vinh university foreign Languages department === === phan thÞ dung AN ANALYSIS ON SOME DISCOURSE FEATURES OF ENGLISH ECONOMICS NEWS (Phân tích số đặc điểm diễn ngôn tin kinh tế tiếng anh) graduation thesis Field: Linguistics Vinh - 2011 vinh university foreign Languages department === === AN ANALYSIS ON SOME DISCOURSE FEATURES OF ENGLISH ECONOMICS NEWS (Ph©n tÝch mét sè đặc điểm diễn ngôn tin kinh tế tiÕng anh) graduation thesis Field: Linguistics Supervisor: vâ thÞ hång minh, m.a Student: phan thÞ dung, 48A1 - English Vinh, May 2011 GRADUATION THESIS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The thesis could not be completed without the great support from my lecturers, my family and my friends First of all, I would like to express my deepest and special gratitude to my supervisor, M.A Vo Thi Hong Minh, for her readiness at all time to discuss the problems and give me precious advice, valuable materials and enormous corrections Next, I am grateful to my loving parents, my dedicated friends for their unconditional love, support and forbearance Finally, I am all too aware that despite all the advice and assistance, I feel that the project is too far from perfect ; it is, therefore, my sole responsibility for any inadequacies and shortcomings that the thesis may be considered to have Vinh, May 2011 Phan Thi Dung Phan Thi Dung - 48A1 English i Foreign Languages Department GRADUATION THESIS ABSTRACT In this thesis, the author studies how grammatical cohesion and epistemic modality manifested in some English economic news First, she discusses about text and discourse, discourse analysis, types of cohesive devices, and modality She mainly focuses on grammatical cohesion, its sub-types and epistemic modality They are basic theoretical background for analyzing the data Then, she surveys how grammatical cohesion and epistemic modality manifested in ten English economics news Finally, the author mentions to some difficulties that students and readers often meet in learning and understanding a news report, from that giving some implications to help them have better results in their work Phan Thi Dung - 48A1 English ii Foreign Languages Department GRADUATION THESIS TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i ABSTRACT ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii LIST OF TABLES v PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the study Aims of the Study Scope of the Study Methods of the Study Design of the Study Chapter THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Discourse versus Text 1.2 Discourse Analysis 1.3 Cohesion and Coherence 1.4 Types of Cohesive Devices 1.4.1 Reference 1.4.2 Substitution 1.4.3 Ellipsis 1.4.4 Conjunction 10 1.5 Modality 12 1.5.1 Definition 12 1.5.2 Modal categories 12 1.5.2.1 Deontic modality 12 1.5.2.2 Epistemic modality 13 1.5.3 Expressions of modality 14 1.5.3.1 Verbs 14 1.5.3.2 Adverbs 15 1.5.3.3 Adjectives 15 1.5.3.4 Nouns 16 Phan Thi Dung - 48A1 English iii Foreign Languages Department GRADUATION THESIS 1.6 The concept of a newspaper 16 1.6.1 Classification of newspaper 16 1.6.2 General structure of a news report 17 Chapter AN ANALYSIS ON SOME DISCOURSE FEATURES OF ENGLISH ECONOMICS NEWS 19 2.1 Some Information about the Material Selected 19 2.2 Grammatical Cohesive Devices 19 2.2.1 Reference 19 2.3.2 Substitution 21 2.3.3 Ellipsis 23 2.3.4 Conjunction 23 2.4 The frequency of occurrences of grammatical cohesive devices in English Economics news 26 2.5 Epistemic Modality Manifested in English Economics News 27 2.5.1 Verbs 27 2.5.1.1 Modal Verbs 27 2.5.1.2 Lexical Verbs 30 2.5.2 Adverbs 31 2.5.3 Adjectives 31 2.5.4 Nouns 32 Chapter DISCUSSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 33 3.1 Findings and Discussion 33 3.2 The problems 34 3.3 Some implications for students and readers to get good results in learning and reading a news report 35 PART C: CONCLUSION 40 Recapitulation 40 Suggestions for Further Studies 40 REFERENCES 42 APPENDIX Phan Thi Dung - 48A1 English iv Foreign Languages Department GRADUATION THESIS LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: General information about the selected material 19 Table 2.2 Frequency rates of anaphoric reference refering to person and thing 20 Table 2.3 Survey results on anaphoric reference and cataphoric reference 21 Table 2.4 Survey results on different types of substitution 22 Table 2.5 The frequent use of nominal, verbal and clausal ellipsis 23 Table 2.6 The proportion of different types of conjunction in terms of its meaning 26 Table 2.7 The frequency of occurrences of cohesive devices in English Economics News 27 Table 2.8 The frequency of occurrence of epistemic modality seen from types of modal verbs 30 Table 2.9 The frequency of occurrence of epistemic modality seen from fours types of word-forms manifested 32 Phan Thi Dung - 48A1 English v Foreign Languages Department GRADUATION THESIS PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study