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RESEARCH AND ENQUIRY

I. FRAME
Frames are a method that people use to explain and simplify complex
concepts or images. Frames are formed with beliefs and experiences, it is
hard to apply a particular frame to describe one concept to different
people. Therefore, frames are often constructed in various ways. Let’s
take abortion as an example. Some people belong to to “Pro - life” show
their fierce by saying that abortion is a murder of an innocent unborn
child and this child deserves to live a life like anybody else does. On the
other hand, “Pro-choice” group thinks that abortion is not a murder since
the fetus has not become a complete human being yet and the fetus only
has human right as long as it comes outside of the womb (Kaufman,
Elliot and Shmueli, 2016). Framing is the method used to conceptualize
an idea of life by delivering a story from another one. Life is colorful, so
are ideas from people around the world. We are different individuals
among this universe and each individual possesses a very unique feature
of their own. Therefore, we share different ideas toward various aspects
of life. Understanding framing is a way to enjoy this interesting life with
numerous ideas as well as to accept differences. Thus, we may find
ourselves creativity to produce more and more new concepts and
innovations. Framing is considered as one of the most efficient analytic
toolS for analyzing language. Framing consists of two features: Target
domain and source frame. Let’s take this statement as an example:

“ CLIMATE CHANGE IS A TIME BOMB”

SOURCE FRAME TARGET DOMAIN

TIME BOMB CLIMATE CHANGE
EXPLOSION HEATWAVE AND WILDFIRE
CASUALTIES HUMMAN BEING
DEFUSE STOP BURNING COAL,
REDUCE CO2 EMISSION

The target domain “climate change” is compared to the source frame

“time bomb”. Both share some similar ideas such as “explosion - heat
wave and wildfire”, “Casualties - Human being”, “Defuse - Stop burning
coal to reduce the CO2 emission”. What we are looking at is similarity
and the target domain is considered complex and broad to some of us to
aware of. Therefore, people create a comparison leading to a much more
simple image - a time bomb. As a result, people will easily get the idea of
how threatening the situation is and to come up with some solutions as

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soon as possible. From all the factors we are having, we will have an
entailment: “In order to save human being from being damaged by
heatwave and wildlife caused by climate change, factories have to stop
burning coal in order to reduce the rate of CO2 emission”. The entailment
is related to what people should do when there is a time bomb ticking:
They have to defuse the bomb before it goes of or else there will be an
explosion and casualties.

II. METAPHOR
Metaphor is an expression which uses some description of an entity that
is not true in order to link to another object. It is also categorized as a
type of framing. People use metaphor to state one object is another object
and they make comparisons. Lakoff (1993) stated that “The word
“metaphor” was defined as a novel or poetic linguistic expression where
one or more words for a concept are used outside of its normal
conventional meaning to express a “similar concept”. Thought to carry
such a feature as poetic, these metaphorical expressions are built in
people’s mind and shaped into words and can be easily found in ordinary
conversation. Recently, I have read an article which is interesting to me.
”Lady neighbour - a CCTV runs with rice: Spreading rumour whatever it
takes “ (VCCorp.vn, 2021)

Image 1: Article tittle from Kenh14

SOURCE FRAME TARGET DOMAIN

CCTV Lady neighbour
Run with electricity Run with rice
Record what happened in the Observe what happened in the
surrounding area neighborhood
Provide footage Give information with low
credibility - rumour

“Vietnamese CCTV” is a familiar metaphor used in Vietnamese culture.

