Verbal processes in the Covid-19 news discourses: An analysis of ‘aswaqpress.com’ coverage on Malaysia

Proses verbal dalam wacana berita Covid-19: Analisis portal ‘aswaqpress.com’ berkaitan Malaysia

Authors

  • Muhammad Marwan Ismail Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), MALAYSIA https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1214-2455
  • Farah Nadia Harun Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), MALAYSIA
  • Wan Moharani Mohammad Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), MALAYSIA
  • Nurhasma Muhammad Saad Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), MALAYSIA
  • Sulaiman Ismail Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), MALAYSIA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53840/alirsyad.v6i2.237

Keywords:

Covid-19, Arabic Online News, Critical Discourse Analysis, Corpus Linguistics, Verbal Process

Abstract

December 2019 marked the emergence of a deadly virus known as Covid-19. Since then, we have been battling the virus, which has infected more than 250 million people and killed 4.5 million globally. The pandemic has become the headline of almost every media outlet, including local and international news agencies. Hence, this article aims to examine the Arabic online news discourse of the event by focusing on the verbal processes strategically utilised in reporting the pandemic in Malaysia. This study's data consists of Modern Standard Arabic online news published by the Aswaq (aswaqpress.com) news portal between January and July 2021. Aswaq provides Arabic news and information on Malaysia to the Arab world. Hence, the information provided by the portal is vital in portraying Malaysia to Arab audiences, particularly in framing the way Malaysia deals with the Covid-19. The study employs corpus linguistics analytical tools using the corpus software AntConc 3.5.8 (2019). Then, the quantitative result will be analysed using a qualitative approach based on the textual-oriented Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of Fairclough (1992). It is shown that Aswaq has strategically utilised various verbal processes to report on the words said and articulated around the pandemic. The diversity of verbal processes used indicates different connotations that hint at different strategic approaches to reporting the news. Hence, it may lead to uncovering the outlet stance of the event. Finally, the study will present suggestions for other related studies in the future.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Muhammad Marwan Ismail, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), MALAYSIA

Dr. Muhammad Marwan Ismail received his Ph.D. from the University of Birmingham UK and currently holds the position of  Senior Lecturer at Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM). His works examine news media critical discourse analysis with a special focus on the Arab and the Arabic Media. His current research project deals with news coverage of the pandemic and its influences on global audiences.

 

Farah Nadia Harun, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), MALAYSIA

 

 

Wan Moharani Mohammad, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), MALAYSIA

 

 

Nurhasma Muhammad Saad, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), MALAYSIA

 

 

Sulaiman Ismail, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), MALAYSIA

 

 

References

Antony, L. (2019). AntConc software for concordance analysis. Version 3.5.8 (2019).

Aswaq. 2021. Covid-19 news achieve. Retrieved 18th June 2021, from www.aswaqpress.com/archive/covid19.

Baker, P., & McEnery, T. (2005). A corpus-based approach to discourses of refugees and asylum seekers in UN and newspaper texts. Language and Politics, 4(2), 197-226. https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.4.2.04bak.

Chen, L. (2004). Evaluation in media texts: A cross-cultural linguistic investigation. Language in Society, 33(5), 673-702. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404504045026.

Chilton, P. (2005). Missing links in mainstream CDA: modules, blends and the critical instinct. In P. Chilton & R. Wodak. (Eds.), A New Agenda in (Critical) Discourse Analysis: Theory, Methodology and Interdisciplinarity. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Eilders, C. (2000). Media as political actors? Issue focusing and selective emphasis in the German quality press. German Politics, 9(3), 181-206. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644000008404613.

Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and social change. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.

Fairclough, N. (1993). Critical discourse analysis and the marketisation of public discourse: The universities. Discourse and Society, 4(2), 133-168. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0957926593004002002.

Fairclough, N. (1995a). Critical discourse analysis: the critical study of language. London, UK: Longman.

Fairclough, N. (1995b). Media discourse. London, UK: Hodder Arnold.

Fairclough, N. (2000). New labour, new language? London, UK: Routledge.

Fairclough, N. (2001). Language and power. London, UK: Longman.

Fairclough, N. (2003). Analysing discourse: textual analysis for social research. London, UK: Routledge.

Fairclough, N. (2006). Language and globalisation. London, UK: Routledge.

Fowler, R. (1991). Language in the news: discourse and ideology in the press. London, UK: Routledge.

Halliday, M. A. K. (1994). An introduction to functional grammar. London, UK: Edward Arnold.

Harun, F. N., & Ismail, M. M. (2020). Saudi women participation in sports: critical analysis of presupposition strategies in Arabic online news discourse. Sains Insani, 5(2), 129-140. https://doi.org/10.33102/sainsinsani.vol5no2.178.

Harun, F. N., Ismail, M. M., Daoudi, A., & Thompson, P. (2018). The driving restriction on Saudi women: critical analysis of modality in Arabic online news discourse. Journal of Fatwa Management and Research, 466-487. https://doi.org/10.33102/jfatwa.vol13no1.137.

Ismail, M. (2019). Aljazeera Arabic and BBC Arabic online news coverage of the 2011 Arab spring in Tunisia and Egypt: critical discourse analysis. PhD Thesis. United Kingdom, UK: The University of Birmingham.

