English in the news

English Language in the Media

Elisa Ghia
 English in the news

English as the language

of international news
(news English)

News
Newspapers
broadcasts
Newspapers as text types: General
characteristics
 Newspaper articles within the broader category of news
texts and News English
 Field: different topics
 Tenor: addressees and address style
 Mode: visual channel, written medium and high lexical
density
 Informative and conative function of newspaper articles
 Heteroglossia in news English
 A science article
Nomad Alien Planets May Fill Our Milky Way Galaxy

Our Milky Way galaxy may be teeming with rogue planets that ramble through space instead of
being locked in orbit around a star, a new study suggests.

These "nomad planets" could be surprisingly common in our bustling galaxy, according to
researchers at the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC), a joint
institute of Stanford University and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. The study predicts
that there may be 100,000 times more of these wandering, homeless planets than stars in the Milky
Way.

If this is the case, these intriguing cosmic bodies would belong to a whole new class of alien
worlds, shaking up existing theories of planet formation. These free-flying planets may also raise
new and tantalizing questions in the search for life beyond Earth.
 Lexical density

Italy: Shipwreck Inquiry Expands

Italian prosecutors placed seven more people under investigation in connection with the shipwreck of the
Costa Concordia: four ship officers who were on board the luxury liner the night of the accident in January,
and three managers for Costa Cruises. The ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino, and his first officer, Ciro
Ambrosio, are already being investigated. Also on Wednesday, divers found eight more of the bodies of
those listed as missing. Thirty-two people died in the accident; seven have not yet been found.
Heteroglossia
 Multiple voices in the newspaper text

 Horizontal dimension: journalists, quotes, editors

and the successive handling of the text

 The vertical dimension: from the earlier versions

to the final text
Heteroglossia (Crystal 2003: 382)
The structure of newspaper articles
 Headline (and summary)
 Article
Newspaper headlines
 Functions of the headline: Catchy and concise
 The wh-model: what, who, where, how
 Summary
 Interaction with images to convey meaning
 Words to include in headlines need to be short,
attention-getting and effective
 Emotionally-loaded words
Conciseness in headlines: what, who,
where (and how)
Pen found in woman’s stomach after 25 years

Retail sales rise for Christmas

Leaders to Meet With Chinese Villagers

US home construction on the rise

Spain: Sunken Treasure to Be Retrieved

Obama: Fuel-efficient cars an answer to gas prices

Headlines and summaries
Looking to Streamline Airport Security Screenings
With global air traffic growing about 5 percent a year, some
say a fundamental rethinking of checkpoints is inevitable.
(The NY Times)

New Earths found - but not quite as we know it

Kepler finds planets of same size and structure 950 light
years away.
(Financial Times)
Common vocabulary in News English
(Swan 2005: 243 ff.)
NEWSPAPER COMMON ENGLISH EXAMPLE
ENGLISH WORD
Act (v) take action, do something Food crisis: Government
to act
Aid (n, v) help, support More aid for poor
countries
Unions aid hospital
strikers
Press (n) the newspapers Bid to gag press over
defence spending
Allege (v) make an accusation Woman alleges unfair
treatment
Bid (n, v) attempt Japanese women in new
Everest bid
Boost (v) increase, encourage Plan to boost exports
Charge (n, v) accusation (by police) Three men held on bomb
charge
Common vocabulary in News English II
(Swan 2005: 243 ff.)
NEWSPAPER COMMON ENGLISH EXAMPLE
ENGLISH WORD
Cut (n, v) reduction, reduce New health service cuts
Britain cuts overseas aid
Drama (n) dramatic event Prince in airport drama

Due (v) expected to arrive Queen due in Berlin today

Head (n, v) leader, lead Commonwealth heads to meet in

Iowa
PM to head trade mission
Hold (n, v) arrest, keep under arrest Man held after station blast

