USING ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICES TO SHIFT FOCUS BETWEEN ACTORS IN ENGLISH-LANGUAGE NEWS DISCOURSE

Abstract

In the modern world, where the media play a major role in shaping the perception of reality among the population, information framing cannot remain without due attention from science. Thus, the study considers the process of changing focuses when transmitting information through the use of participles in the passive voice within the English-language information discourse. To achieve this goal, the researchers use the method of creating a sample in the corpus approach and critical discourse analysis, which allows to assess the influence of passive participles on the perception of the subject and object of the action. The work proves that the use of the passive voice by the addresser shifts the audience’s focus from the actor to the patient, allowing to hide or reduce the level of perception of the agent by the audience. The article concludes that the pledge is directly related to the framing of information in the English-language news discourse. By putting the participle in the actual or passive voice form, the addressee can shift the focus from the agent to the patient of the action, highlighting or hiding the necessary information parts.