Chapter 6 Textual analysis - University of Sydney

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Chapter 6 Textual analysis

6.1. Introduction

The previous chapter illustrated the overall research design of this study and outlined

the analytical framework employed to address the research question at different levels.

This chapter reports on the results of textual level of analysis in this

multi-dimensional genre study. First, it attempts to identify the micro-genres used in

each text. This includes a section that unravels the generic and rhetorical structures

used in each text, which can contribute to the understanding of the basic textual

patternings of the texts. Then, this chapter explores the basic pattern of participants by

carrying out an ‘identification’ (Martin & Rose, 2003) analysis and examines which

kinds of participants are foregrounded in each text. Finally, this chapter considers the

attitudes adopted by the writers towards ‘terrorism’ by applying an ‘appraisal’ (Martin,

2000, 2004; Martin & Rose, 2003) analysis in each text. That emphasizes the role of

evaluation, and it examines “the semantic resources used to negotiate emotions,

judgements, valuations, alongside resources for amplifying and engaging with these

evaluations” (Martin, 2000, p.145). In this chapter, only ‘attitude’ and ‘graduation’ in

the ‘appraisal system’ are considered. The ‘engagement’ part of the ‘appraisal’ system

will be discussed in Chapter 7 in relation to ‘intertextuality’ because of the

interrelationship between ‘engagement’ and ‘intertextuality’.

It is argued here that the three sections – ‘micro-genres’, ‘identification’ and

‘appraisal’ – of exploration are all based on the detailed analysis of the texts per se

rather than taking account of the intertextual or contextual factors, although from the

perspective of systemic functional linguistics ‘appraisal’ analysis is concerned with

‘interpersonal’ metafunction. However, the ‘appraisal’ analysis in this section, which

only covers analyses of ‘attitude’ and ‘graduation’, is based on looking at the use of

evaluative lexis in each text. So these three sections of analysis have been put together

as the textual analysis of this multi-dimensional genre study.

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6.2. Micro-genres

As described in the previous chapter, this study considers the micro-genre adopted by

each writer in each text. Also, the generic and rhetorical structures of the texts were

explored to illustrate the structural means that the writer draws on to achieve the

rhetorical functions. The term ‘micro-genre’ here is in line with what Biber (1989)

calls ‘text type’. Micro-genres characterize texts in terms of rhetorical functions such

as exposition, discussion and problem-solution. For further explications of the

differences between genre, micro-genres and text type see Martin (1997), Lee (2001)

and Paltridge (1996).

In this study, 50 newspaper commentaries on terrorism in Chinese and English from

two social settings were collected and analysed as data for investigating the

micro-genres employed by the writers. Based on a rough reading of the texts and,

more importantly, on the categorization of expositions and media commentaries set

forth by Martin & Peters (1985), Hoey (1983) and White (2002a), this study proposed

a classification of newspaper commentaries that aims to capture basic micro-genres

and social functions of the texts under examination. Table 6.1 shows the micro-genres

and social functions that were identified in this study.

Table 6.1. Micro-genres and functions of the Chinese and Australian newspaper

commentaries [based on Martin & Peters (1985), Hoey (1983) and White (2002a)]

Micro-genres Functions Explanatory exposition

To explain what/how/why

Argumentative exposition

To persuade that something is the case

Media exposition

Hortatory exposition

To persuade that something should be the case or should be done

Problem/solution To illustrate a problem and propose solutions for it Media challenge To question, argue against, or challenge an existing

opinion on an issue of public interest Media discussion To survey, or present (at least) two points of view about an

issue of public interest

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After the micro-genre of each text was identified, the generic structure and rhetorical

structures of each text were analysed to understand the basic textual pattern that the

writers employed to develop the texts. As argued in Chapter 5, generic structure in

this study refers to the way that particular texts develop typical and recognizable

textual structures; that is, the stages the texts move through in order to achieve their

particular goal. Generic structure in this study is aligned with genre, which is defined

as a category assigned on the basis of external criteria such as social purpose,

intended audience and activity type rather than lexical or grammatical features (Biber,

1988, 1989; Lee, 2001). Rhetorical structure used in this study is a term which refers

to internal textual patterns and which describes the stages or steps which realize

rhetorical functions such as thesis statement, arguments, evidence, and conclusion.

Figure 1.1 in Chapter 1 is an example which illustrates the demarcation of these two

terms used in this study.

Following the analytical framework described above, the two sets of data in Chinese

and English were examined to identify the micro-genre, generic structure and

rhetorical structure of each text. What follows are summaries of the analytical

findings in each of the two sets of data.

6.2.1. The Chinese texts

The Chinese set of data comprised 25 newspaper commentaries collected from three

types of newspapers published in China, namely, Chinese national general

newspapers, Chinese national specialist newspapers and Chinese provincial

newspapers. The micro-genres found in the Chinese data are summarised in Table 6.2.

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Table 6.2. Summary of micro-genres in the Chinese data

Media exposition Micro-genre Newspaper

Explanatory exposition



Problem/ solution

Media challenge

Media discussion

CN (10) 7 2 1 CS (5) 5 CR (10) 8 1 1 Total 20 0 2 2 1 0

(NB: CN refers to Chinese national general newspapers. CS refers to Chinese national

specialist newspapers, and CR refers to Chinese provincial newspapers. The numbers

in the table indicate the numbers of texts in the specific types of micro-genres.)

Most of the commentaries (20 out of 25 texts) in the Chinese data were categorised as

‘media explanatory exposition’ micro-genres. Two texts were identified as ‘media

hortatory exposition’, another two texts were identified as ‘media problem/solution’

and one text was categorised as ‘media challenge’. No text was categorised as

‘argumentative exposition’ or ‘media discussion’. The detailed analysis of each text

can be seen in Appendix II-1 (the CD-Rom attached at the back of the thesis). The

summary of textual analysis on the Chinese texts can be seen in Appendix I-2 and I-4.

The Chinese explanatory expositions were those texts that aimed to explain what

terrorism is, what the terrorists did and why they did it. Table 6.3 provides a typical

example of an explanatory exposition text (CR 05) found in the Chinese data. Table

6.4, then, summarises the generic structure and rhetorical structure of the text shown

in Table 6.3.

Table 6.3. Textual analysis of CR 05

Generic structure

河北日报/2001 年/12 月/30 日/第 003 版/国际新闻·世界纵横 HEBEI DAILY Page3 30/12/2001

Rhetorical structure

Headline 恐怖主义威胁现代社会

[Terrorism threatens modern society] Thesis

Byline 李会欣 Huixin Li

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Introduction Body

1. 自人类步入现代社会以来,人们正越来越多地沐浴着现代

文明的光辉。[Since mankind entered modern society, people have been bathed in the rays of modern civilisations.]

2. 然而,与此相伴的并不总是美妙的和弦,还有一些不协调的

杂音,恐怖主义就是其中之一。[However, with civilisations, there are not always wonderful harmonies, but some ragged noises as well, of which terrorism is one.]

3. 恐怖主义已对国际安全与世界发展构成了严重威胁与挑

战。[Terrorism has formed serious threats and challenges to world security and development.]

4. 在经济方面,恐怖主义不但会造成巨大的经济损失,还会动

摇消费者和投资者的信心,对地区经济合作和世界经济发

展构成严峻挑战;在政治方面,恐怖主义则会造成国家与世

界政治局势的动荡,不利于公正合理的世界政治秩序的形

成;更有甚者,恐怖主义常常伤害无辜,给广大无辜群众造成

巨大生命财产损失。[In the economic aspect, terrorism does not only bring about huge economic loss, but also shakes the confidence of consumers and investors. It constructs severe challenges to regional economic cooperation and world economic development. In the political aspect, terrorism causes turbulences of state and world political conditions, which go against the formations of a fair and rational world political order. Moreover, terrorism often hurts the innocent and causes huge casualty and property damage for the innocent masses.]

5. 恐怖主义对人类文明和人权已经造成严重的践踏与侵犯,已经成为人类社会发展的大敌。[Terrorism has seriously trampled and impinged on human civilisations and human rights, and it has become a big foe in human social development.]