Leak (n) unofficial publication of secret PM furious over tax plan leaks
information
Out to intending to Nationalists out to capture mass
vote
Plea (n) call for help Big response to plea for flood aid

Probe (n, v) investigation, investigate Call for student drugs probe

Toll (n) number killed Quake toll may be 300

Violent storms kill 31, death toll
could rise
More on vocabulary in News English
(Swan 2005: 243 ff.)
1. MP to appear on drugs charges
(Member of Parliament) (to appear in court) (accusations)
2. America backs British peace move
(supports)
3. US bans steel imports
(forbids)
4. Smith ill: Blow to World Cup hopes
(bad news, unfortunate event)
5. Spending boom over, says Minister
(big increase, prosperous period)
6. Call for strike talks
(demand, appeal for) (meeting)
More on vocabulary in News English II
(Swan 2005: 243 ff.)
7. Doctor cleared of drugs charge
(found innocent)
8. Bank crash threatens to bring down government
(financial failure, disaster)
9. Strikers face sack
(are threatened by) (dismissal)
10. Terrorists gun down priest
(shoot)
11. Life for axe murderer
(imprisonment for life)
12. Government urged to act on pollution
(encouraged) (take action)
Processes in English newspaper
headlines
Material processes:
US Navy Launches Next-Generation Military Satellite
Kodak sells online business to Shutterfly
Verbal processes:
Patients at risk despite changes to EU rules on doctors, say
regulators
Shakespeare play immoral says headmaster
Palin before resignation: I can't take it anymore
Obama: Fuel-efficient cars an answer to gas prices
More figurative language use:
Deadly storm halts travel as it churns east
Tornadoes leave deadly trail
The syntax of English newspaper
headlines
Reduction

 Omission
 Most frequently omitted word classes include:
articles and other determiners
auxiliary verbs and copulas
pronouns

 Condensation
 Complex noun phrases and premodification
 Hyphening and compounding
 Verb phrases
 Use of connectives and punctuation
Word omission in English newspaper
headlines
Shakespeare play immoral says headmaster

Will woman be world's richest person?

Six killed in hotel blaze

Britain getting warmer, say scientists

PM furious over tax plan leaks

Condensation of information: Noun
phrases in English newspaper headlines
 Premodification
Disney's new obesity campaign under fire

Renowned climate scientist comes under fire

PM furious over tax plan leaks

Jolie-Pitt daughter's lipstick mystery

New health service cuts

Furniture factory pay cut row

Condensation of information: Noun
phrases in English newspaper headlines II

 Hyphening
Greece launches long-awaited debt offer

US Navy Launches Next-Generation Military Satellite

Tornado-ravaged areas hit by snowstorm, cold

Detroit-area woman stalked by aggressive turkey

70-year-old’s Olympic miracle

Verb phrases in English newspaper
headlines
 Omission:
Holiday hotel death
Evacuations in Syria as diplomatic pressure mounts
Tornado season looms, but forecasting a challenge

 Reduction: past participles (present and past) and

infinitives (future)
Twelve killed in protests across Afghanistan
Fanzine cleared over racism claims
Heathrow service drivers to strike
Obama to hold first news conference of the year
Verb phrases in English newspaper
headlines II
 Use of simple tenses

 Present tense
Colorado court says students can carry guns on campus
Blind girl climbs Everest
Tour bus ignites near Nevada's Hoover Dam

 The gerund
Dozens arrested protesting California education cuts
Mitt Romney hoping to revamp his image with voters
Trade figures improving
Britain getting warmer, say scientists
Clause linking in English newspaper
headlines
Explicit connectives:
As New iPad Debut Nears, Some See Decline of PCs
Evacuations in Syria as diplomatic pressure mounts
Hospital boss axed as patients die