Ismail, M. M., & Harun, F. N. (2021). Modern standard Arabic online news discourse of men and women: corpus-based analysis. Asian Journal of Behavioural Sciences, 3(1), 24-39. Available at: https://myjms.mohe.gov.my/index.php/ajbs/article/view/12507.

Ismail, M. M., Harun, F. N., & Daoudi, A. (2018). Naming strategies in modern standard Arabic online news discourse: the case of al-Jazeera and BBC coverage on the 2011 Tunisian jasmine revolution. Journal of Global Business and Social Entrepreneurship (GBSE), 4(11), 158-171. http://gbse.com.my/v4No11MAY2018/Paper-176-.pdf.

Ismail, M. M., Harun, F. N., Muhamad, W. M., Saad, N. M., & Md Isa, Z. (2021). The Arab spring online news coverage: corpus-based analysis of the Tunisian and Egyptian revolution keywords. International Journal of Humanities, Philosophy and Language, 4(14), 52- 70. https://doi.org/10.35631/IJHPL.414004.

Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia. 2021. Covid-19 di Malaysia. Retrieved 18th June 2021, from www.moh.my/covid19/updates.

McLeod, J. M., Scheufele, D. A., & Moy, P. (1999). Community, communication, and participation: The role of mass media and interpersonal discussion in local political participation. Political communication, 16(3), 315-336. https://doi.org/10.1080/105846099198659.

Mellor, N. (2011). Arab media: an overview of recent trends. Arab media: Globalisation and emerging media industries, 12-28. Cambridge: Polity.

Miladi, N. (2006). Satellite TV news and the Arab diaspora in Britain: Comparing Al-Jazeera, the BBC and CNN. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 32(6), 947-960. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691830600761552.

Richardson, J. (2007). Analysing newspapers: an approach from critical discourse analysis. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Thompson, G. (1996). Introducing functional grammar. China: Edward Arnold (Publishers) Ltd.

World Health Organisation (WHO). (2021). Pandemic Covid-19: facts and figure. Retrieved 18th June 2021, from www.who.org/pandemic/figures.

Zakaria, K., & Nordin, M. Z. F. . (2021). Bahasa dan kuasa: analisis wacana bahasa perundingan Nabi Yusuf AS dengan saudara-saudara Baginda. Al-Irsyad: Journal of Islamic and Contemporary Issues, 6(1), 662-670. https://doi.org/10.53840/alirsyad.v6i1.194.

Zayani, M., & Ayish, M. I. (2006). Arab satellite television and crisis reporting: Covering the fall of Baghdad. International Communication Gazette, 68(5-6), 473-497. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1748048506068724.

Downloads

Published

2021-12-23

How to Cite

Ismail, M. M., Harun, F. N., Mohammad, W. M., Muhammad Saad, N., & Ismail, S. (2021). Verbal processes in the Covid-19 news discourses: An analysis of ‘aswaqpress.com’ coverage on Malaysia: Proses verbal dalam wacana berita Covid-19: Analisis portal ‘aswaqpress.com’ berkaitan Malaysia. Al-Irsyad: Journal of Islamic and Contemporary Issues, 6(2), 745–756. https://doi.org/10.53840/alirsyad.v6i2.237

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 2 (2021): al-Irsyad: Journal of Islamic and Contemporary Issues

Section

English

License

Copyright (c) 2021 al-Irsyad: Journal of Islamic and Contemporary Issues

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

License and Copyright Agreement
In submitting the manuscript to the journal, the authors certify that:

  • They are authorized by their co-authors to enter into these arrangements.
  • The work described has not been formally published before, except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, thesis, or overlay journal.
  • That it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere,
  • That its publication has been approved by all the author(s) and by the responsible authorities – tacitly or explicitly – of the institutes where the work has been carried out.
  • They secure the right to reproduce any material that has already been published or copyrighted elsewhere.
  • They agree to the following license and copyright agreement.

Copyright
Authors who publish with al-Irsyad: Journal of Islamic and Contemporary Issues agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-NC 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. 
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.

Licensing for Data Publication

al-Irsyad: Journal of Islamic and Contemporary Issues use a variety of waivers and licenses that are specifically designed for and appropriate for the treatment of data:

Other data publishing licenses may be allowed as exceptions (subject to approval by the editor on a case-by-case basis) and should be justified with a written statement from the author, which will be published with the article.

Open Data and Software Publishing and Sharing
The journal strives to maximize the replicability of the research published in it. Authors are thus required to share all data, code, or protocols underlying the research reported in their articles. Exceptions are permitted but have to be justified in a written public statement accompanying the article.
Datasets and software should be deposited and permanently archived in appropriate, trusted, general, or domain-specific repositories (please consult http://service.re3data.org and/or software repositories such as GitHub, GitLab, Bioinformatics.org, or equivalent). The associated persistent identifiers (e.g. DOI, or others) of the dataset(s) must be included in the data or software resources section of the article. Reference(s) to datasets and software should also be included in the reference list of the article with DOIs (where available). Where no domain-specific data repository exists, authors should deposit their datasets in a general repository such as ZENODO, Dryad, Dataverse, or others.
Small data may also be published as data files or packages supplementary to a research article, however, the authors should prefer in all cases a deposition in data repositories.