6. 近些年来,恐怖组织活动表现出新的特点:恐怖活动袭击范

围扩大,危害增强,死亡人数逐年上升;恐怖活动的手段多元

化;恐怖分子使用的工具趋于现代化和高科技化;随着国际

社会日益全球化,恐怖组织的成员、活动地点、袭击对象出

现了明显的国际化趋势。 [In recent years, terrorist activities have shown some new features such as: the attack scopes of terrorist attacks are enlarging, casualty is increasing year after year, the means of terrorist activities varied, tools used by terrorists are getting modernised and hi-tech, and also along with the

Orientation Thesis reiteration Facts

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globalisation of international communities, members, activities spots and attack targets are becoming more internationalised.]

7. 恐怖主义的泛滥有着深刻的社会根源。[The overflow of

terrorism is deeply rooted in this social context.] 8. 社会经济发展不平衡,贫富悬殊、社会不公、局势动荡都是

恐怖主义泛滥的社会温床。 [Unbalance of socio-economical development, unequal distribution of wealth, social unfairness and turbulence are the social hotbed of terrorism spreading.]

9. 另外,民族矛盾、种族冲突和宗教矛盾也是当前恐怖主义猖

獗的主要原因之一。[In addition, national, ethnic and religious conflicts are one of the major factors for terrorism rampancy.]

10. 全球性问题(如生态失衡、人口爆炸等)的日益突出也为恐

怖主义的滋生提供了契机。 [The global issues (e.g. ecological unbalance, population explosion, etc) also provide opportunities for terrorism development.]

11. 总之,冷战后恐怖主义的泛滥,是当代国际社会中各种利益

之间矛盾斗争尖锐化的反映。[In one word, the overflow of terrorism after the Cold War is a reflection of the increasing conflicts among various forces in the contemporary international community.]

12. 鉴于恐怖主义的极大危害性,它理所当然地应该遭到世界

各国的坚决反对。 [Because of the harmful nature of terrorism, it should be opposed definitely by the world.]

13. 面对全球恐怖活动,国际社会采取了一系列反恐怖措施和

行动,并加强了这方面的国际合作。[Facing global terrorist activities, international society has taken a series of anti-terrorist measures and actions, and has strengthened international cooperation.]

14. 据统计,目前全球已有 60%的国家成立了反恐突击队。

[According to the statistics, 60% countries of the world have set up anti-terrorist troops.]

15. 由于恐怖主义问题大多带有国际因素,因而联合国在国际

反恐怖斗争合作中应当发挥更大的作用。[Since terrorism is often quite international, the UN should take a more important role in the international anti-terrorist battles.]

16. 中国政府一贯主张,各国应在打击国际恐怖主义方面加强

合作,认真采取有效措施,严格履行各自承担的国际义务;打击国际恐怖主义应尊重包括国家主权、领土完整和不干涉

Reasons Worldwide Solutions Solution proposed by the

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Conclusion

内政等原则在内的公认的国际法原则。 [The Chinese government always proposes that every country should strengthen cooperation in anti-terrorist battles and should take effective measures for fulfilling the international obligations carefully. Combating international terrorism should respect the acknowledged principles of international laws such as national sovereignty, territory integrity and non-intervention of interior policies.]

17. 国际舆论认为,恐怖主义是世界上国家、民族、阶级、宗教

间各种尖锐复杂矛盾的反映,是世界范围内南北经济、政治

发展不平衡生成的毒瘤。 [International public opinion thinks that terrorism is the reflection of sharp and complex conflicts among nations, ethnic groups, classes and religions in the world, and it is the cancer brought out by the unbalanced South-North economic and political development.]

18. 因此,国际社会应作出努力,根据《联合国宪章》的宗旨和

原则,公正、合理地解决地区冲突,并大力解决发展问题。

[Therefore, the international community should make efforts to solve regional conflicts fairly and rationally in accordance with the Charter of the UN and solve the developmental problems as well.]

19. 只有如此,反对恐怖主义的斗争才能取得成效。[Only thus, can the anti-terrorist battle be successful.]

Chinese government Conclusion

Table 6.4. Generic structure and rhetorical structure of CR 05

Generic structure Rhetorical structure Headline Byline

Thesis

Introduction Body Conclusion

Orientation Thesis reiteration Facts Reasons Solutions of the world Solution proposed by the Chinese government Conclusion

The intention of this text seemed to be to explain to the public the serious threats and

challenges that terrorism has brought to the world, the reasons behind the increase of

terrorism and actions taken to solve the problem, specifically solutions proposed by

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the Chinese government. The thesis statement in this text is ‘terrorism threatens

modern society’. The writer adopts a tripartite generic structure, which comprises an

introduction, a body and a conclusion. In terms of rhetorical structure, this text

follows the structure shown above, foregrounding the harmfulness of terrorism and

the standpoint of the Chinese government. The text starts with an orientation,

referring to terrorism as a kind of “ ‘ragged noise’ in our harmonious and civilised

world”. Then, it goes on to explain the harm that terrorism has brought to the world. It

explores possible reasons that have lead to the emergence of terrorism, and finally

illustrates how the world has responded to terrorism and what the standpoint of the

Chinese government is on this. Rather than making any controversial or radical

statements that might give rise to debate, this text takes an explanatory position,

providing information that may be well known to their audience.

Most of the texts in the Chinese data (20 out of 25 texts) fall into the explanatory

exposition type of micro-genre which explains to the public what terrorism is and

what the terrorists did on September 11. At the end of these texts, quite often a strong

proposition put forward by the Chinese government informs the public of the stance

of the government on this matter. In these texts, the writers simply state facts and end

by stating the government’s stance on the matter. The writers’ personal voices do not

widely appear in the texts, giving a sense of non-involvement in the topics under

discussion. This feature of the Chinese texts is explored further in the following

chapter on intertextuality. Possible socio-cultural and socio-political reasons for the

use of this micro-genre are explored in Chapter 8.

In the Chinese data, other micro-genres were also found, such as ‘hortatory

exposition’, ‘problem/solution’ and ‘media challenge’ (see details in Table 6.1). In

‘hortatory expositions’, the writers usually argue for a position and persuade its

readership that something should be the case or should be done. For instance, in the

Chinese text (CN02) titled ‘The United Nations should play the key role in the global

anti-terrorism battle’, the writer closely follows the rhetorical structure of exposition.

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With the headline as the thesis he/she attempts to argue for, the writer employs a

generic and rhetorical structure as in Table 6.5.

Table 6.5. Generic structure and rhetorical structure of CN 02

Generic structure Rhetorical structure Headline Byline

Thesis


Orientation Thesis reiteration Argument 1 (Example) Argument 2 (Example) Argument 3 (Reason) Argument 4 (Reason) Argument 5 (Example) Argument 6 (reason) Conclusion

This text develops around the thesis of legitimating the role of the UN in the

anti-terrorism battle. Reasoning and factual examples are interwoven to illustrate the

importance of the UN in dealing with terrorism in the world. Personal pronouns are

not present in the text, and facts and outside sources are widely used to support the

claim. This illustrates that the writers do not involve themselves in the controversy

nor present the argument as their own voice. They try to keep a distance from the

topic under discussion. These features of the texts are further addressed in the chapter

on intertextuality.

In the Chinese texts a large variety of rhetorical structures was found. It is not

possible to generalise from the data that one or two models that fit all the Chinese

texts. Although the two Chinese texts shown above illustrate two widely used

micro-genres found in the Chinese set of texts, looking at only these two texts is

insufficient to provide a general overview of the rhetorical structures adopted in the

Chinese texts examined in this study. Table 6.6 provides a summary of the

micro-genres and rhetorical structures found in the Chinese texts.

