LV Syntactical, semantic, and stylistic structures in English and Laos newspaper discourses in terms of headlines

-1CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale newspaper in daily life and in English language teaching Nowadays, we are living in a time, which witnesses an explosion of information The development of science and technology in this century results in modern means of media, which can provide us with very up - to date information in different ways It can be said that this is the time that people can enjoy the achievements of modern technology of the variety of means of media and have an access to the high quality news and information from these equipments One of the most popular ways of giving news and information is through the press Together with the advancements of other means of media, the press has been developing at a very rapid speed It can now provide us with the up - to - minute - news through a great variety of forms including printed press, which consists of newspapers, magazines, current affairs bulletins, spoken newspapers (radio programs), and pictorial press (television, audio visual programs carried out - by different technical means) It cannot be denied that different forms of media have various roles and functions in supplying news and information However, newspapers, which have the longest history, are still the most popular and convenient means of communication This is because people can get easy access and enjoys reading newspapers at anytime and anywhere The printed newspaper has really become one of the most reliable sources of information and a means of relaxation since the time it came into being At present, it has been much improved and developed in quality and quantity so satisfy the increasing requirements of the readers -2In Laos, the number of news media readers in Lao as well as foreign languages has greatly increased in the last few years Besides teaching and learning of foreign languages, especially English in schools and universities has made the newspaper become an indispensable source of material for the language teaching Despite all these, not much research has been done so far on the discourse of English and Lao newspapers to explore this exciting area of the languages As a result, studies on newspaper are needed to be carried out the characteristics in structure and vocabulary to help the newspaper readers and writers in general and the language learners in particular find it easier and more encouraging to exploit this source of information efficiently Justification It is clearly seen that the newspaper readers in foreign language, especially in English often find it difficult to understand because of not only the newspaper vocabulary but also the complex structures used in the newspaper headlines This essential part of a newspaper plays a very important role in helping readers understand the whole newspaper article because it serves as a brief summary of the whole article if the readers fail to understand the headline, they may lose their interest in the entire article as they read it 1.3 Aims and Objectives For this very reason, I chose to work on the subject of newspaper headlines with the hope that the result of the study can partly help newspaper readers overcome this difficulty in comprehending them On the other hand, in the practice of teaching and learning English, English learners among whom the majority are English students, tend to base -3their reading and translating of newspapers on the newspapers vocabulary and idioms with out paying attention to the whole structure of the discourse; or naturally, some consider the structure of English newspaper headlines the same as the Laos ones The study, therefore, is also intended to help them become more aware of the differences and similarities between the structures of the headlines in English and Laos so that they can understand the whole massage in reading and use appropriate equivalence in translation Finally, the number of people working in journalism has recently increased Some of them are well trained, but others, who just take in service training courses, really need to learn more professionally Therefore, the choice of this topic also results in the desire considered helpful for Lao writers and translators of newspapers in English and in Laos Subject and scope of the study From the above mentioned reasons, the thesis generally intends to focus on studying the structure of the discourse of newspaper headlines in English and Laos In other words, the aim of the study is to find out the characteristics in linguistics in particular in syntactic and stylistic structures of newspaper headlines in the two languages Specifically, the research is mainly concerned with the three following aspects: the first is linguistic structures, the second is syntactical structures, and the third is different stylistic devices used in newspaper headlines For each aspect, we focus on classifying the types of structure, describing and contrasting them, then giving some comments and evaluations because of the results In order to carry out the work, we only choose the newspapers that are typical in both languages as the main subject of the study in English; the -4Guardian Weekly in chosen as a representation of the