Examining a News Discourse of a Female Politician in Indonesia: Fairclough's Model of Critical Discourse Analysis and its Implication in English Language Teaching

Abstract

As one of the most important sites in which particular agenda are articulated and disseminated, news media play important roles in reproducing power relations and ideologies. Drawing on Fairclough’s approach of three-dimensional model within the paradigm of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and of the qualitative research, this study aims to identify the ideology enacted in a news article which reports the appointment of Susi Pudjiastuti as the Indonesian minister of maritime affairs and fisheries. It does so by analysing the textual, the discursive, and the social practices of the news discourse. Underpinned by the results of the analysis, this research also investigates the integration of CDA in English classrooms in Indonesia. The results of this study reveal that the patriarchal ideology is enacted in the news through (1) the construction of language use in comparing the qualifications of Susi with Indroyono Soesilo as the coordinating minister for maritime affairs; (2) the use of direct and indirect speech constituted intertextuality; (3) the enquiry of socio-political contexts surrounding the news discourse in relation to women’s participations in politics. Based on these findings and Cot’s framework, this research also attempts to design a reading task using the news article by constructing consciousness-raising questions, so that students can enhance their critical thinking skills and their ability to reveal hidden meanings in discourse. The implications of the research both in the theoretical importance and in the English language teaching are also discussed with reference to intercultural issues.Keywords:  critical discourse analysis, news discourse, ideology, patriarchy