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Table 6.6. Summary of the Textual Analysis of the Chinese Texts

TEXT MICRO-GENRE RHETORICAL STRUCTURE CN01 Problem-solution Thesis ^ Situation ^ Problem ^Reasons for the problem ^ Solution ^ Standpoint

of the Chinese government

CN02 Media exposition

(Hortatory)

Thesis ^ Orientation ^ Thesis reiteration ^ Argument 1 (Example) ^ Argument

2 (Example) ^ Argument 3 (Reason) ^ Argument 4 (Reason) ^ Argument 5

(Example) ^ Argument 6 (reason) ^ Conclusion


(Explanatory)

Thesis ^ Orientation ^ Situation ^ Opinion ^ Conclusion


(Explanatory)

Orientation ^ Thesis ^ Argument 1 ^ Argument 2 ^ Argument 3 ^

Recommendation 1 ^ Recommendation 2


(Explanatory)

Thesis ^ Argument 1 (challenges) ^ Argument 2 (opportunities) ^ Conclusion


(Explanatory)

Orientation ^ Situation ^ Argument 1 ^ Argument 2 ^ Conclusion


(Explanatory)

Thesis ^ Orientation ^ Thesis reiteration ^ Argument 1 ^ Argument 2 ^

Argument 3 ^ Argument 4 ^ Conclusion


(Hortatory)

Thesis ^ Thesis reiteration ^ Argument 1 (Example) ^ Argument 2 (Reason) ^

Argument 3 ^ Argument 4 ^ Argument 5 ^ Argument 6 ^ Conclusion


(Explanatory)

Thesis ^ Orientation ^ Thesis reiteration ^ Argument 1 (Facts) ^ Argument 2

(Facts) ^ Argument 3 (Facts) ^ Conclusion


(Explanatory)

Thesis ^ Orientation ^ Situation 1 ^ Situation 2 ^ Situation 3 ^ Situation 4 ^

Wrap-up

CS01 Media exposition

(Explanatory)

Thesis ^ Thesis reiteration ^ Situation 1 ^ Situation 2 ^ Situation 3 ^ Situation 4

^ Conclusion


(Explanatory)

Thesis ^ Elaboration 1 ^ Elaboration 2 ^ Elaboration 3


(Explanatory)

Thesis ^ Orientation 1 ^ Elaboration ^ Point 1 ^

Point 1.1 ^ Point 1.2 ^ Point 1.3 ^ Point 1.4 ^ Point 1.5 ^ Point 2 ^ Point 3


(Explanatory)

Thesis ^ Orientation ^ Elaboration 1 ^ Elaboration 2 ^ Elaboration 3


(Explanatory)

Thesis ^ Thesis reiteration ^ Elaboration 1 ^ Elaboration 2 ^ Elaboration 3 ^

Elaboration 4 ^ Elaboration 5 ^ Conclusion

CR01 Media exposition

(Explanatory)

Orientation ^ Fact 1 ^ Fact 2 ^ Fact 3 ^ Thesis ^ Argument 1 ^ Argument 2 ^

Conclusion


(Explanatory)

Thesis ^ Situation 1 (before 9/11) ^ Situation 2 (after 9/11, positive) ^ Situation

3 (after 9/11, positive) ^ Situation 4 (after 9/11, negative) ^ Conclusion


(Explanatory)

Thesis ^ Thesis reiteration ^ Situation 1 ^ Situation 2 ^ Situation 3


(Explanatory)

Thesis ^ Orientation ^ Situation 1 ^ Situation 2 ^ Situation 3 ^ Situation 4 ^

Situation 5 ^ Situation 6 ^ Situation 7 ^ Situation 8 ^ Situation 9

CR05 Media exposition Thesis ^ Orientation ^ Thesis reiteration ^ Facts ^ Reasons ^ Solutions of the

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(Explanatory) world ^ Proposition of the Chinese government ^ Conclusion


(Explanatory)

Thesis ^ Thesis reiteration ^ Elaboration 1 ^ Elaboration 2 ^ Elaboration 3 ^

Elaboration 4 ^ Elaboration 5 ^ Summary 1 ^ Summary 2 ^ Conclusion

CR07 Problem-solution Situation (raising the issue) ^ Problem (what is the issue?) ^ Solution (how to

address the issue?) ^ Recommendation

CR08 Media challenge Thesis ^ Position challenged ^ Rebuttal 1 ^ Rebuttal 2 ^ Rebuttal 3 ^ Thesis

reiteration


(Explanatory)

Thesis ^ Orientation ^ Thesis reiteration ^ Elaboration 1 ^ Elaboration 2 ^

Elaboration 3


(Explanatory)

Thesis ^ Orientation ^ Thesis reiteration ^ Elaboration 1 ^ Elaboration 2 ^

Elaboration 3 ^ Elaboration 4 ^ Conclusion

(NB: ^ = followed by)

From the table above, we can clearly see that the rhetorical structures found in the

Chinese texts show a great diversity even within the same micro-genre. For instance,

with ‘explanatory expositions’, there can be different structures such as Thesis ^

Orientation ^ Thesis reiteration ^ Elaborations ^ Conclusion, or Thesis ^ Orientation ^

Situation ^ Opinion ^ Conclusion, or others. Similarly, other micro-genres show

diversity and individuality in the use of rhetorical structures.

If we examine the Chinese texts through the lens of the Chinese textual pattern of qi

cheng zhuan he (cf. Chapter 2), many of these Chinese texts could arguably fall into

this pattern quite well. This structure has been widely discussed in many contrastive

rhetorical studies (e.g. Cahill, 1999, 2003; Connor, 1996; Kaplan, 1972; Kirkpatrick,

1997; Tsao, 1983). It may be argued that the Chinese textual organisational pattern qi

cheng zhuan he is better defined as a prosodic structure rather than a rhetorical or

functional structure. Since these four Chinese characters can be quite polysemous,

each step such as qi, cheng , zhuan, or he can be applied to different rhetorical

functions. For instance, the previous Chinese text, CR 05 (see Table 6.3 and 6.4 for

details) could be analysed as following a qi cheng zhuan he structure as can be seen in

Table 6.7.

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Table 6.7. Comparison of qi cheng zhuan he with rhetorical structures in CR 05

Generic structure

Rhetorical structure qi cheng zhuan he structure

Headline Byline

Thesis


Orientation Thesis reiteration Facts Reasons Solutions of the world Proposition of the Chinese government Conclusion

Qi Cheng Zhuan He

It can be seen here that the cheng and zhuan in this case are definitely not the

‘development’ and the so-called ‘turn’ in the previous interpretations (e.g. cheng

here is the ‘thesis reiteration’ and zhuan here refers to ‘facts’ and ‘reasons’ that

further support and explain the thesis. In other cases, the cheng and zhuan could be

the key points that the writers intend to argue for and further elaborations of the thesis

statement of the text (see e.g. CN 01, CN 03, CR 06, CR 07). It is not appropriate to

define the qi cheng zhuan he structure in Chinese rhetoric, then, in a narrow literal

way. This prosodic structure, which was originally adapted from Chinese poetry,

concerns itself with the ‘waves’ or ‘ups and downs’ in texts. It can accommodate

various functional structures and each step in this structure can be identified as

serving different purposes in different contexts from a functional perspective. The

variability of the qi cheng zhuan he structure in general can be evidence to illustrate

the diversity and dynamic nature of the Chinese exposition writing (Cahill, 2003).

By identifying micro-genres and the generic and rhetorical structures of the texts, this

section of the study captures the general picture of the rhetorical features of the

Chinese texts. However, as can be seen, it is by no means easy to capture the essential

features or basic patterns of Chinese texts by employing a western originated

functional perspective on discourse. To some extent, this kind of approach is

inappropriate or not enough to understand Chinese discourse (Shen, 1997, 2003).

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To summarise, the predominant micro-genre found in the Chinese texts is ‘media

explanatory exposition’. In terms of generic structure, most of the texts follow the

pattern of ‘headline’, ‘byline’, ‘introduction’, ‘body’ and ‘conclusion’. However, with

regard to rhetorical structures, a variety of diverse structures were found in the texts.

These features found in the Chinese texts are further explored in relation to

intertextual practices in the next chapter. They are also considered in relation to the

socio-cultural and socio-political contexts in which they exist in Chapter 8.

6.2.2. The Australian texts

The 25 Australian newspaper commentaries were analysed to identify the

micro-genres that occurred in the texts. Table 6.8 is a summary of this analysis.

Table 6.8. Summary of micro-genres in the Australian data

Media exposition Micro-genre Newspaper

Explanatory exposition



Problem/ solution

Media challenge

Media discussion

EN (10) 6 1 2 1 ES (5) 5 ER (10) 7 2 1 Total 0 18 1 2 3 1

(NB: EN refers to Australian national general newspaper. ES refers to Australian

national specialist newspapers, and ER refers to Australian state newspapers. The

numbers in the table indicate the numbers of texts in the specific types.)