English newspaper and Vientiane Times a weekly newspaper is selected as the main source of the data in Laos All the headlines of the two newspapers come from the news and commentaries We select limitedly these parts of the newspapers not only because they are considered the main features of a newspaper but also because they attract most of the readers’ interests And the topics of the selected articles are also limited to those relating to social, political, cultural and economic news and events occurring in the year 2003 - 2005 which marks a vary significant turning point between the two millenniums Other kinds of topics concerning personal problems, and advertisement excluded in the study because they are not considered common features in newspapers 1.5 Research questions Based on the focal point of the study, the thesis is designed to answer the groups of questions related to the two main issues: - What are syntactic features of English newspapers published in Laos? - What are the similarities and differences in linguistic syntactical, semantic, and stylistic structures in English and Laos newspaper discourses in terms of headlines? Each group of the questions is answered in a separate chapter of the study The first group is regarded as the basic, theoretical background for the next parts of the study The second group relates to the description and contrast of the newspaper headlines in the two languages In addition, the final one to the results of the study, and is followed by some comments and evaluations given because of the result -51.6 Literature review The headlines are widely created and used in daily life by the people working in journalism The study of the headlines, nevertheless, has not been done much so far In the English language, book about stylistics by Galperin (1981) has three pages discussing the English newspapers headlines In these limited pages, he classified the various syntactical structures of the news headlines and the features characteristic of these kinds of headlines In the book “Mastering Advance English Language” Sara Thorne (1997) devoted a separate chapter to discuss the language of newspaper The discussion about the headlines, however, is still very brief In this chapter, the classification, function, lexis, and styles of headlines are dealt with because of the comparison between the Broadsheet and the Tabloid In addition, the English textbooks writers such as walker D.J in “Exploring newspapers,” and Roy M Reid in “Process of composition” also briefly mentioned some characteristics and requirements of a good headline or text title, in the book Advanced English Grammar for high learners Mr Samlan Kham Ying discussed the proficiency in English (Cambridge University, candidate), in the newspapers Vientiane Times www.Vientiane Times.org.la, in Virtual Intelligence Property book by Dr Siri Souvanasi (National University of Laos),in English for Development books, edited by Mr Boun Thanh Phong Phi chith,in ASEAN Tourism Forum (Vientiane, Lao PDR 30 Jan - Feb 2004),in Pasaxon newspapers (people newspaper), in Champamay newspapers 1.6 Method and procedure -6The data for analysis in the study are from two sources The first is instances of news headlines and commentary headlines collected from the Guardian weekly- one of the most formal newspapers in England The second also consists of news headlines and commentary headlines from the Vientiane Times newspaper (Vientiane Times) All the data collected from these sources are processed quantitatively and qualitatively to investigate the similar and distinctive characteristics of the headlines to the variety of newspaper in English and Laos Nevertheless, a comparison of two particular newspapers was an important first step Syntactically, the classification of the data is mainly based on the different types of sentences and phrases, namely statements, questions simple, complex, compound, even lengthy; sentences apart from these, the seven following sentence structures are regarded as a necessary criterion for classification: S+V S + V+ O S+V+C S+V+A S+V+O+A S+V+O+O S+V+O+C Semantically, the classification is carried out because of data analysis After classifying the collected data, we describe and contrast them to find out the characteristics in structure on the theoretical basis of the sentence grammar, syntax, and stylistics, which is employed as the main principle of the classification -7Specifically, the procedure of the study follows these steps: - Collecting data - Classifying/ arranging the data in to difference types of structures - Carrying out statistical calculations - Describing the characteristics of the different types, of the structure in both languages - Contrasting the structures because of the characteristics - Generalizing and giving comments and evaluations - Giving theoretical and practical values of the study -8CHAPTER THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF NEWSPAPER HEADLINES 2.1 Press - press form The term “Press” first appeared in the form of the letter “Lagema” in an Italian newspaper in 1605 This term, however, was not used any more lately by developed countries, instead, they used the term “Press” which means a machine for printing According to the World Book Encyclopedia, the Press or the News Media consists