The narrative of human suffering: using automated semantic tagging to analyse news articles and public attitudes towards the MH370 air tragedy

IF 1.6 Q1 LINGUISTICS

Asian Englishes Pub Date : 2021-07-13 DOI:10.1080/13488678.2021.1927564

T. Ong, R. McKenzie, Maelle Amand

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Abstract

ABSTRACT Narratives about death and loss require sensitivity and handling with care. However, the influence of the specific language employed within such narratives is not well understood. To help address this gap, this article details the findings of two complementary studies. Study 1 examined the ways in which the 2014 Malaysian Airline MH370 air tragedy is linguistically defined and constructed in a number of newspapers in Malaysia and the UK. Study 2 explored 50 Malaysian and 50 UK students’ attitudes towards the tragedy through the analysis of keyword responses. The findings of study 1 suggest an overall tendency within UK newspapers to construct simplistic binary classifications of ‘capable us’ and ‘incapable others’ whereas the Malaysian broadsheets frequently highlighted the Malaysian authorities’ expert management of the crisis. By contrast, both Malaysian and UK students’ attitudinal responses demonstrated a greater depth of emotional engagement with the tragedy through the use of affective language.

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人类苦难的叙述:使用自动语义标签分析新闻文章和公众对MH370空难的态度

关于死亡和失去的叙述需要敏感和谨慎处理。然而，在这种叙事中使用的特定语言的影响并没有得到很好的理解。为了帮助解决这一差距，本文详细介绍了两项互补研究的结果。研究1考察了2014年马来西亚航空公司MH370空难在马来西亚和英国的一些报纸上的语言定义和构建方式。研究2通过分析关键词回答，探讨了50名马来西亚和50名英国学生对悲剧的态度。研究1的结果表明，英国报纸总体倾向于构建简单的二元分类，即“有能力的我们”和“无能的其他人”，而马来西亚的大报则经常强调马来西亚当局对危机的专家管理。相比之下，马来西亚和英国学生的态度反应表明，通过使用情感语言，他们对悲剧的情感参与程度更高。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Asian Englishes LINGUISTICS-

CiteScore

3.30

自引率

18.80%

发文量

期刊介绍： Asian Englishes seeks to publish the best papers dealing with various issues involved in the diffusion of English and its diversification in Asia and the Pacific. It aims to promote better understanding of the nature of English and the role which it plays in the linguistic repertoire of those who live and work in Asia, both intra- and internationally, and in spoken and written form. The journal particularly highlights such themes as: 1.Varieties of English in Asia – Including their divergence & convergence (phonetics, phonology, prosody, vocabulary, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, discourse, rhetoric) 2.ELT and English proficiency testing vis-a-vis English variation and international use of English 3.English as a language of international and intercultural communication in Asia 4.English-language journalism, literature, and other media 5.Social roles and functions of English in Asian countries 6.Multicultural English and mutual intelligibility 7.Language policy and language planning 8.Impact of English on other Asian languages 9.English-knowing bi- and multilingualism 10.English-medium education 11.Relevance of new paradigms, such as English as a Lingua Franca, to Asian contexts. 12.The depth of penetration, use in various domains, and future direction of English in (the development of) Asian Societies.