A transitivity analysis of English-language news headlines on COVID-19 from Thai websites
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Abstract
The discourse analysis of technological media examining the events and impacts of the infectious disease COVID-19 has been steadily advancing. Consequently, this study investigated the representation of the processes embedded in COVID-19-related news headlines in the Thai context, since the interpretation of the relation between the participant and process-type choices affects how we perceive the ideologies behind such a global phenomenon. This study employed Halliday's transitivity framework. Transitivity was analyzed in 100 English-language news headlines. Data were randomized sampling collected from three online press websites, specifically the Bangkok Post, the National News Bureau of Thailand (NNT), and The Nation Thailand. Data were obtained from April to August 2021. The headlines were categorized according to process type based on their verbs and types of participants, and the circumstances based on the surrounding elements. The findings demonstrated that the use of each process serves a distinct purpose for managing the crisis. The results revealed the material process as being dominant, followed sequentially by the verbal, mental, relational, existential, and behavioral processes. The material process depicted various administrations' responses to the communicable disease, with the actors mostly being authoritative agents. Additionally, the verbal process was used by actors, i.e., concerned parties, to broadcast information and regulations concerning COVID-19. Based on these findings, the interpretation of the Thai context’s microstructural headlines analysis affirms the SFG methodology of ideological insight revelation. The results reveal that the representation of the COVID-19 situation in the Thai context was focused on government operations and proposed solutions to the crisis.
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