社交媒体与机构身份建构:香港地区高校话语的社会符号学分析

Social Media and Institutional Identity Construction:A Social Semiotic Analysis of University Discourse in Hong Kong region

在教育的市场化进程中,世界各个国家和地区的大学都面临着激烈的竞争和巨大的挑战,香港地区也不例外。为了进一步提升国际竞争力,香港地区高校采取了各种宣传策略,尤其重视社交媒体等新媒体平台的作用。本文采用视觉语法分析框架,以香港地区8所公立大学发布在社交媒体平台上的356张图片为研究对象,考察了社交媒体中香港地区高校话语的身份建构问题。研究结果表明,香港地区高校在社交媒体中通过视觉图像建构了以生为本、研究型、创新型、国际化、社会导向型的高等教育机构身份,反映了香港地区高等教育市场化和香港地区社会所特有的文化杂糅性特征。

Market forces have increasingly influenced higher education throughout the world over the past decades.In this global context,universities are confronted with considerable challenges and intense competition,with Hong Kong region being no exception.In order to promote their image and enhance their competitiveness,universities in Hong Kong region have adopted various branding strategies, particularly onsocial media platforms. The present study conducts a social semiotic analysis of theidentity construction of Hong Kong region universities on social media within the frameworkof Kress and van Leeuwen’s (2006) visual grammar. The data of this study consist of 356 visual images collected from official accounts of eight universities in Hong Kong region.The findings show that universities in Hong Kong region tend to construct their identities asstudent-centered, research-oriented, innovative, internationalized, and society-orientedinstitutions on social media, which refl ects the process of educational marketizationand cultural hybridity in Hong Kong region society and culture.