语篇认识定位与新闻语篇的批判性阅读——以《中国日报》与《纽约时报》的两则同题报道为例

Epistemological Positioning and Critical Reading in News Discourse:A Case Study of News Reports in China Daily and New York Times

认识定位指人类对知识的评价,包括人类获得知识的来源与方式、知识可靠性、相关性和应用范围。本文以新闻语篇的显著特征——信息来源为切入点,以《中国日报》和《纽约时报》对德班气候会议的报道为例,比较两则报道在信息来源这一语篇构建策略上的异同,分析记者如何通过使用这一策略隐晦表达各自态度,探讨怎样在教学中把历史情境、社会文化环境和语言符号联结起来,使学生认识到符号是构建知识的手段,培养学生的批判性思维能力。

Epistemological Positioning refers to human being＇s assessments concerning knowledge, including source of knowledge, the way knowledge is acquired, certainty of knowledge, deviations from knowledge and extent. This paper focuses on the salient feature of news discourse -- sourcing, exemplified by two news reports on the Durban Climate Conference respectively from China Daily and The New York Times. It makes a contrast and comparison of this specific discourse construction strategy, analyzing how the journalists in the two reports express their attitudes in a covert way by employing this strategy. It also explores how to combine the three elements -- historical situations, social-cultural contexts and linguistic signs in teaching to guide students to realize that signs are a means of knowledge construction and to cultivate their critical thinking .