Framing Of Environmental Concerns In Pakistani Government Officials’ Statements: An Ecolinguistic Study

Abstract

This study explores how the Pakistani government officials framed the country's environmental concerns in their statements published in the national English-language newspapers, drawing insights from Arran Stibbe’s concept of framing. A database of statements of selected government officials was collected from the online archives of The Dawn newspaper, published between 2018 and 2021, to examine reoccurring metaphors, themes, and discursive strategies used by government officials to frame environmental concerns. The study found that Pakistani government officials used tree plantations as a protective measure to increase people's engagement in national campaigns to avert the ramifications triggered by [1]global warming and climate change. Besides enhancing green cover, a shift to innovative technology like electric vehicles and hydroelectricity are framed as primary protective measures. By exploring the linguistic patterns in the selected data, the current study has highlighted the crucial role of effective language use in communicating ecological concerns and increasing eco-awareness.