activities and food For places, the constructions include [amazing] [landscape], [sunset], [view] For food, it was [amazing] [food], [restaurants], and [Vietnamese cuisine] For activities, [amazing] was combined with [cruising] and [make spring rolls] It can be seen that the travel bloggers gave positive impact reaction to the places, activities and food of Vietnam with this adjective

According to figure 4.7, the two aspects that collocate with [spectacular] are places and food For places, the constructions include [spectacular] [coastal road], [landscape], [views] For food, it was [spectacular] [food]

It could be noticed that apart from beautiful and chaotic that were dedicated to expressing evaluation of places, the other two adjectives ( amazing and spectacular ) were also used to show appreciation of other clusters “Amazing” for example, appeared 12 times in total but made only five sets of words for landscapes and places Similarly, “spectacular” was used to describe places in four constructions, and the rest was for food This is common because an evaluative adjectivisation can be loosely constructed.

Accompanying verbal description and evaluation of places/ destinations encoded in the use of adjectives, still images play an indispensable part in helping the audience of blogs to visualise the destinations Photos of places without the co-presence of people accounted for the largest number and appeared in all posts There are 57 photos which fit in this category, all of which were taken in long shot, from a far or very far distance, from low or eye-level angles Here are two outstanding examples with analysis added by the researcher.

Table 4.7: Analysis of the “Cathedral” photo

(1) Contact - Image Act: Offer (Information), Gaze: Direct;

(2) Social Distance – Size of frame: Long shot;

(3) Attitude – Objective Image: Low angle (showing action orientation);

(4) Modality – Contextualisation: Absence of background]

The photograph of St Joseph's Cathedral at Christmas time captures the entirety of the building, utilizing a long shot from a low angle The frontal angle creates a direct gaze, conveying authenticity and presenting the cathedral as it truly is The absence of human figures in the image eliminates the need for viewer interaction, and there is no depicted action This creates a social relationship where viewers are provided information about a place of interest, confirming its beauty.

Table 4.8: Analysis of the “Citadel” photo

(1) Contact - Image Act: Offer (Information), Gaze: Direct (degrees of engagement);

(2) Social Distance – Size of frame: Long shot (Impersonal);

(3) Attitude – Objective Image: Frontal angle (showing action orientation);

The photo of the Hue Citadel, captured with a wide-angle lens from a distance, presents a fully represented yet distant view of the inanimate participant The indirect angle and lack of human presence create a sense of detachment, suggesting the photographer's potential unfamiliarity with the subject This distance between the viewer and the represented world encourages passive admiration, inviting viewers to appreciate the Citadel's architectural beauty while maintaining a respectful distance.

This photo may be an evidence to confirm that the place in description is “amazing”.

Many other examples of Place photos in the database with similar descriptions could be formed The ones listed below could demonstrate this kind of consistency in place photos.

Table 4.9: More examples of place photos

(P3 – B6) City view from Chill SkyBar, HCMC

RECAP OF FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS

Professional travel bloggers B1 through B7 frequently feature Vietnam on their blogs, offering detailed trip narratives and insightful advice for future travelers Their posts, often monetized through affiliate links for accommodations and transportation, also include hyperlinks to related content, allowing readers to explore in-depth information and interact with the bloggers through comments This comprehensive approach ensures a transparent portrayal of tourism destinations, enabling readers to cross-check information and connect directly with the bloggers.

The table below summarises the use of evaluative adjectives for appreciation of different domains in the portrayal of Vietnam.

Table 4.21: Most frequently used evaluative adjectives, by domains

Rank Adjectives Freq Places Activities Food Lifestyle Accom

Findings from research questions 1 show that Vietnam was generally portrayed as a country of identity and diversity The five aspects being gazed at that construct the destination image include (1) Places to visit; (2)Activities to do; (3) Food to try; (4) Local life to contemplate; and (5)Accommodation to stay.

The "Places to visit" category in the dataset primarily evoked positive emotional responses, as evidenced by the frequent use of adjectives like "beautiful," "amazing," and "spectacular." Photos of landscapes were often captured from medium or long distances, employing frontal or slightly oblique angles at low or eye-level perspectives, further emphasizing the visual appeal of these locations.

The article utilized descriptive language to paint a vivid picture of the locations, employing superlatives like "spectacular." The "Activities to do" section showcased a variety of evaluative adjectives, with strong terms like "massive" used to emphasize the scale and intensity of the experiences.

