Ecological Analysis of Public Speeches in United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: A Perspective of Transitivity

Authors

  • Wei Li Southwest University
  • Yongxin Yao No.3 Middle School
  • Huiqin Dai Southwest University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1602.10

Keywords:

ecological discourse analysis, transitivity, climate change

Abstract

The objective of this study is to investigate ten speeches delivered at the 15th (COP15) and 26th (COP26) sessions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), guided by the ecosophy of “harmony, diversity, co-existence, and interaction” to extract and analyze the prevalent ecological perspectives on climate change, as well as to assess the advancements achieved since COP15. A quantitative analysis is undertaken based on the principle of transitivity, utilizing statistics pertaining to the distribution patterns of processes, participants, and the environmental elements within clauses as the fundamental data for assessment. The study revealed that the ecological perspective of the discourses is in line with the ecosophy, which advocates balanced development alongside the remediation and replenishment of nature, and the ecological perspective of COP26 significantly diverges from that of COP15, primarily due to the remarkable technological advancements achieved since then and the heightened confidence among individuals in tackling the challenges posed by climate change.

Author Biographies

Wei Li, Southwest University

College of International Studies

Huiqin Dai, Southwest University

College of International Studies

References

Alexander, R. & Stibbe, A. (2014). From the Analysis of Ecological Discourse to the Ecological Analysis of Discourse. Language Science, (41), 104-110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langsci.2013.08.011

Chawla, S. (2001). Linguistic and Philosophical Roots of Four Environmental Crisis. Environmental Ethics, 13(3), 253-262. https://doi.org/10.5840/enviroethics199113312

Cheng, M. (2022). Theoretical Framework for Ecological Discourse Analysis: A Summary of New Developments of Ecological Discourse Analysis. Journal of World Languages, 8(1), 188-226. https://doi.org/10.1515/jwl-2021-0030

Currie, J. & Clarke, B. (2022). Fighting talk: The use of conceptual metaphor CLIMATE CHANGE IS CONFLICT in the UK House of Parliament, 2005-2019. Journal of Language and Politics, (4), 589-612.

Gu, Y. H. & Guo, F. (2023). An Ecological Discourse Analysis of Border Town from the Interpersonal Function Perspective: A Literature Review. International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translation, 6(3), 67-71.

Halliday, M. (2001). New Ways of Meaning: the Challenge to Applied Linguistics, in A. Fill and P. Mühlhäusler (eds) The Ecolinguistics Reader: Language, Ecology, and Environment. London: Continuum, 175-202. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0271-5309(02)00015-0

Halliday, M. & Matthiessen, C. (2004). An Introduction to Functional Grammar (3rd ed.). London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.2307/414947

He, W. (2021). Sheng tai hua yu fen xi han li de mo shi de zai fa zhan [Ecological Discourse Analysis: Further Development of the Halliday Mode]. Wai yu jiao xue [Foreign Language Education], (1), 20-27. https://doi.org/10.16362/j.cnki.cn61-1023/h.2021.01.005

He, W., Gao, R. & Liu, J. H. (2021). Shengtai huayu fenxi xinfazhan yanjiu [New Developments of Ecological Discourse Analysis]. Beijing: Tsinghua University Press.

He, W. & Wei, R. (2018). Duo yuan he xian jiao hu gong sheng—guo ji sheng tai hua yu zhi fen xi zhe xue guan jian gou [Diversity and Harmony, Interaction and Co-existence Ecosophy for International Ecological Discourse Analysis]. Wai yu xue kan [Foreign Language Research], (6), 28-35. https://doi.org/ 10.16263/j.cnki.23-1071/h.2018.06.006

Huang, G. W. & Chen, Y. (2016). Sheng tai zhe xue yu hua yu de sheng tai fen xi [Ecosophy and Ecological Analysis of Discourse]. Wai guo yu wen [Foreign Language and Literature], (6), 55-61.

Napolitano, A. & Aiezza, M. C. (2019). Trump is erasing climate change…language: A corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis of the US online environmental communications under Obama and Trump. Lingue e Linguagg, (29), 147-177.

Poole, R. (2016). A Corpus-aided Ecological Discourse Analysis of the Rosemont Copper Mine Debate of Arizona, USA. Discourse & Communication, 10(6), 576-595.

Sun, L. & Yang, X. (2020). Ping jia li lun shi yu xia de he xie hua yu fen xi — yi er ling yi ba nian “bai pian wang luo zheng neng liang wen zi zuo pin” wei li [Harmonious Discourse Analysis with Appraisal Theory: A Case Study of “Top100 Online Positive Energy Articles of 2018”]. Zhong guo wai yu [Foreign Chinese Languages in China], (4), 43-48. https://doi.org/110.13564/j.cnki.issn.1672-9382.2020.04.006

Wu, J. G, Gong, C. & Song Y. (2020). Zheng zhi hua yu de pi ping yin yu fen xi —yi te lang pu yan jiang wei li [Investigating Political Discourse from the Perspective of CMA: A Case Study on Trump’s Speeches]. Wai guo yu [Journal of Foreign Languages], 43(3), 80-88.

Xin, Z. Y. & Huang, G. W. (2013). Xi tong gong neng yu yan xue yu sheng tai hua yu fen xi [Systemic Functional Linguistics and Eco-Discourse Analysis]. Wai yu jiao xue [Foreign Language Education], (3), 7-10+31. https://doi.org/10.16362/j.cnki.cn61-1023/h.2013.03.008

Zhang, R. J. & He, W. (2020). Human-nature Relationships in Experiential Meaning: Transitivity System of Chinese from an Ecolinguistic Perspective, Journal of World Languages, 6(3), 217-235. https://doi.org/10.1080/21698252.2020.1819519

Zhang, L. & Hu, K. B. (2024). Ji yu yu liao ku de huan jing yu sheng tai hua yu fen xi yan jiu xian zhuang wen ti yu wei lai [Corpus-based Environmental and Ecological Analysis: Sta Quo, Problems and Future]. Wai yu jiao xue li lun yu shi jian [Foreign Language Learning Theory and Practice], (3), 28-34.

Downloads

Published

2025-03-01

Issue

Section

Articles