How Chinese and English Newspapers Portrayed Migrant Domestic Helpers (2010-2019): A Mixed Methods Analysis of Discursive Strategies

examine how Chinese-language and Englishlanguage newspapers portrayed MDHs during 2010-2019. After compiling corpora from three Chinese newspapers (over 5,000 news articles) and two English newspapers (over 1,500 news articles), we will use a modified corpus-assisted critical discourse analytical approach (Baker et al., 2008). We will first categorise the emotional sentiment of words in each sentence along three dimensions (valence, arousal, dominance). Then, we will identify (a) the main MDH themes using keyword analysis via computer software and (b) newspaper strategies for portraying MDHs via concordance and discourse analyses. Then, we use a multilevel structural equation growth model to test how various factors (e.g., power/control, gender, ethnicity, religion, working conditions) and newspaper attributes (e.g., language, date, sentence length) affect the emotional sentiment of sentences about MDHs.

Funding Source: RGC - Early Career Scheme (ECS)