Arab World English Journal (July 2015) Theses / Dissertations
Name: Amal Ibrahim Shousha
Title: Critical Discourse Analysis of the Image of Arabs
Subject: Applied Linguistics
University: Alexandria University, Faculty of Arts, Egypt
Degree: Ph.D in Applied Linguistics
Year of award: 2010
Name of Supervisor: Prof. Ramzey Radwan
Abstract
This study aims to achieve the following: linguistically, to find out the language features used in the portrayal of Arabs and their effect on this image after the events of September 11, 2001, the textual structures of news content, the choice and combination of words, the syntactic structures and rhetorical features used to identify latent ideology and relationships of power. Socially, its objective is to unveil some of the misconceptions of the image of Arabs and suggest some modifications, if needed, in the discourse used to portray them. It is a critical discourse analysis study involving selected articles from Newsweek and The Washington Post. The theoretical and analytical frameworks of this study are derived from various CDA theories and models of analysis mainly from Van Dijk’s model of racism in discourse to uncover how language works in texts to produce meanings that give specific ideological representation of Arabs. Results of the analysis are compared quantitatively in tables and qualitatively in order to specify the Arab image. The following four stages of analysis are carried out: archive search, concordance analysis, content analysis, and critical discourse analysis. The analysis of the articles illustrates that the linguistic features: lexical choices, thematic patterns, the rhetorical devices, and syntactic patterns represent the dominant ideologies in society and the unequal power relations and therefore a negative image of Arabs.
Keywords: Critical discourse analysis, image of Arabs, concordance analysis, content analysis