





































Education, Language and Sociology Research 

ISSN 2690-3644 (Print) ISSN 2690-3652 (Online) 

Vol. 4, No. 4, 2023 

www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/elsr 

102 
 

Original Paper 

A Study of Transitivity System of News Reports on Fukushima 

Nuclear-contaminated Water from the Perspective of Ecological 

Discourse Analysis  

Xin Ma1*  

1 School of Foreign Languages, Liaoning University, Shenyang, China  

* Xin Ma, School of Foreign Languages, Liaoning University, Shenyang, 110000, China 

 

Received: September 12, 2023   Accepted: September 29, 2023   Online Published: October 20, 2023 

doi:10.22158/elsr.v4n4p102        URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/elsr.v4n4p102 

 

Abstract 

As environmental topics have become the focus of attention in recent years, this study conducts a study 

of transitivity system on news reports about Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water in the English 

version of People’s Daily from the perspective of ecological discourse analysis, aiming to find out how 

the process of transitivity is distributed in news reports about Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water in 

Japan, as well as what kind of ecological awareness is reflected in news reports. By manual selection of 

the corpus with the help of UAM Corpus Tool 6, the study found that the proportion of material process 

in such reports is high, while the proportion of behavioral process is low. The study aims to call on people 

to raise awareness of environmental protection, promote harmonious coexistence and sustainable 

development of human beings and nature, and protect the common home of the earth. 

Keywords 

transitivity system, ecological discourse analysis, Fukushima Nuclear-contaminated Water 

 

1. Introduction 

Environmental issues are becoming more and more a topic of concern for the public today, as we are 

facing problems such as water pollution, marine pollution, reduction of forest cover and desertification. 

Against this backdrop, however, the Japanese authorities have announced that they will discharge 

contaminated wastewater into the ocean on August 24, 2023, a move that has sparked discontent in many 

countries and among the general public. Despite the large number of articles exploring its transitivity 

system from the perspective of ecological discourse analysis, there are few studies on the news related 

to the discharge of nuclear wastewater in Japan, and the novelty of this corpus makes it of high research 



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value. In this paper, we take the report in the English version of People’s Daily as the corpus and study 

its transitivity system from the perspective of ecological discourse analysis, analyzing how the process 

of transitivity system is distributed and what kind of ecological consciousness is embodied in the process. 

 

2. Theoretical Basis 

2.1 Ecological Discourse Analysis 

Fill (1998), has mentioned several times that there are two models for ecolinguistic research, one is 

Haugen’s model, and the other is Halliday’s model. Haugen (1972) treats ecology of language as a 

metaphor, emphasizes the diversity of languages, compares the relationship between language and speech 

community to the relationship between organisms and their natural environment, and focuses on “the 

interaction of any given language with its environment”. Rather than viewing ecolinguistics as a 

metaphor, the Halliday (1990) treats language as an integral part of society and even of the entire 

ecosystem, and therefore examines the role of language in the ecosystem as a whole; he places particular 

emphasis on the role and impact of language in the issues of environmental protection and degradation. 

He Wei and Wei Rong (2018) constructed the international eco-philosophical concept of “pluralism and 

harmony, interactive symbiosis” based on the traditional Chinese philosophical thought which contains 

rich ecological wisdom and the diplomatic concept of traditional Chinese philosophical thought. They 

believe that the analysis of international ecological discourse under the guidance of this ecological 

philosophical outlook is not only in line with the study of international relations in the Chinese context, 

but also suitable for the study of international relations in the global context.  

2.2 Transitivity System 

Halliday (2004) proposes that adult language carries more functions, that is, meta-language functions, 

including ideational, interpersonal and textual functions. The ideational function mainly covers 

“transitivity” and “morphology”. The whole system of transitivity is an important part of ideational 

function. Transitivity is a semantic system whose function is to categorize people’s experiences in real 

life, to break them down into several “processes”, to categorize experiences grammatically, and to point 

out the “participants” and “circumstance” related to various processes. Halliday (2004) suggests that 

through the transitivity system, one can divide human experience into six different processes, namely, 

material, mental, relational, verbal, behavioral, and existential. 

 

3. Research Methodology 

3.1 Data Collection 

The discharge of Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water in Japan has been a matter of great concern. 

