Construction of roles, obligations and values in politicians’ discourses on anti-corruption

Abstract

Corruption is a very significant and formidable obstacle to the development of Vietnam, a single-party nation. It impacts almost all social, political, educational, economic and cultural aspects of the whole nation. However, while this issue has increasingly attracted the attention of both international and domestic circles, there is a desperate limitation in scholarly work addressing corruption in Vietnam. Recent studies have focused on education, economics, or laws, with very few analyzing the linguistic phenomenon in the construction of this discourse. To fill this gap, this article explores the semiotic performances through which anti-corruption discourses have been constructed in Vietnam. This article delves into the correlation between language and power, and how power is conditioned by the social, political, and cultural particularities. Drawing on a combination of Critical Discourse Analysis approaches and utilizing Systemic Functional Grammar and Appraisal Theory as analytical tools, this analysis examines two articles on anti-corruption written by senior politicians, due to the paucity of corruption-related publications within a five-year span from mainstream CPV-controlled media. The findings reveal that in this political system, the discourse on anti-corruption functions as a rhetoric of glory and determination. Politicians strategically used language to emphasize the achievements in combating corruption, aiming to gain support for anti-corruption initiatives and legitimize their political actions. This study can significantly contribute to advancing the understanding of the underlying power structures and ideologies in corruption discourse in Vietnam. It also offers implications for further research on the aspects overlooked or minimized in the high-ranking politicians’ discourse.

Keywords:

• critical discourse analysis
• political discourse
• Vietnam
• systemic functional grammar
• appraisal theory
• corruption discourse
• anti-corruption discourse

1. Introduction

Critical discourse analysis (CDA) took roots rather late in Vietnam. The growing interest and involvement in CDA within the Vietnamese academia can be attributed to H. Nguyen’s pioneering publication in 2006. This textbook, along with his empirical studies presented in his lectures, particularly in postgraduate courses at ULIS—the largest and most established institution for foreign language studies in Vietnam—has served as an important source of inspiration and the primary reference for those interested in approaches to discourse analysis. H. Nguyen’s “Critical Discourse Analysis: Theory and Methodology” provides a comprehensive and concise account of CDA, offering postgraduates and novice researchers the fundamental theoretical concepts and frameworks of CDA while equipping them with methodological arguments, tools, and dimensions to explore.

Ever since, linguistics research in Vietnam has seen a considerable number of PhD and MA theses and journal articles which are grounded in CDA. Most noticeable of all is a very large number of investigations focusing on the speeches by the recent US presidents, such as George Bush (T. T. Nguyen, 2006), Hillary Clinton (Pham, 2016), Barack Obama (Nguyen, 2014), Michelle Obama (T. N. Nguyen, 2019), and Donald Trump (Nguyen & Sawalmeh, 2020). Some CDA practitioners studied news reports, concerning the war against terrorism wagged by the US (Tran, 2005), environmental sustainability (Luu & Nguyen, 2019), the East Sea dispute (Nguyen, 2017), climate change (Luu, 2016). Others opted for global documents, such as North Atlantic Treaty (Cao, 2007), or a speech by the WTO’s Director-General Mike Moore (Dang, 2019). Still, some CDA-based research investigated gender inequality in TV commercials (Nguyen, 2016) or football newspaper commentaries (Ngo & Phan, 2015).

This is by no means an exhaustive list of all the CDA-grounded studies conducted by the Vietnamese academia, of course. However, upon critically and relatively comprehensively reviewing the studies authored by these scholars, it becomes evident that despite the increasing volume of CDA-based studies, there is a noteworthy scarcity of data that engage with political discourses involving their own nation, particularly Vietnamese leaders or contentious issues in the Vietnamese socio-political landscape. Instead, a significant majority of the explored texts have been news articles concerning political and social issues abroad or speeches involving foreign political figures, analyzed from a CDA perspective. Another noteworthy characteristic shared among these studies is a preoccupation with the first dimension—discourse-as-text, while leaving the other two dimensions—discourse-as-discursive practice and discourse-as-social practice—unattended, often explicitly stating that they fall beyond the scope of the research. Arguably, such treatment of the claimed CDA-grounded studies leaves much to be desired, as CDA departs from the descriptive goals of linguistics and discourse analysis. The focus should extend beyond describing and detailing linguistic features to understanding why and how these features are produced and the possible ideological goals they may serve (Machin & Mayr, 2012, p. 4). A review of recent CDA-based studies published in mainstream journals reveals a different picture, with each study driven by a practical issue in a specific socio-political setting, such as Addy and Ofori (2020), Arce-Trigatti and Anderson (2020), Chen (2018), Chu and Huang (2021), Maalej (2012), Mattsson (2020), Reyes (2011), Sowińska (2013), Zuo (2019), and others.

Based on the preceding discussion, this paper argues for the need to conduct more CDA studies concerning the Vietnamese socio-political panorama. This study conducts a CDA of the articles authored by the present Head and Deputy Head of the Central Steering Committee of Anticorruption in Vietnam, published online by a government-controlled website. The study aims to establish (1) the values foregrounded in the texts, (2) how these values are constructed, and (3) how these constructions are influenced by the power of the addressers and conditioned by the social, political, and cultural context.

The analysis is driven by the prevailing and escalating corruption issues in the country. By scrutinizing the language, power dynamics, and underlying ideologies employed by these high-ranking officials, this research aims to enhance the comprehension of corruption in Vietnam. Furthermore, the study advances methodological approaches in examining corruption and related social and political subjects within the Vietnamese context.

2. Context and previous related studies

2.1. Context

Vietnam is a developing country with a population of roughly 100 million. It is a one-party nation under the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV). Corruption poses a significant and widespread issue in Vietnam, with detrimental impacts on the country’s stability and development (Phuong, 2017; Spector, 2005; Tromme, 2016). Corruption infiltrates multiple sectors, including education, health care, land management, banking and finance, state-owned enterprises, and the justice system (Dang, 2016; Hoang et al., 2022; Vo, 2015). Rampant corruption has eroded transparency, eroded public trust, and deterred foreign investments, hindering economic growth (Phuong, 2017). Additionally, misuse of public funds and nepotism have exacerbated socio-economic inequalities, making it difficult to reduce poverty. Furthermore, corruption has also hampered the effectiveness of public services, limiting access to essential resources like education and healthcare for ordinary citizens (Anh et al., 2016; Chow & Nga, 2013; Nguyen et al., 2017; Truong, 2020; Vian et al., 2012).

As analyzed in the literature, the main causes of corruption in Vietnam are attributed to the challenges inherent in a one-party state. The factors which aggravate ongoing and pervasive corruption include weak law enforcement, limited transparency, accountability issues, and a strong relationship between politics and business. Being a developing country, Vietnam faces limitations in transparency in decision-making and fiscal practices. Confused overlapping of bureaucratic procedures and legislations generate opportunities for corruption, factionalism, bureaucratic rivalries, nepotism, and a general lack of accountability in the various fields (Phuong, 2017; Vu & Cao, 2022). Additionally, although Vietnam’s anti-corruption law is strong, enforcement and monitoring are weak (Fritzen, 2005; Nguyen, 2023; Vian et al., 2012).