“exhilarating”, “fantastic”, which generally expresses positive impact reaction and compositional appreciation value to the activities Photos of the bloggers in activities were taken in medium or close shot, from top-down or low angle, in frontal view They may intentionally or unintentionally create a connection between the bloggers (as the animate represented participants) and the viewers, invite the viewers to observe the activity and make decision to join the activity The third category, Food to try, featured an overwhelming use of “delicious” to appreciate the local cuisine Besides “delicious”, which carried a positive quality reaction value, the other three evaluative adjectives were used “Amazing” and “spectacular” expressed a positive impact reaction, while “cheap” expressed a positive valuation to the appraised items. Photos of this category were taken in medium or close shot, mostly top-down, with frontal view or from the side view, always in full detail with the food being in the forefront They expressed an offer of information and an invitation to the viewers for stepping in and try out the food The final two categories, Local life to contemplate and Accommodation to stay, presented mixed degrees of appreciation While traffic and street vendors were appreciated negatively with adjectives like “crazy, mad, chaotic” and

“frustrating” that show negative composition value, local people were complimented for being “friendly, helpful”, the positive valuation feature of appreciation, and prices were “cheap”, which is also positive valuation. Accommodation was mostly complimented as “clean and modern” (positive composition) and “cheap” (positive valuation) Photos in these two categories show an absence of the travel bloggers from the daily activities of the locals and at the accommodation While the photos provided detailed pictures of the local life and accommodation, they also expressed a refusal of the travel bloggers to step in and act as a local

Such findings of this research mostly support those of Luong (2019) and Loi & Sentosa (2014) which point out that there are both positive and negative attributes of Vietnam’s image in the eyes of international tourists. Luong (2019) also stated that food (and fruits), places of interest (both natural and man-made), local people, shopping for local products were what left good impressions on the tourism clients while transportation gained negative comments He also emphasised that traffic was perceived as a both positive and negative trait of the country However, while Luong addressed Hanoi as the most referred destination, in this study, it was Hoi An which earned the highest mentions Another point is that while Luong (2019) and Loi & Sentosa (2014) commented that the infrastructure in Vietnam was poorly developed, there was no negative appreciation of the bloggers in this research on infrastructure On the contrary, airports, buses and accommodation were appraised for being “modern”

The findings above brought about a number of implications, especially to the issue of travellers’ visit and re-visit decisions to a destination On discussing travellers’ motivational factors for visiting and revisiting a destination, researchers define several “push” and “pull” forces The push factors can be connected to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which focuses on five levels of human motivation, namely Physiological needs, Safety needs, Love and Belonging needs, Self-esteem, and Self-actualization By understanding such needs and demands, we can work out the reasons why tourists would choose to revisit or reject coming back to a destination. Besides, the escape from a perceived humdrum environment, discovery and appraisal of self, relaxation, prestige, regression, enhancement of kinship bonds, and facilitation of social interaction are all parts of socio-psychological or push motives These all make up the intrinsic motivations that push one to travel For the bloggers in question of this study, possibly the intrinsic motivation for their travel to Vietnam lies in their demand to explore and evaluate of themselves, as well as a search for relaxation Facilitation of social interactions can be observed because the bloggers were eager to take part in crafting workshops and cultural classes at the destination, and some of them even mixed with local people in open-air café and beer shop However,the type of social interaction that they ultimately aim for was between them and their blog readers The pull factors, which are more exposed in the travel blogs being concerned, have been described as those which are the features or attributes of the destination to serve as an attraction to tourist Novelty functions as the cultural pull factors Tourist evaluations of destination characteristics and their perceived utility values have become an essential component in destination selection (Woodside & Martin, 2008, p.18-19) It can be seen from the findings that pull factors for the bloggers’ travelling toVietnam (and re-travelling) are what elements of Viet Nam attributes to influence foreign tourists to visit this place They are rich cultures and local ways of life at each of the destinations on their journey, delicious local cuisine, extremely reasonable price and even exotically disordered traffic.These findings can bring about beneficial implications to tourism stakeholders.