Implicit linking:
Dozens arrested protesting California education cuts
Strikes: PM to act
Smith ill: Blow to World Cup hopes
More on punctuation in English
newspaper headlines
Functions of punctuation in English newspaper headlines
 Implicit clause linking and clause expansion:
Strikes: PM to act
 Phrase linking (lists):
Tornado-ravaged areas hit by snowstorm, cold
 Quotes:
Palin before resignation: I can't take it anymore
Ann Romney: ‘I don't even consider myself wealthy’
Crash driver ‘had been drinking’
 Marking of uncertainty:
Crisis over by September?
Ambiguity in English newspaper
headlines
 Class-shifts
US cuts aid to Third World
Aid cuts row
Cuts aid rebels
Shop price cuts drive sales rise

British Left Waffles on Falkland Islands

Eye Drops Off Shelf
Dealers will Hear Car Talk at Noon
Ambiguity and wordplay in English
newspaper headlines
 Syntax
 Word dependency
Enraged Cow Injures Farmer with Ax
Dr. Ruth to Talk about Sex with Newspaper Editors
Hospitals are Sued by Seven Foot Doctors

 Voice and actors

Drunk Drivers Paid $1,000 in 1984
Kicking Baby Considered To Be Healthy
Ambiguity and wordplay in English
newspaper headlines II
 Semantics
 Polysemy and homonymy

Farmer Bill Dies in House

Mine exploded
Iraqi Head Seeks Arms
Stolen Painting Found by Tree (interpretation of participant
roles)

Kids Make Nutritious Snacks (process)

Ambiguity and wordplay in English
newspaper headlines III
 Semantic fields and stating the obvious
Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Experts Say
If Strike isn't Settled Quickly it May Last a While
Blind woman gets new kidney from dad she hasn't seen in
years

 Reference and idiomaticity

Autos killing 110 a Day; Let's Resolve to do Better
Grandmother of Eight Makes Hole in One
Milk Drinkers are Turning to Powder
Dogs' feet give Japan scientists paws for thought
It's All Greek to U.S.
Ambiguity and wordplay in English
newspaper headlines IV
 Phonology
 Allitteration (sound repetition)
Butter battle spreads
Getting fat but staying fit?

Homophony
Dr Spuhler will maintain Swiss role

 Assonance, rhyme and parallelism

Google goggles? It makes my mind boggle
A Man of Science, a Man of Silence
Intertextuality in English newspaper
headlines
 Intertextuality
Tap,Tap, Tapping on Oscar’s Door
From Russia with gloves
A Star Is Rehabbed
The Price Is Righter
The newspaper article: Structure
 News as (special) narratives
 The six questions: what, who, when, where, why, how
 The structure of the English newspaper article:
• Opening or abstract
• Circumstances
• Episodes and events
• Ending
Abstract
 The “lead” as a summary: What is the story about and why is it
being told?
 Catchy opening: cataphoric reference, emotionally-loaded words,
metaphors
Circumstances or attribution
 Who, what, when, where

 Participants
 Topic: Facts and figures
 Time and space reference in English newspaper
articles
 Use of explicit time and space locators
 Deixis
Action
 Main events and episodes (expansion of what and how)
 Mainly non-chronological order: the installment
method
 Salience and ordering
 Reported speech and sources

Time reference:
 Time of the story (usually near present)
 Past events (background)
 Current stuation (commentary)
 Follow-up and reference to the future
Ending
 Evaluation:
 Evaluation: significance of the story
 Commentary and follow-up
The newspaper article: Use of English
 Journalese

 Condensation and synthesis processes

 Use of language:
• Naming
• Phrase complexity
• Modals
• The passive
• Processes
• Reported speech
Naming
 Categorization of participants
 First name, last name
 Title and profession
 Nickname (Fergie)
 Group (e.g. ethnic group)
 Anonymous (boy, woman, you)
 Naming noun phrases
handsome French singer Jean Bruno
 The connotation of naming
 Naming as evaluation
Complex Noun Phrases
 Premodification
 Postmodification
Turning the Corner
After long decline, department stores begin to rebound
(adapted from Elizabeth Holmes and Ann Zimmerman)