As can be seen in the above table, the analysis showed that the predominant

micro-genres used in these Australian commentaries are ‘argumentative expositions’

(18 out of 25 texts), and ‘media challenge’ (3 texts). Other texts were found

employing ‘hortatory exposition’ (1 text), ‘problem/solution (2 texts) and ‘media

discussion’ (1 text) micro-genres. In these Australian commentaries, the writers

usually attempt to convert the readers to follow a proposition that they argue for. No

text was categorised as ‘explanatory exposition’. The detailed analysis of each text

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can be seen in Appendix II-2 (the CD-Rom attached at the back of the thesis). The

summary of textual analyse on the Australian texts can be seen in Appendix I-3 and

I-4.

Table 6.9 is a typical example of the Australian argumentative expositions found in

this study. Table 6.10 summarises the generic and rhetorical structures of the text

shown in Table 6.9.

Table 6.9. Textual analysis of EN 03 Generic structure

THE AUSTRALIAN OPINION Page17 17/09/2001

Rhetorical structure

Headline Subheadline Byline Introduction Body

Punishing bin Laden won’t stop extremists The West must wage an ideological war against terror and eliminate fanaticism at its source, Hossein Esmaeili writes The measures taken following the 1993 terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre (long prison terms for the perpetrators) did not deter terrorists from this week’s horrific attacks in New York and Washington, nor did it solve the problem of international terrorism. The finger is being directed at Osama bin Laden, a Saudi-born millionaire who left his country to join Mujaheddin fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. Tens of thousands of young men from Saudi Arabia, the Gulf countries, Egypt and Algeria joined fighters who finally pushed the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan. These well-trained and mainly extremist warriors are now spread around the world, with their base in Afghanistan and Pakistan. I believe that the US, the West and the rest of the international community should take several steps to combat terrorism originating in the Middle East and western Asia. The first step, as it is expected, is a swift response by the Americans, and probably supported by the UN Security Council and other nations, against training camps, military instillations and intelligence services of bin Laden and networks associated with him and with his much isolated extremist version of Islam.

Thesis Orientation 1 Orientation 2 Argument 1 Point 1

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This step is likely to be taken by the US. However, caution must be taken regarding the situation of Afghan people being held hostage by the Taliban. The Northern Alliance opposed to the Taliban and other Afghan opposition groups living in exile are the best possible alternatives to the Taliban. They must be supported by the international community. The second step, which is being proposed by political analysts, politicians and terrorist experts, is to crack down on the main sources of Middle Eastern terrorism. This includes two phases: first, to put pressure on Pakistan to close down Islamic schools, centres and institutions belonging to or supportive of bin Laden and his extremist, destructive, superficial ideology; second, isolating bin Laden’s followers around the world and monitoring their activities by efficient intelligence and other appropriate means. The third step, which has not been raised so far by political analysts, Western media and experts, is a longer-term strategy against the terrorism that originates in the Middle East. In this step, the West and the rest of the world – including Islamic nations – should find the real source of the growing destructive terrorism in the Middle East and western Asia. They have to find where the ideology and financial support behind bin Laden, his 20,000 trained Arab militia and associated groups comes from. The ideology comes from within Saudi Arabia (not directly related to the Saudi Government). Traditional clergies who have isolated themselves from the rest of the Islamic world, arrogantly claiming the sole authority to interpret Islam, have a simplistic view of religion. They have influenced elements of Islamic societies in Egypt, Algeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The financial support comes from within Saudi Arabia and other rich Arab states of the Gulf. Again, governments of those small oil-rich countries are not involved. However, the Saudi Government and those Arab states in the Gulf should co-operate in combating the extremist ideology

Point 2 Point 3

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Conclusion The author

that is not shared by the overwhelming majority of Muslims and Arabs in the Middle East and around the World. That extremist ideology is attractive in countries where poverty makes many people desperate and provides quick solutions to their problems. So Afghanistan, almost-bankrupt Pakistan and perhaps in the near future Iraq are the places where the extremist ideology behind the terrorism can easily attract people. The danger is that no country in the world is prepared to be involved in any activities that could offend the Saudi authorities and other oil-rich Arab states. More than 60 per cent of the world’s main energy source, oil, comes from Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf states. A long-term solution must consider these factors carefully. The extradition and punishment of bin Laden and destruction of his military and training bases in Afghanistan and Pakistan, though necessary, are not enough to break the back of those narrow-minded followers of death and destruction. Not only have they killed thousands of innocent people and disrupted the life of many Americans, they have also shamed the reputation of Islam and its civilisation. Dr Hossein Esmaeili is a lecturer in international law at the University of New England in Armidale, NSW

Argument 2 Argument 3 Conclusion

Table 6.10 Generic structure and rhetorical structure of EN 03

Generic structure Rhetorical structure Headline Subheadline Byline

Thesis


Orientation 1 Orientation 2 Argument 1

Point 1 Point 2 Point 3

Argument 2 Argument 3 Summary

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The author

This text argues that ‘punishing bin Laden will not stop extremists’. It analyses the

ideology behind the extremist action and appeals to the West and the international

community to wage an ideological war against terrorism. This text starts with a brief

orientation of the contemporary terrorism and terrorists, and then proceeds to outline

the steps that the West should take to combat terrorism. When it comes to the

argument of waging a longer-term strategy against terrorism, the writer begins to

wrestle with the focus of his thesis, that is; the West needs to wage an ideological war,

beyond just ‘the extradition and punishment of bin Laden’.

The text follows the conventional way of establishing an argument: thesis ^

orientation ^ arguments ^ summary. The writer’s ‘I’ appears in this text, making

predictions about what steps are likely to be taken by the US and the western world

after September 11. The thesis that the writer attempts to argue for is a moral one that

concerns itself with whether there is something political to be done about the

anti-terrorism battle. The writer involves himself in the discussion of the topic and

presents his own point of view in this text.

The Australian commentaries follow similar patterns to rhetorical structures used for

arguing for propositions when writers wish to convince readers. Table 6.11.is the

summary of the micro-genres and rhetorical structures found in the Australian texts.

Table 6.11. Summary of the Textual Analysis of the Australian Texts

TEXT MICRO-GENRE RHETORICAL STRUCTURE EN01 Media exposition

(Argumentative)

Thesis ^ Orientation 1 ^ Orientation 2 ^ Thesis reiteration ^ Argument 1 ^

Argument 2 ^ Reorientation ^ Prediction 1 ^ Prediction 2 ^ Prediction 3 ^

Prediction 4 ^ Prediction 5 ^ Prediction 6 ^ Prediction 7 ^ Prediction 8 ^

Prediction 9 ^ Conclusion

EN02 Media exposition

(Hortatory)

Thesis ^ Thesis reiteration ^ Argument 1 ^ Argument 2 ^ Argument 3 ^

Argument 4 ^ Argument 5 ^ Argument 6 ^ Argument 7 ^ Conclusion


(Argumentative)

Thesis ^ Orientation 1 ^ Orientation 2 ^ Argument 1 ^ (Point 1 ^ Point 2 ^ Point

3) ^ Argument 2 ^ Argument 3 ^ Summary

EN04 Media exposition Thesis ^ Orientation 1 ^ Orientation 2 ^ Argument 1 ^ Argument 2 ^ Argument

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(Argumentative) 3 ^ Conclusion


(Argumentative)

Thesis ^ Argument 1 ^ Argument 2 ^ Conclusion 1 ^ Argument 1 ^ Argument 2

Argument 3 ^ Conclusion 2

EN06 Media discussion Orientation 1 ^ Orientation 2 ^ Orientation 3 ^ Orientation 4 ^ Position

challenged 1 ^ (Rebuttal 1 ^ Rebuttal 2) ^ Position argued for ^ (Argument 1 ^

Argument 2) ^ Position challenged 2 ^ (Rebuttal) ^Conclusion


(Argumentative)

Thesis ^ Orientation 1 ^ Orientation 2 ^ Orientation 3 ^ Argument 1 ^

Argument 2 ^ Argument 3 ^ Argument 4 ^ Argument 5 ^ Argument 6 ^

Argument 7 ^ Argument 8 ^ Conclusion ^ Standpoint of the author

EN08 Media challenge Thesis ^ Orientation 1 ^ Orientation 2 ^ Position challenged ^ (Rebuttal 1 ^

Rebuttal 2 ^ Rebuttal 3 ^ Rebuttal 4^ Rebuttal 5^ Rebuttal 6) ^ Anti-thesis ^

Conclusion

EN09 Media challenge Thesis^ Position challenged ^ (Rebuttal 1^ Rebuttal 2 ^ Rebuttal 3 ^ Rebuttal 4

^ Rebuttal 5 ^ Anti-thesis


(Argumentative)