Corruption among public officials is endemic in Vietnam and is an embarrassment for the government (Nguyen, 2023). High-profile cases have received heavy domestic media coverage. The pervasiveness of the problem has left the CPV on the back foot, presenting a system deeply permeated by corruption rather than just a mere “few bad apples” impression (Nguyen, 2023). This corruption is viewed as a significant threat to both the legitimacy and survival of the ruling Party, and a major impediment to socio-economic development (Nguyen, 2023; Phuong, 2017). Furthermore, there is concern that it could incite unrest and movements against the government (Nguyen, 2023).

Consequently, the CPV has implemented a determined approach to combat corruption and foster a more transparent and accountable governance system. The government’s robust efforts to combat corruption involve the implementation of various measures and a comprehensive legal framework. The government has implemented many measures such as anticorruption policies, training, and raising awareness as well as other administrative measures. Furthermore, Vietnam has enacted a comprehensive legal framework with anti-corruption laws that criminalize bribery, embezzlement, abuse of power, and other corrupt practices. Another key step is that high-ranking government officials and public servants are required to declare their assets and income, aimed at promoting transparency and preventing illicit enrichment. In addition to these measures, the government has encouraged public participation in reporting corruption cases through hotlines and other channels. Moreover, whistleblower protection laws have been implemented to safeguard those who expose corrupt practices. Notably, Vietnam has also established independent agencies to investigate and handle corruption cases, with the most prominent among them being the CPV-led Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption (CSCAC) in 2013 under Decision No. 162- QD/TW of the Politburo. This committee is responsible for setting strategies and coordinating anti-corruption efforts across different sectors of the government (Nguyen, 2023; Phuong, 2017).

Through these comprehensive and varied initiatives, the anti-corruption campaign in Vietnam has led to notable positive outcomes. The CSCA’s achievements include minimizing unrecorded business expenses, simplifying administrative procedures in specific industries, and dismantling established interest groups to promote a fairer business environment (Nguyen, 2023, Phuong, 2017; Vian et al., 2012). The most preeminent accomplishment of the anti-corruption campaign resides in the successful prosecution of high-ranking governmental personnel. Over the past decade, nearly 200,000 party members, including 36 Central Committee members and 50 military and police generals, have been disciplined, criminally charged, and sentenced to prison. Most recently, the campaign led to the forced resignations of the state president and two deputy prime ministers in early 2023, top-ranking leaders of the CPV to resign due to performance reasons. With 7,500 individuals criminally investigated for corruption charges, including 25 senior officials under the supervision of the Party’s Politburo and Secretariat, the campaign is undoubtedly the most comprehensive effort in the CPV’s history to eradicate “bad roots” and to “purify” the Party, as the CPV commonly puts it (Nguyen, 2023). According to Transparency International’s data, Vietnam’s level of corruption has moderately declined in recent years. The Corruption Perception Index (CPI) measures the perceived level of corruption in the public sector on a scale of 0–100, where 0 represents highly corrupt and 100 signifies very clean. From 2012 to 2015, the CPI remained stable at 31 points. The following three years saw a slight increase of 3 points, culminating in the highest score of 39 at the end of the ten-year period. In 2022, corruption significantly decreased, with Vietnam’s ranking dropping to the 77th most corrupt country out of 180, down from 87th in 2021. However, it is important to note that Vietnam still ranks in the bottom half globally, and small fluctuations in the index are usually not significant.

Corruption is broadly defined as an illegal act committed by a person who holds a position of authority but abuses that power and neglects their duty to gain personal benefits in violation of legal requirements. Given the social and political structures in Vietnam, where leaders of organizations, particularly at higher levels, are typically Party members, the discourses surrounding corruption scandals involving public officials and anti-corruption efforts shed light on as much as they conceal in this single-party country.

2.2. Previous studies on corruption discourses

Corruption in Vietnam has been the subject of research across various sectors, shedding light on its multifaceted and pervasive nature within the country. This section introduction provides an overview of some significant studies.

Corruption in Vietnam’s educational sector has been a topic of extensive research, with studies primarily concentrating on two main areas. Firstly, the focus has been on examining specific corruption practices within the education system or investigating their impact on education in Vietnam. For instance, Nguyen (2007) addresses corruption in the general education system, identifying various forms and causes of corruption and pointing out the negative impacts, including degradation of individuals, increasing social inequality, and hindering national development. Nguyen highlights the potential roles of civil society in combating corruption and suggests the establishment of “civil society organizations” (p. 9) to tackle the issue. Similarly, other studies, such as those conducted by McCornac (2008, 2012), zoom in on corruption within the higher education system and explore measures to curtail its prevalence. McCornac (2008) finds that corruption in higher education is rampant and institutional, fostering an environment of distrust and suspicion among those involved in the system. McCornac (2012) emphasizes the importance of transparent and accountable policies and the enforcement of regulations to combat corruption effectively.

Other studies have investigated the correlation between corruption and various educational outcomes. Anh et al. (2016) discover a negative association between corruption and secondary education enrolment rates, while Nguyen et al. (2017) find a negative link between corruption and the quality of primary education. Chow and Nga (2013) delve into the various forms corrupt behaviour takes within Vietnam’s education system, such as embezzlement, bribes, misallocation of funds, and dishonest practices during teacher selection and textbook publishing. They conclude that these corrupt practices lead to increased costs and inequality of access to education, reduced quality and outcomes, and long-term harm to the mentality of students and social norms. Additionally, Truong (2020) points out that corruption not only negatively impacts educational quality but also hampers the accumulation of human capital. Overall, the studies on corruption in Vietnam’s educational sector underscore the urgent need for measures to promote transparency, accountability, and regulations to curtail corruption effectively and ensure equitable access to quality education for all.

Moving on to the economic sector, the studies unanimously voice the detrimental effects of corruption on the nation’s development, which are highly likely to infringe on freedom, democracy, and social progress. Dang (2016) conducted a study illustrating the adverse effects of corruption on private sector investment, employment, and per capita income within the provinces of Vietnam. Furthermore, Truong’s (2020) work delves into the impacts of corruption on the human capital accumulation process in Vietnamese provinces. Fforde’s (2023) research indicates that corrupt payments by business entities to Party officials in Viet Nam account for approximately a quarter of gross domestic product, suggesting substantial macro-systemic impacts. In another study conducted in 2022, Hoang and colleagues investigate how anti-corruption efforts influence the performance of firms under various ownership structures. Interestingly, their findings reveal a positive correlation between the anti-corruption campaign and the performance of private firms. This suggests that anti-corruption efforts not only enhance the overall institutional quality of the country but also improve the financial transparency of state-owned firms (FSOs). Collectively, these studies shed light on various dimensions of corruption’s effects within the economic sector, emphasizing its pervasive and far-reaching consequences on Vietnam’s development and societal progress.

