A Corpus-Assisted Critical Discourse Analysis of English-Language News from Thai and International Media: A Case Study of the 2025 Thailand Earthquake
Abstract
Disasters are not only physical events but also discursive phenomena shaped by media language. This study examines how the 2025 Thailand earthquake was linguistically represented in Thai English-language newspapers and international news outlets. Drawing on 120 news reports (60 Thai and 60 international), the study employs a corpus-assisted Critical Discourse Analysis (CACDA) approach, combining Fairclough’s three-dimensional model with Halliday’s transitivity framework to analyse discursive and ideological patterns. Findings from corpus linguistic analysis indicate differences in the representation of the earthquake. While keywords in the Thai media tend to emphasise the government agencies’ roles, the international media focuses more on the international organisations’ roles, the political conflicts, and the victims’ voices. Collocation analysis of “government,” “earthquake/quake,” and “people” further corroborates these and shows that the international media use stronger and more vivid language to depict the event. Manual analysis of selected text reveals that Thai media adopt a bureaucratic tone, foregrounding institutional responses through nominalisations, passive voice, and modality that obscure agency and reduce emotional salience. In contrast, international outlets highlight human suffering using active voice, agentive structures, and emotionally charged vocabulary. These differences reflect broader sociocultural norms—such as collectivist deference to authority in Thai journalism versus individualistic and accountability-driven narratives in international media. The study offers insights into how crisis discourse is mediated by national ideologies and journalistic conventions. Implications extend to disaster communication, media discourse education, and intercultural understanding.
Keywords: Media Discourse; Critical Discourse Analysis; Corpus Linguistics; Thailand Earthquake; Disasters
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