Argument 3 ^ Conclusion

ES01 Media exposition

(Argumentative)


Argument 4 ^ Conclusion


(Argumentative)




(Argumentative)


Argument 4 ^ Argument 5 ^ Recommendation ^ Conclusion


(Argumentative)




(Argumentative)

Thesis ^ Thesis reiteration ^ Argument 1 ^ Argument 2 ^ Recommendation

ER01 Problem-solution Thesis ^ Situation ^ Problem ^ Solution 1 ^ Solution 2 ^ Conclusion

ER02 Media exposition

(Argumentative)

Orientation ^ Thesis ^ Argument 1 ^ Argument 2 ^ Argument 3 ^ Argument 4 ^

Argument 5 ^ Argument 6 ^ Argument 7 ^ Conclusion


(Argumentative)

Thesis ^ Orientation ^ Argument 1 ^ Argument 2 ^ Argument 3 ^ Argument 4 ^



(Argumentative)


Argument 3 ^ Argument 4 ^ Argument 5 ^ (Point 1 ^ Point 2 ^ Point 3) ^

Conclusion ^ Recommendation


(Argumentative)

Thesis ^ Orientation ^ Situation 1 ^ Situation 2 ^ Thesis reiteration ^ Argument

1 ^ Argument 2 ^ Argument 3 ^ Argument 4 ^ Conclusion


(Argumentative)

Thesis ^ Orientation ^ Situation ^ Thesis reiteration ^ Argument 1 ^ Argument

2 ^ Argument 3 ^ Argument 4 ^ Argument 5 ^ Argument 6 ^ Conclusion


(Argumentative)



ER08 Problem/solution Thesis ^ Situation ^ Problem ^ Solution 1 ^ Solution 2 ^ Reflection ^

Conclusion ^ Recommendation

ER09 Media exposition Thesis ^ Orientation ^ Thesis reiteration ^ Argument 1 ^ Argument 2 ^

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(Argumentative) Argument 3 ^ Argument 4 ^ Argument 5 ^ Argument 6 ^ Conclusion

ER10 Media challenge Thesis ^ Orientation ^ Thesis challenged ^ Rebuttal 1 ^ Rebuttal 2 ^ Rebuttal 3

^ Anti-thesis

(NB: ^ = followed by)

In the Australian media expositions (argumentative and hortatory) the writers mostly

follow the rhetorical structure of Thesis ^ Orientation ^ Thesis reiteration ^

Arguments ^ Conclusion as a basic pattern, with little variation. In other micro-genres

the writers use rhetorical structures that could be generally summarised as follows.

For problem/solution micro-genres, the writers follow the structure of Thesis ^

Situation ^ Problem ^ Solution ^ Conclusion. For media challenge, the writers follow

Thesis ^ Orientation ^ Thesis challenged ^ Rebuttal ^ Anti-thesis. In media discussion

(EN 06), the writer follows Orientation ^ Position challenged 1 ^ Rebuttal ^ Position

argued for ^ Argument ^ Position challenged 2 ^ Rebuttal ^ Conclusion. The media

discussion texts show much more complexity and variation than the other Australian

texts. The rhetorical structures that the writers use in the Australian texts are directly

related to the micro-genres they employ.

6.2.3. Comparison and contrast of the micro-genres in the Chinese and Australian

texts

Four micro-genres occurred in the Chinese data, namely, explanatory exposition,

hortatory exposition, problem/solution and media challenge. No argumentative

exposition and media discussion were found in the Chinese data. Of these,

explanatory exposition was the dominant micro-genre. However, in the Australian

data, five micro-genres were found. These were argumentative exposition, hortatory

exposition, problem/solution, media challenge, and media discussion. No explanatory

exposition was found in the Australian texts. The most frequent micro-genre in the

Australian data was argumentative exposition.

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The Australian texts in this study show some regularity in the use of the rhetorical

structures in relation to the micro-genres that occur in each text. The majority of the

Australian texts followed a rhetorical structure, which aligned with the micro-genre of

the text. This is in contrast with the Chinese texts, which showed greater diversity and

variation in rhetorical structures in relation to micro-genres.

The differences between this aspect in the Chinese and Australian texts may be due to

the different perspectives that the writers employ in constructing writing in the two

languages and cultures. Epistemological, political and cultural differences in the two

different cultural contexts may contribute to the differences in the writing in the two

languages. While western language scholarship aims to be precise and accountable in

describing and analysing language use, the Chinese tradition of language study seem

to focus more on content and clarity rather than on form and structure (Wang, K, 1991;

Wang, X, 1994). As observed in Cahill (2003), the tenet of the classical Chinese

phrase “wen wu dingfa”, meaning “no single certain method in writing”, is widely

prevalent in Chinese scholars of rhetoric and writing pedagogy. Liang (1968) stresses

“no matter how you arrange an essay’s structure, the purpose is to make the essay

clear to the reader.” While encouraging personal invention and originality in using

various forms to ‘get ideas across’, Chinese language educators provide little explicit

instruction on how to construct a piece of writing in a structured way (Kirkpatrick,

1995, 1997). This may partially explain why the Chinese textual structures

demonstrated more dynamic and unstructured characteristics than the English textual

structures.

6.3. Identification

This stage of the study is to trace major participants of the texts. As Martin and Rose

(2003, p.145) explain,

Identification is concerned with tracking participants: with introducing

people and things into a discourse and keeping track of them once there.

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These are textual resources, concerned with how discourse makes sense to

the reader, by keeping track of identities.

Keeping track of participants in a text, no matter whether they are people or things, is

a way of making sense of the text. According to Martin and Rose (2003), there are

two basic choices of identification: one is ‘introducing’ and the other is ‘tracking’. In

technical terms, introducing identity is called ‘presenting’, which is usually related to

the use of ‘a’, ‘some’ or nothing before the item in the text. Tracking identity is called

‘presuming’, which usually relates to the use of pronouns, proper nouns, or ‘the’

before the item.

Table 6.12 is a summary of the ‘identification’ analysis in all 50 texts examined in

this study. The detailed analysis of each text can be seen in Appendix II (the CD-Rom

attached at the back of the thesis). The summary of identification of each text can be

seen in Appendix I-2, I-3 and I-4.

Table 6. 12. Summary of the Identification Analysis

Participants Newspapers

Generic human Specific human Generic non-human

Specific non-human

CN (10) 3 24 13 CS (5) 1 3 14 CR (10) 1 1 19 19 Total 5 1 46 48 EN (10) 10 10 10 15 ES (5) 3 1 2 12 ER (10) 12 4 9 15 Total 25 15 21 42

(NB: The numbers in the table indicate the numbers of participants in the specific

types of newspapers.)

The above table shows a sharp contrast between the Chinese and Australian texts in

terms of participants in the texts. The key participants in the Chinese texts tended to

be generic and specific non-human ones while in the Australian texts generic and

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specific human and non-human participants are included with a special focus on

specific non-human participants.

In the following Chinese text CR 05, key participants are highlighted in the boxes.

Excerpt 1:

CR 05 恐怖主义威胁现代社会 [Terrorism threatens modern society] 李会欣

Huixin Li

自人类步入现代社会以来,人们正越来越多地沐浴着现代文明的光辉。[Since mankind entered modern society, people have been bathed in the rays of modern civilisations.] 然而,与此相伴的并不总是美妙的和弦,还有一些不协调的杂音,恐怖主义就是其中之一。

[However, with civilisations, there are not always wonderful harmonies, but some ragged noises as well, of which terrorism is one.] …… 近些年来,恐怖组织活动表现出新的特点:恐怖活动袭击范围扩大,危害增强,死亡人数逐年上

升;恐怖活动的手段多元化;恐怖分子使用的工具趋于现代化和高科技化;随着国际社会日益

全球化,恐怖组织的成员、活动地点、袭击对象出现了明显的国际化趋势。[In recent years, the terrorist activities have shown some new features such as: the attack scopes of terrorist attacks are enlarging, casualty is increasing year after year, the means of terrorist activities varied, tools used by terrorists are getting modernised and hi-tech, and also along with the globalisation of international communities, members, activities spots and attack targets are becoming more internationalised.] …… 中国政府一贯主张,各国应在打击国际恐怖主义方面加强合作,认真采取有效措施,严格履行

各自承担的国际义务;打击国际恐怖主义应尊重包括国家主权、领土完整和不干涉内政等原

则在内的公认的国际法原则。[The Chinese government always proposes that every country should strengthen cooperation in anti-terrorist battles and should take effective measures for fulfilling international obligations carefully. Combating international terrorism should respect the acknowledged principles of international laws such as national sovereignty, territory integrity and non-intervention of interior policies.]……

In this text, there are four main participants. They are ‘terrorism’, ‘terrorists activities’,

‘modern societies’ and ‘anti-terrorist battles’. They are all non-human generic

participants.