America’s department stores, long derided for their dated merchandise and confusing floor
plans, are making a comeback. Chains like Macy’s, Nordstrom and Kohl’s are posting solid
sales gains, even though consumers remain cautious with their spending, and those gains
are likely to continue this autumn.
Department stores have expanded their market share after almost a decade of declines,
according to Customer Growth Partners, a retail consulting firm. “The mid-tier department
stores are doing better,” says Craig Johnson, the firm’s president. Their recovery means
more trouble for specialty chains like Gap, Aéropostale and Talbots, which find themselves
squeezed between inexpensive “fast fashion” retailers on one side and department stores
on the other. In some merchandise categories, it also means tougher competition for big-
box discount stores such as Wal-Mart Stores and Target.
Complex Noun Phrases in English
newspaper articles
 Information packaging and density
 Ideational and informative function vs. interpersonal
function
 Mainly classifying function of premodifiers
 General category and manner (a retail consulting firm)
 Location (air disaster)
 Purpose (defence plan)
 Agent-patient relation (baggage inspection, customer care)
 Cause (blood pressure: pressure caused by blood)
 Material (glass bottle)
 Modals
 Modal verbs to express opinions and attitudes
Nomad Alien Planets May Fill Our Milky Way Galaxy

Our Milky Way galaxy may be teeming with rogue planets that ramble through space instead of
being locked in orbit around a star, a new study suggests.

These "nomad planets" could be surprisingly common in our bustling galaxy, according to
researchers at the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC), a joint
institute of Stanford University and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. The study predicts
that there may be 100,000 times more of these wandering, homeless planets than stars in the Milky
Way.

If this is the case, these intriguing cosmic bodies would belong to a whole new class of alien
worlds, shaking up existing theories of planet formation. These free-flying planets may also raise
new and tantalizing questions in the search for life beyond Earth.
Use of the passive
 Impersonality and detachment
 Organization of information (focus on event and patient
vs. agent)
MILAN Monday July 27 (Reuters)-

One hundred eight passengers aboard a commercial airliner were held by a British pilot for 40 minutes after
landing in Milan’s Malpensa airport. According to the Italian police, passengers were held because no one
would admit to being the person who broke the strict no-smoking rules.

The smoke detector in one of the plane’s toilets had been blocked by one passenger who had smoked a
cigarette in violation of the airline’s no-smoking rules and strict safety standards. This was brought to a
flight attendant’s attention by a passenger who complained about the cigarette smell in the toilet. The toilet
was checked by the flight attendant and it was found that the smoke detector was blocked. Passengers are
allowed to smoke in restricted areas on international flights; however, they are prohibited from smoking on
all domestic flights. The same rules are imposed by most major airlines.

On arrival, captain Bryan Bliss, a 57-year-old pilot with 28 years experience, asked the culprit to own up. No
one came forward, and finally, after 40 minutes, everyone was let go. Then, the pilot was detained by
police at the airport for holding passengers against their will, Jane Harrison, a spokeswoman for the airline
company said. “He wasn’t arrested. He was detained ” she said by telephone from London. She added,
“We were informed of the situation immediately; however, we were asked not to release the details of the
situation until the investigation is finished.”

She did not know how long the questioning lasted but said Bliss was allowed to go and was permitted to fly
the plane back from Malpensa to Stansted later in the day. “We are continuing to talk to the police to make
sure all questions are answered,” Harrison said. She said there was no likelihood of any legal action against
Bliss and said both sides were being “very helpful.” Police at Malpensa declined to comment while the case
is considered unresolved.
Processes in newspaper English
 Material processes

 Verbal processes

 Mental processes

 Relational processes

 Processes as means for evaluation

Verbal processes and reported speech
 Reference to the source of the story
 Reported speech of other key participants

 Direct quote
 Reported speech