THE BLOGGERS’ PORTRAYAL OF VIETNAM FROM

AUTHENTICITY EXPRESSED IN THE BLOG POSTS’ TEXT AND IMAGES

To recall, MacCannel (1989) suggests that tourists travel in the search of a sense of authenticity that they could not otherwise experience in their home life Therefore, any instances that make the experience “truly” or

“typical” of Vietnam is an expression of authenticity A pronounced perspective emerging from this multimodal data collection, Authenticity is exposed in the travel bloggers’ narration of the places they went, the activities they took part in, the food they had and the people they came into contact with

In general, the adjectival structures that express authenticity often include adjectives with positive impact reaction and positive quality reaction, The adjectival phrases which serve as indicators of authenticity in this aspect consist of adjectives like “unique”, “local”, “truly”, and adverbs like “really”. The table below provides some extracts from the data collection.

Table 5.1: Examples of adjectivals for places’ authenticity

…It was pretty, and very interesting (B4)

…a really beautiful and relaxing island (B7)

… the colourful traditions of the local cultures (B4)

… a magical place, with so much culture (B7)

“Unique” was used twice for appraising the authenticity of Ha Long Bay and four times for commenting on activities For example, they described the Water puppet show to be “unique”, shops with “unique souvenirs in Hoi

An, and a “unique” coffee shop which is no ordinary at all “Typical” is another adjective to exhibit authenticity, which was found in collocation with

Ranking top in the database was the adjective “local” which appeared

18 times, 6 times of which were in collocate with [cultures], [places] For example, the common appreciating item with “local” were local markets, local fishing market, and local culture More collocations with “local” were found for food and the Vietnamese ways of life Here is an example of concordance output with “local”.

Apart from six constructions of [local] + [place/ culture], the rest 12 were for [beer], [street food], [way of life], [woman], and [service/ transport].

It is interesting to see that the travel bloggers did give positive recommendations about the local service in Vietnam, however it was not much to be included as the key aspects for analysis

In terms of adverbs, “really” was used 22 times to intensifying the meaning of the adjectives going with it, but only once for the category of places, including “a really beautiful and relaxing island” The rest of the instances need further consultation with the other parts in the text to decide that they are sending a message of what Vietnam is like The finding is that

“really” intensifies the bloggers’ liking of the travel (15 times), “cheap prices”

(3 times), “activity” (2 times) and “good hotel” (1 time”) “Truly” appeared once, in combination with “delicious food” Other adverbs like “extremely” and “super” in combination with “friendly and helpful” to describe local people were another indicator of the authentic experience that the travel bloggers were describing to their audience about the country

It is worth noting that other important words expressing authenticity like authentic, true, pure, genuine did not appear in the data collection. However, when viewing the data multiple times, the researcher came up with other phrases and sentences that describe authenticity, such as “I loved seeing that piece of Vietnamese culture” (B3)

Photos of places, the travellers in activities, and food also indicated the authenticity that were described verbally, and to some extent, even had a louder say in the exhibition of this characteristics The photos of places , for example, which had a frontal view and a medium or long shot, were taken at eye-level or from a high angle, and supplied full details with maximum representation of the place could represent the authenticity.

Let’s take a look at the following example analysis.

Table 5.2: Authenticity in “bridge” photo

The old bridge, Ha noi (P28-B7)

(1) Contact - Image Act: Offer (information), Gaze: Absence;

(2) Social Distance – Size of frame: Long shot (impersonal relation);

(3) Attitude – Subjective Image: Eye- level angle;

The inanimate represented participant in this photo is the Long Bien bridge in Ha Noi There is an absence of the animate represented participant, and so as the gaze This leaves the image act to be of information offering value instead of demanding an action from the viewer The long shot with wide camera makes it possible for the viewers to see the length of the bridge as if they were seeing it in reality The eye-level angle expresses an equality between the viewers and the represented participant The high resolution brings about a maximum representation of the bridge The frontal angle makes it at the centre of the gaze, and so brings it to the focus of the viewers. The viewers were invited to observe it in detail and consume a place which was unique to Vietnam.

It is notable that though the photo had a lot to tell the viewers, the text that accompanied it simply noted a list of suggested places of interest inHanoi instead of making any comment about the bridge itself The scenario may be because blogger B7, like other bloggers, perceived Hanoi as a place of contrast, and a combination of new energy under an old cover, and she unintentionally shared her perceptions with others This is one way that a taste of authenticity, or the trademark of a destination, could be spread to prospect travellers.

Photos of the bloggers in activities, for example taking part in a cooking culture class or rowing, and photos of local foods, presented the clearest representation of authenticity These photos were often in medium or close shot, taken from either low or high angle The medium or close shot featured a social or personal relation, while the high angle presented an imaginary power of the viewers over the activities that the bloggers were taking part in As such, the viewers were invited to observe the activities and consider taking up the activities with the bloggers The analysis with one of the food photos below will illustrate these comments in more detail.

