LINGUISTIC INSIGHTS INTO LEADING ARTICLE ANALYSIS BY STUDENTS MAJORING IN NEW MEDIA LANGUAGE

The research paper presents the students’ analysis of leading articles and the linguistic tools used in their realisation. The leading articles chosen for this research were analysed using Cain’s (2009) suggested structure, while paying attention and comparing to the one proposed by Shams (2013). Leading articles have their specific types, although it often seems they are strictly persuasive as editorials “encourage the readers to form beliefs and ideas and persuade them to follow a specific way of thinking” (Shams, 2013). But apart from the persuasive type, there are three more: editorials that inform or interpret the information for the reader, editorials that appreciate/praise a person or an activity, and editorials that entertain and can be humorous or satirical (Cain, 2009). This research focuses on the linguistic realisation of the leading articles in two online versions of newspapers X and an in-depth analysis done by students presented various linguistic tools used in their writing as well as differentiated them from other types of newspaper articles.