of different means of communication such as newspapers, magazines radio, and television (27 p 136) According to “Law on the press” in Vietnam ( ), the Press is defined as follows: The Press of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is the essential means of mass media of social life; the mouthpiece of various organizations of the party, the state and social organizations and a forum for the people including printed press, which consist of newspaper, magazine, current affairs bulletins and news bulletins; spoken newspaper (radio programs); pictorial press that has television, audio visual programs carried out by different technical means in Vietnam, language of ethnic minorities in Vietnam and foreign language (44 p 63 - 64) 2.2 Newspaper It is undeniable; therefore, that newspaper forms an indispensable part of the press The term “newspaper” used in this thesis refers to the printed press or written newspaper According to Sara Thorne, ( ) the first newspapers were handwritten new sheets that governments posted in public places The earliest new sheet -9was probably the Acta Diurna (Daily Events), which began in Rome in 60 B C It reported the proceedings of the Roman senate and such news as births and deaths By the AD 800’s, the Chinese had started Ji Chau, a new sheet printed from carved wooden blocks The first regularly printed newspaper in Europe was Avisa Relation Odder Zeitung of Strasbourg in Germany It started in 1609 Moreover, the England is first newspaper The weekly news was established in 1622 In the eighteenth century, newspapers were used by governments as- a means of promoting their interests The structures and styles were therefore formal By the nineteenth century, what can be described as “modern journalism” began with the appearance as newspaper still popular today; by 1829, “The Times” was very powerful; 1821 marked the first printing of the Manchester Guadian; later in the century, this was followed by the Daily Mail (1896); and at the beginning of the twentieth century, by the Daily Express (1900) and the Daily Mirror (1903) Newspapers reporting became more scandalous and the style and form changed to suit the new approaches The British newspapers became renowned for their distinctive headline style and their personal and idiosyncratic reporting According to Mr Sieng Thone the publication of newspaper in Lao came decades later than Vietnam newspaper (Nhan dan newspapers) The first newspaper was published in Vieng Xay (Hua Phan province) established in 13/08/1950 The name were (Neo Lao Issalaa newspaper) after the French invasion 1945 In addition, America imperial Through its long history, newspapers are always a publication devoted chiefly to presenting and commenting on the news 02/12/1975 is Lao PDR’s - 10 Independence Day and the name of Neo Lao Issalaa newspaper was changed in to Nẵng sứ phim pắ xa sôn (people newspaper) The year later, newspapers provided an excellent means of keeping the public well informed on current events and played a vital role in shaping public opinion as well The newspaper was improved and established in English newspapers published in Lao since 07/04/1994, it was called “the Vientiane Times, newspaper.” On the pages of modern newspapers, one finds not only news and comments on it, press reports and article, adverts and announcements, but also stories and poems, cross word puzzles, chess problems and the like Since the latter serve the purpose of entertaining the reader, they cannot be considered specimens of newspapers 2.3 Types of newspaper According to Sara Thorne, English newspapers are often divided into two main categories: tabloids and broadsheets This is a very basic distinction and the terms mean different things to paper is printed on A2 - size paper, which is folder to A3, this is therefore smaller than the full spread of a broadsheet, which is printed on A1 and folder to A2 All the mass - circulation papers are tabloid The Broadsheet papers are also known as the “serious” or “quality” papers; the tabloid papers are known as the “popular” or “gutter” papers The letter definitions of size and become judgmental and evaluative Dealing in very general terms, the Broadsheets provide information of the “truth” while the later package stories for their entertainment value Typographically, the English broadsheet and tabloid headlines have quite different approaches Tabloids frequently use capitalization and color to draw attention to a front-page report Broadsheets, on the other hand, are much - 97 As a consequence, the headline writers can take the affirmatives in the active voice, the thematic structures and the stylistic means and devices to improve their headline writing Finally, in each type of article, the headline writers need to set a specific goal for the headline they are going to write to inform and/ or to influence the reader Specifically, in order to keep the reader informed the headline should be a brief summary of the hole article including as many of the “WH - elements” as it can To influence and lead the public, nevertheless, these elements are not very important The headline then needs to arouse the reader’s curiosity, attracting the reader to the article In spite of these, the combination of the two, in fact, is the most commonly