English has asserted its big role in our life on many fields such as education, politics, science, technology, economics, etc Among them, economics is considered to be one of the objects that has been significantly affected In fact, the world economy is developping very rapidly and actively To have such success, it requires all countries in the world to unify their economy to lead to the globalisation And the first thing they must is to use a common language in trade exchanging English is the best choice for this In fact, most economics news and reports are written and published in that language Therefore; if businessmen, companies would like to read or understand them to serve for their business better, they must know how to use English As we can see, the more information we have from market, partners and customers, the more big chances we will get In addition, in the process of conducting this research, we realized that English economics news is said to be a vital and useful expression of grammatical cohesion as well as modality usage It is an ideal place where journalists try to convey as much information as possible by using cohesive devices, especially grammatical device Morever, by using modality, especially, epistemic modality, writers can express their opinions and stances about economic issues to help readers, those who are businessmen to have a better advice for their work However, most readers find them difficult to understand because they contain a lot of grammatical cohesion and epistemic modality Therefore, it is necessary to the research about how English economic news is built and how grammatical cohesion and modality are used The materials choosen to the the research retrieved from VOA- a famous broadcast brand all over the world because of its believable information resources to assist businessmen and anyone who is interested in economics have more knowledge and experience to get more success in their work Starting from these issues above, the author chooses the topic ―Some Discourse Features of English Economics News” to her research Phan Thi Dung - 48A1 English Foreign Languages Department GRADUATION THESIS Aims of the Study The aims of the study are: • Providing some general knowledge and emphasize the important role of grammatical cohesion and epistemic modality in creating textual coherence and various meanings in English Economic News • Giving and analyzing some statistics and descriptions of grammatical cohesion as well as epistemic modality in newspaper articles • Studying the reasons leading to the different degrees of fondness in different types of grammatical cohesion and epistemic modality • Suggesting some implications for students and readers in learning and reading to understand English economics news To fulfill these above aims, the thesis will answer questions as follow: - What are Grammatical Cohesion and Epistemic Modality? - What are grammatical devices and markers of epistemic modality frequently used in economics news reports? - How to help students and readers to get good results in learning and reading an economics news report ? Scope of the Study A text is often analyzed by many different discourse features, for example, form and fuction, cohesion, theme, rheme, register, etc However, for the time and resource constraints as well as the limited size of the thesis, refering all of those features seems impossible Thus, this paper would like to go into the analysis of some prominent points in ten English Economics News given from VOA They are grammatical cohesion and epistemic modality The theoretical background of the first issues above are provided mainly by Halliday and Hassan’s (1976) and some taken from textbooks as well as references from internet, newspaper, and so on These discriptions are used as the framework for data analysis Phan Thi Dung - 48A1 English Foreign Languages Department GRADUATION THESIS Methods of the Study To achieve the above-mentioned aims, the following methods are used: • The descriptive method: after collecting data from newspaper articles relating to the topic, the author carries out to describe and investigate data through the study • The analytical method: to analyze discourse features of English Economics News by analyzing the frequency of occurences of grammatical cohesion as well as modality in those news Design of the Study The study will consist of three main parts Part A is Introduction The Introduction discusses the reasons for choosing topic, the aims, objectives, scope, methods and design of the study Part B is the Development which involves three chapters Chapter 1, with the title "Theoretical Background", presents the general information about grammatical cohesion and modality Chapter entitled "the Development" provides practical analysis through describing and investigating percentage of occurrence of grammatical cohesion as well as modality in texts Chapter named "Discussion and Implications" gives some implications for students and readers to get good results in learning and reading a news report Part C is the Conclusion in which the author summarizes the main points discussed in chapter 1, and of the study Beside that, she also provides some suggestions for further studies This study ends with References and Appendix Phan Thi Dung - 48A1 English Foreign Languages Department GRADUATION THESIS 16 Pham Thi Thanh Xuan (2007), An Analysis of Grammatical Cohesion Manifested in Newspaper Relating to the topic: Nuclear issue in North Korea and Iran, B.A Thesis, Vinh University 17 Palmer, F.R (1998), Mood and Modality CUP: Cambridge 18 Sakie, R (1995), Text and Discourse Analysis, New York: Routledge 19 VOA News, January 28,2011 VOA News Agency 20 VOA News, January 25, 2011 VOA News Agency 21 VOA News, January 14, 2011 VOA News Agency 22 VOA News, January 26, 2011 VOA News Agency Websites: http://www teachingenglish.org.uk http://.www.voanews.com http://www.docs.google.com Phan Thi Dung - 48A1 English 43 Foreign Languages Department GRADUATION THESIS APPENDIX I Ten English Economics News Retrieved from VOA Indian Aviation Recovers After Global Economic Downturn 28, January 2011 The Indian aviation industry is rebounding from the financial difficulties it faced during global economic downturn The country’s domestic carriers are expected to buy hundreds of planes in the coming years to cope with the growth in air travel As air passenger traffic dropped by 30 per cent in 2009, many Indian domestic carriers put expansion plans on hold and slashed staff salaries Cash-strapped airlines even asked for a government bailout But in the past year, the aviation industry has recovered from the crisis triggered by the global financial downturn As the economy returns to a high growth path, flights are again filling with passengers, and domestic carriers are posting profits The first concrete signal that the industry is back on its feet came in early January, when private carrier IndiGo placed a $15 billion order for 180 aircraft with Airbus It is the largest single order of Airbus planes and is expected to be delivered between 2016 and 2025 Besides IndiGo, other airlines also plan to buy new planes to cope with growing demand Aviation experts say the orders are an indication of the potential growth of the industry Sanat Kaul is chairman of the International Foundation for Aviation and Development in India and a former top official in the aviation ministry He says if fares remain competitive, low-cost airlines will entice millions of rail passengers to switch to air travel "There are all the signs that there will be very high growth in passenger traffic,‖ Kaul said ―Slowly, slowly as people get addicted to flying, they will slowly and slowly not take railways for long journeys." It is estimated that over the next 20 years India will buy 1,150 commercial jets valued at $130 billion to cater to the growing demand in the country By that time, about 180 million passengers are expected to fly annually Kaul says the industry could expand hugely if airlines begin operations to smaller, so-called Tier towns Phan Thi Dung - 48A1 English Foreign Languages Department GRADUATION THESIS "Our growth is metro-based growth…regional growth is yet to come,‖ he added ―Regional growth is essentially when Tier towns start using aircrafts and airlines start going there." About a dozen domestic carriers began operations in India about a decade ago to take advantage of a booming economy, which created a huge middle class in India Until then, India’s aviation sector was dominated by state-owned airlines Toyota Edges General Motors as World's Largest Automaker 25, January 2011 For the third straight year, Japan's Toyota was the world's biggest automaker in 2010, edging out General Motors, the resurgent American manufacturer Toyota sold more than 8.4 million vehicles last year, 28,000 more than General Motors GM has regained its footing after emerging from bankruptcy in late 2010 and, for the first time, sold more cars last year in China than it did in the U.S Worldwide, in 2009, Toyota sold 330,000 more vehicles than GM Overall, Toyota's sales advanced eight percent last year But Toyota's U.S car sales declined slightly in the face of its global recall of 8.5 million vehicles for various safety or manufacturing concerns Auto manufacturing analysts say that GM could surpass Toyota as the world's biggest automaker in 2011, partly because the U.S economy is slowly improving but mostly because of its dominance over Toyota in China China has been the world's largest automotive market for the last two years General Motors sold more than 2.3 million vehicles in China last year compared to just 846,000 for Toyota Ethiopia’s Inflation Rate Hits Nearly 15 Percent in December 14, January 2011 Ethiopia’s annual inflation rate soared to 14.5 percent in December, partially due to steep