Table 5.3: Authenticity in “food” photo

Vietnamese steamed bun with crispy fried chicken at the Ben Thanh Food Market, HCMC

(2) Social Distance – Size of frame: Very close shot (personal relation);

(3) Attitude – Subjective Image: High angle;

(4) Modality – Representation: Full representation, in the forefront]

The inanimate represented participant in the photo was a a kind of bun that blogger B4 tried at Ben Thanh Food Market The bun was placed in the forefront, with its crispy fried chicken, herbs and sauce being in the centre of the atraction The photo was taken top-down, which suggests the viewers to be at a dominant position to the bun , The close shot and full of details of the photo aims to show the bun in detailed description so as to encourage the viewers to give it a try because it is “local” and “delicious”

Although the blogger did not appear in the photo, she was in fact holding a stick, which helped to keep the fillings in place and signalled that this was how the local people would keep it and eat it, and that the blogger herself was going to consume it Therefore, the absence of the direct gaze of the animate represented participants (here blogger B4) could be compensated by her implied instructions on how to keep the bun and eat it By doing so, the blogger was making an announcement to the viewers that she was there, in Ben Thanh Food Market, and was trying the local food in the same the way as the locals This is how “ authenticity ” was exhibited through the photos of food.

STRANGERHOOD EXPRESSED IN THE BLOG POSTS’ TEXT AND IMAGES

Dann (1996) defines strangerhood as the search for strangeness and new experiences of tourists On a blog post, the strangerhood can be achieved by presenting places and experiences as different and distinctive In the multimodal data base of this study, the strangerhood characteristic was mostly observed in the bloggers’ description of places, food and the Vietnamese way of life through the incidences they came across in different places The strangerhood came out from both positive and negative appreciation

In general, expressions of positive strangerhood tend to utilise the adjectival structures whose adjective has positive impact reaction and positive composition The prominent adjectives of strangerhood being discovered in this database included “picturesque”, “quaint”, “fascinating”,

“exotic”, “spectacular”, “different” and “cheap” The table below provides some extracts from the data collection with adjectives being marked for their appreciation values.

Table 5.4: Examples of adjectivals for positive strangerhood

PLACES picturesque streets in the Old Town (B4)

It’s incredibly beautiful and picturesque (B6)

Hoi An: Colourful, Enchanting, Quaint (B4)

Mekong’s delta is a fascinating region (B3)

Hoi An is a slice of the exotic orient that we Westerners dream of discovering (B4) spectacular landscapes (B1)

ACTIVITY a visit to this museum is both fascinating and shocking in equal measure (B4)

FOOD the food was spectacular (B1)

The roadside coffee though, now wow, that’s a different thing all together (B7)

LIFESTYLE Vietnam really is ridiculously cheap (B7) + imp.

There were two incidences of “exotic” in the data collection, one for describing Ha Noi and the other being for Hoi An “Fascinating” is a common adjective for strangerhood, and it was made collocated with the War Museum, the streets, the history of Vietnam and the country in general There were 10 times that “fascinating” appeared in the data collection to either describe the mesmerising places in Vietnam or the strange things that made them feel shocked but still wanted to observe, such as the instances of the War Museum and Hoa Lo prison

Ranking top in the creation of strangerhood in the database was the resources with “cheap”, the adjective that appraises prices There were 24 counts of combination with “cheap” which went by as [cheap] + [food],

[cheap] + [clothes], [cheap] + [transport], [cheap] + [accommodation] The strangerhood could be further illustrated by B7’s comment, “Vietnam is so cheap for a salaried Londoner.” Let’s look at a part of the concordance output for [cheap]

Figure 5.2: Examples of construction of [cheap]

It is notable that comments for things that are [cheap] may entail both authenticity and strangerhood On the one hand, the bloggers identified a feature in the portrayal of Vietnam as being super affordable On the other hand, they were taken aback with it, which could also be found when investigating further into the data collection for phrases like ridiculously cheap, or unbelievably cheap

The adjective "different" appeared frequently, particularly when collocated with words like "look," "feel," "side," and "thing," suggesting its use for general impressions and observations about the destination This pattern is evident in concordance outputs, highlighting how "different" was used to express overall sentiments about the location.

While "different" often signified the unusual or unconventional, it wasn't always used to denote something outside the bloggers' norms In fact, there were six specific instances where "different" simply meant "another."