used in headline writing - 98 CHAPTER CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION FOR FURTHER STUDY The headline of newspapers is always considered to be the most typical of newspaper language It is self - contained of the characteristic features representing newspaper English This special form of language, in fact, is really interesting but challenging to those working in this area of the language as well This thesis therefore, has been done to explore the characteristics in structure in the two languages It mainly focuses on the three order to find out the similarities and differences in structure of the headline in English and Laos: 5.1 Review of the findings in the study The study result reveals that the structures of newspaper headlines in two languages are generally similar in structure patterns, though frequency and degree are not the same This common feature is regarded as the essential part if newspaper headlines in carrying out the function of attracting the reader to the article , informing and /or leading the pubic.The differences in structures of headlines between newspapers in English and Laos are chiefly in the formality of the language and their functions in the articles English headlines use formal language, to name the news or events However, these distinctive characterstics in the structure are due to socio-cultural features rather than linguistics it self 5.2 Implication for language teaching and learning The finding of the thesis can be considered as useful experience for English teachers and learners who can use these as the basis to overcome difficulties caused by the differences of structures in language teaching and - 99 learning Additionally, it is certain that the newspaper translator and headline writer also benefit from the study’s results 5.3 Limitation and further study On the basis of there, they can know how to use appropriate structures and vocabulary of newspaper language in the translation and writing of the newspaper articles in general, and of the headlines in particular The study, however, has been carried out on a small scale and within limited time of implimentation In fact, the date for study collected from only two parts of newspapers certainly much harm to the reliability of the study Therefore, a similar research on the large scale with a larger number of subjects should be implemented to investigate: - Structures of newspaper advertisements in English and Laos - Structures of the news article in English and Laos - Structures of the commentary in English and Laos - 100 BIBLIOGRAPHY Vietnamese books [1] Lê Hồng Quang (dịch) (1999), Viết cho độc giả, Hội nhà báo Việt Nam, Hà Nội [2] Tạ Ngọc Tấn, Nguyễn Thái Hòa (1995), Tác phẩm báo chí, NXBGD [3] Đinh Trọng Lạc, Nguyễn Tiến Hoà (1995), Phong cách học tiếng Việt, N X B G D [4] Trịnh Sâm (1998), Tiêu đề văn tiếng Việt, N X B G D [5] Hoàng Viết Thắng (1993), Phong cách học tiếng Viẹt đại, Trường Đ H T H Huế [6] Thông Tấn Xã Việt Nam (1992), Viết tin nào? Tài liêul thamkhảo nghiệpvụ, H N English books [7] Collins Gem English Grammar (The essential guide to English grammar,1990) [8] Crystal David and Davy Derek (1986), investigating English style, Longman group Ltd, England [9] Fromkin Victoria, Rodman Robert, Collin Peter, Blair David (1990), an Introduction to language, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich group (Australia) Pty Limited [10] Galperin G W (1981), Stylistics, Mosscow Vyssaja Skola (1981) [11] Givon T,(1993), English grammar-a function based introduction, volume John Benjamins publishing company [12] Grundy Peter (1993), newspapers, Oxford University Press [13] Jacobs Roderick A (1995), English Syntax-a Grammar for English language professionals, Oxford University Press - 101 [14] Maltzev V,A (1984), Essays on stylistics [15] Walker DJ in Exploring newspaper Self study edition [16] Widdowson H G, (1996), Linguistics, Oxford University Press [17] World book Inc a Scott Fetzer Company, The world book encyclopedia, Chicago-London-Sydney-Toronto [18] Yule George (1996), Pragmatics, Oxford University Laos books [19] ASEAN-the new tourism Landscape (2004), ASEAN Tourism Forum [20]English for Development book, edited by Mr Bounthanh Phongphichit,(1998) [21] Modern English-Lao; Lao-English Dictionary, of Mr Bounmany Soukban dith (1983) [22] Discover Laos book,(2000) [23] Virtual Intelligence Property, edited by Dr SIRI Souvannasi N U L(2000) [24] Travel Laos book,(1999) [25] 50th Anniversary of Lao women’s Union, (2005) Thai books [26] AKSORN’s Thai Learners’ Dictionary [27] Advanced English Grammar for high learners Mr Samlan Khamying Certificate of Proficiency in English(Cambridge University Candidate) [28] New Dictionary of Idioms and phrases SARA-SARN MARKETING, Co,Ltd.