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In the Australian text below, six major participants of the text were identified.

Excerpt 2:

EN 03 Punishing bin Laden won’t stop extremists The West must wage an ideological war against terror and eliminate fanaticism at its source, Hossein Esmaeili writes The measures taken following the 1993 terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre (long prison terms for the perpetrators) did not deter terrorists from this week’s horrific attacks in New York and Washington, nor did it solve the problem of international terrorism. The finger is being directed at Osama bin Laden, a Saudi-born millionaire who left his country to join Mujaheddin fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. Tens of thousands of young men from Saudi Arabia, the Gulf countries, Egypt and Algeria joined fighters who finally pushed the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan. These well-trained and mainly extremist warriors are now spread around the world, with their base in Afghanistan and Pakistan. I believe that the US, the West and the rest of the international community should take several steps to combat terrorism originating in the Middle East and western Asia. ……

The participants in this text are ‘bin Laden’ (specific human), ‘extremists’ (generic

human), ‘terror/terrorism’ and ‘the extremist ideology’ (generic non-human), and ‘the

US’ (specific non-human). This text not only focuses on the source of terrorist actions

and the ideology, it also talks about a specific person (bin Laden) and specific

non-human participants (the US).

As can be seen in Table 6.12, in the Chinese texts the writers tended to avoid human

participants especially specific human participants. The major participants found in

the Chinese texts were items like ‘terrorism’, ‘terrorist attacks’, ‘terrorist activities’,

‘international cooperation’ and ‘anti-terrorist battles’. The reason for this could be that

the Chinese writers attempt to be objective and avoid involving the human

participants in their writing. In the Australian texts, while the writers focussed on

specific non-human participants as a whole, they also gave attention to generic and

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specific human participants. The Australian writers seem to include whatever

participants they like to discuss in the texts.

6.4. Appraisal analysis

As Martin and his colleagues (Martin, 2000; Martin & Rose, 2003; Martin & White,

2005; White, 2002a, b) explain, ‘appraisal’ is an aspect of interpersonal meaning,

relating to the tenor of a text.

Appraisal is concerned with evaluation – the kinds of attitudes that are

negotiated in a text, the strength of the feelings involved and the ways in

which values are sourced and readers aligned (Martin & Rose, 2003, p. 23).

Writers employ the resources of appraisal for evaluating things and people, adopting

stances, constructing textual personas, and negotiating their social relationship, in

other words, to show how they feel about things and the people involved in the

discourse.

A range of resources is available for analysing appraisal in discourse, namely, to

study how authors express attitude (Attitude), how they amplify attitudes (Graduation)

and then how they attribute attitudes to sources (Engagement). The following section

considers how the writers express attitude (Attitude) and amplify attitude (Graduation)

in the sample texts. Engagement, that is, to analyse how an author attribute attitudes

to sources, is addressed in the next chapter.

An ‘attitude’ analysis includes values of emotional response (Affect), values by which

human behaviour is socially assessed (Judgement), and values which address the

aesthetic and socially valued qualities of objects, entities and natural phenomena

(Appreciation). ‘Graduation’ covers the values by which speakers or writers raise or

lower the interpersonal impact, force or volume of their utterances (resources for

grading). In general, by using appraisal analysis, we can establish a picture of how

language users appraise, grade and give value to social experience.

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Below is a summary of the ‘appraisal’ analysis of the two sets of texts. The detailed

analysis of each text in this study can be seen in Appendix II (the CD-Rom attached at

the back of the thesis). In addition, detailed summaries of the appraisal analyses of

these two sets of texts can be seen in Appendix I-5, I-6 and I-7.

Table 6.13. Summary of the Appraisal Analysis

ATTITUDE GRADUATION Newspaper APPRECIATION JUDGEMENT AFFECT FORCE FOCUS

CN 108 6 0 38 24 CS 58 3 0 7 2 CR 104 0 0 24 15 TOTAL (389) 270 9 0 69 41 EN 180 36 3 108 58 ES 113 5 0 24 3 ER 181 36 0 64 25 TOTAL (836) 474 77 3 196 86

(NB: The numbers in the table indicate the instances of evaluative lexis in that type of

newspaper.)

The most obvious contrast that can be seen in the above table is the difference in the

use of evaluative lexis between the Chinese and Australian texts. In the Chinese texts,

389 instances of evaluative lexis were found while in the Australian texts the number

doubled to 836. Although such an analysis may be said to be subjective and it could

vary due to the analysts’ perspectives on the texts, this result indicates a sharp contrast

between the attitudes of the Chinese and Australian writers towards the topic of

terrorism. The Australian writers tend to be more evaluative and expressive in

revealing their attitudes towards the topic than their Chinese counterparts.

Table 6.14 is an appraisal analysis of an Australian text (EN 01). It shows how the

writer employs evaluative lexis to negotiate his attitude towards terrorism and

terrorists (‘Attitude’ is underlined. ‘Graduation’ is shown in bold).

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Table 6.14. Appraisal Analysis of EN 01

EN 01 THE AUSTRALIAN OPINION 13/09/2001US should now take careful aim

Retaliation is inevitable, but it’s important to hit back at the right enemy Greg Sheridan

FOREIGN EDITOR 1. Australia’s reaction to the Afghan boatpeople, in the wake of the appalling terrorist

attacks in the US, will serve as a metaphor for the US – and general Western – response to the terrorist acts themselves.

2. Nothing would be more foolish than to think it’s smart to keep out the Afghans

because they are in some mysterious way linked to Islamic politics which, in its terrorist manifestation, produced Tuesday’s terrible tragedy.

3. That would be to blame the victims, par excellence. 4. It would be akin to assigning responsibility to Jews who fled Hitler’s Germany for the

crimes of Nazism. 5. So how is this a metaphor for the US response? 6. There will be a US counter-strike. 7. It will be tough, hard, deadly, but it is absolutely vital that it hit the right targets. 8. I believe the US will do this. 9. Any indiscriminate response against Islamic targets in the Middle East would produce

what the terrorists almost certainly want: a sense of the US versus Islam, or at least Middle East Islam.

10. Apart from the “prestige” of having hit the US so hard, what the terrorists probably

want is a polarisation between the US and Middle East Islam. 11. This would put pressure above all on moderate Middle East regimes, which enjoy

strategic relationships with Washington, especially Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. 12. This, the greatest single co-ordinated terrorist attack in modern times, will have vast

and profound consequences which it is still too early to discern. 13. But some forthcoming developments in the US are obvious. 14. There will be an immediate, huge increase in the legitimacy of the Bush presidency. 15. Just forget altogether any ongoing debate about who won the election, whether

Bush has a mandate, and so on. 16. Americans will rally round the commander-in-chief. 17. There will likely be a big increase in the US military budget. 18. Congress had recently tried to trim the military budget. 19. Forget that.

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20. US forces will get anything they want and congressmen, quite properly, will compete with each other to be supportive of the military.

21. There will also certainly be a big increase in the budget for missile defence. 22. This terrorist attack did not involve missiles. 23. But the central proposition of the Bush administration has been that in the post-Cold

War era the US will almost certainly not be challenged in conventional warfare, but is extremely vulnerable to unconventional attack by unconventional weapons used perhaps by non-state actors – that is, terrorists.

24. All defensive systems, from missile defence to anthrax vaccines, will get big funding

boosts. 25. So too will the intelligence agencies, from the FBI to the CIA. 26. This may presage broader social changes. 27. Since the latter stages of the Cold War. 28. Americans have enjoyed a broadly relaxed approach to security, what the boffins call

a low-salience threat environment. 29. This terrorist outrage could well mean a return to a high-salience security

environment, with accompanying social changes. 30. The effect on the multilateral system will be both positive and negative. 31. Forget any aspect of multilateralism – from the International Criminal Court to the

Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty – that imposes any constraint on the US ability to defend itself, or to find and kill its enemies.

