A corpus-based study of The Nation’s and CNN’s evaluation of Yingluck Shinawatra in political

conflicts in Thailand: An appraisal approach to

discourse analysisWimonwan Aungsuwan

English Department, Thammasat University, ThailandThe Third International Conference on Language, Literature & Society 2016 (LLC2016)

18-19 January, 2016  Bangkok, Thailand.

Background•PurposesTo analyse and compare representation and attitudes of the media towards Yingluck in the political conflicts in Thailand between The Nation and CNN.

•DefinitionConducted by Professor James MartinThe Appraisal framework means a particular

approach to exploring, describing and explaining the way language is used to evaluate, to adopt stances, to construct textual personals and to manage interpersonal positionings and relationships. (White, 2012)

Concept of Appraisal framework

•Attitudinal positioningIt means that writers/speakers indicate either a positive or

negative assessment of people, places, things, happenings and states of affairs.

Characteristics of Attitudinal positioning1. Verbs of emotion such as laugh, cry, adjective of emotion:

happy, sad2. Positive and negative affect such as happy, sad3. A scale intensity of feeling such as like, love, adore

Concept of Appraisal framework

•Types of attitudinal positioning1. Affect

1.1 Happiness and unhappinessHappinessCheer: laught, rejoice, enjoyAffection: hug, embrace, loving, adoringUnhappinessMisery: cry, sad, miserableAntipathy: revile, dislike, hate1.2 Desire and undesire Desire such as suggest, request, demand

Concept of Appraisal framework

1.3 Security and insecurity Security: trust, confidenceInsecurityDisquiet: restless, shaking, anxiousSurprise: cry out, astonished

1.4 Satisfaction and dissatisfactionSatisfactionInterest: attentive, involve, absorbedPleasure: compliment, satisfied, pleasedDissatisfactionEnnui: Yawn, stale, jadedDispleasure: scold, angry, furious

2. Judgement (evaluation matrix for human behavior)2.1 Normality (how special) such as lucky, unlucky 2.2 Capacity such as educated, uneducated2.3 Tenacity (how dependable) such as brave, timid2.4 Veracity (truth) such as honest, dishonest2.5 Propriety (ethic) such as good, bad

3. Appreciation (artifact, object)3.1 Reaction such as beautiful, ugly3.2 Composition such as balance, unbalance3.3 Valuation such as innovative, conservative

Corpus compilation31 October – 31 December 2013The Nation: 716 files, 867 tokens of Yingluck CNN: 39 files, 162 tokens of Yingluck

Research methodology

1. AffectTable 1 Frequency comparison of Yingluck’s affect

Results of the study

Types of affect found in The Nation

Tokens Percentage Types of affect found in CNN

Tokens Percentage

Happiness 6 8.33 Happiness 0 0.00Unhappiness 7 9.72 Unhappiness 0 0.00Desire 46 63.89 Desire 5 50.00Undesire 6 8.33 Undesire 5 50.00Security 1 1.39 Security 0 0.00Insecurity 6 8.33 Insecurity 0 0.00Total 72 100.00 Total 10 100.00

1. Happiness and unhappinessHappiness (The Nation)(1) Yingluck enjoyed much on familiar ground, where everyone

and everything appeared to comfort her and greet her with a homecoming welcome. (The Nation December 15, 2013-3.txt)

(2) Yingluck cheered by welcome from supporters in home town; returns to face the music today. (The Nation December 15, 2013-3.txt)

(3) Yingluck's eyes brimmed with tears as her supporters in the northeastern province of Roi Et chanted to boost her spirits in a traditional welcoming ceremony known as Bai Sri Su Kwuan. (The Nation December 20, 2013-9.txt)

Evaluative terms

Unhappiness (The Nation)(4) When asked if she felt heavy-hearted, the caretaker PM, with tears

brimming in her eyes, likened the current situation to a rocky road. (The Nation December 27, 2013-1.txt)

(5) The last appearance of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra seen in Bangkok was when she could not hold back her tears during a press interview about demands from anti-government protesters that she and her family leave the country. (The Nation December 15, 2013-3.txt)

(6) CARETAKER Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra fought back tears yesterday when asked by reporters to respond to the anti-government group's demand that the whole Shinawatra clan leave the country. (The Nation December 11, 2013-7.txt)

2. Desire and undesire Desire

The Nation(7) Yingluck … calls for elections (The nation December 9, 2013-8.txt)(8) PM Yingluck said in response she would like to see … forgiveness from

all sides. (The Nation November 5, 2013-1.txt)(9) Yingluck pleads with protesters to stop (The Nation November 7, 2013-

14.txt)(10) Earlier, in a live televised interview, Prime Minister Yingluck

Shinawatra said she was willing to "open every door" for negotiations to try to find a peaceful resolution to some of the worst political turmoil in years. (The Nation December 3, 2013-2.txt)

Evaluative terms

CNN(11) … even after Thailand's PM, Yingluck Shinawatra,

called a snap election in attempts to defuse the kingdom's political crisis. (CNN December 4, 2013-2.txt)