Beyond the economic and educational sectors, other studies have explored corruption within the legal and healthcare domains. Cao (2021) and Ho (2017) delve into legislative mechanisms to protect accusers and the reward regime to address corruption effectively. Meanwhile, Vian et al. (2012) investigate corruption patterns and risks in the health sector, proposing strategies to combat corruption through administrative oversight, transparency initiatives, and civil society involvement.

Rather than concentrating solely on corruption within a single sector, several studies illuminate multiple dimensions of corruption across diverse domains.

Spector (2016) analyses survey data from Vietnamese firms between 2006 and 2010, utilizing the Vietnam Provincial Competitiveness Index as a framework. The study reveals both positive progress in areas like health and education expenditures, leading to improved life expectancy rates and better access to water, and areas where the country lags behind, particularly in practical anti-corruption implementation. This limitation hampers Vietnam’s potential for achieving long-term socio-economic benefits. The research emphasizes the significance of effective anti-corruption strategies, as they can pave the way for socio-economic growth. Moreover, it underscores that the success of anti-corruption efforts relies on credible and well-implemented policies, irrespective of a country’s wealth status.

Meanwhile, Vu and Cao (2022) focus on Vietnamese citizens’ perceptions of corruption and anti-corruption efforts. Their study encompasses a diverse range of participants, including state officials, freelancers, NGO employees, students, workers, civil servants, educators, farmers, and businesspeople, with varying educational backgrounds. The findings suggest that the current preventive measures and corruption laws in Vietnam are not stringent enough to effectively deter offenders. Additionally, the lack of transparency in providing information hampers citizens’ supervision of anti-corruption efforts. To address these challenges, the study proposes the strict implementation of anti-corruption laws, improving access to information related to corruption, and reviewing and adjusting preventive anti-corruption laws to suit different types of corrupt practices.

More recently, Thu et al. (2023) conducted a study investigating the complex interactions influencing corruption in Vietnam’s public sector. The research highlights the significant positive impact of factors such as inadequate anti-corruption policies and enforcement, lack of accountability and transparency in anti-corruption efforts, and income disparities between public officials and anti-corruption measures on cultural and social norms related to corruption. The findings underscore the critical role of cultural and social standards in influencing the level of corruption within the public sector.

Together, these studies provide valuable insights into the multifaceted nature of corruption in Vietnam and offer recommendations for enhancing anti-corruption strategies and policies to foster a more transparent and accountable society. By addressing corruption effectively, Vietnam can create a conducive environment for sustainable socio-economic growth and development.

In the wider global context, the corruption discourse is deemed to be under-researched. As Ogunmuyiwa (2015) laments, despite having been researched by scholars from various fields and from multiple standpoints, “the study of corruption from the perspective of language has not enjoyed adequate research” (p. 31). Ogunmuyiwa’s (2015) study analyses the inaugural and Independence Day speeches of two successive former Nigerian presidents. The findings show the leaders’ commitment to fighting corruption and their language, which were strategically used, can tactically absolve them from corruption. In a later study, Ogunmuyiwa and Antia (2020) explored the presidential speeches in terms of the intensity of articulation of corruption over 1957–2015 period, how the articulations could be shaped by the social moments of enunciation, and the types of corruption voiced. The analysis shows that the articulation of corruption and the types mentioned varied over time and the moments of enunciation of the speeches tended to be shaped by a need to obtain legitimacy of office, a perception of how corrupt the preceding administration was and an explicit determination to tackle corruption.

From the existing literature, it is evident that the previous studies primarily focus on individual sectors such as education, economics, healthcare, and law. While these provide in-depth insights into corruption within these areas, there seems to be a dearth of studies that delve into how cultural and social norms contribute to corruption in Vietnam. Understanding the role of cultural and social factors in promoting or discouraging corruption is crucial to comprehensively address the issue of corruption. Furthermore, the literature appears to have overlooked the examination of how various stakeholders directly involved in combating corruption or potentially vulnerable to corruption behaviours construct the discourse surrounding anticorruption efforts in Vietnam. This knowledge gap hinders a comprehensive understanding of potential shortcomings in strategies to combat corruption. By addressing these gaps in the literature, this study can provide valuable insights into the multi-faceted nature of corruption in Vietnam and contribute to developing more effective measures to combat it.

3. Theoretical framework and method

3.1. Critical discourse analysis

This study is based on the following basic tenets of CDA which are pertinent to this present study.

CDA is an analysis tool with critical attitude. It is concerned with how discourses shape and influence us. CDA highlights that language not only reflects society, but also participates in the construction of society. It focuses on the power relations behind discourses and studies how language use embodies and constructs the perspectives and values of the powerful class in order to ravel these implicit and latent aspects of discourses.

CDA mainly involves the influence of ideology on the process of discourse production. In CDA, language is considered “a material form of ideology” and “is invested by ideology” (Fairclough, 1995, p. 73); language plays a pivotal role in power and politics (Van Dijk, 2001) and legitimatises power and authority (Fairclough & Wodak, 1997). Discursive practices may have major ideological effects; that is, they can help produce and reproduce unequal power relations through the—frequently implicit and latent—ways in which they represent things and position people (Wodak, 2011). According to these founding figures, power is not only signalled by linguistic forms, but also by a person’s control of a social occasion or by access to certain public spheres.

The earliest applications of CDA were in the study of political speeches, which remains the most common area for its application. Analyzing a politician’s discourse, researchers can identify how language use reinforces power structures and positions. In a political speech, a leader might portray their policies as the only viable solution, positioning themselves as the sole authority with the best interests of the people. This manipulation of language serves to consolidate their power and influence public opinion. For instance, some previous studies explore representations of figures like the Iranian Supreme Leader (Mohd Don & May, 2013), lexical repetition in Arabic leaders’ speeches (Asaad, 2019), language forms used by Donald Trump (Chen, 2018), strategic word choices in South African political speeches (Mabela et al., 2020), the impact of an apology to Taiwan’s indigenous peoples (Chu & Huang, 2021), the AKP’s discourse on Syrian refugees in Turkey (Polat, 2018), and the lack of meaningful diversity implementation in education (Arce-Trigatti & Anderson, 2020). These CDA-based studies reveal the underlying ideologies, persuasive strategies, and power dynamics employed by leaders to maintain dominance, transmit ideologies, and manipulate audiences.

Another fruitful area of research in CDA revolves around the study of language and gender. For instance, some studies examine gender representation in English language textbooks and ELT series, revealing prevalent gender biases and stereotypes in the materials used for language education. Ahmad and Shah (2019) investigate a specific English language textbook used in Punjab, Pakistan, and find that it heavily favors male representation over females, reinforcing male dominance both implicitly and explicitly. This biased representation may contribute to gender discrimination in real-life scenarios. Amerian and Esmaili (2015) explore the gender representation in an international ELT series and identify two types of sexism—overt and covert. Overt sexism vividly discriminates against females, while covert sexism exploits women for advertising purposes, promoting capitalist ideologies. Kayed et al. (2020) study gender representation in EFL textbooks in Jordan and reveal bias favoring men in certain roles and activities. However, there is some degree of equality in terms of pictorial representation, visibility, and certain roles and activities. While stereotypical roles exist, the representation of social status, power, and dominance is more balanced between males and females.