“other’ in its literal meaning

While the analysis identified "strangerhood" expressions like "unsophisticated," "unchanging," "primitive," and "untouched," these terms were not found in the collected data Beyond adjectives, other linguistic expressions within the database could also convey the concept of "strangerhood," mirroring the findings for the "authenticity" feature.

Photos capturing the unique features of a destination, like its places, food, and people in action, effectively showcase the "strangerhood" element Oblique angles and medium or long shots, taken from low or eye-level perspectives, emphasize the unfamiliar aspects of the location This approach, exemplified by the analysis of a place photo, creates a compelling visual narrative that enriches the verbal description and highlights the destination's distinctive character.

Table 5.5: Strangerhood in “War Museum” photo

War Remnant Museum in Ho Chi Minh City (P30 – B5)

(2) Social Distance – Size of frame: long shot (impersonal relation);

(3) Attitude – Subjective Image: eye-level angle;

There were two types of represented participants in the photo: the inanimate represented participant was an aircraft, which is a relic at the War museum in Ho Chi Minh City, and the animate ones included three tourists walking away from the lens of the bloggers’ camera Both participants were placed in the background of the photo, quite far from the viewers This indicates a detachment The long shot and oblique camera angle for the photo shows that the publisher of the photo (in this case, blogger B5) found no relation with the Museum or the artifacts being displayed there He may even find himself strange to the story/ message of the story being told through the display in the Museum

With animate represented participants walking away from the gaze of the bloggers, it seemed as the bloggers identified themselves as different from these tourists He was not willing to join with them Nor did he have any intention of getting to know their world This is an indicator of tourist dilemma, which is tourists do not like to be considered a tourist The unintentional message of strangerhood in the photos was collocated with what was described verbally by B5, “The War Remnants Museum is not an easy place to visit for some people However, it is most defiantly worth a visit…” All three photos of War Museum taken outdoor shared these characteristics and seemingly exhibited strangerhood in the same way.

This image of a local street vendor laden with baskets of glory morning flowers embodies both the unfamiliar and the genuine essence of everyday life The vendor's presence, a fleeting encounter for the viewer, represents the unique character and authenticity found in local traditions.

Table 5.6: Strangerhood in the “street vendor” photo

(2) Social Distance – Size of frame: medium shot (social relation);

(3) Attitude – Subjective Image: eye-level angle; (4) Modality: full representation]

The photograph features two participants: a vendor and her baskets of morning glory The vendor, a local woman, is dressed in traditional attire and a conical hat, a common sight in Vietnam The shot captures her from behind, walking away from the viewer and focused on her task, suggesting a sense of detachment Despite being positioned in the foreground, the vendor's receding figure implies a cautious distance between the viewer and the local community The medium shot and eye-level angle suggest the photographer's desire for a social connection with the vendor, but her departure indicates a need for invitation or permission to truly engage with their world.

In the database, this photo was used to illustrate for the category “the [local] people” B1 described the local people as “warm, kind and caring”. However, the photo does not seem to match her description of local people. This may indicate that the choice of photos may sometimes does not match the verbal intention of the bloggers More than being for illustrative purposes, the photo in use may actually encode a viewpoint of its publisher (here the bloggers) that the viewer should learn to identify Other photos of local people in activities which were mostly taken in long or medium shot, from side or behind reveal that the travellers viewed the destination and the locals’ routine activities through the lens of an observer For most of the time, they gazed at “the Others” [Vietnam] with curious eyes and seemed to be excited on seeing strangeness While these photos could be an indicator of “been there, seen that”, the non-presence of the travellers in such photos might imply that the travellers would like to view how local people practice their routines rather than try participating in those routines

PLAY AND CONFLICT AS LESS PROMINENT SOCIOLINGUISTICS FEATURES

This study examined two additional sociolinguistic features suggested by Dann (1996): play and conflict While play was not observed in the multimodal data, one instance of conflict was identified.

5.3.1 Play expressed in the blog posts

Tourism, as viewed through the play perspective, presents travel as a staged event, often manipulating reality for entertainment This perspective highlights how tourist destinations, like theme parks, transform the real world into a fantastical one, prioritizing spectacle over authentic cultural experiences The conflict perspective, on the other hand, exposes how the pursuit of tourism can clash with the genuine history and identity of local communities The powerful language of tourism promotion, used to entice potential travelers, often distorts reality, presenting destinations as idealized narratives rather than their actual selves This study, however, does not find any evidence of play perspectives being explicitly used in the data analyzed.