(1998) - 102 English newspapers [29] The Guardian weekly (09-15/03/2000) [30] The Guardian weekly (13-19/04/2000) [31] The Guardian weekly (18-24/05/2000) [32] The Guardian weekly (01-07/06/2000) [33] The Guardian weekly (15-21/06/2000) [34] The Guardian weekly (25-31/06/2000) [35] The Guardian weekly (06-12/07/2000) U N newspapers [36] CRAWFORD TEXAS(AP) (22-28/12/2004) [37] COLOMBO (Xinhuanet) (21-27/01/2004) [38] CABERRA(Australia) (06-12/05/2005) [39] GUIYANG (Xinhuanet) (21-27/11/2004) [40] SANTIAGO (Xinhuanet) (23-29/11/2004) [41] BEIYING (Xinhuanet) (07-13/12/2004) [42] BAGHDAD (Xinhuanet) (21-27/12/2004) [43] BEIYING (Xinhuanet) (22-28/12/2004) [44] JERUSALEM Xinhuanet) (24-30/12/2004) [45] JERUSALEM (Xinhuanet) (12-18/01/2005) [46] BERLIN (Xinhuanet) (16-22/02/2005) [47] SHENYANG (Xinhuanet) (16-22/02/2005) [48] BEIJING (Xinhuanet) (17-23/02/2005) [49] BEIYING (Xinhuanet) (02-08/12/2005) [50] BAGHDAD (Xinhuanet) (04-10/03/2005) [51] KATHMANDU (Xinhuanet) (03-09/03/2005) [52] Seoul (Xinhuanet) (22-28/04/2005) - 103 [53] ROME (Xinhuanet) (03-09/05/2005) [54] QUESTA,PAKISTAN (AP) (10-16/05/2005) [55] BAND ACEH Indonesia (20-26/06/2005) [56] BRUSSELS (Xinhuanet) (24-30/06/2005) [57] BEIYING (Xinhuanet) (17-23/07/2005) [58] BEIYING (Xinhuanet) (19-25/07/2005) [59] LONDON (Xinhuanet) (19-25/07/2005) [60] OSKA, Japan (17-23/12/2005) Lao newspapers [61] Champamay newspapers (22-26/09/2003) [62] Champamay newspapers (15-19/01/2004) [63] Champamay newspapers (19-23/01/2004) [64] Champamay newspapers (15-19/03/2004) [65] Champamay newspapers (07-11/02/2005) [66] Champamay newspapers (21-25/02/2005) [67] Pasaxon newspaper (05-11/05/2005) Vientiane Times newspapers [68] Vientiane Times (29/11/2004) [69] Vientiane Times (08/12/2004) [70] Vientiane Times (23/12/2004) [71] Vientiane Times (24/12/2004) [72] Vientiane Times (28/12/2004) [73] Vientiane Times (06/01/2005) [74] Vientiane Times (12/01/2005) [75] Vientiane Times (03/02/2005) [76] Vientiane Times (09/02/2005) [77] Vientiane Times (10/02/2005) [78] Vientiane Times (04/03/2005) - 104 [79] Vientiane Times (22/03/2005) [80] Vientiane Times (05/04/2005) [81] Vientiane Times (05/05/2005) [82] Vientiane Times (06/05/2005) [83] Vientiane Times (10/05/2005) [84] Vientiane Times (19/05/2005) [85] Vientiane Times (29/05/2005) [86] Vientiane Times (14/06/2005) [87] Vientiane Times (20/06/2005) [88] Vientiane Times (24/06/2005) [89] Vientiane Times (19/07/2005) [90] Vientiane Times (20/07/2005) [91] Vientiane Times (17/11/2005) [92] Vientiane Times (02/12/2005) [93] Vientiane Times (07/12/2005) [94] Vientiane Times (10/12/2005) [95] Vientiane Times (17/12/2005) [96] Vientiane Times (29/07/2005) - 105 Appendix Putin, Bush pledge to continue fighting terrorism Moscow (Xinhuanet) Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President George W.Bush pledge to continue the fight against terrorism during their talk in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporter after the two Presidents’ meeting Putin and Bush, who arrived here Sunday to attend celebration on the both anniversary of the end of the world war //, agreed that it is necessary to continuethe fight against terrorism, Lavrov said The two also discussed the situation in Iran and the Democratic People’s Republic of Koria (DPRK), and the Middle East They also confirmed their intention to reach an agreement on Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) before the end for this year, said Itar-Tass The Putin-Bush talk came amid strains between Moscow and Washington after Bush on Saturday blasted Soviet “oppression” in the Baltic States “I recognize that in the West the end of the Second World War meant peace but in the Baltic it brought occupation and communist oppression”, said Bush in Riga, Latvia Bush also said the Baltic States were an example of democracy for Russia, successor of the Soviet Union The Baltic States Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia-have also demanded Russia apology for Soviet rule Before Bush’s arrival, Putin appeared irritated by Bush’s criticism - 106 In an interview with American CBS’ “60minutes” Program that aired Sunday, Putin refused to apologize for the Soviet rule of the Baltic States and rejected US criticism about Russia’s democracy “Democracy cannot be exported to some other place”, he said Some analysts have predicted that Bush’s speech in Riga might make for friction in the Bush-Putin summit on Sunday But top aides said after the talks that the meeting was amicable and open Bush’s national security adviser Stephen Hadley said Bush’s Riga speech was just one issue discussed by to two leaders and they put emphasis on areas of agreement and areas in which they are working together such as Middle East peace, Iran and the DPRK Lavrov and Us secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also played down the Riga issue, stressing no topic have been taboo and the two presidents have developed a relationship in which they can talk about any subject On Monday, a grand parade will be held in Moscow’s Red Square to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of the World war //, in which 27million Soviet citizens died Dozens of world leaders will attend the event [Moscow (Xinhuanet) 10/05/2005.] - 107 ADB President to visit Laos Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Haruhiko Kuroda will arrived today in Laos for a two day official visit, his first to the country and to the Mekong region since talking office at the start of February Mr Kuroda will meet with prime minister Boun nhang Vorachit today to discuss a wide range of issues, including ADB’S programme for the country, further economic cooperation and integration prospect for the Mekong region, and the Nam Thern2 Hydroelectric project approved by ADB’s Board on April The Nam T hern2 project