TV news in English and Vietnamese. Doctor of Linguistics: 62 22 15 01

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI University of Languages and International Studies -o0o - HOANG THI NGOC DIEM TV NEWS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE (Phân tích tin truyền hình tiếng Anh tiếng Việt) Major: English Linguistics Code: 62 22 15 01 A Thesis Submitted in Total Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Supervisors: Ha Cam Tam, PhD Assoc Prof Tran Xuan Diep (PhD) Hanoi - 2015 i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP Except where reference is made in the text of the dissertation, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the dissertation This dissertation has not been submitted for the award of any degree of diploma in any other tertiary institution Hoang Thi Ngoc Diem Date: ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to many people without whose help the present thesis could not have been completed First of all, I would like to express my great gratitude to my supervisors Dr Ha Cam Tam and Assoc Prof Tran Xuan Diep for their valuable guidance, insightful comments and endless support I wish to express my sincere thanks to the staffs of Post Graduate Department, particularly Assoc Prof Le Hung Tien (PhD), Dean of the Department, Mrs Ngo Thanh Thuy (M.A), Mr Do Ba Quy (M.A) and Mrs Nguyen Thi Phuong Nhung for their assistance in the finalization of the dissertation I also would like to extend my deep and special thanks to my colleagues and friends, whose help and encouragement were great contribution to the completion of the dissertation I’m also indebted to my course mates Mrs Nguyen Thi Quyet and Mrs Tran Thi Ngoc Lien for their support in publications and reference materials Finally, I owe the completion of this dissertation to my parents, my husband and my two children, who have always given me their understanding and encouragement throughout my study My special thanks are due to my husband for his software and technical support To all mentioned, and to many more, my heart extends the warmest thanks iii ABSTRACT The dissertation aims at comparing and contrasting television news in English and Vietnamese from cognitive approach with the assistance of corpus-based analysis techniques The main source of data is daily news from BBC World News and VTV1 channel, both covering the topic of natural disasters The analytical framework is centered on mental spaces and Figure-Ground theories The study first provides in-depth analysis regarding mental spaces in television news in English and Vietnamese, how mappings are constructed to generate blended spaces Secondly, research is conducted on how Figure-Ground theory is illustrated in news language and what cognitive differences there are between the two languages The results show that there were cognitive similarities and differences between the two sources of news stories in the way of reporting news Because cognition is embodied, the way reality (i.e natural disasters) was viewed and retold in news stories in each language had its own features In English news, the disastrous events were reported with more current and up-to-date information Details of the disasters were described with more facts, numbers and directly from various points of view such as the news readers, the field reporters, region correspondents and witnesses In other words, it can be said that English news was more direct, factive and objective On the contrary, in Vietnamese news, stories were focused more on the consequences The information included not only the events themselves but also subjective advice, prediction and evaluation of the reporters and news makers Description of the events was also concerned with subjective attitudes, compared with human feelings and endurance Human sufferings and feelings were integrated while news stories were told In summary, The English news generally is more factive, reported from the view of the outsiders The event is focused on itself and news has the function of objectively reporting events with full and immediate details Meanwhile, Vietnamese news is reported from the view of the insiders The ego is seen as the reference for description, prediction, advice and evaluation iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I – INTRODUCTION Rationale Objectives of the study 3 Scope of the study Contribution of the study Organization of the dissertation PART II - DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Background of news language 1.1.1 Historical background of news 1.1.2 Television news broadcast 1.1.2.1 Definitions and features of news 1.1.2.2 Television in comparison with other channels of communication 1.1.3 News genre 10 1.1.4 Approaches to news language 14 1.1.5 Previous studies on news 17 1.1.5.1 Preceding studies on news texts 17 1.1.5.2 Previous studies on news from corpus-based and cognitive approach 18 Cognitive linguistics 19 1.2.1 Overview 19 1.2.2 The nature of cognitive linguistics 22 1.2.2.1 Generalization commitment 22 1.2.2.2 Cognitive commitment 26 1.2.2.3 The embodied mind 27 1.2.2.4 Cognitive approach to semantics and grammar 28 1.2.3 Cognitive semantics 29 1.3 Mental spaces 33 1.3.1 Definition and categorization 33 1.3.2 Speech space 37 1.3.3 Space builders 39 1.4 Conceptual blending 40 1.4.1 Basic concepts 40 1.4.2 Metaphor, metonymy and blending 46 1.5 Figure and Ground 47 1.5.1 Background concepts 47 1.5.2 Figure and Ground in a single