The announcement by the authorities concerned that the discharge of wastewater will begin on August 

24 has aroused widespread public concern and discussion. Despite opposition from many quarters, Japan 

is bent on its course. The behavior of the Japanese authorities is in clear contradiction with the ecological 

concepts promoted by our country. The world is a community of human destiny, and the discharge of 



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wastewater poses a threat to the lives and health of people around the world. It is therefore essential to 

continue to follow the news about the discharge of the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water. People’s 

Daily is an authoritative newspaper, and the author used the keyword “Fukushima nuclear-contaminated 

water” in the English version of People’s Daily (http://en.people.cn/) from August 24th to September 23rd. 

Eighteen news reports were obtained. The eighteen news articles were studied from the perspective of 

ecological discourse analysis. 

3.2 Data Analysis 

In this paper, with the help of UAM Corpus Tool 6, an automatic annotation system, the author manually 

picked and screened the processes involved in each clause on the basis of the six processes classified by 

Halliday for ideational function. After the analysis, the author found that there are 760 processes in total 

in the news text involved, and that in the news report of People’s Daily English version about the 

Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water, the material process accounts for the most, accounting for 69.9% 

of the total ratio; while the behavioral process accounts for the least, accounting for only 0.3%, and the 

proportion of the process types is shown in Table 1. 

 

Table 1. Distribution of Transitivity System 

Type of 

process 

Material 

process 

Mental 

process 

Relational 

process 

Verbal 

process 

Behavioral 

process  

Existential 

process 
Total  

number 531 19 105 91 2 12 760 

percentage 69.9% 2.5% 13.8% 11.9% 0.3% 1.6% 100% 

 

4. Findings and Discussion 

4.1 Material Process 

(1) On the same day, South Korean police detained 16 student activists for allegedly trying to enter the 

Japanese Embassy illegally to protest the contaminated water dumping. 

(2) Japan’s release of the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean seriously jeopardized 

the rights and interests of the marine environment and undermined the security and development interests 

of the global nuclear energy industry, said China’s atomic energy authority Thursday. 

In Example 1, the word “detained” shows the South Korean police’s inability to distinguish between right 

and wrong. In Example 2, the word “jeopardized” reflects the fact that Japan’s discharge of nuclear 

wastewater has seriously jeopardized the marine environment. This kind of behavior by the South Korean 

police and the Japanese authorities is contrary to the concept of protecting the ecological environment 

that we advocate. China’s firm stance on this matter reflects our philosophy of always upholding the 

harmonious development of mankind and nature. 

 

 



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4.2 Mental Process 

(3) China has opposed and condemned Japan’s release of the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water into 

the ocean and has asked the Japanese government to stop this wrongdoing. 

(4) “I hope that the trial will stop it [the dumping process] as soon as possible. I will continue to do what 

I can and raise my voice. We are by no means satisfied with this dumping,” said Oda, who lives in Iwaki, 

Fukushima Prefecture. “We will continue to fight [against the dumping].” 

In Example 3, “opposed” is China’s attitude towards Japan’s discharge of nuclear wastewater. In Example 

4, the word “hope” reflects his strongest desire to stop the discharge of nuclear wastewater in Japan. In 

the mental process, these words show the speaker’s strong opposition to Japan’s discharge of nuclear 

wastewater, reflecting the idea of protecting the environment. 

4.3 Relational Process 

(5) Although the move of dumping is a fait-accompli and the majority of the Western world remain silent, 

fishermen, environmental activists and the wider public in Japan and the world at large vowed to fight 

till the end and some have even asked Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to step down. 

(6) To let the world pay for Japan’s ocean discharge is an extremely selfish and irresponsible act. Some 

far-sighted personages in Japan pointed out that the Japanese government’s extremely irresponsible act 

of forcibly discharging nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean violates the United Nations 

Convention on the Law of the Sea, and will incur a disastrous aftermath to mankind. 

In Example 5, “remain” reflects the indifference of the Western world, in contrast to the attitude of the 

masses that follow. In Example 6, “is” is an identification of what Japan is doing, identifying this behavior 

as very selfish and irresponsible. The above examples of relational process exemplify the irresponsibility 

of the Western world and the egregiousness of Japan’s discharge of nuclear wastewater, which is grossly 

incompatible with the concept of ecologically sustainable development. 

4.4 Verbal Process 

(7) A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Britain has expressed deep concerns over the British 

government’s attitude to Japan’s dumping of nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the ocean. 

(8) China calls for attention of the UN rights body to Japan’s nuclear-contaminated water discharge. 

In Example 7, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in the Britain expressed deep concern over the 

British Government’s attitude towards Japan’s dumping of nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the sea. 