As far as analytical method is concerned, CDA is based on various theories. The different trends within CDA actually share the many dimensions of discourse, which necessitates multidisciplinary and multi-methodological approaches, as Van Dijk argues in multiple publications (Van Dijk, 1998, 2001, 2008). Similarly, according to Wodak and Meyer (2009), CDA is “not interested in investigating a linguistic unit per se but in studying social phenomena which are necessarily complex and thus require a multidisciplinary and multi-methodical approach” (p. 2). The studies variously focus on a range of discursive techniques, including nomination, predication, mitigation or intensification, argumentation (Reisigl & Wodak, 2001). Still, CDA studies may explore how social actors or participants are referred to; what characteristics are attributed to them, how involvement is expressed, how propositions are modified, or what viewpoints are legitimated and claims are justified (Fairclough, 1995; Reisigl & Wodak, 2001).

One framework to be based on is Cohen’s (2010) account of four types of textual strategies: syntactical strategies, lexical strategies, stylistic strategies, and rhetorical strategies. For instance, regarding political discourse, by focusing on syntactic strategies, such as the arrangement of words and clauses, researchers can uncover how different participants and circumstances are highlighted to emphasize the roles and authority of specific or groups. Lexical choices can reveal underlying ideologies and beliefs. CDA researchers pay close attention to words and phrases employed by politicians to understand their values or worldviews. Stylistic features, such as register and rhetorical devices, play a crucial role in foregrounding or background the social setting. By examining the stylistic strategies in political speeches, analysts can discern how the politicians align themselves with specific audiences or convey emotion to influence the general public. Finally, rhetorical devices are employed to support and ground knowledge claims made by politicians. CDA-based studies scrutinize how the political speakers justify their statements and construct arguments to appeal to the audience’s emotions, persuade and shape public opinion.

Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) by Halliday and Matthiessen (2014) and Appraisal Theory (AT) by Martin and White (2005) offer the most systematic and therefore widely applied in recent CDA research (e.g. Chen, 2018; Ogunmuyiwa & Antia, 2020; Aib et al., 2022; Puspitasari et al., 2021, etc.). SFG and AT provide powerful tools for CDA analysts to uncover the implicit power relations, and ideologies embedded in texts. Basing on these frameworks, researchers can go beyond surface-level interpretations and delve into the deeper layers of discourse to understand how language plays a significant role in shaping societal norms and power dynamics.

SFG presents language as a resource to simultaneously perform three meta-functions (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014). The ideational function serves for the expression of content. It refers to human experience of the outer world and our inner world. The interpersonal function refers to the use of language to enact our personal and social relationships. The textual meaning enables the expression and organization of human’s ideational and interpersonal meaning into a coherent whole. In SFG, each metafunction is realized through choices from various systems in the lexico-grammar of a language. The ideational metafunction is realized through transitivity system and logico-semantic types; the interpersonal through mood and modality, and the textual through thematic structure, information structure and cohesion.

Appraisal Theory (Martin & White, 2005) is a development of the interpersonal meaning within SFG. This framework provides a systematic way to analyze the evaluative language, including how attitudes, emotions, and social values are expressed in texts. Instead of examining the clause level of interpersonal systems such as Mood and Modality, AT framework shifts its focus from grammar to lexis. AT examines evaluative lexis expressing the speaker or writer’s opinion on the good/bad parameter. AT framework is composed of three interacting domains: Attitude, Engagement and Graduation. Attitude is concerned with our feelings, including emotional reactions, judgments of behavior and evaluation of things; Engagement deals with sourcing attitudes and the play of voices around opinions in discourse; Graduation attends to grading phenomena whereby feelings are amplified and categories blurred. These three systems are further subdivided. Attitude is divided into three domains of feelings, namely, Affect, Judgment and Appreciation; e Engagement consists of Monoglossia and Heteroglossia; and Graduation has two Force and Focus.

The analytical dimensions to be focused on in this present CDA are grounded in the systems and subsystems of these two rigorous linguistic theories, with a focus on two types of Cohen’s (2010) strategies—syntactical strategies and lexical strategies.

3.2. Data and data analysis

This study analyses two texts on anti-corruption. The first article (4,318 words) is originally the concluding speech at a National Conference on Anti-corruption by the Head of the CSCA—Nguyen Phu Trong (NPT). The other (3,921 words) presents “Some Issues of Anti-corruption in Recent Years”, by the Deputy Head of the CSCA—Phan Dinh Trac. These discourses underwent little editorial pruning and were published in The Communist Review, the magazine of CPV, in 2018 and 2020. These are referred to as Text 18 (T.18) and Text 20 (T.20), respectively, in the following sections. It is important to note that as originally conference speeches and then published in The Communist Review, these texts target the audience who tend to hold senior management positions or elite academics who are interested in politics, rather than the general public. Also, published in English, these texts target both the domestic and international audience. These two texts are the only data available as there are limited articles on corruption in a five-year span in this mainstream CPV-controlled website. Still, such a limited dataset allowed us to perform a manual comprehensive, in-depth qualitative analysis, considering multiple dimensions.

This CDA follows Fairclough and Wodak’s (1997) model for a three-level analysis through description, interpretation, and explanation. The analysis procedures adhere to the current trends in CDA, wherein a combination of computational, quantitative, and manual qualitative approaches is employed (Baker et al., 2008). Initially, the texts underwent initial processing to categorize all occurrences of proper names as a single word and all numerical figures as another single word. This differentiation is crucial as the treatment of proper nouns and numbers significantly impacts the output profile (Cobb, 2010; Nation, 2006). Subsequently, editorial comments were removed from the raw data. The processed data was then converted to TXT format and subjected to a vocabulary profile analysis. Computational analysis was performed on the two articles using the Compleat Lexical Tutor, a tool developed by Tom Cobb (available at http://www.lextutor). Utilizing VocabProfile, the study obtained information on the frequency of vocabularies in the texts. Table 1 presents statistics on the highest-frequency content words in the analyzed texts, with counts ranging from 134 to 20 (in parentheses). Notably, the analysis excluded all function words due to their inherent lack of semantic weight.

