Reporting war: Grammar as 'covert operation'

While it is often said that 'truth is the first casualty of war', this aphorism covers only one feature of how wars are reported, namely the deliberate use of misinformation by parties to a war. But language is by its nature a higly plastic resource: there is never just one way to report a set of events, even when the 'facts' may be uncontested. Drawing on data from newspaper reports and media briefings of the recent war in Iraq, we illustarte some of the basic grammtical systems which underlie the choice a journalist has to make, particularly in reporting 'high impact' events of the war. Using a functional apporach to grammar—where grammar is seen not as rules but as a theory of reality— we introduce some basic grammatical concepts or undertsanding the idelogical impact if different gramatical choices in contruing the events of war.&nbsp

Manifesto: Reconsideração do Inglês como Língua Franca em Contextos Acadêmico-Científicos [Rethinking English as a Lingua Franca in Scientific-Academic Contexts]

Buscamos discutir alguns pressupostos sobre o uso do inglês como “língua franca” em contextos acadêmico-científicos, identificar o impacto destes pressupostos nas trajetórias de produção e recepção de conhecimentos, e legitimar o uso de múltiplas línguas para a troca acadêmica transnacional. Propomos dez princípios: o uso do inglês quanto “língua franca” acadêmico-científica não sempre promove a inclusão; uma suposta “língua franca” acadêmicocientífica pode atuar como língua de dominação; uma política de inglês como “língua franca” pode desincentivar as traduções e limitar a participação; as políticas que posicionam o inglês como a “língua franca” acadêmico-científica contemporânea podem sugerir que o conhecimento produzido em inglês é o único que existe; a imposição do inglês como suposta “língua franca” acadêmico-científica é uma manifestação da distribuição desigual da produção e recepção do conhecimento; as línguas/variedades funcionam como recursos potentes para a criação de conhecimento; a escolha de uma língua de publicação ou apresentação é um direito sociolinguístico; a escolha de uma língua de publicação ou apresentação é um ato político; os organizadores de congressos deveriam ter o direito de eleger qual(is) língua(s) fomentar; os organizadores e participantes em congressos deveriam ser criativos e atentos para incluir audiências tão diversas quanto possível. We aim to challenge assumptions made about the use of English as a “lingua franca” in scientific- academic contexts, identify the impact of such assumptions on trajectories of knowledge production and uptake, and legitimize the use of multiple languages for transnational scholarly exchange. We set out ten principles: Using English as a scientific-academic “lingua franca” does not always promote inclusion; A language positioned as a scientific-academic “lingua franca” can act as a language of domination; Positioning English as the “lingua franca” policy may discourage translations and exclude participation; Policies which position English as being the contemporary scientific-academic “lingua franca” may convey the idea that knowledge produced in English is the only knowledge that exists; The imposition of English as a presumed scientific-academic “lingua franca” is a manifestation of the unequal distribution of knowledge production and uptake; Languages/varieties function as powerful resources for knowledge making; Choosing a language for publishing or presenting is a sociolinguistic right; Choosing a language to publish or present in is a political act; Convention organizers should have the right to promote the language(s) of their choice; Convention organizers and scholars should be as creative and sensitive to including as diverse an audience as possible

Rethinking English as a Lingua Franca in Scientific-Academic Contexts

Buscamos discutir algunos presupuestos sobre el uso del inglés como “lengua franca” en contextos científico-académicos, identificar el impacto de estos presupuestos en las trayectorias de producción y recepción de conocimientos, y legitimar el uso de múltiples lenguas para el intercambio académico transnacional. Proponemos diez principios: el uso del inglés como “lengua franca” científico-académica no siempre promueve la inclusión; una supuesta “lengua franca” científico-académica puede actuar como lengua de dominación; las políticas que posicionan al inglés como “lengua franca” pueden desalentar las traducciones y limitar la participación; las políticas que colocan al inglés como la “lengua franca” científico-académica contemporánea pueden sugerir que el conocimiento producido en inglés es el único que existe; la imposición del inglés como presunta “lengua franca” científico-académica es una expresión de la distribución desigual de la producción y recepción de conocimiento; las lenguas y variedades actúan como poderosos recursos para la producción de conocimiento; la elección de una lengua de publicación o presentación es un derecho sociolingüístico; la elección de una lengua de publicación o presentación es un acto político; los organizadores de congresos deberían tener derecho a fomentar la(s) lengua(s) de su preferencia; los organizadores y participantes de congresos deberían ser creativos y estar atentos a la inclusión de audiencias lo más diversas posible.We aim to challenge assumptions made about the use of English as a “lingua franca” in scientific-academic contexts, identify the impact of such assumptions on trajectories of knowledge production and uptake, and legitimize the use of multiple languages for transnational scholarly exchange. We set out ten principles: Using English as a scientific-academic “lingua franca” does not always promote inclusion; A language positioned as a scientific-academic “lingua franca” can act as a language of domination; Positioning English as the “lingua franca” policy may discourage translations and exclude participation; Policies which position English as being the contemporary scientific-academic “lingua franca” may convey the idea that knowledge produced in English is the only knowledge that exists; The imposition of English as a presumed scientific-academic “lingua franca” is a manifestation of the unequal distribution of knowledge production and uptake; Languages/ varieties function as powerful resources for knowledge making; Choosing a language for publishing or presenting is a sociolinguistic right; Choosing a language to publish or present in is a political act; Convention organizers should have the right to promote the language(s) of their choice; Convention organizers and scholars should be as creative and sensitive to including as diverse an audience as possible.Fil: Navarro, Federico Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de O Higgins;Fil: Lillis, Theresa. The Open University (ou);Fil: Donahue, Tiane. Darmouth College; Estados UnidosFil: Curry, Mary Jane. University Of Rochester; Estados UnidosFil: Ávila Reyes, Natalia. Universidad Católica de Chile; ChileFil: Gustafsson, Magnus. Chalmers University of Technology; SueciaFil: Zavala, Virginia. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Perú; PerúFil: Lauria, Daniela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Instituto de Lingüística; Argentina. Universidad Pedagógica Nacional; ArgentinaFil: Lukin, Annabelle. Macquarie University; AustraliaFil: McKinney, Carolyn. University of Cape Town; SudáfricaFil: Feng, Haiying. University Of International Business And Economics; ChinaFil: Motta Roth, Désirée. Universidade Federal de Santa Maria; Brasi