increases in food prices following a currency devaluation The government is hoping newly imposed price controls will ease consumer pressure Phan Thi Dung - 48A1 English Foreign Languages Department GRADUATION THESIS Ethiopia’s Central Statistical Agency Friday said inflation had jumped from 10.2 percent in November to 14.5 percent last month A statement said non-food items had gone up nearly 23 percent while food prices increased by almost percent The government devalued the local currency, the birr, by 17 percent against the dollar in September, significantly raising the price of imported goods Ethiopia already had a significant trade imbalance, with $1.2 billion worth of exports against nearly $7 billion in imports in the most recent year Last week, the government announced price controls on more than a dozen essential consumer goods as costs on food skyrocketed The caps on prices of such items as bread, meat, sugar, beverages and edible oils have proved to be popular with consumers in a country where per capita income is less than $400 a year But they have sparked howls of protest from shopkeepers, who have seen their profit margins cut sharply Some business operators have complained they are being forced to sell products at less than what they paid for them News agencies this week reported the government has closed down more than 100 retailers and suppliers who raised prices of price-controlled goods The reports say retailers could face heavy fines and imprisonment for repeated violations Economists and opposition politicians say price controls distort markets and have been repeatedly shown to be counterproductive wherever they have been tried Retired Ethiopian lawmaker and former World Bank director Bulcha Demeksa says it is a mistake to blame the business community for the government’s mistakes ―I’m not so angry with the retailers, sellers,‖ said Bulcha ―I’m angry with the government, because the government counts on its capability to control price Prices cannot be controlled It has been tried everywhere in the world and it has failed Unless you make it a totally totalitarian society it is impossible to control prices.‖ Consumers, however, are widely supportive of the price caps Shopper Shenkut Teshome says average Ethiopians have seen their purchasing power shrink to the point where many people were having to cut back on food ―It is very important that the government should the price control Otherwise, with the free economy everybody is raising his price, and nobody can buy with his Phan Thi Dung - 48A1 English Foreign Languages Department GRADUATION THESIS money, and at the end there is nothing to buy, and that makes a big difference,‖ said Shenkut ―The economy of the country stops growing, and people has not much money so they can afford anything, and if you don’t have any price control, at the end of the day the people will starve.‖ A trade ministry official this week told of plans to expand the price controls to other consumer goods He noted that the government’s recent five-year economic plan has set a target of holding the inflation rate down to six percent a year US Economy Grew 3.2 Percent in 4th Quarter 28, January 2011 The US Commerce Department says the economy grew at a faster pace in the last three months of 2010, expanding at an annual rate of 3.2 percent Experts say it's another sign that the worst of the economic crisis is over But as Mil Arcega reports, the US economy is still not growing fast enough to bring down unemployment The US economy picked up speed in the final months of 2010, fueled by a surge in exports and the strongest consumer spending in four years Economists say the gains should help alleviate concerns about the threat of another recession Kevin Flanagan, a financial analyst at Morgan Stanley, said "I think we have changed the conversation now to a more sustainable recovery and hopefully one now that moves into expansion." Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the US economy, grew four-and-a-half percent in the fourth quarter, while sales of US made goods to foreign buyers rose ten percent Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says the numbers suggest improving confidence in the U S recovery But he admits the economy needs to grow faster to reduce the nation's high unemployment "You know, it's not a boom It's not an expansion that's going to offer the possibility of a rapid decline in the unemployment rate But I think there's much more confidence now that it's sustainable, much more confidence that we're able to avoid the risk of slipping back into recession," he said Phan Thi Dung - 48A1 English Foreign Languages Department GRADUATION THESIS Overall, the U.S economy grew almost three percent last year - a sharp improvement over 2009 when the economy shrank more than two percent Despite the gains, the initial GDP numbers came in slightly below market expectations of three-and-a-half percent The Dow