A Critical Discourse Analysis of Bias through Modality in Arabic and English News Reports

Abstract

Under the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), this paper attempts to analyse the interpersonal function of news texts through investigating the function of modality in the expression of bias in Arabic and English news reports. This paper deals with news reports from ideologically diverse newspapers, addressing various news events in order to come up with results as comprehensive as possible about bias through modality. This paper also aims to compare how Arabic and English news reports exploit modal expressions to interact with their readers. It has been found that while English news reports mainly use epistemic modal expressions to predict possible consequences of and describe unreal situations related to the incident reported, Arabic news reports interact with the audience through corroboration and emphasis of some aspects of the news event instead of offering possibilities and evaluations.