'News' and 'register' : a preliminary investigation

22 page(s

A Linguistics of style : Halliday on literature

19 page(s

Journalistic voice, register and contextual configuration : a case study from the Spanish and Argentinian press

This paper challenges existing work on the structure and texture of the news story by linking contextual description with semantic and grammatical analysis

What is media 'bias' : a case study of Al Jazeera's reporting of the Iraq War

Despite a long history of debate, ‘bias’ and related terms like ‘objectivity’, ‘impartiality’ and ‘balance’ remain difficult to define and operationalise. Using a corpus of news stories from the Al Jazeera English language website coverage of the second assault on Falluja, in November 2004, compared with stories for the same period from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Radio National’s AM current affairs program, this article argues for a method for analysing ‘bias’ that is empirical, probabilistic, contrastive and multidimensional. In the absence of such a method, the term ‘bias’ is more likely to remain a political weapon, than a tool for understanding how the media shapes our experience of crucial events.16 page(s

Information warfare : the grammar of talking war

The U.S. government's success in dominating the information environment is certainly a function of the relationship of government to the media business. The recent documentary Outfoxed demonstrates how the Fox news channel has become a vehicle for Republican views and campaigns. The use of PR companies by the U.S. administration is also crucial in information warfare. This article explores how the government succeeds in getting their version of events more widely broadcast than alternative interpretations of what is going on. It attempts to determine why the information that government gives works in their favor. The author addresses the following questions: (1) What does information warfare look like? (2) What are the strategies and technologies of war with information?6 page(s

Mapping media bias : a multidimensional affair

The term "bias" recognises that there is never only one way to represent a state of affairs. The profound implications of this for understanding the relationship of language and "reality" are not clear in current debates about bias, which focus on "loaded words" or phrases which seem to carry obvious evaluative meanings. In particular, analysis of this kind is unable to probe the effects for meaning of the many unconscious grammatical choices involved in creating a text. This paper illustrates the lacunae in the debate about bias by exploring the grammatical patterns in two news reports from early in the Iraq war: a front page "hard news" story entitled "First strike on Baghdad", and a news report by award-winning journalist Robert Fisk, "Amid allied jubilation, a child lies in agony, clothes soaked in blood". While the Fisk report makes its evaluative stance clear, the "neutral" tone of the other report can be shown to be equally selective, and therefore "biased", by foregrounding particular kinds of meanings and backgrounding others. The method adopted in this paper may enable a move towards a "forensic" orientation to judgements of "bias".17 page(s

'Marching to Iraq with Howard' : the 2003 Iraq invasion on ABC-TV

In the 10 years since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, there has been little research into the Australian media's coverage of this monumental event. With the consequences of this decision continuing to unfold, and now a campaign for an inquiry into Australia's involvement in the invasion and occupation of Iraq, I present some findings from research on the ABC-TV 7pm news coverage of the invasion of Iraq. The paper analyses 1) the location of the ABC's foreign correspondents, the significance of the placement of correspondents for the coverage of events, and how these countries' relations to the conflict were represented; 2) the limited range of sources drawn on by the ABC's correspondents in Washington and Qatar, as well as their correspondents embedded with US troops; and 3) significant motifs in how the events were constructed by ABC-TV news, including its (lack of) reporting of civilian casualties. I conclude from this evidence that despite its purported independence, the ABC's TV coverage both explicitly and implicitly projected and legitimated the dominant narrative of the belligerent countries.16 page(s