tailieunhanh - The construction of English language learning in media texts: A critical discourse analysis of a newspaper advertisement

In this paper, an attempt is made to trace the construction of English language learning in a newspaper advertisement through the lens of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). It begins by stating the needs for critical understanding the construction of English language learning in the texts produced by/for English language institutions including media texts. | JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, Hue University, Vol. 70, No 1 (2012) pp. 111-120 THE CONSTRUCTION OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING IN MEDIA TEXTS: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF A NEWSPAPER ADVERTISEMENT Truong Bach Le College of Foreign Languages, Hue University Abstract. In this paper, an attempt is made to trace the construction of English language learning in a newspaper advertisement through the lens of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). It begins by stating the needs for critical understanding the construction of English language learning in the texts produced by/for English language institutions including media texts. After the expressed stance of analysis, Fairclough’s widely adopted CDA model is introduced briefly followed by the actual moves of analysis of the selected advertisement. 1. Introduction There is no denying that the number of English language learners is increasingly on the rise in Vietnam. The reasons for this phenomenon are well known: socioeconomic and political benefits as well as prospects associated with this international language. Instrumental in boosting this popularity of the English language are the English language institutions which both legitimate their educational practices which, in their turn, regulate learner’s lives. The practices of the institutions are embodied in their texts of all kinds including curriculum guidelines, textbooks, notices and media representations. In this sense, apart from official documents, advertisements produced by or for English language institutions can serve to represent their version of reality, ., instructional activities and the sort of person the learner is expected to become. Recognizing this opaque relationship between the projected educational reality and media texts, ., educational advertisements, requires a critical approach to reading. In this assignment, I attempt to explore this issue by doing a critical discourse analysis of an advertisement from an international English institution in .