A corpus-based critical discourse analysis of gender bias and evaluation in Australian Rules Football and Rugby League sports news discourse

Abstract

This study explores the representation of elite female and male Australian Rules Football (AFL) and Rugby League (NRL) athletes in Australian newspapers. Over the decades, women athletes have faced numerous barriers to participation in sport stemming from socially constructed views of binary gender stereotypes, which have been reflected in media coverage of sport. This research examines how elite female athletes are represented and evaluated in the Australian sports media today, compared to their male counterparts. This research also takes an intersectional lens, exploring how media representations of gender intersect with sexuality and ethnicity, as well as how known issues of homophobia and racism are addressed in the media. Employing corpus linguistics, critical discourse analysis, and the framework of appraisal which derives from systemic functional linguistics (Martin & White, 2005), this thesis analyses the extent to which patriarchal discourses are present in Australian sports news coverage of AFL/NRL, and how they are realised through linguistic practices. To undertake this research, I analysed a 5-million-word purpose-built corpus of AFL/NRL print news coverage. A variety of corpus linguistic techniques (e.g. frequency data, keywords, semantic tags) are used to identify language patterns, including methodological triangulation. Identified discourses are analysed using appraisal and critical discourse analysis. This thesis makes conceptual, methodological, and theoretical contributions to linguistic research into gender and sport, providing insights into the representation and evaluation of athletes in Australian sports news discourse, as well as insights into combining corpus linguistics with critical discourse analysis and appraisal, including the use of methodological triangulation in corpus linguistics.