7901LHS Language Awareness for Second Language Teachers

Article Comparison Worksheet

PART 1 – Group Sharing [10 minutes]

Take turns presenting your article analysis findings to each other. Each person should take about 2 minutes
to present their findings to the group and provide an overview of their newspaper article. Remember that
none of your group members will have read your article and are relying on you to give them a concise
summary. When you are presenting your article to your group, you might comment on the following:

 What did you find surprising about the way this article is written?
 Who was the most dominant person in the piece? Was everyone quoted equally?
 What information, ideas, or options are left out of the article entirely?
 What impressions do the images and headings provide?

PART 2 – GROUP ANALYSIS [15 minutes] Make sure someone is taking notes on this document
(preferably the person not speaking at the time).

1. How is Michael Zehaf-Bibeau presented in each article? After discussing this question with your
group, provide a one sentence summary of the overall impression of Zehaf-Bibeau and his motives
from each article.
a. Article 1 – Who is Zehaf-Bibeau? Why did he commit this act?:

b. Article 2 – Who is Zehaf-Bibeau? Why did he commit this act?:

c. Article 3 – Who is Zehaf-Bibeau? Why did he commit this act?:

d. Article 4 – Who is Zehaf-Bibeau? Why did he commit this act?:

2. What are three discursive differences between the articles in how Zehaf-Bibeau is presented? For
help identifying three discursive differences, you may want to review the items under “What do
discourse analysts look at?” on page 2 of the Discourse Analysis Handout on Canvas.

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3. Compare the images in each article. Why do you think they were chosen by the editor? How do
these different images affect your interpretation of the events?

4. How are the titles and headings different in each article? What kinds of differences or similarities
do you notice?

5. Which article has the most boosting language? Which article has the most hedging language? How
is this language used?

6. Which article has the most active language? Which article has the most passive language? How is
this language used?

7. How could the version of reality presented in each article lead to different policy decisions (e.g.,
military decisions, health care decisions, etc.)?

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8. What information, ideas, options, people or groups are missing/omitted/absent in all four articles?

9. What does your group find most surprising when comparing these four articles?

10. If there is time: Identify the company and news network the article is from. Use the internet to
learn more about each company (e.g., Who owns it? What country is it in? What other news
stations are owned by the same company?)