Jones Industrial average plunged more than 150 points at Friday's close, but analysts blame much of the decline on higher oil prices and worries about unrest in the Middle East Global Development Aid from China on the Rise 26, January 2011 Some aid experts and economists say they are not surprised by a report that China lent more development aid in places such as Africa and Latin America over the past two years compared to the Word Bank They attribute the increase to China’s growing need for scarce resources In just a few years, China has gone from being a large aid recipient to one of the largest development aid lenders and donors Statistics compiled by the Financial Times newspaper showed that in 2009 and 2010, the China Development Bank and China Export-Import Bank agreed on a total of $110 billion in loans to governments and companies in developing countries That exceeds the record $100 billion given out by various arms of the World Bank during roughly the same time period, in response to the global financial crisis The Chinese agreements included large loan-for-oil deals with Brazil, Russia and Venezuela, as well as infrastructure projects in Argentina, Belarus, Ghana and Mozambique "Some of these loans help develop access to natural resources and mineral mining, oil and power sources, and even, in some cases, agricultural land and production possibilities, all of which China desperately needs because it is a resource-scarce country," states Yukon Huang, a former World Bank country director for China Huang is now with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace research organization in Washington He says China is increasingly using its formidable financial assets to further its own interests - such as expanding its exports and promoting the internationalization of the Chinese currency, since some of the loans are partially denominated in Yuan Phan Thi Dung - 48A1 English Foreign Languages Department GRADUATION THESIS But, he says, that is not unusual "Japanese loans support Japanese objectives, U.S loans support U.S objectives These loans support Chinese objectives," he said Shen Jianguang, chief economist with Mizuho Securities Asia, says China’s economic power has grown and the country has entered what he describes as "a new stage" in which it can comfortably expand its presence abroad ―I think what China is doing today is no different to other advanced economies, what they’ve been doing all the time abroad - so all the development aid to other developing economies also involves some soft power,‖ Shen said ―So I think they [China] are just following this common practice." The Financial Times says the two Chinese banks provide better terms than the World Bank and other lenders, especially for deals that Beijing strongly supports The Chinese loans also tend to come with less onerous transparency conditions At a recent briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei was asked if China is trying to compete with the World Bank He did not directly answer the question, but said China will continue providing development aid to other countries Hong says as China continues to develop, it will continue to provide development aid to other countries as - in his words - a concrete reflection of China’s contributions to world peace China’s aid efforts, however, have been criticized by rights and development agencies and other organizations around the world Some rights activists say that China’s aid and trade deals, particularly in Africa, help prop up unsavory governments, and that little of it benefits average people Some development experts have said that Chinese loans and grants often are not tracked to prevent corruption or little to reduce poverty The World Bank declined to be interviewed for this report, but sent a written statement saying that it is working more closely than ever with China,‖ with which it enjoys ―an important and growing partnership Indian Government Tracking Illegal Money Stashed Overseas 25, January 2011 Days after India’s supreme court expressed alarm at the illicit flow of wealth to foreign countries, the Indian government says it is taking steps to stop the illegal Phan Thi Dung - 48A1 English Foreign Languages Department GRADUATION THESIS transfer of money to foreign banks Private businesses and corrupt politicians are believed to have siphoned off billions of dollars Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Tuesday the government is tightening regulations and negotiating tax pacts with foreign countries to track money parked by rich Indians and companies in tax havens He says the government has detected tax evasion worth $ 3.3 billion in the past 18 months The government’s statement came after the supreme court said that illegal money stashed overseas was a mind boggling crime and amounted to "pure and simple theft of national wealth." The court’s observation was made in response to a petition which has charged the government with inaction in stemming the flow of illegal money overseas Finance Minister Mukherjee says the government has nothing to hide "Like any well intentioned persons of society, government is equally interested in unearthing the black money, bringing the money to the country, if possible, as and when possible, and at the same time to take steps to plug the loopholes through which these evasions have taken place," he said The minister says there are no reliable estimates of money illegally funneled overseas, but it is thought to be between $500 billion and $1.4 trillion A study by U.S.