(12) Yingluck Shinawatra has responded to the escalating situation with a call for … respect for law. (CNN November 25, 2013-1.txt)

UndesireThe Nation(13) Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday rejected the

anti-government protesters' demand for a "people's council", (The Nation November 29, 2013-3.txt)

CNN(14) Yingluck says she doesn't want the country "to suffer from

more losses" (CNN December 9, 2013-2.txt)(15) Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra dismissed calls

by protesters for her to step down by Tuesday, (CNN December 2, 2013-2.txt)

3. Security and insecuritySecurity (The Nation)(16) Yingluck also expressed confidence government officials would

continue to work to serve the people even though the protests were making their work harder. (The Nation November 28, 2013-15.txt)

Insecurity (The Nation)(17) Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra expressed concern yesterday

about protesters occupying the Finance Ministry compound. (The Nation November 26, 2013-1.txt)

(18) …Yingluck Shinawatra was concerned about the anti-amnesty protests, (The Nation November 5, 2013-1.txt)

(19) After her statement, Yingluck reportedly was very shocked to know that the public was angered by her statement. (The Nation November 6, 2013-5.txt)

2. JudgementTable 2 Frequency comparison of Yingluck as the appraised

focusing on judgementTypes of judgement found in The Nation

Tokens Percentage Types of judgement found in CNN

Tokens Percentage

Capacity 1 3.57 Capacity 3 23.08Incapacity 2 7.14 Incapacity 0 0.00Tenacity 9 32.14 Tenacity 2 15.38Untenacity 7 25.00 Untenacity 8 61.54Veracity 1 3.57 Veracity 0 0.00Inveracity 5 17.86 Inveracity 0 0.00Propriety 1 3.57 Propriety 0 0.00Impropriety 2 7.14 Impropriety 0 0.00Total 28 100.00 Total 13 100.00

Table 3 Frequency comparison of the appraiser of Yingluck focusing on judgement

Types of The appraiser found in The Nation

Tokens Percentage Types of the appraiser found in CNN

Tokens Percentage

Government member 6 21.42 Government member 3 23.08

Opponent 17 60.71 Opponent 7 53.85

News reporter 5 17.86 News reporter 3 23.08

Total 28 100.00 Total 13 100.00

1. Capacity and Incapacity• Capacity

The Nation(20) Yingluck led the ruling Pheu Thai Party to victory in 2011 elections.

(The Nation December 11, 2013-8.txt)CNN(21) In 2011, and about ten weeks into her political career, she won a

landslide victory to lead a country of 67 million people. (CNN November 4, 2013-1.txt)

(22) Yingluck Shinawatra became Thailand's first female PM after a landslide victory in 2011. (CNN November 4, 2013-1.txt)

Evaluative terms

• Incapacity (The Nation)(23) As for remarks from opposition MPs that she was "stupid",

(The Nation November 27, 2013-5.txt)(24) "The prevailing political crisis has occurred because the

country has a leader with low intellect … (The Nation November 20, 2013-1.txt)

2. Tenacity and untenacity• Tenacity

The Nation(25) Yingluck says she not relying on Thaksin. (The Nation

November 6, 2013-12.txt)(26) Yingluck showed no sign of giving up. (The Nation December

26, 2013-3.txt)CNN(27) Two years on, Yingluck Shinawatra says she has been making

decisions based on her own experience… (CNN November 4, 2013-1.txt)(28) … but she insists she has always been independent. (CNN

November 26, 2013-4.txt)

• UntenacityThe Nation(29) "The prevailing political crisis has occurred because the country

has a leader …who is a puppet of another," he said. (The nation November 20, 2013-1.txt)

(30) The protesters say Yingluck is a proxy for her billionaire brother, former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, (The nation December 14, 2013-8.txt)

CNN(31) Yingluck may never fully leave the shadow of her brother let

alone the scrutiny of her naysayers, (CNN November 4, 2013-1.txt)(32) That move added fuel for critics who accuse Yingluck of being

nothing more than Thaksin's puppet, (CNN December 2, 2013-2.txt)

3. Veracity and inveracity (The Nation)• Veracity

(33) Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra Tuesday denied that she has tolerated corruption practices … (The Nation November 26, 2013-12.txt)• Inveracity

(34) Abhisit denounces Yingluck as 'centre of comprehensive corruption practices' (The Nation November 26, 2013-10.txt)

(35) He said Yingluck is not sincere in making the offers and distorted the information to make people think his party was the cause of the coup d’etat in 2006. (The Nation December 8, 2013-11.txt)

(36) He said she had failed to keep the promises made during the 2011 election campaign, (The Nation November 29, 2013-5.txt)

4. Propriety and Impropriety (The Nation)• Propriety

(37) In her defence, Yingluck said she had performed her job responsibly, (The Nation November 29, 2013-5.txt)• Impropriety

(38) Somkiat Homlaor, leader of the Business Club for Democracy (BCD), added that Yingluck was just avoiding her responsibility and passing the buck on to the Senate. (The Nation November 7, 2013-8.txt)

Identity constructionDiscussionSimilarities and differences ImplicationsFurther studies

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