A Contrastive Ecological Discourse Analysis Based on Theme System—Take Environmental Speeches from the US and UK as an Example

Abstract

With the rapid development of economy, the ecological problems are becoming more serious. Ecolinguistics emerged jointly with the “ecological turn” [1] among numerous disciplines. The present research conducts a contrastive Ecological Discourse Analysis under the framework of Thematic Theory of Halliday, aiming to examine the thematic choices made in the environmental speeches from the US and UK and shed light on the implications of their respective ecological ideologies. Findings suggest that, a major part of the US’s theme selections is animated (46.4%), express a philosophy of “America first”, and therefore indicate the notion of “anthropocentrism.” More inanimate theme selections were made in the UK than in America (39.4% vs. 28.4%), showing that the British public are more considerate of their surroundings. Both nations have shown certain responsibility as economic powers in the face of serious environmental problems