is expected to generate 1,070MW of electricity, 95percent 0fwhich is for export to Thailand and USs1,9 billion in revenues for the Lao PDR Government over 25years, beginning 2009 On Wednesday, he will call on President Khamtay Siphandone Mr Kuroda will accompany him to the discussions with Lao PDR’s President and Prime Minister The President will be accompanied by ADB’s Mekong Department Director General, and Special Advisor in charge of regenal economic Cooperation and integration, Rajat M.Nag, and Country Director for ADB’s Lao Resident Mission James A Nugent The President will also grace the 9th ASEAN Finance Ministers Meeting on Wednesday, before heading off to Okinawa, Japan, to attend the 64th InterAmerican Development Bank Annual Meeting The Lao PDR is one of the region’s best Performers in portfolio management At of end 2004, 21of 23 on going projects, or 91,3 percent of the total, were classified as satisfactory, compared to the ADB average of - 108 88,4 percent No project has been classified as unsuccessful in the part five years ADB plans to lend USs52 million over the next two years plus potentially in credential support for the GMS Program me and to provide technical assistance grants amounting to US s 3,5 million annually to Lao PDR ADB’s program me supports the government’s National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy to reduce poverty through economic growth and focus on the poorest areas, especially in the north Mr Haruhiko Kuroda is the president of the Asian Development Bank and the Chairman of ADB’s Board of Governor in November 2004 He officially assumed office on February 1, 2005 Before joining ADB, Mr Kurado was special Advisor to the cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and a professor at the graduate school of economics at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo In a career spanning nearly four decades, Mr Kuroda has represented Japan’s Ministry of Finance for International Affairs During his terms as Director-General of the International Bureau and as Vice Minister of Finance between 1997 and 2003, Mr Kuroda helped design and implement the USs30 billion Miyazawa Initiative-Japan’s response to Asian nations establish the Chieng Mai Initiative, a network of currency swap agreements designed to avert another crisis Born on 25 October 1944, Mr Kuroda holds a BA in Law from the University of Tokyo and a Master of Philosophy in economics from the University of Oxford He joined the Ministry of Finance in 1967 Eight years later, he was seconded to the International Monetary Fund After returning to the Ministry, Mr Kuroda assumed a number of senior posts in the Ministry’s - 109 International Finance and taxation bureaus While Deputy Director-General of the International Finance Bureau, he was responsible for Japan’s official development assistance as well as relations with multilateral development financial institutions including ADB Mr Kuroda served as President of the Ministry’s research arm, the Institute of Fiscal and Monetary Policy, for one year before returning to the International Bureau as Director-General Two years later, he was promoted to Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs, responsible for policy planning, international coordination, and external representation After retiring from the Ministry in 2003, Mr Kuroda was appointed Special Advisor to the cabinet of Prime Minister Koizumi to advise the premier on International monetary issues He has authored several books on monetary policy, exchange rate, international finance policy coordination, and international negotiations (Vientiane Times:05/04/2005) - 110 President Khamtay welcomes Sultan of Brunei The President of Lao PDR Mr Khamtay Siphandone welcomes his Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkia of Brunei Darussalam yesterday at the presidential palace, for his visit to Vientiane for the 10th ASEAN summit At the meeting, the president expressed his pleasure at meeting His Majesty again, believing that their meeting would further broaden and deepen the friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries The two sides expressed their appreciation towards the existing relations and cooperation between Laos and Brunei So far, the countries have exchanged visits between high levels of government and technical officials, which has helped enhance the understanding between two peoples Khamtay expressed his sincere thanks for his majesty’s financial and material assistance for the construction of the Lao Embassy Premise, schools and the preparation work for the 10th ASEAN summit Further his thanks also went for Brunei’s assistance in human resource development especially shortterm and long-term scholarships and social and cultural assistance Regarding cooperation in the ASEAN summit framework, Khamtay observed that the initiatives for ASEAN Integration, which aimed, among other things, at the reduction of the development gaps within ASEAN had been implemented with considerable success, especially in terms of human resource development If possible, ASEAN should, in the future, develop and implement common projects which would be able to help avoid relying on high priced petrol In such projects, they would share the construction of infrastructure and profits - 111 Khamtay informed his guest that the Lao PDR had much potential for natural resources but a lack of financial resources to exploit them, hence, it was looking forward to the support of other ASEAN countries for the development of common projects They requested that the officials of both sides continue their contact and exchange their views and experiences in their participation in ASEAN activities, especially during the period that Lao PDR chairs the ASEAN standing committee (Vientiane Times:29/12/2004) [...]