Abstract

Language discrimination against people with disabilities has always been a subtle yet pervasive form of inequality because it is manifested in ways that are not usually obvious or intentional. The dominant explanation for this is the lack of language awareness about disability. While previous researches and academic literatures have primarily focused on the language used to describe people with disabilities, they have been unable to explore how disability is often being utilized as negative representations in broader societal interactions. This research argues that disability discourse is not simply a medical or biological reality but rather a social construct, with online news articles playing a significant role in these constructions through their linguistic choices and interpretations. Thus, this descriptive-qualitative study was conducted to examine the presence of linguistic ableism in the news articles published by the online Philippine broadsheets, namely, Manila Bulletin, Philippine Daily Inquirer, and The Manila Times. An observation checklist derived from Tiffany Liu & Tyler Shibata's (2019) taxonomy of linguistic ableism was implemented for the frequency distribution and categorization of the recurring ableist terms. In delineating the semantic aspect of the linguistic ableism, a critical discourse analysis was employed. The findings revealed thirty emerging ableist terms mostly used as disability metaphors, while three new utterances related to linguistic ableism were found and have undergone the blending word-formation process. Similarly to what was assumed, most of the terminologies identified with connotations reinforced negative associations and perceptions towards the specific group. Based on these results, the researcher recommends the development and dissemination of disability news writing guidelines that provide clear suggestions for appropriate language to mitigate linguistic ableism in journalism, thereby fostering an inclusive media environment.

Full Article

DOI: 10.56901/edawa2025V5I2-01

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