5.3.2 Conflict expressed in the blog posts

Dann's (1996) conflict perspective highlights the discrepancies between the presented tourist experience and the actual past and present of the visited locations and their inhabitants This perspective, unlike the other three elements, is more implicitly embedded in language use.

A marked finding in discussing conflict is that there is a tourist dilemma arising in this data pool, which is tourists dislike touristy destination.

It was the case of Nha Trang Beach city which received comments as follows. the town of Nha Trang doesn’t offer much in terms of culture (B1) it’s just a city with lots of holidaymakers and you really don’t feel like you’re in Vietnam there (B3)

There isn’t any culture or history here (B4) for crazy party life with other backpackers go to Nha Trang (B7)

Nha Trang, while popular for its beaches and tourist amenities, was criticized by travel bloggers for lacking historical and cultural depth They felt the city lacked "off-the-beaten-track" experiences and desired more to see beyond the typical beach-town offerings This sentiment, revealed through their written comments, highlights a common tourist dilemma: the tension between expected attractions and a desire for authentic, culturally-rich experiences.

While both travelers and tourists engage in journeys, the key distinction lies in their motivations Travelers are active explorers seeking adventure and experiences, while tourists prioritize relaxation and passive observation This difference is reflected in their approach to travel, with travelers actively seeking out encounters and challenges, while tourists expect to be entertained and catered to Consequently, tourism has transitioned from an active pursuit of experiences to a passive consumption of pre-packaged commodities.

The desire for authenticity is evident in travel writing and advertising, where "off the beaten track" experiences are promoted as a way to connect with local culture This pursuit of authenticity, however, often masks a superficial understanding of tourism Tourists often seek out experiences that are "Japanesey" rather than genuinely Japanese, highlighting a disconnect between the idealized notion of authenticity and the reality of tourist experiences Researchers criticize this superficiality, pointing out that tourists often prefer inauthentic experiences that align with their preconceived notions of a destination.

In this data collection, tourist dilemma can be seen in the case of Nha Trang, which received negated comments such as “touristy”, “characterless”,

Despite expressing a lack of cultural interest, travelers in this study did not exhibit strong anti-tourist sentiments They criticized the commercialized nature of the beach town, yet still enjoyed their experience, unlike anti-tourists who actively seek to avoid touristy areas and immerse themselves in local culture.

RECAP OF FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS

To sum up, by mapping evaluative adjectives and corresponding interactive qualities of still images in the database, it is possible to determine a number of relationships between “the writer and reader, the visitor and the visited, the tourist and the destination” (Denti, 2015, p.56) in these travel blog posts This sociolinguistic view enables the establishment of the way that appreciation values of adjectives and photos (as one of the language functions) in such a situated discussion convey social meanings or imply certain aspects of the bloggers’ identity Specifically, the favour of authenticity and strangerhood which were expressed in the interface between texts and photos showed what the bloggers viewed as being local and exotic, and featured the memories of the trips that they would like to lock.

Authenticity and strangerhood are what motivate them to introduce Vietnam in general, and specific domains of Vietnam in particular, to future travellers.

Sociolinguistics offers a valuable framework for analyzing tourist destination discourse, revealing how language shapes the destination's image and identity By studying public discourse, researchers and tourism managers gain deeper insights beyond mere information dissemination or marketing This systemic approach emphasizes the crucial role of sociolinguistics in comprehending tourism discourse, ultimately contributing to the development and refinement of tourism theory.

Personal factors, including social background and psychology, play a crucial role in shaping destination image Cultural values influence tourist perception and behavior, highlighting the subjective nature of travel experiences This study analyzes travel blog posts through a sociolinguistic lens, employing content analysis to minimize subjectivity and focus on the social meanings expressed By maintaining a neutral stance and avoiding interpretations of bloggers' attitudes or cultural origins, the research aims to provide an objective understanding of destination perceptions as presented in online travel narratives.

CONCLUSIONS

Tiêu đề	British Travel Bloggers’ Portrayal of Vietnam: A Multimodal Analysis
Tác giả	Trần Thị Hiếu Thủy
Người hướng dẫn	Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lâm Quang Đông
Trường học	Hanoi Open University
Chuyên ngành	English Linguistics
Thể loại	Dissertation
Năm xuất bản	2022
Thành phố	Hanoi

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Số trang	234
Dung lượng	24,65 MB