clause 50 v 1.5.3 Figure and Ground in a complex sentence 51 1.5.4 The grammatical relations of Figure and Ground 54 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2.1 Research questions 56 2.2 Analytical framework – corpus-assisted cognitive semantics 56 2.5.1 Cognitive framework 56 2.5.2 Corpus assisted analysis 58 2.3 Data collection 59 2.3.1 Criteria for collecting data 59 2.3.2 Corpus design 60 2.3.3 Representativity of the data 60 2.4 Methods of the study 61 2.5 Data collection instruments 63 2.6 Data analysis procedure 64 CHAPTER 3: MENTAL SPACES IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE NEWS 3.1 Speech space 66 3.1.1 Findings from English news 66 3.1.2 Findings from Vietnamese news 73 3.1.3 Discussion 80 3.2 Hypothetical spaces 83 3.2.1 Findings from English news 83 3.2.2 Findings from Vietnamese news 87 3.2.3 Discussion 94 CHAPTER 4: CONCEPTUAL BLENDING IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE NEWS 4.1 Condition and comparison 98 4.1.1 Findings from English news 98 4.1.2 Findings from Vietnamese news 101 4.1.3 Discussion 105 4.2 Conceptual blending with occurrence verbs 105 4.2.1 Findings from English news 106 4.2.2 Findings from Vietnamese news 107 4.2.3 Discussion 109 4.3 Conceptual blending in imagery descriptions 109 CHAPTER 5: FIGURE AND GROUND IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE NEWS 5.1 Findings from English news 113 5.2 Findings from Vietnamese news 117 vi 5.3 Discussion 123 PART III - CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS Summary of major findings and conclusion 128 Implications 131 Suggestions for further study 137 PUBLICATIONS AND PROJECTS RELATED TO THE DISSERTATION 138 Bibliography 140 Appendix 1: Data export – Key words in context (KWIC) …………………………… I Appendix 2: Raw analysis of speech spaces ……………… XXVIII Appendix 3: English collocations for natural disasters …………….…… … XLI Appendix 4: Vietnamese collocations for natural disasters XLIV vii LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND GRAPHS Figure 1: Some members of the category “cup” 23 Figure 2: Inputs and generic space 41 Figure 3: Blended space 42 Figure 4: Figure – Ground examples 48 Figure 5: Speech space type in English news 71 Figure 6: Speech space type in English news 71 Figure 7: Speech space type in English news 72 Figure 8: Speech space type in Vietnamese news 78 Figure 9: Speech space type in Vietnamese news 79 Figure 10: Speech space type in Vietnamese news 79 Figure 11: Example - blended space in English news 99 Figure 12: Example - blended space in English news 100 Figure 13: Example of blended space in Vietnamese news 104 Figure 14: Example - Conceptual blending in English news with metaphors 109 Figure 15: Conceptual blending in Vietnamese news 111 Figure 16: Example - Conceptual blending in English news with metaphors 112 Figure 17: Similarity of Figure and Ground between English and Vietnamese news 123 Figure 18: Difference of Figure and Ground between English and Vietnamese news 126 Table 1: Speech verbs and quotation in English news 67 Table 2: Senders in English news 68 Table 3: Speech spaces in English news 69 Table 4: Speech verbs and quotation in Vietnamese news 74 Table 5: Senders in Vietnamese news 75 Table 6: Speech spaces in Vietnamese news 75 viii Table 7: Comparison of quotations in English and Vietnamese news 80 Table 8: Comparison of senders between English news and Vietnamese news 81 Table 9: Comparison of speech spaces in English and Vietnamese news 82 Table 10: Advice and command in English news 83 Table 11: Predicting structures in English news 84 Table 12: Concordance of prediction in English news 84 Table 13: Estimation expressions in English news 85 Table 14: Concordance of “at least” 86 Table 15: Evaluation expressions in English news 87 Table 16: Advice in Vietnamese news 88 Table 17: Concordance of “phải” 89 Table 18: Prediction expressions in Vietnamese news 90 Table 19: Concordance of ‘có nguy cơ” 91 Table 20: Estimation expressions in Vietnamese news 91 Table 21: Concordance of “khoảng” 92 Table 22: Evaluation in Vietnamese news 93 Table 23: Concordance of “kinh hoàng” 94 Table 24: Comparison of advice and command between English and Vietnamese news 94 Table 25: Comparison of prediction and possibility between English and Vietnamese news 96 Table 26: Comparison of quantity estimating expressions between English news and Vietnamese news 96 Table 27: Condition and comparison structures in English news 98 Table 28: Conditional and comparative structures in Vietnamese news 101 Table 29: Concordance of “nhất” 102 Table 30: Concordance of như” 102 Table 31: Verbs in English news 106 ix Table 32: Concordance of “hit” 107 Table 33: Verbs in Vietnamese news 108 Table 34: Concordance of “cướp đi” 108 Table 35: Imagery language in English and Vietnamese news 110 Table 36: Concordance of “fading hope” 110 Table 37: Concordance of “rốn lũ” 110 Table 38: Connectives in English news 116 Table 39: Connectives in Vietnamese news 122 Table 40: Figure – Ground comparison between Vietnamese and English news 125 Table 41: Comparison of occurrence verbs between Vietnamese and English news 125 Table 42: Concordance of “of the earthquake” 133 Table 43: COCA sample KWIC 134 Graph 1: Comparison of speech spaces in English and Vietnamese news 82 Graph 2: Comparison of advice and command between English and Vietnamese news 95 Graph 3: Comparison of prediction and possibility between English and Vietnamese news 96