Table 1. Families of highest occurrences

Party (134)	must (45)	manage (36)	official (25)	against (21)
corrupt (103)	power (43)	center (35)	responsible (25)	authority (21)
case (68)	work (43)	member (34)	all (24)	control (21)
handle (64)	lead (42)	detect (33)	strength (24)	some (21)
committee (59)	public (41)	violate (32)	develop (23)	time (20)
organize (57)	prevent (40)	more (29)	high (23)	act (20)
agency (54)	strict (39)	effective (28)	implement (23)	position (20)
people (53)	not (38)	discipline (27)	cause (22)	serve (20)
inspect (46)	cadre (37)	law (27)	direct (22)	steer (20)
state (43)	economy (36)	many (27)	level (22)	no (20)
			unit (22)	regulate (20)

Building upon these statistics, we conducted a qualitative analysis to investigate how they are manifested in the texts and the rhetorical functions they serve. To ensure a rigorous analysis and a comprehensive understanding of the data, this study adopted a multi-methodological approach (Van Dijk, 1998, 2001, 2009), employing various linguistic tools. The identification and detailed description of textual features draw on both Halliday and Matthiessen's Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) and Martin and White’s (2005) Appraisal Theory (AT). Given the multifunctional and multidimensional nature of these theoretical frameworks, it is impractical for any discourse analysis to cover all the resources in their systems and subsystems. Therefore, this study specifically focuses on ideologically motivated lexico-grammatical features, informed by insights from prior CDA-based political discourse studies conducted by Addy and Ofori (2020), Arce-Trigatti and Anderson (2020), Chen (2018), Chu and Huang (2021), Maalej (2012), Mattsson (2020), Ogunmuyiwa (2015), Ogunmuyiwa and Antia (2020), Reyes (2011), Sowińska (2013), and Zuo (2019).

As the primary objective of this paper is not an exhaustive textual analysis of the texts themselves, but rather an exploration of the intricate interactions between language, power, and society, the authors’ background knowledge of social and political contexts as the native speakers play a pivotal role in the interpretation and explanation stage.

4. Results

This section presents the foregrounded values found in the analysed articles. The presentation of these values is supported by excerpts extracted from the articles, providing a comprehensive understanding. The identified values are organized into three overarching themes: firstly, the roles that the Party and Party members are expected to fulfil; secondly, the obligations to be adhered to by various groups within Vietnamese society; and finally, the notable accomplishments resulting from the efforts of the PCV-led anti-corruption combat.

4.1. The roles to be played

As can be seen from Table 1, the most frequently repeated content word in the texts is “party”, with 134 occurrences, even higher than “corrupt” (103) as the theme of the texts. We took a step further to examine how this term was used in the texts. The collocations of this word, as can be seen in Figure 1, justifies this overwhelming figure.

Figure 1. Collocations of ‘party’.

The identified map of collocations well represents the Vietnamese political system. It is the “Central Party” that performs the controlling role of the whole structure, which is composed of a “Party leader”, “Party Secretariat”, an “advisory body”, “Party Committee”, “Party members”, “Party organizations” and “Party agencies”. The Central Party exercises “Party authority” and holds “Party congresses”. Another group collocates with “Party” via the coordinator “and”, which establishes the dominant powers in the system, with “Party” always being the first to be mentioned – “Party and State”, “Party and the country”, “Party and the regime” or “Party and the people”.

A close transitivity analysis showed that these social actors mostly play active roles. They commonly represent the actors in the material processes, which constitute a substantial majority, approximately three-fourths of the six process types, such as, organize, inspect, handle, lead, prevent, manage, detect, discipline, supervise, fight, etc. The actors can explicitly be presented as grammatical subjects or implicitly conveyed via passive structures. They also represent the sayers in the verbal processes, which makes up an insignificant minority (less than 5%) in the transitivity patterns, such as advise, affirm, clarify, request, conclude, emphasize, etc.

The largest group denotes the Central Party’s tasks, obligations or attributes, such as “Party line”, “Party inspection”, “Party supervision”, “Party undertaking”, “Party prestige”, etc. These compound nouns often function as goals in the material processes. The final group, the verbs collocating with “Party”, consists of only “reorganize”, “build”, and “regulate”.

This word web reflects the power relations which are stated as, taking “democratic centralism as its fundamental organizational basis”⁽¹⁾, “strict discipline, pursuing collective leadership and individual responsibility, and promoting comradeship and solidarity in line with the Party’s political programs and statute” ⁽²⁾, making “great efforts to maintain its close relationship with the people”, “The Party leads, respects and promotes the role of the State, the Viet Nam Fatherland Front (VFF) and other socio-political organizations”. ⁽³⁾

More than one-fifth of these collocations can be seen in Table 1, such as committee (59), organize (57), agency (54), people (53), inspect (46), state (45), lead (42), member (34), discipline (27), direct (22), authority (21), regulate (20). This suggests the pervasive roles and tasks in which the Party is involved in AC.

(1) […] the Party Central Committee, the Political Bureau, the Party Secretariat and the Party‘s advisory bodies have issued many new and strong lines and measures on Party building and rectification and anticorruption. (T.18)

4.2. The obligations to be observed

Given the aforementioned pervasiveness of the Party-collocated compound nouns, which function as subjects and objects, the speeches display a minimal employment of the pronouns. “I” was used only three times, with speech act verbs, at the key stages of the speech. At the very beginning of the speech, the Head anchored himself as commander of CSAC to conclude the conference (“To conclude the conference, I would like to clarify some issues”). In the middle, the Head explicitly declared his authorial voice by stating “I want to emphasize and raise some additional issues”. This declaration was followed by a series of imperatives and clauses with “must”, as detailed below. The final case was at the very end of the speech to confirm his command to the heads of agencies, organizations and units, calling for their determination and solidarity in the combat against AC.

(2) I request you, first of all, heads of agencies, organizations […]. (T.18)

Having served the purpose of anchoring the speaker and audience in discourse, “I” gave way to “we” and its possessive form “our” to construct in-groups, high agreement and solidarity. “You” had fewer instantiations, which were along with “I” at the opening and closing (see example 2). In (3), to provoke solidarity, the addressees were claimed to have “expressed high unanimity”; however, the proposition was tentatively softened by “most”, implicitly implied not all, and “in general”, not completely.

(3) Most of you, in general, expressed high unanimity with the Report. [T.18]

For us the key feature that made these commanders’ powerful stance recognizable was their distinct employment of a full range of explicit directives. Stipulating directions and issuing commands in order to combat corruption constituted a fundamental function in these discourses. This objective was transported through three principle syntactic constructions—high value of obligation modal must, It is necessary … , and imperative mood. According to Martin and White (2005), these are fundamentally concerned with “relationships of control and compliance” (p. 110), the contrast lies in that the imperative “neither references, nor allows for the possibility of, alternative actions” while the modal “explicitly grounds the demand in the subjectivity of the speaker—as an assessment by the speaker of obligation rather than as a command” (p. 111).

As can be seen in Table 1, “must” ranks the eleventh most frequent, which implies that obligations were among the overriding concerns of the texts. An analysis of the collocations with “must” in the data unfolded the range of legal, moral, and binding obligations to be observed on the part of the Party members, notably leaders, Party organizations, and communication.

