批评性语篇分析又叫批评语言学，是批评理论在现代语言学研究中的一个新兴分支。我们进行批评性语篇分析主要是要揭示和分析语篇中那些人们习以为常的意识形态，对它们进行重新审视，以提高读者对语言的敏感程度，使他们认识到语言和现代社会生活之间微妙的关系以及语言运用和不平等的社会关系之间错综复杂的联系，最终使读者实现批评阅读。
本文试图通过对《纽约时报》针对西藏3.14事件的四篇新闻报道进行批评性语篇分析来揭示其代表的美国政府如何看待达赖集团及中国政府，这三者之间有怎样的权势关系，以及展现语篇生产者如何通过语言的选择来传播他们的意识形态，让人们清楚地看到国家权力如何利用语言来帮助达到政治目的，进而探讨语言、权势、意识形态三者之间的关系。
本文在系统功能语法的框架内，主要采用费尔克劳夫的三维分析模式来进行语料分析。这一分析模式包括三步骤：描述、阐释和说明。在第一步中，作者主要以韩礼德的系统功能语法为工具，从语言的三大元功能即概念功能、人际功能和语篇功能三个方面对所选新闻语料的语言特征进行量化分析描述。第二步联系语言特征与社会惯例之间的关系阐释语篇的生成过程。最后作者从社会的角度联系相关的社会历史语境来说明语言和意识形态之间的辩证关系。
分析显示，《纽约时报》一方面总体正面报道藏族，支持“西藏独立”，这与西方媒体的“歧视少数民族”意识形态相反；另一方面体现了强烈的“反共产主义”意识形态。本文依托社会语境阐释了美国媒体和政府的意识形态倾向，得出美国政府、达赖集团及中国政府三者之间的权势关系图，进一步证明了语言不仅反映意识形态，还能影响、巩固或重塑意识形态。另外，作者试图为读者提供批评性分析视角，以期在一定程度上帮助读者意识到语言与不平等社会关系的微妙关系，从而能够在阅读国外新闻时不被误导。

Critical Discourse Analysis, which derived as a rather new branch from critical theories in the modern linguistic research, is also termed as Critical Linguistics. We apply critical discourse analysis mainly to unpack and analyze those ideologies hidden in the discourses which have been normally taken for granted; to improve readers’ sensitivity to language by reevaluating ideological assumptions so that they could realize the subtle relationship between language and modern social life as well as between language application and unequal social relations; and to facilitate their critical reading.
Conducting a critical discourse analysis of four news reports on the March 14 event in Tibet adopted from New York Times, this thesis intends to expose its backstage American government’s opinions of the Dalai clique and Chinese government, as well as the power relations among the three sides. It also aims to give a representation of how discourse producers use language to propagate their ideologies, and how the national power utilizes language to help achieve its political purposes, thus to further explore the relationship between language, power and ideology.
Within the framework of functional grammar, the author mainly applies Fairclough’s three-dimensional model to do the analysis which includes three stages --- description, interpretation and explanation. During the first stage, Halliday’s systemic-functional grammar is chiefly used to describe the linguistic features of the collected news reports in terms of the three meta-functions: ideational function, interpersonal function and textual function. This stage is realized largely by quantization analysis of discourse. The second stage is to interpret how these discourses are produced on the ground of the relationship between linguistic features and social conventions. Last but not least, the author attempts to integrate the social context and social determinants of the discourse trying to explain the dialectical relationship between language and ideology.
Three stages of analysis show that Tibetan minority is portrayed positively and “an independent Tibet” is supported by New York Times. This is opposite to a stereotypical ideology of “racial inferiority” in western media. On the contrary, an ideological intensity of “anti-Communism” is presented in the media discourse. The present thesis explains the ideological inclination of American media and government on the basis of social context and draws the figure of the triangular power relations among the Dalai clique, Chinese government and American government. It then further verifies that language not only reflects one’s ideology, but also influences, reinforces or reshapes the ideology. Moreover, the author tries to provide readers with the perspective of critical analysis, hoping in some measure to help them come to realize the subtle relationship between language application and unequal social relations and not be misled by propaganda machines when exposed to western media.