-based Global Financial Integrity recently estimated that $460 billion had been taken overseas in the past six decades The study blamed tax evasion by private businessmen and corrupt politicians for the illicit transfers The government has been under pressure to name those guilty But it has refused to disclose the identity of 26 Indians who allegedly hold secret bank accounts and whose names were recently handed over by the German government to Indian authorities Mukherjee cited a confidentiality clause to explain why the government could not so "Today if I divulge the secrecy, day after tomorrow the other countries will not give us information," he said "They will raise accusing fingers against us that you not meet international commitment." But the government’s clarifications did not satisfy the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party A BJP spokesman, Ravi Shankar Prasad, charged the government with being Phan Thi Dung - 48A1 English Foreign Languages Department GRADUATION THESIS vague about the measures being taken on crack down on illegal wealth amassed in foreign banks "The country wants meaningful action and not evasive replies," said Prasad The government has been under pressure to address issues of illegal wealth and crack down on graft after a series of corruption scandals were exposed in recent months Economics Elite Gather in Switzerland 25, January 2011 Slow economic recovery in the West and rising powers in the East are likely to dominate discussions at the World Economic Forum, an annual gathering of the rich and powerful that starts Wednesday in Davos, Switzerland There is plenty to worry about for the heads of state, business leaders and celebrities attending one of the year's most high-profile events - the five-day World Economic Forum at the Swiss resort of Davos Davos organizers made that clear this month in their Global Risks Report, which identifies about three-dozen problems confronting our planet today - from climate change to geopolitical conflict, migration and government debt "The world has never been confronted with so many complex challenges at the same time," said Swiss economist and World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab "And, so the role of the annual meeting is not just to address all those challenges but to provide a systemic, strategic overview about what's important on the global agenda and if possible come up with solutions," he said Emerging powers China and India are expected to be among the top subjects on the agenda - with underlying concerns about inflation in China and trade and currency imbalances between Beijing and the West Simon Tilford, chief economist at the London-based Center for European Reform, expects the slow economic recovery in the United States and Europe will also dominate discussions "The eurozone crisis is clearly going to dominate to a certain extent I think the underlying concern is going to be the persistent weakness of [the economic] recovery in the U.S and in Europe - and concerns about overheating in China," said Tilford The 2,500 participants expected at Davos include some 35 heads of state and executives of 1,400 top businesses Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, the Phan Thi Dung - 48A1 English Foreign Languages Department GRADUATION THESIS scheduled keynote speaker, has postponed his arrival following Monday's suicide bombing at a Moscow airport Other scheduled speakers include French President Nicolas Sarkozy who is expected to outline his goals for the French presidency of the G20 He offered a preview, Monday, during a news conference in Paris German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Mexican President Felipe Calderon and South African President Jacob Zuma are also expected at Davos Interest Rates Reach New Highs on Greece, Portugal and Ireland Debt April 21, 2011 Interest rates on Greek, Portuguese and Irish debts climbed to new records on Thursday as investor fears mounted about the debt-ridden governments The interest rate on Greece's 10-year bonds reached nearly 15 percent, a record since Europe adopted its common euro currency in 1999 As fears mount that Greece will have to restructure the $154 billion international bailout it reluctantly accepted last year, investors have demanded higher interest rates to account for the