International Journal of Frontiers in Sociology, 2025, 7(2); doi: 10.25236/IJFS.2025.070207.
Qin Lin1, Mailihaba Aolan2, Ze Zhu1, Yating Miao1
1School of Foreign Languages, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region 830046, China
2Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences in Colleges and Universities, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, 830046, China
The "Xinjiang-related issues" have drawn substantial attention from the international community in recent years. Western media have persistently manipulated these "issues", exerting a notable impact on China's international reputation. This study is designed to analyze the distribution characteristics and pragmatic functions of evidentials. Its objective is to deduce the discourse features of evidentiality within the context of news reporting by Western mainstream media. Furthermore, it seeks to scrutinize the authenticity of the discourse construction employed in Western news reports pertaining to Xinjiang. This research adopts the evidential classification proposed by Hu Zhuanglin and focuses on three mainstream Western media. The research findings disclose variations in the frequency and lexicogrammatical manifestations among the seven types of evidentials. Moreover, the use of evidentiality in these news reports demonstrates three major discursive characteristics: (a) Written Reliability, (b) Subjective Speculation, and (c) Implicit Persuasion. This study enriches the research on evidentiality related to Xinjiang and provides potential references for future research in this field.
Evidentiality; Evidential; Western Media; News Reporting
Qin Lin, Mailihaba Aolan, Ze Zhu, Yating Miao. Evidentiality in News Discourse: A Study of Western Mainstream Media. International Journal of Frontiers in Sociology(2025), Vol. 7, Issue 2: 43-51. https://doi.org/10.25236/IJFS.2025.070207.
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