We can barely see security cameras everyday and mostly everywhere.
The reason that it was created is to maintain the safety in the area where it
was set up. Thanks to this invention, people may know exactly what
happened if something goes wrong since everything is recorded.
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However, I use this image to talk about a group of people that has existed
for a very long time in the history and culture of Vietnam. In Vietnam ,
“CCTV” is used to imply the curious neighbors. This could be explained
in the way Vietnamese people lived in the past. They lived in villages,
they lived quite close to each other and they happened to know a lot about
each other. The fact is that they did not possess any technology devices as
we are having at the moment and the life was very simplistic, yet hard. In
addition, Vietnam focused on Agriculture and everything related to
agriculture took a lot of time. Therefore they did not have much time to
spare. They just focused on working on the fields. Whenever they
finished works , the only thing that they found enjoyable was to catch up
with each others and talk about how their day went by. Communication
was the key. Vietnam is a communist country, everybody in past paid
attention to collectivism. All the features above partly explains why
Vietnamese always has the intention to care about each others. Time has
changed, people has changed. We are living in such a developed world,
we change our way of seeing things alongside with the innovated
technology that draw most of our attention, we think that the way others
think about us does not matter. However, “CCTV” sometimes causes
some irritation to us. Most of them are elder people who was born in the
old time. The thing that we feel irritated about is that through these
people’s lens, some false information were given out with their bias and
assumptions. We do not care about what they say since we do not do
anything wrong, we just want to ask what they did it for. There some
cases that lead to misunderstanding and unwanted arguments caused by
the unclaimed assumptions. In the given example, the target domain is “
lady neighbor” and the source frame is “CCTV”. They share some similar
ideas including the fuel (electricity or rice), the action (record or observe)
and the function (provide footage or give disclaimed information). In
addition, the entailment is created and it is the article itself:”Lady
neighbour - a CCTV runs with rice: Spreading rumour whatever it takes“.
The metaphorical image implies that the “lady neighbor” is actually a
living camera and that “living camera” also needs rice to keep working.
Next, “the living camera” is almost the same to the physical camera:
They are both recording and capturing live footage whatsoever. The one
difference is the “living camera“ can change the the footage by adding or
removing details. Therefore, the metaphorical concept “Vietnamese
CCTV”, the “CCTV” is a part of the Vietnamese culture that is not a
positiveness when mentioned. For example, a happy married couple live
together. One day, while the husband is away to work, a man comes to
the house to meet the wife. The “friendly” old lady who lives next door
see it and tell the husband later that day. The only problem is the old lady

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do not know that the man is just the wife’s brother. The happy couple
fight and after a lot of explanations, everything gets clear.

III. EVALUATION & APPRAISAL

Evaluations are described as tales or thoughts in people’s mind which
label an entity or an event or an area of life is good or bad. Appraisal
pattern is used as a tool to express those evaluations in words and it can
impact the world. Whenever we come up with evaluations, what we have
in minds are beliefs and experience about that certain thing which is
needed to be evaluated, not the one proved by evidences. For example, an
article recently published widely on the internet says “A young
stepmother beat her 8 year-old stepdaughter until death: A child turns into
a sandbag for venting anger?” (Dân Trí, 2021). This article was published
in one of the most credible new sources in Vietnam and it delivered a
heart-breaking new. From what we read, we do not need to read the
whole article to track down evidence to decide the content here is about a
good or bad event. We can acknowledge the word “death”, the action
“beat” and two subject “a stepmother” and her ”stepdaughter”. What
carries fierce to readers are the action “beat until death” executed by an
adult and a victim is a child. Furthermore, a comparison was made to
emphasize the cruelty. We are living in the 4.0 society and we are labeled
as more than a civilized species. As soon as I read the title, I feel angry
and I believe I am not the only one who feels it that way. I have asked
myself a question: “Who would use a person, a child in specific, as a tool
to comfort themselves?” In the eyes of this cruel stepmother, this child is
only an object. What we could see by now, it is the stepmother who is
inhumane and not deserved to be called a human. The given example
consists some words that show concept a horrible person. These words
are appraisal items. These items trigger what is obvious to readers as an
answer to what is right and what is wrong. It is an obvious that this
woman is a bad person because she killed the child by beating her until
death and this poor little child is an innocent one. In a whole, the
evaluation made from the tittle shows the society an unacceptable
behaviour, raises the awareness of people about this crime in order to
guide people to behaviour with a greater sense of morality. Another
example is from UKEssay (2018) about Tescos Stategic Position
Marketing:

“Although international business is still expanding and will contribute

greater amounts to Tesco's profits in the future years, Tesco will be badly
affected by any decline in the UK food market.”

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At first, we can see that the word “Although” is a linking word used to
show contradiction. “Expanding” and “greater amount” are what caught
in our eyes first,however, not the main idea that the statement delivers.
The idea that is stated lying on the other clause of the sentence. “Badly
affected” are two primary appraisal items in emphasize the negative
situation that Tescos may face followed by the word “decline”. In a
whole, these appraisal items work together and play a crucial role to give
reader a brief picture of the current situation.

IV. CONVICTIONS
Conviction is a story that gives information about whether a certain
description of the world is true, false or unproven. Conviction can be seen
widely in news , advertisements and even daily conversations. Conviction
is a belief of a person or a group of people toward an idea. One of the
most debatable convictions on the internet is: “All people are better when
becoming a vegetarian”. Let’s discuss this statement:

“A vegetarian diet is more healthful than a carnivorous diet.

According to the American Dietetic Association, a vegetarian diet can
meet protein requirements, provide all the essential amino-acids (the
building blocks of protein), and improve health. It can also provide all
the necessary vitamins, fats, and minerals, and can improve one’s
health.”