The largest number was recorded for the Party members. As senior officials and heads of organizations, party members “must bravely lead innovation for the development of the country”; “must bear in mind that no one has absolute power above the law”. They must be “truly honest”, “clean”, “exemplary”, “respectful of honour”, “highly self-conscious”, “transparent”; “must dare to think”, “must take responsibility”, “must defend the right”, “must take bold actions to maintain prestige”. They “must constantly cultivate, train, and regularly self-examine and self-correct”. Regarding the personnel work, they “must annul, revoke wrong decisions”, “must expose those illegally running for position and power”, “must handle organizations, individuals committing breaches”, or “must implement the line to appoint a number of leading officials who are not local people at provincial and district levels.” To the people, Party members “must be determined to do and fulfil what people agree and support”, “must rely on”, “must listen to”, “must serve”, “must be responsible before people, and subject to people’s supervision”; “must gain people’s trust”. In the fight against corruption, Party members “must take lead”, “must be responsible” and “accountable”, “must handle acts of avoiding, tolerating and covering up corruption”, “must detect power abuse”, “must prevent”, “must point out”, “must rectify”, “must identify and fight against wrongdoings, group and personal interests”, “must protect agencies, organizations, authorities and leaders who actively and initiatively detect, prevent and handle corruption”, “must handle violators rigorously and publicly in time”, and so on.

Besides, this modal verb is recurrently used to convey morals concerning power, such as all powers “must be strictly controlled”, “must be bound to responsibility”. The two texts exhibit a range of other strong commitments. For instance,

• (4) The political determination of the Party and State on anticorruption must be turned into actual actions (T.20)

• (5) The anticorruption solutions must be suitable to the socialist-oriented market economy as well as the cultural traditions of Vietnam. (T.20)

In a majority of cases, the attitudinal and graduation resources also came into play to maximize the values of the duties, morals, and commitments in order to convey great determinations and stringent requirements, for example: “must be carried out regularly, continuously, resolutely and persistently”; “must help affirm clearly … ”; “must encourage and engage the entire political system, mobilize the strength of the entire people … ”; “must be truly honest”; “must constantly cultivate, train, and regularly self-examine … ”; “must be built and perfected in a synchronous, consistent, feasible manner and must be organized and implemented seriously and effectively”; “must be fully promoted”; “must thoroughly grasp … ”;; “must join together with a higher and more drastic determination”, “must be strictly accountable for corruption”; “resolutely handle acts of … ”; “properly evaluate and protect … ”; “must handle violators rigorously”; “all powers must be strictly controlled … ”; “must be strictly handled, strictly from top to grassroots levels”; “must be fully promoted”, “must be tightly controlled”, etc.

In addition to the obligations, via the recurrent use of the construction “It is necessary … ”, the stake-holders were reminded of the missions be addressed in AC attempts, such as “to resolutely fight against erroneous viewpoints”, “to intensify the coordination, promptly provide and publicize”, “to thoroughly grasp and strictly comply with the direction”, etc.

• (6) It is necessary to focus on leadership, direction […] (T.18)

• (7) It is necessary to identify key tasks and breakthrough solutions […] (T.20)

This pattern of obligations was enhanced by a substantial proportion of imperatives, approximately one-third (35,14%) being used in the text by the Head of the CSCA. Some requests are even phrased as explicit performative speech acts.

• (8) I request you, first of all, heads of agencies, organizations and […] (T.18)

• (9) The National Assembly and the Government are requested to concentrate on promptly directing […]. (T.18)

4.3. The rosy picture painted

The texts displayed a wide range of appraisal resources—Attitudinal, Engagement, and Graduation—through which a positive portrayal of anti-corruption (AC) was presented. The texts employed presuppositions to present the propositions as unquestionable, attribution to enhance the credibility of the values being promoted, a diverse use of positive attitudinal resources to present a favorable self-image, and finally, negation to limit the possibility of alternative perspectives and dialogue (Martin & White, 2005, p. 103).

4.3.1. Presupposition

The two articles are characterized by monoglossically declared statements, including constructions that fall under the category often referred to as “presupposition.” According to Martin and White (2005), the notion of taken-for-grantedness “ideologically constructs a putative addressee who shares the same value position with the writer/speaker, and for whom the proposition is also not in question” (p. 101). This taken-for-grantedness is exemplified in the following excerpts:

• (10) We are determined to prevent and gradually eradicate corruption to establish a clean and strong organizational structure and cadre contingent, and to reinforce people’s confidence in the Party and State. [02]

• (11) We are pleased […] that our country continues to develop […] [02]

• (12) National defense and security have been strengthened, foreign relations have expanded and deepened, and Vietnam’s position and prestige in the international arena have further improved. Party building, rectification, and the political system have been strengthened. [02]

• (13) These contributions have helped maintain political stability, promote socio-economic development, and strengthen people’s confidence in the Party and State. [02]

In these excerpts, propositions such as “the people are confident in the Party,” “our country is developing,” “Vietnam’s position and prestige in the international arena have been enhanced,” and so on, are presented as taken for granted, implying that they represent indisputable realities. The taken-for-granted contents revolve around two themes: the prestige and development of the Party and State, and the effective measures and positive outcomes of anti-corruption efforts. The frequent use of the word “more,” which appears 29 times, significantly contributes to this rhetorical strategy. For example,

(14) The Central Committee of Internal Affairs, the Supreme People’s Procuracy, has been more proactive, closer, and more affirmative, and has put in more effort in providing advice, proposing initiatives, and assisting the Supreme Court in developing and organizing the implementation of programs and work plans more effectively. [T.18]

4.3.2. Attribution

High credibility in AC was invoked via attribution to the top leaders of CPV. The AC was associated with promoting the work of building and regulating the Party and studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, morality and style. Whereas it was Ho Chi Minh, the founding father of CPV, that was quoted in the speech by the Head of the CSCA, it was his turn to be referenced to multiple times in the text by the Deputy Head. The values were projected via reporting verbs “affirm”, “request”, or nouns “conclusion”, “instruction”, “direction”, or adverbial adjunct “according to”.

• (15) the press and mass media must encourage […] against corruption, “make the public despite embezzlement, waste, bureaucracy; turn vigilant eyes, and ears of millions of people into lights shining everywhere, so that embezzlement, waste, bureaucracy have no place to hide,” as Uncle Ho put it. [T.18]

• (16) […] as comrade General Secretary and President NPT affirmed, “the prevention of and fight against corruption, wastefulness, and negativity has become a movement and an irresistible trend”. [T.20]

In T. 20, high credibility was recurrently implied via attribution to the CSCA’s commander. The Deputy Head overtly announced as agreeing with or having the same knowledge as the Head of CSCA in ensuring the unified, strict, and drastic direction of the CSCA by not only through quoting the whole statements but also short phrases. The terms which had been used by the Head of CSCA on various occasions were repeatedly quoted as slogans in the combat against corruption, such as “hot above, cold below”, “restricted and sensitive zones”, “reasonable and sensible”, “strict and clear but also humane”, “no restricted zones, no exceptions”, etc. Along with the quoted phrases were a range of referring expressions denoting NPT’s authority and power, such as “The President”; “President NPT”, “comrade General Secretary”, “comrade General Secretary NPT”, “The General Secretary”, “The Head of the CSCA”, or “Secretary General NPT”, which in many cases, were simultaneously used in a single clause, as in (16).