32. Don’t even bother to make the argument. 33. The Americans won’t be interested. 34. On the other hand this terrible tragedy offers the Bush administration the clear

opportunity to regain complete global leadership. 35. Every civilised nation is scared of and vulnerable to terrorism. 36. International co-operation will be essential to combating it, just as it was in the 1970s. 37. The US must take a lead here but it will have an overwhelming incentive to bring

others on board. 38. And many nations will be receptive to US leadership because they will want US help

– logistic, financial, intelligence – in their battles against terrorism. 39. There will be a huge increase in popular US support for Israel, which bears the brunt

of suicide bombings, albeit on an altogether different scale, seemingly every day. 40. At the same time it is probably true that anything Israel now does which it describes

as anti-terrorist will win support from the US. 41. Washington will also intensify its intelligence co-operation with Israel and its own

intelligence efforts throughout the Middle East. 42. These attacks will re-emphasise the importance of human intelligence to complement

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the satellite and signals intelligence at which the US excels. 43. After all, you cannot detect with satellites a handful of men armed with cardboard

cutters. 44. There will also be intense new pressure on rogue states that are seen to support

terrorism. 45. Renewed military actions against Iraq in the relatively near future seem highly likely. 46. Pakistan is the most accessible state with the greatest influence on the Taliban in

Afghanistan. 47. It is the Taliban who shelter arch-terrorist Osama bin Laden, and it is Afghanistan

where Arab Islamic radicals have been gathering in recent months, and where terrorists for deployment in Kashmir base themselves.

48. Pakistan is a threshold failed state and a threshold rogue state. 49. Washington can be expected to exert massive pressure on Pakistan to abandon its

support of the Taliban and its support of terrorism in Kashmir and elsewhere. 50. Already the State Department and the CIA have been conducting a review of policy

towards Pakistan and Afghanistan for some months. 51. That will now have infinitely higher priority. 52. As for Australia, we will draw even closer to the US, both as an expression of shared

values in its hour of tragedy and because we know that as the world becomes more dangerous our alliance becomes more vital.

Table 6.15 is a summary of the appraisal analysis carried out above in Table 6.14.

Table 6. 15. Summary of the Appraisal Analysis of EN 01

LOCATION

(Number of

sentence)

EXPRESSION

(instantiation)

APPRAISED ATTITUDE GRADUATION

Headline careful aim Appreciation

Subheadline inevitable retaliation Appreciation

subheadline important to hit back Appreciation

subheadline right enemy Appreciation

1 appalling terrorist attacks Focus

1 general Western Focus

2 more foolish Nothing;

No explicit human

appraised

Appreciation; Provoked

negative judgement

Force

2 smart to keep out the

Afghans

Judgement

2 mysterious way Appreciation

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2 terrible tragedy Appreciation

4 akin to assigning… Provoked Judgement

7 tough, hard, deadly It (US

counter-strike)

Appreciation

7 absolutely vital Focus

7 right targets Appreciation

9 indiscriminate response Appreciation

9 certainly went Force

10 so hard having hit the US Appreciation Force

10 probably want Force

11 above all put pressure Focus

11 moderate Middle East

regimes

Appreciation

11 enjoy strategic

relationships

Affect

11 strategic relationships Appreciation

12 greatest single

co-ordinated

terrorist attack Appreciation Force

12 modern times Appreciation

12 vast and profound consequences Focus

12 too early to discern Appreciation Force

14 immediate, huge increase Focus

15 altogether forget Force

15 any ongoing debate Appreciation Force

17 big increase Force

20 quite properly congressmen Force

21 certainly a big increase Appreciation

21 big increase Force

23 almost certainly The US Force

23 extremely vulnerable the US Judgement Force

23 unconventional attack, weapons Appreciation

24 all defensive systems Force

24 big funding Force

26 broader social changes Force

28 enjoyed a broadly relaxed

approach

Affect

28 broadly relaxed approach Appreciation Force

28 low-salience threat environment Focus

29 well mean Force

29 high-salience security

environment

Focus

34 terrible tragedy Appreciation

34 clear opportunity Appreciation

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34 complete global leadership Force

35 scared every civilised

nation

Appreciation

35 vulnerable every civilised

nation

Appreciation

36 essential international

co-operation

Appreciation

37 overwhelming incentive Force

38 receptive many nations Appreciation

39 huge increase Force

39 popular US support Appreciation

39 altogether different scale Focus

40 probably true it Appreciation Force

44 intense new pressure Appreciation

44 rogue states Appreciation

45 relatively near future Appreciation

45 highly likely Force

46 most accessible state Focus

46 greatest influence Force

48 threshold failed state Appreciation

48 threshold rogue state Appreciation

49 massive pressure Force

51 infinitely higher priority Force

52 even closer we Judgement

52 more dangerous the world Focus

52 more vital our alliance Focus

As shown in Table 6.14 and 6.15 there are many words that could be seen as

evaluative in this text. At the beginning of the text shown in Table 6.14, the author

employs the treatment of boatpeople in Australia as a metaphor of treating Islamic

people in the Middle East. In doing this, the author suggests that it is wrong to treat all

Islamic people as terrorists, and that ‘US should now take careful aim’ in dealing with

terrorists. The author makes this almost explicit by saying in Sentence 2: “Nothing

would be more foolish than to think…” Here ‘foolish’ could be understood as an

instance of ‘appreciation’ which appraises ‘nothing’, but with a closer look, it could

be argued as a provoked ‘judgement’ without any explicit appraised object. This

could perhaps refer to the Australian government or people who have treated Afghans

this way. The author reiterates this thesis again in Sentence 7.

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Throughout this text, however, the author does not focus on the people involved or

use many examples of JUDGEMENT concerning the behaviour of the people. He

focuses, instead, on the attitude towards things such as terrorism, terrorists’ attacks,

anti-terrorism mechanism. Examples of this are “appalling terrorist attacks”,

“mysterious way”, “terrible tragedy”, “right target”, and “indiscriminate response”.

Appreciation is also foregrounded in this text. Appreciation can be thought of as the

institutionalisation of feeling, in the context of propositions (norms about how some

things, and performances are valued) (Martin, 2000; Martin & Rose, 2003). Words

such as ‘greatest’, ‘certainly’, ‘probably’, ‘infinitely higher’, are used in the text to

intensify the force of the attitude. Words such as ‘absolutely’, ‘vast and profound’,

‘accessible’, ‘dangerous’, and ‘vital’ are used to sharpen the focus of attitude.

Table 6.16 shows an appraisal analysis of one of the Chinese newspaper

commentaries, text CN02.

Table 6.16. Appraisal analysis of CN 02 (‘Attitude’ is underlined. ‘Graduation’ is in

bold)

CN 02

人民日报海外版第三版时事聚焦 2001 年 11 月 03 日 [People’s Daily (Overseas edition) Page 3 Foci on Current Affairs 03/11/2001]

联合国应主导全球反恐怖斗争 [The United Nations should play the key role in the global anti-terrorism battle]

新文 Xin Wen

1. The United Nations should play the key role in the global anti-terrorism battle “9·11”恐怖袭击事件震撼了美国，也震撼了世界。[The terrorist attack on September 11 shocked the US, and also shocked the whole world.]

2. 恐怖主义已成为国际公害，成为人类社会在 21 世纪面临的最严峻的挑战之一。

[Terrorism has become an international plague, and has become one of the most severe challenges faced by the human world in the 21st century.]

3. 应付共同的挑战需要共同的努力，联合国在这场斗争中应发挥主导作用，这已成为国际

社会的广泛共识。[To tackle the common challenge needs cooperative efforts. It has become a common awareness that the UN should play the leading role in this anti-terrorism battle.]

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4. 恐怖袭击事件的第二天，联合国大会和安理会一致通过决议，强烈谴责恐怖暴行。[The second day after the terrorist attack the General Assembly and the Security Council of the UN unanimously approved solutions that strongly condemned the atrocity of terrorism.]

5. 随后，安理会又在 9 月 28 日通过决议，要求各国采取有效措施，切断恐怖主义组织的

财源。[After that, on September 28th the Security Council passed a resolution that required every country to take effective measures to cut off the financial sources of terrorist organizations.]

6. 目前，不少国家正在按决议要求采取相应措施。[At present many countries are taking measures according to the requirements of the resolution.]