... combination of the above ones, the headline chosen as the subject of study in the thesis is the main headline of both news and commentary articles has the functions of informing and/ or influencing the readers 2.7 The functions of headlines As an indispensable part of an article, the headline has the same functions as the articles; informing and influencing the readers The main function of the headline,... the headlines, especially the ones of news articles and commentaries contains the characteristic features in syntactic, semantic and stylistic structures which make it distinctive from other parts of a newspaper And these kinds of structure in headlines are the subject of study in the thesis - 24 CHAPTER 3 DESCRIPTION OF STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH NEW HEADLINES 3.1 Syntactical structures of English newspaper. .. rarely use color, and capitalization is seen only occasionally for front-page photographs In Laos s broadsheets, the typographical feature is more standard than in the tabloids The same size of print is used throughout except for headlines, strap line and sub headlines In addition, the lexis chosen in headlines indicates something about the intended in headlines indicates something about the intended audience... newspaper headlines 3.1.1 Syntactical structures of English news headlines In general, English news headlines are briefly written The average length of a news headline is approximately 8 words According to Galperin, English news headlines are “very short sentences and phrases of a variety of patterns” [7, p 304] The simple statements, noun phrases and elliptical sentences are the main sentence types in English. .. headline writing but also to the designing the headlines [48, p 111 - 112] - 23 2.12 Summary Newspapers in English and Laos are various in kinds (tabloids and broadsheets) and forms (spoken/ written newspapers) The written (printed) newspaper is a very important form of press Though it has the same functions as other forms and kinds of newspapers, it still has its own peculiarities in language and style... The use of syntactical structures, nevertheless, is more diverse in the commentaries than in the news The presence of imperative sentences and questions, adjective phrases and prepositional phrases shows that the headlines writers of the kind of article begin to look at the news and events discussed 3.2 Syntactical structures of Laos headlines 3.2.1 Syntactical structures of Laos news headlines As... headlines As for Vientiane times newspaper, newspaper headlines are written in the shortest sentences and phrases of various patterns According to the statistics, however, the number of noun phrases and statements holds a dominant position in the total headlines in a newspaper This can be seen in the following table Table 3.3 Syntactical structures of Laos news headlines Type of sentence phrase % Examples... ideas and should not exceed a maximum of 30 words The English news headlines are generally written to meet these requirements They are quite short and often express only one idea Apart from the statement type sentences, the English news headlines are also written in the form of noun phrases (14%) This is one of the features of - 27 the English headlines most of the noun phrases in headlines contain a... in English newspapers In order to catch a reader's attention, headlines need to be “simple, easily readable and appropriate to the kind of newspapers in which they are printed” [23, p 234] The choice of words for a headline is affected by the idea to be express and the kind of reader associated with a newspaper and its style - 18 Briefly, as described by Le Hong Quang, headline must be “eye catching,... headline is another kind of headline and can easily be recognized through the smaller word size It is clearly seen that the sub headline is more widely used in English newspapers than is Laos ones This may be because the Laos newspapers are in the process of integrating in to the newspaper style of the developed countries The sub - headline, therefore, has some characteristics similar to those of the ... discourse of newspaper headlines in English and Laos In other words, the aim of the study is to find out the characteristics in linguistics in particular in syntactic and stylistic structures of newspaper. .. throughout except for headlines, strap line and sub headlines In addition, the lexis chosen in headlines indicates something about the intended in headlines indicates something about the intended audience... OF STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH NEW HEADLINES 3.1 Syntactical structures of English newspaper headlines 3.1.1 Syntactical structures of English news headlines In general, English news headlines are briefly