4.3.3. Attitudinal values

The attitudinal resources display two opposite patterns: the praise-worthy achievements of the AC associated with the Party’s successful leadership, and some limitations in the combat. In T.18, the positive picture of AC over the past years was begun with a token of positive affect, “We are pleased to note that […].”, which was followed by an account of the country’ developments in all areas and achievements of the CSCA. A similar pattern of positive presentation was followed in T.20. A diverse range of appreciation values were used to detail the “innovations”, “bright spots”, “breakthrough” in AC. The Party’s leadership was described as “affirmative”, “drastic”, “close”, “proactive” with “thoroughly studied” and “strictly implemented” regulations and “effective”, “strict”, “accurate”, “professional” measures, leading to “positive”, “clear”, “dramatic” changes, “comprehensive”, “important”, “laudable”, “positive”, “clear” achievements which were accomplished “seriously”, “responsibly”, “systematically”.

(17) affirmative and drastic leadership has been given to anticorruption work, resulting in positive and clear achievements, leaving good impression and being applauded, sympathized and supported by people, positively acknowledged and evaluated by international organizations. [T.18]

A good deal of this positive presentation was strongly amplified with respect to both graduation: force and focus. The sharpening of positive attitudinal terms operated over both qualities and processes, the rhetorical effect of which was to indicate maximal investment by the authorial voice in the value position being advanced in order “to strongly align the reader into the value position being advanced” (Martin & White, 2005, p. 139). This impact was further reinforced by the recurrent use of parataxis to build up rhetorical twins, triplets, or even quadruplets of positive attitudes.

(18) The Party inspection agencies and […] have been increasingly, actively and effectively engaged in anticorruption; Specialized anticorruption units continue to step up professional activities to detect […]. Collaboration between […] has been increasingly and effectively tightened. [T.18]

These positive results notwithstanding, corruption was widely known. This other side of the picture was looked at much less in terms of both quantity and intensity. The transition to this stage was signalled with “however”:

(19) However, beside achievements we must also frankly acknowledge that there remain constraints and limitations in the fight against corruption […] [T.18]

This negative presentation was characterized by down-tones, such as “in general”, “some”, “relatively”, “gradually”, “tended”, etc. to lower the force. According to Martin and White (2005), “when the softened term is a negative one, the effect is to indicate a lessening of the speaker/writer’s investment in the value position and offer a conciliatory gesture directed towards maintaining solidarity with those who hold contrary views” (p. 139).

(20) In general, law enforcement, order and discipline in some branches and areas have not been strict. [T.18]

Another strategy to frankly acknowledge the limitations but to mitigate the effect was by means of negating the expected values. Particularly, in contrast to the cases of negative values, which were commonly lowered by softeners, the tokens of appreciation which were denied were sharpened by some boosters. Through these lexical devices, the meanings conveyed were somewhat blurred as it was up to the addressees to decide the scope of negation, whether over the attributes and processes or over the intensifiers. The following two extracts illustrate this feature. It should be noticed that both “not” and “no” were among the top of high-frequency (Table 1), with the number of occurrences being 38 and 20, respectively.

(21) Anticorruption work in some localities and ministries has not changed dramatically. […]. The detection and handling of corruption has not yet met requirements; party committees, organizations, authorities, heads of agencies, organizations and units have not fully been aware of the seriousness of corruption […]; have not really been exemplary and affirmative in leading, […]. A number of cadres, party members, […] have not exercised self-training or improving, […] order and discipline in some branches and areas have not been strict. The organizational structure, authority, […] have not yet commensurate with their assigned functions and tasks. The capacity and […] have not met requirements. [T.18]

5. Discussion

This article analyzes two articles authored by leaders from the CSCA, which assess the progress of anti-corruption measures since the establishment of the CSCA and discuss key future tasks and solutions. The analysis focuses on transitivity, mood structure, modality, and appraisal resources. The texts exhibit recurrent usage of specific linguistic features. These features include the prominent use of Party-related terms with active social roles, presupposed propositions about the Party’s prestige, attributions of regulations and directions to spiritual leaders, explicit commands involving high-valued obligations and related structures, positive attitudinal values with intensifiers to emphasise the effectiveness of CSCA’s measures and results, and negation and softeners to attenuate negative values of the limitations.

These linguistic characteristics serve as strategies of legitimization, moral evaluation, and rationalization (Van Leeuwen, 2007, p. 92). I argue that the values foregrounded in these anti-corruption discourses by the Head and Deputy Head of the CSCA are strongly influenced by the power relationship between the authors’ positions of authority and the targeted audience and shaped by the country’s social, political, and cultural context.

The linguistic choices made, as Martin and White (2005) state, are conditioned by key aspects of the social context in which the text operates, including the social roles and relationships of the communicators, the nature of the text as a communicative process, and the domain of human activity or experience it references or enacts. Specific configurations of these aspects of social context determine which linguistic options are likely to be employed in the text. Consequently, configurations of these social context aspects tend to recur, leading to recurring configurations of linguistic options in texts as they reflect a particular social setting (p. 62).

The articles consistently employed a discursive strategy of self-praise and emphasis on positive aspects, aiming to underscore the efficacy of CSCA’s oversight role, which is synonymous with the Party’s leadership. These strategic manoeuvres serve to consolidate the power of the CPV and instill trust in the ruling party. By implementing the “positive self-representation” (Van Dijk, 2001, p. 103), the Party accentuated its achievements. Notably, the portrayal adopted a “collective-self” approach, focusing on the Party or the entire CSCA, rather than individual members. This collective representation emphasizes the Party’s unity and strength, projecting an image of a potent and dependable ruling entity. By presenting a unified national mission without external competition, the strategy fosters trust in the Party’s ability to lead effectively despite any perceived shortcomings (Nguyen, 2022).

In contrast to previous studies on political discourses that frequently utilize the I-You dyad (Addy & Ofori, 2020), the data revealed a pervasive use of Party-related terms. Notably, the articles left untouched the underlying roots of corruption often addressed in the literature, such as weak legal infrastructure or negative bureaucratic decision-making. The limited presentation of a “negative other” can be attributed to the unique one-party context, ultimately enhancing and reinforcing Vietnamese people’s trust in CSCA and the Party’s authority (Nguyen, 2022).

