A critical discourse analysis of Saudi Okaz newspaper front-page headlines: A case study

Abstract

The present article aims to probe the language used in one Saudi newspaper, Okaz. It investigates the application of the critical discourse analysis on newspaper texts. Special attention was paid to front-page headlines. This study seeks to examine the textual features and the discursive features of Okaz newspaper. To achieve this goal, fourteen prints from Okaz were considered in the analysis. The findings revealed that language is used intelligently in three linguistic aspects: semantics, syntax and lexical morphology while it lacked phonological features. It also reveals that Okaz uses various discursive strategies to represent these textual features such as consensus, disclaimer, numbers and statistics, humanitarianism, illegality, vagueness, intertextuality and trope. Finally, the data analysis shows how do these discursive features employed to indicate a profound understanding of the Saudi culture and its society.