In Example 8, China appeals to the United Nations human rights organizations to pay attention to the 

nuclear pollution incident in Japan. Both examples show China’s strong opposition to Japan’s discharge 

of nuclear wastewater. Through this verbal process it better reflects the imminence of protecting the 

environment and calls on the public to raise their awareness of protecting the environment, but the U.S. 

alliance has shied away from talking about this matter, which also reflects the ugly behavior of the 

Western countries. 

 

 



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4.5 Behavioral Process 

(9) In South Korea, thousands of fishermen, activists and politicians staged a protest in central Seoul on 

Saturday. They shouted “immediately stop dumping radioactive wastewater into the ocean” and “Japan 

must store nuclear-contaminated wastewater on its soil,” urging the South Korean government to file a 

lawsuit with the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea against the Japanese government. 

(10) Facing strong domestic and international opposition to the contaminated water dumping plan, 

Japanese authorities have launched massive public relations campaigns to promote the water’s “safety”, 

which became a focal point of the country’s diplomacy. 

In Example 9, the word “shouted” better reflects the anger of the people, who want to stop Japan from 

discharging wastewater but are unable to do anything about it. In Example 10, “facing” demonstrates the 

urgency of dealing with the negative impacts of nuclear wastewater, but rather than stopping the 

discharge of sewage, Japan is seeking ways to promote water “safety”. In the face of the enormous impact 

of the sewage, it is clear that measures to salvage the water will not help. The use of behavioral process 

reflects the anger of the people and the indifference of the Japanese authorities. 

4.6 Existential Process 

(11) Since the Fukushima nuclear accident, Tokyo Electric Power Company’s handling of the aftermath 

has been riddled with loopholes, with multiple instances of data concealment and manipulation. There 

are doubts about the company’s ability to handle the disposal of the nuclear-contaminated water. 

(12) The Fukushima nuclear accident is one of the world’s most serious nuclear disasters. As a result, the 

contaminated water is known to have more than 60 radioactive elements, known as radionuclides. No 

viable technology exists to treat this multitude of nuclides, and long-lived variants might disperse through 

ocean currents, leading to unforeseeable repercussions for marine ecology and human health. 

Example 11 mainly describes there are doubts about the company’s ability to deal with nuclear-

contaminated water. Example 12 states that the Fukushima nuclear accident was one of the world’s worst 

nuclear disasters. The contaminated water is known to contain more than 60 radioactive elements known 

as radionuclides. There is no viable technology to deal with this wide range of nuclides, and long-lived 

variants may be dispersed through ocean currents, with unforeseen effects on marine ecology and human 

health. These two examples indicate the objective facts exist in reality. Japan’s concealment of the nuclear 

wastewater incident and the existence of 60 radioactive elements in the nuclear wastewater, which are 

real, better reflect the bad behavior of Japan’s discharge of nuclear wastewater, which not only destroys 

the marine environment but also jeopardizes the health of people, which is a kind of its irresponsible 

behavior and the ecological environment. This is an irresponsible behavior and a serious damage to the 

ecological environment. 

 

 

 

 



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5. Conclusion 

By analyzing the transitivity system of the People’s Daily English news report on Japan’s nuclear 

wastewater discharge, the authors conclude that the material process accounts for the highest proportion 

of this kind of news discourse, while the behavioral process accounts for the lowest proportion. The 

material process mainly involves the process of the subject’s “doing”. By analyzing the process of 

“doing”, the study found that the behavior of the countries supporting Japan’s nuclear wastewater 

discharge is contrary to the ecological concept we advocate. Mental process is mainly about the process 

of “knowing”, which is the mental activity of the actors, and the use of these words can better reflect the 

public’s opposition to Japan’s behavior. The relational process is mainly concerned with the process of 

“being”. In this kind of news, it is mainly about the identification of Japan’s behavior of discharging 

nuclear wastewater, and it also highlights Japan’s stubbornness and irresponsibility, which is against the 

ecological concepts. The verbal process mainly contains a strong appeal from the opponents for the 

Japanese authorities to repent and take the initiative to assume the responsibility of protecting the 

environment. The behavioral process, which mainly involves the action of shouting by the general public, 

highlighting the powerlessness of the general public in front of the national policy; Finally, The 

existential process is mainly the fact of what has existed and happened. The process reflects Japan’s 

attitude of knowing the hazardous elements of nuclear wastewater well but still remaining unchanged, 

and Japan’s extremely irresponsible attitude towards the ecological environment. This study aims to call 

on the public to raise the awareness of environmental protection, protect the marine environment, and 

promote the harmonious development of man and nature. 

 

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