added risk of buying the securities Interest rates on two-year Greek notes topped 23 percent The Athens government has imposed substantial spending cuts and said it will sell key state-owned facilities in an effort to cut its deficit spending But the interest rates on its bonds have continued to increase even as Greek officials say they have no plans for a debt restructuring Portugal is now negotiating terms of its request for a bailout from its European neighbors and would become the third country, after Greece and Ireland, to accept international assistance The interest rates on Lisbon's bonds have also risen sharply, increasing to more than 9.5 percent for 10-year notes and more than 11.5 percent on two-year loans, both new highs since use of the euro started Meanwhile, the interest rates on Ireland's bonds have also similarly increased to new records As interest rates increase on the debts for the governments on the geographic periphery of Europe, it has become increasingly expensive for them to finance their operations As the financing costs have mounted, the governments have reached the same conclusion that they needed outside help Phan Thi Dung - 48A1 English Foreign Languages Department GRADUATION THESIS Corner Stores Take a Healthy Turn January 26, 2011 There are more than 89,000 corner stores in the United States Most are small, locally-owned shops, and in poorer city neighborhoods, they might be the only general store for blocks around But the stores rarely carry fresh, healthy foods A new initiative in Philadelphia is out to change that The Food Trust, a nonprofit, is trying to make access to healthier foods easier and profitable High cost of junk food Oliviarie’s Food Market is one of 440 corner stores in Philadelphia that has signed up for the program The store acts as a kind of central hub for the surrounding neighborhoods, and often draws young people who end up purchasing high-calorie snacks "We usually have chips and juice, candy," says Anita Davis, an eighth grader "Soda and some gum," adds Shatera Della, her friend and schoolmate The girls attend Barratt Norris Middle School which is just a few blocks away from Oliviarie’s They come here almost every day after school, and they’re not alone More than a quarter of Philadelphia students visit corner stores twice a day, five days a week, according to a new study "Snacking in Children: the Role of Urban Corner Stores," was published by the Temple University Center for Obesity Research and Education "In my opinion I think it’s really interesting that a child can spend a dollar and get 350 calories on average at any one trip to a corner store," says Stephanie Vander Veur, a clinical researcher at Temple "It’s pretty amazing, if you ask me." By purchasing 350 calories on each visit to the corner store, Vander Veur notes, these students are consuming almost half a kilo's worth of additional calories each week That is one reason, she says, why half of all the children living in America’s cities are overweight Without that help, Oliviarie’s Market owner Clara Santos says she would not have known how to begin selling fresh fruits and vegetables in her store "I wouldn’t start it, I wouldn’t think about it, because I thought it was hard to introduce new things like that in a neighborhood where you don’t know if they’re going to buy it." Phan Thi Dung - 48A1 English Foreign Languages Department GRADUATION THESIS Exploring options Santos says even the students are making healthy choices "Some of them, in the morning, they eat an apple or yogurt." Before the program started, Santos only sold a few bunches of bananas a week She now stocks — and sells — a colorful spectrum of oranges, apples, plantains and sweet potatoes Meanwhile, other cities have taken notice of Philadelphia’s success Portland, Oregon; Birmingham, Alabama and New York City are all planning to launch programs closely modeled on the Healthy Corner Store Initiative 10 Japan Reacts to Sovereign Rating Downgrade January 28, 201 Japan's prime minister calls for maintaining fiscal discipline and building market trust in the country's bonds The remarks follow a downgrade in the country's sovereign debt rating, the latest bit of troubling news for Japan’s long-stagnant economy Japan’s prime minister is in damage control mode The Standard and Poor’s rating agency has placed Japan on the same risk level as China, reducing its credit rating one notch to AA- The agency says it made the cut because government lacks ―a coherent strategy‖ for reducing its debt burden Prime Minister Naoto Kan commented on the downgrade in an appearance before parliament on Friday The prime minister, while offering no new strategies, says it is important to maintain fiscal discipline and win market confidence for Japan’s fiscal management Mr Kan has previously said Japan’s rising social welfare expenses and its soaring national debt make a sales tax increase inevitable Opposition