Additionally, the discourses established moral obligations through one-directional orders to relevant agencies. Reflecting Vietnamese culture, powerful agencies commonly issue explicit commands to subordinates, who are expected to comply. Similarly, the public is expected to obey regulations issued by state agencies (Do, 2015, p. 146). This language phenomenon can also be linked to limited critical thinking among the public due to educational and social factors (Do, 2015). The issuance of one-directional orders and imperatives reflects a hierarchical and authoritative communication style deeply rooted in Vietnamese culture. By employing this approach, the Party reinforces its position as the commanding force, signalling its authority and ability to govern decisively. This aligns with the traditional expectations of obedience among subordinates, and it instils a sense of duty and compliance among the public.

Furthermore, the addressers venerated the deeds, authority, and ideology of leaders by citing them. Quoting and revering leaders’ deeds, authority, and ideology resonates with Vietnamese cultural norms of showing respect for authority figures (Tran, 2016). By elevating the leaders’ words and actions, the addressers appeal to the emotional and psychological sensibilities of the audience, fostering admiration and trust in the Party’s leadership. This veneration serves as a persuasive tactic, enhancing communicative effectiveness, and reinforcing the legitimacy of the ruling party.

Lastly, the anti-corruption discourses reveal unequal access to information and power. Public discourse plays a crucial role in manipulating and perpetuating power dynamics, with control over discourse contributing to a group’s power (Van Dijk, 2008). In Vietnam, the strict control of media by the Party and State, sanctioned by functional governmental entities, serves as a tool to promote the power of authoritarian organizations (Do, 2015; Nguyen, 2022). The Party and State ideologies encompass the power to persuade, educate, and control for the vision of a better, more peaceful society (Do, 2015). By controlling information and discourse, the Party retains its dominance and authority in society, ensuring that dissenting voices or alternative perspectives remain limited. This control over discourse is an integral aspect of maintaining and perpetuating the Party’s power. Consequently, the Party’s ideologies, presented through the media and other communication channels, serve to persuade, educate, and maintain social order, further strengthening trust in the Party’s leadership for the betterment of the nation (Do, 2015; Nguyen, 2022).

6. Conclusions and implications

This study, based on CDA, examines the anti-corruption discourse in Vietnam. It emphasized values in the texts, the discursive strategies used to construct these values, and how the fundamental ideologies are influenced by the surrounding social, political, and cultural context. The findings demonstrate how the discourses on AC function as a rhetoric of glory and determination within a single-party political system. The politicians strategically invested in the experiential content of the texts, employing various types of attitudes to provoke an appreciation for the unprecedented outcomes achieved through intensified efforts in combating corruption. Their aim was to align readers with their point of view, garner support for anti-corruption initiatives, and legitimize political actions. However, we argue that the articles’ intentions appear to have been more symbolic than substantial. The texts analyzed minimally mentioned or altogether neglected several other issues that have been addressed in the literature on corruption (Fritzen, 2005; Rose-Ackerman, 1997).

This paper emphasizes the need for more radical and far-reaching CDA-based studies focusing on political figures and socio-political issues in Vietnam. As Van Dijk (1998) captures, the scope of CDA is concerned with “the way social power abuse, dominance, and inequality are enacted, reproduced, and resisted through text and talk in the social and political context” (p. 1). Such a scope makes CDA a suitable approach for analyzing political discourse, where the legitimization of power, dominance, and inequality is of paramount importance. As revealed in the review of the previous CDA-based studies by the Vietnamese authors, few address the Vietnamese society, notwithstanding some scholars’ explicit acknowledgement of CDA as “the smartest choice” (Nguyen, 2014, 2019; T. N.; Nguyen, 2019) for those concerned with political discourse. This may be constrained by the limited access to political information in this country. T. N. Nguyen (2019) points out, “the application of CDA research results is important, as one of the underlying aims of CDA is to promote enlightenment and emancipation for those who are less powerful in society” (p. 88). CDA has an apparent bias towards addressing social injustice and inequality, which appears to be the main obstacle for researchers in a nation where justice and equality are claimed to be pursued and upheld. Huynh (2017, p. 150) posits, ‘the paradox with CDA is that it seems to be scarcely mentioned or rather discouraged from flourishing in social systems in countries where its role is most significant in the fight for freedom of speech, which is restricted and, to some extent, persecuted.

Undoubtedly, future studies grounded in CDA will significantly enhance efforts to combat the pervasive and deep-rooted issue of corruption in Vietnam. For example, by scrutinizing the language employed in discussions conducted by government agencies and government-controlled media concerning corruption and transparency across diverse sectors, such as law enforcement, judiciary, and business, these analyses can shed light on the extent to which the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) addresses and effectively implements measures to tackle corruption.

Further studies will apparently benefit from CDA-based studies, shedding light on other socio-political matters in Vietnam, such as:

- Government policies: Analysing the discourse by the Vietnamese government in formulating and communicating its policies can shed light on the Party’s underlying principles and priorities. This can help to identify patterns of power relations and ideology within the decision-making processes.

- Education and entertainment: Investigating the language used in educational and recreation materials and official discourse concerning these sectors can offer insights into how the government shapes ideological beliefs and national identity among the younger generation.

- Freedom of speech and media: Vietnam has faced scrutiny for its restrictions on freedom of expression and press freedom. Comparing the language and narratives used by the domestic and international media outlets on some issues such as human rights, social justice, ethnic minorities, wealth distribution, social equality, and the conduct of party officials can unfold the extent of state-controlled information dissemination and the presence of potential biases or propaganda in the reporting. Such analysis may reveal the disparities between how these matters are presented domestically, where certain sensitive topics might be downplayed or censored, and how they are portrayed internationally, where critical perspectives and alternative viewpoints are often more pronounced.

Analyzed Data

The articles were retrieved from the following link, accessed October 18, 2022. https://www.tapchicongsan.org.vn/web/english/politics

T.18. Nguyen Phu Trong (2018). We are determined to prevent and step by step repel corruption to build clean and strong organizational apparatus and cadre contingent, strengthen people’s confidence in the Party and State. Communist Review, No. 909. https://www.tapchicongsan.org.vn/web/english/politics/detail/-/asset_publisher/4Hmoof4LcxcG/content/we-are-determined-to-prevent-and-step-by-step-repel-corruption-to-build-clean-and-strong-organizational-apparatus-and-cadre-contingent-strengthen-peop

T20. Phan Dinh Trac (2020). Some Issues of Anti-corruption in Recent Years. Communist Review, No. 943. https://tapchicongsan.org.vn/web/english/politics/detail/-/asset_publisher/4Hmoof4LcxcG/content/some-issues-of-anti-corruption-in-recent-years

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ton Nu My Nhat

Ton Nu My Nhat is an Associate Professor of Linguistics at the Faculty Foreign Languages, Ho Chi Minh University of Industry and Trade, Vietnam. Her academic works have been published in various peer-review national and international journals and conferences, with the main themes of critical discourse studies, systemic functional-multimodal discourse analysis, and ESP.

Hoang Thi Thu Hien

Hoang Thi Thu Hien is a Doctor of Applied Linguistics at the Department of Foreign Languages at Quy Nhon University, Vietnam. Her areas of research include teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL), computational linguistics and phraseology.