7. 此外，一项全面打击恐怖主义的国际公约也正在酝酿之中。[In addition, an international pact for combating terrorism is under consideration.]

8. 上月初联合国大会就反恐怖主义问题举行了公开辩论，各国对联合国应在全球反恐斗争

中发挥主导作用以及如何发挥作用等方面达成了广泛的共识。[Early last month the General Assembly of the UN had an open forum on the issue of anti-terrorism, and all countries have reached a common awareness that the UN should take a leading role in the anti-terrorism battle.]

9. 联合国 189 个会员国中 167 个会员国出席了此次辩论会。[167 out of the 189 member countries of the UN participated in this forum.]

10. 本届联大主席韩升洙说，这是一次出席率最高的联大单一议题会议，表明了国际社会联

手打击恐怖主义的决心。[The UN chairman for this month Shenzu Han said that this was the UN conference on the single topic with the highest attendance and it showed the determination of the international community to combat terrorism.]

11. 联合国负责政治事务的秘书长助理丹尼诺·蒂尔克在接受记者专访时表示：“联合国将在

打击恐怖主义领域继续发挥独特的作用，制定普遍适用的国际性法律准则。在这一方面，

联合国是唯一具有合法地位的国际组织。”[When being interviewed by reporters, Daniel Dirk, the UN assistant Secretary-in-General in charge of political affairs, states, “The UN will continue to play the unique role of combating terrorism, and it will stipulate some international legislation for common use. In this regard, the UN is the only legal international organization”.]

12. 美国的民意测验机构在恐怖袭击发生后所做的调查结果显示，大多数美国人支持联合国

在团结世界各国开展反恐怖主义斗争方面发挥主要作用。[After the terrorist attack the survey results of some American poll agencies showed that most Americans supported the UN taking a leading role in uniting all the countries to combat terrorism.]

13. 有效地预防和打击恐怖主义绝非一国或少数国家所能胜任，需要整个国际社会在政治、

外交、经济、法律、社会和军事等各个领域加强合作。[It is impossible for one country or a small group of countries to prevent and combat terrorism effectively. It is necessary to strengthen cooperation in political, diplomatic, economic, legal, social and military affairs within the entire world.] 14. 联合国作为世界上最具普遍性的政府间国际组织，有义务在组织和协调各国行动、凝聚

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国际社会的集体力量方面强化其职能。 [The UN as the most common inter-governmental international organisation is obligatory to organise and coordinate the actions of each country, and it is obligatory to strengthen its function in uniting the power of the international community.]

15. 只有强化联合国在这场斗争中的职能，才能实现在国际范围内有效的预防和打击恐怖主

义活动的战略目标。[Only when the function of the UN in this regard has been strengthened, can the strategic aim of preventing and combating terrorist activities be effectively realised.]

16. 联合国始终密切关注着反对恐怖主义的斗争。[The UN is always highly concerned

about the anti-terrorism battle.] 17. 联合国大会自 1972 年以来，每年都要讨论打击恐怖主义的措施。[Since 1972, the

General Assembly of UN has discussed anti-terrorism measures every year.] 18. 迄今为止，联合国已先后制定 12 项打击恐怖主义的国际公约，为国际社会打击恐怖主

义提供了法律依据。[Up to now the UN has stipulated 12 international pacts on combating terrorism, which have provided legal bases for the international community to combat terrorism.]

19. 联合国在处理恐怖主义问题方面不乏成功的先例。[There is no lack of successful precedents in dealing with terrorism issues for the UN.]

20. 联合国及其秘书长安南共同获得今年的诺贝尔和平奖，表明联合国在包括反恐斗争在内

的维护世界和平与安全方面所发挥的重要作用得到了肯定。 [The UN and its Secretary-in-General Annan won the Nobel Prize for Peace this year. That shows the affirmation that the UN has played a very important role in keeping the world peaceful and secure including the battle against terrorism.]

21. 恐怖主义是反人类的严重犯罪。[Terrorism is a serious anti-humanity perpetration.] 22. 打击这种罪行必须通过政治、经济和法律等等多种手段。[It is necessary to employ

various political, economic and legal means to combat this perpetration.] 23. 联合国秘书长安南近日指出，“从长远来看，军事手段只是国际反恐怖主义斗争中一个

很小的组成部分”。[The Secretary-in-General Annan pointed out yesterday, “in the long run military measures will just take a minor part in the international anti-terrorism battle.”]

24. 特别是要有效地切断恐怖主义组织的资金来源，清除国际恐怖主义滋生的土壤，这同样

需要国际社会协调努力。[It needs international coordinated efforts especially in cutting off financial resources of terrorist organizations and eradicating the soil for nurturing terrorism.]

25. 无疑，联合国和安理会是国际反恐斗争最有效的机构。[Undoubtedly, the UN and the Security Council are the most efficient organizations in the international anti-terrorism battle.]

Table 6.17 is a summary of the appraisal analysis carried out above in Table 6.16.

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Table 6.17. Summary of the appraisal analysis of CN 02

LOCATION

(Number of

sentence)

EXPRESSION

(instantiation)

APPRAISED ATTITUDE GRADUATION

2 最严峻的[the most severe] 挑战[challenges] Appreciation Force

3 广泛[common] 共识[awareness] Appreciation

4 一致[unanimously] 通过决议 [approved

solutions]

Focus

4 强烈[strongly] 谴责[condemned] Focus

5 有效[effective] 措施[measures] Appreciation

8 广泛的[common] 共识[awareness] Appreciation

10 出席率最高的 [with the

highest attendance]

联大单一议题会议 [the

UN conference on the

single topic]

Appreciation Force

11 独特的[unique] 作用[role] Appreciation

11 唯一具有合法地位的 [the

only legal]

国际组织 [international

organization]

Appreciation Focus

13 有效地[effectively] 预防和打击[to prevent and

combat]

Appreciation

15 有效的[effectively] 预防和打击 [preventing

and combating]

Appreciation

16 始终密切[always highly] 关注[concerned about] Force+Focus

19 成功的[successful] 先例[precedents] Appreciation

20 重要[important] 作用[role] Focus

21 严重[serious] 犯罪[perpetration] Focus

23 很小的[minor] 组成部分[part] Force

25 最有效的 [the most

efficient]

机构[organization] Appreciation Force

As shown above, this text foregrounds the function of the UN. Evaluative lexical

items which refer to the UN (Appreciation) are found throughout the text. On the

whole, however, attitudinal lexis is not widely used in this text. Few instances of

‘graduation’ were found in the text. The use of evaluative lexis to negotiate attitudes

barely occurred in the Chinese texts in this study.

In sum, it can be seen that while both Chinese and Australian writers tended to

express negative attitudes towards terrorism and terrorists, the Australian writers were

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more emotional and explicit in expressing their evaluation on these issues than their

Chinese counterparts.

6.5. Summary

This part of the study has analysed the data at a textual level. First the micro-genres

were identified. This included the analysis of the generic and rhetorical structures of

the texts. The next step of the analysis involved the identification of the major

participants in each text. Finally evaluative stances were explored in order to

understand the level of emotional involvement of the Chinese and Australian writers

shown towards terrorism in the texts.

In analysing the micro-genres of the texts, it was found that the Chinese writers

generally tended to employ the micro-genre of ‘media explanatory exposition’ more

often than other micro-genres in constructing their commentaries. In terms of the

rhetorical structures the Chinese writers tended to show more diversity than their

Australian counterparts. The Australian writers tended to use the ‘media

argumentative exposition’ as the dominant micro-genre in constructing their

commentaries. The rhetorical structures that they used tended to be convergent and

follow more patterns than was the case with the Chinese texts.

In the analysis of participants in the texts, the Chinese writers concentrated on

non-human participants (both generic and specific) and avoided human participants,

while the Australian writers showed less specific preference in choosing participants.

They used whatever participants aligned with the topic of the texts.

In terms of ‘attitude’ and ‘graduation’, both the Chinese and Australian writers

expressed a negative attitude towards terrorism and terrorists. The Australian writers,

however, tended to be more emotional and evaluative oriented than their Chinese

counterparts who seemed to take a more ‘objective’ approach towards the event of

9/11 and international terrorism.

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In the chapters which follow, intertextual practices of both the Chinese and Australian

writers will be analysed and the possible sociopolitical reasons of these textual and

intertextual practices will be further explored.

Documents

Chapter 6 Textual analysis - University of Sydney