lawmakers blasted Mr Kan, who was previously finance minister, for his initial response Thursday to the downgrade The prime minister told reporters he was ―not well informed‖ and could not immediately discuss the downgrade Natsuo Yamaguchi, the leader of New Komeito, the third-largest political party, spoke in parliament Friday Phan Thi Dung - 48A1 English Foreign Languages Department GRADUATION THESIS Yamaguchi says he could not believe his ears when he heard the prime minister say he was ignorant about the matter It is clear, Yamaguchi adds, that Mr Kan lacks a sense of crisis about the country’s stagnant economy The influential Nikkei business newspaper warned on Friday that Mr Kan’s government needs to demonstrate a plan for tax and social reform to avoid a disaster that could see financial markets spinning out of control Market analysts say such action is critical for the world’s third-largest economy Japan has scant natural resources, and is reliant on exports to fuel its economy It is struggling to deal with an aging population, but the government has resisted opening the door to immigration, which would replenish the labor pool, especially in service industries Industry leaders say the first credit ratings cut for the country in nine years should prod Japan to restructure its budget and reduce spending Unlike some countries that have run into serious debt trouble, 95 percent of what Japan owes is held domestically That makes the economy less vulnerable to the whims of market speculators who have triggered serious financial crises elsewhere Japan’s economy has been in decline since the early 1990’s and recently has been beset by deflation Official comments repeatedly characterize the country’s economy as ―pausing.‖ The government on Friday announced that while unemployment declined slightly in December, consumer prices also fell for a 22nd consecutive month II Suggested Answers for Activities in Chapter Activity 1: Analyse the news report using grammatical cohesive devices the country's: anaphoric reference for India in sentence (1) However: Conjunction 13 Despite: Conjunction 16 its: anaphoric reference for India's 17 He: anaphoric reference for The Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commision, Montek Singh Ahluwalia its: anaphoric reference for India's Activity 2: Read the news report and analyze it in terms of modality Phan Thi Dung - 48A1 English Foreign Languages Department GRADUATION THESIS Likely: analysts's unsure judgment about South Korea's economy in the future 10 uncertainties: the unrealiable possibility of South Korea's external 14 warn: the strong attitude of analysts to challenges that South Korea will face when going forward the sector 16 may: possibility 27 may: possibility Activity Analyze the following news report in terms of cohesive devices and modality his: anaphoric reference for Fed chief Ben Bernanke's he: anaphoric reference for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke would: Ben Bernanke's evaluation about the Fed's program 11 its: anaphoric reference for the committee 13 Bernanke: anaphoric reference for Federal Reserve Chairman 15 But: Conjunction expresses the contrary between issues 16 would: critics' attitude about the purchases's affect to the U.S economy 17 but: conjunction 19.will: Bernanke's opinion about the capability of increasing gas prices 21 will: Bernanke's opinion about the affect of gas prices to the inflation: possibility 22 he: anaphoric reference for Bernanke 23 its: anaphoric reference for the Fed's 24 would: the speaker's attitude of the influence of higher rates to economy 25 but: conjunction it: anaphoric reference for higher rates 26 likely: Bernanke's unsure attitude about the economic recovery 27 but: conjunction He: anaphoric reference for Bernanke 28 likely: Bernanke's uncertain attitude about the recovery process of economy Phan Thi Dung - 48A1 English Foreign Languages Department GRADUATION THESIS 29 think: Bernanke's strong attitude about the possibility for the pace to pick up over time 30 will: Bernanke's belief in increasing pace of the economy 31 will: Bernanke's evaluation about U.S' possibility to return to being one of the biggest and dynamic economies in the world 36 will: some analysts' view on the Fed decision Phan Thi Dung - 48A1 English Foreign Languages Department ... university foreign Languages department == = == = AN ANALYSIS ON SOME DISCOURSE FEATURES OF ENGLISH ECONOMICS NEWS (Phân tích số đặc điểm diễn ngôn b¶n tin kinh tÕ tiÕng anh) graduation thesis Field:... SOME DISCOURSE FEATURES OF ENGLISH ECONOMICS NEWS 2.1 Some Information about the Material Selected As the title of the thesis, we show our concern about English economics news from VOA, one of. .. example, in conjunction, they often can not distinguish the difference between the "and" in the role of a coordinating conjunction and "and" of an additive conjunction The Phan Thi Dung - 48A1 English