First, we can see a bald-on-record assertion. It confirms that “A

vegetarian diet is more healthful than a carnivorous diet”. People who
support the vegan lifestyle have given some evidences. We can see the
evidence given by “American Dietetic Association“. The organization
“American Dietetic Association“ is one of the facility pattern which
illustrates the call to the authority. With the existence of such a large and
credible organization, their conviction is strengthened. The main subject
is “ a vegetarian” and we can see the second facility pattern which is the
modal verb “can”. “Can” appears three times and it mentions the benefits
that a vegetarian could gain.

“Vegetarian diets are not necessarily better for the environment.

Processed vegetarian protein options such as tofu can cause more
greenhouse gas pollution than farming meat. A 2010 report from the
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) found that the production of soy-based
proteins such as tofu could contribute more to greenhouse gas emissions

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than eating locally produced meat. Giving up all animal products would

only give a 7% reduction in green house gas emissions.”
At the beginning of this paragraph, an encounter comment is made. The
statement “Vegetarian diets are not necessarily better for the
environment.” is nearly a bald-on-record assertion with the modal adverb
“necessarily”. The main idea is to appreciate a much higher purpose than
just caring about one’s self, those who do not support vegetarian lifestyle
points out a sharp evidence that is persuasive and close to a bigger
problem that human being is facing. We can see a call to authority is
mentioned as a strong way to support the idea. As the matter of fact, a
report for the WWF helps reader to aware that the danger lying behind
the Tofu production chain which was taken for granted for a long time.

V. SALIENCE
Salience is a story in people’s mind about a certain aspect of life that is
considered crucial and it needs people to pay attention to. In order to do
so, salience tends to be delivered by linguistics form or visual display
such as images that are vivid,concrete and also familiar with the
recipients. I would like to take the image below as an example to discuss
about salience because the message underlying this image is important to
all of us.

Image 2: View of Lioness Capturing Deer on Green Grass Field (Pexels, n.d.)
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In this picture, we can easily see two creatures and their obvious roles:
one is the predator and one is the prey. The lion is slowly approaching the
deer from behind. We will discuss thoroughly different views. First, we
should take the setting of this picture into account. This picture was taken
in the wild. The wildest side is also shown since it is a natural scene in
which the lion hunts the deer. It is obvious that she chases the deer in
order to feed herself to survive. The imagery somehow relates to the
reality where power relation exists. The lion represents those who holds
the power in their hands and they are using their power over the lower
class represented by the deer. We may also feel the hardship that lower
class individuals carry in their lives and they are trying to “run” as fast as
they could in order to have a settled life. The wild surrounding area
embodies the society which unable to interfere injustice. Thus, they stand
still just like plants around the two animals. The fur color of these
animals are similar as the appearance of the high class and the lower
class. Only when conflicts occur that we can tell which class is which.
Otherwise, they are not different at all. Another view that can be
displayed within the picture is that the unexpected harmony of the two
animals which were assumed predator and prey. We can take it less
serious as they are playing with each other, having fun and joking around
like two best friends. The expression on the face of the lion shows that
she is not aggressive. She did not bare her teeth. This such salience
reminds us of the relationship between people coming from different
classes and the meaningful manner of all is that they erase the
discrimination that the society has labeled onto them. In conclusion, this
picture is interesting and bring us various ideas to see how life really is.

VI. REFERENCE LIST

Dân Trí (2021). “Mẹ kế” bạo hành bé gái 8 tuổi tử vong: Con trở thành
bao cát để trút giận? [online] Báo điện tử Dân Trí. Available at:
https://dantri.com.vn/van-hoa/me-ke-bao-hanh-be-gai-8-tuoi-tu-vong-
con-tro-thanh-bao-cat-de-trut-gian-20211229091701103.htm [Accessed
29 Dec. 2021].

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Kaufman, S., Elliot, M. and Shmueli, D. (2016). Frames, Framing and

Reframing. [online] Beyond Intractability. Available at:
https://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/framing.

Lakoff, G., 1993. The contemporary theory of metaphor.

Pexels (n.d.). View of Lioness Capturing Deer on Green Grass Field.

FREERANGE. Available at:
https://freerangestock.com/photos/131902/lioness-and-deer-.html.

UKEssays. November 2018. Evaluation Of Tescos Strategic Position

Marketing Essay. [online]. Available from:
https://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/evaluation-of-tescos-
strategic-position-marketing-essay.php?vref=1 [Accessed 29 December
2021].

VCCorp.vn (2021). Bà hàng xóm - hệ thống “camera chạy bằng cơm”:

Thích thì đồn, không thích cũng đồn. [online] Kenh14 Video. Available
at: https://video.kenh14.vn/ba-hang-xom-he-thong-camera-chay-bang-
com-thich-thi-don-khong-thich-cung-don-288137.chn [Accessed 30 Dec.
2021].

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