Linguistic Framing of Climate Change in Dawn:  A Corpus-assisted Critical Discourse Analysis

Saqlain Hassan Hassan; Wong Wei Lun; Riffat Nazeer; Warid Mihat

Linguistic Framing of Climate Change in Dawn: A Corpus-assisted Critical Discourse Analysis

Saqlain Hassan Hassan, Wong Wei Lun, Riffat Nazeer, Warid Mihat

Abstract

Over the past few decades, climate change has been a mainstream concern in global discourse due to its adverse long-term impacts on the environment. The current study aims to analyse the linguistic framing of climate change through modal constructions and evaluative words by examining a corpus of opinion articles from Dawn, a widely read Pakistani English-language newspaper, using certain features of Sketch Engine software such as concordance for retrieval of collocates, word sketch for examining collocational relationship, and wordlist for extraction of semantic roles, modal verbs, adjectives, and verbs. This study uses Corpus-Assisted Critical Discourse Analysis (CACDA) as a methodological approach, integrating quantitative corpus linguistics approach with qualitative Fillmore’s Frame Semantics theory. After a thorough analysis of the collected corpus, it has been revealed that Dawn constructs an action-oriented frame of climate change, suggesting that the government and policymakers should protect the environment by implementing sustainable strategies and enacting concrete environmental laws. This action-oriented frame, which advocates that the government’s role is pivotal for addressing social issues, is constructed through frequent use of modal constructions and evaluative words (adjectives and verbs). This study adds to the scholarly discourse in linguistics on climate change by shedding light on the role of linguistic choices in constructing the frames on this issue. In addition, the findings can provide valuable insights and evidence-based strategies to help policymakers take the necessary steps to adapt to and mitigate climate change.

Keywords: Climate Change; Corpus-Assisted Approach; Modal Constructions; Evaluative Words; Dawn

ABSTRAK

Sejak beberapa dekad yang lalu, perubahan iklim telah menjadi kebimbangan utama dalam wacana global yang disebabkan oleh kesan buruk jangka panjang terhadap alam sekitar. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis pembingkaian linguistik terhadap perubahan iklim melalui binaan modal dan kata penilaian dengan meneliti korpus artikel ruangan pendapat dalam akhbar Dawn, iaitu sebuah akhbar berbahasa Inggeris negara Pakistan yang dibaca secara meluas. Kajian ini menggunakan ciri-ciri tertentu perisian Sketch Engine seperti konkordans untuk pencarian kolokasi, word sketch untuk meneliti hubungan kolokasi, serta senarai kekerapan kata (wordlist) untuk mengekstrak peranan semantik, kata kerja modal, kata adjektif dan kata kerja. Kajian ini menggunakan kerangka Analisis Wacana Kritis Berbantuan Korpus (CACDA) sebagai pendekatan kajian, yang mengintegrasikan pendekatan linguistik korpus kuantitatif dengan teori Semantik Bingkai Fillmore secara kualitatif. Setelah analisis mendalam dilakukan terhadap korpus yang dikumpul, hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa akhbar Dawn membingkaikan tindakan terhadap perubahan iklim yang mencadangkan bahawa pihak kerajaan dan penggubal dasar harus melindungi alam sekitar dengan melaksanakan strategi mampan serta menguatkuasakan undang-undang alam sekitar yang lebih konkrit. Bingkai berorientasikan tindakan ini yang menyokong bahawa peranan kerajaan adalah amat penting dalam menangani isu sosial dibina melalui jumlah kekerapan penggunaan binaan modal dan kata-kata penilaian (kata adjektif dan kata kerja). Kajian ini menyumbang kepada wacana ilmiah dalam bidang linguistik mengenai perubahan iklim dengan menjelaskan peranan pilihan linguistik dalam membina bingkai bagi isu ini. Selain itu, dapatan kajian ini dapat memberikan sudut pandangan dan strategi baharu berasaskan bukti untuk membantu pihak penggubal dasar bagi mengambil langkah-langkah yang perlu bagi mengadaptasi dan memitigasi perubahan iklim.

Kata Kunci: Perubahan Iklim; Pendekatan Berbantuan Korpus; Binaan Modal; Kata-kata Penilaian; Dawn

Keywords

Corpus-based; Climate Change; Ideological Indicators; Evaluation words

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