ANALYZE LANGUAGE

IN CDC SOCIAL
NETWORK FOR
CORONA VIRUS
ENGL-2030 Final Project
Professor: Ann Fillmore
Presenter: Lijuan Shattuck
Introduction
After learning Language and Linguistic Diversity in the US, I have
understood the languages and forms of communication used. Diversity of
styles has helped shape and define America as an American identity.

To prove the subject matter, I have chosen to analyze the Centers for
Disease Control (CDC) on how to deliver information about Corona Virus
to US society in languages.
Participants
1. CDC( centers for disease control and prevention): As its name shows, it is a government organization. It provides the

COVID-19 information to USA society and help Americans understand COVID-19 and how to protect ourselves and what to do

if the COVID-19 happens to you, daily updates on the facts of how many cases and deaths coused by COVID-19 in the USA.

2. People who live or visit the USA want to learn more about COVID-19 and interested in the information that the CDC

provides.

3. I was both an inside and an outside participant. The information that I have overserved is helping me understand more about

COVID-19. I don’t provide information or comments on the CDC website or Facebook page; therefore, I am also an outside

participant.
About CDC organization

According to the CDC website, CDC is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its mission is to
work 24/7 to protect the safety, health, and security of America from threats here and around the world.
CDC is the Nation’s leading science-based, data-driven organization that protects the public’s health.

It was organized in 1946 as the Communicable Disease Center. In its history, CDC has many significant
contributions to public health, such as Smallpox Eradication Program in 1966; established an office of
biosafety in 1973; National clearinghouse for smoking and health in 1976; enriched with folic acid to
reduce congenital disabilities in 1998 and many others until today COVID-19 in 2020.

Covid-19 is a pandemic happening in 2020 effecting the global economy. Millions of people have been
infected and tens of thousands have died. In this particular moment, I have collected 5 hours of data
from CDC’s social network such as CDC.gov and CDC Facebook to understand the language used in
US society.
Analyze on CDC webpage: Subject on COVID-19
Symptoms &Testing

In the CDC webpage on the subject for COVID-19 symptoms & testing, this page
is mainly serving the public. In the webpage header, the top left corner has the
CDC logo attached with its full name. The top right corner has the word “Search”
with a shape of a magnify glass shown as a highlight in dark green; with the
next line as the subject “ Coronavirus Disease 2019(COVID-19),” is highlighted in
dark green as well. The title and subtitle are black and uses a larger font
compared to the context. The context has one or two well-written sentences while
maintaining standard English in prescriptive grammar. It also lists the symptoms to
help people self-check. It has provided five language versions of printable flyers
with photos and written words. The language includes English, Spanish, Chinese,
Korean, and Vietnamese. The context also provides other topics hyperlinked for
people to gain easy-access and information.
Analyze on CDC webpage: Subject on COVID-19
Symptoms &Testing
In the CDC COVID-19 symptoms & testing webpage, it also provides the

videos. One video used ASL. The very bottom of the webpage has listed a

total of twelve languages to assist individual needs.

From my observations, I can say that the CDC webpage provides many

languages and is very accessible to the public. It offers standard and non-

standard forms in English. The flyer is well designed and available for all

levels of people to understand. I also see that my company has

downloaded this flyer as the guide to post it everywhere for all employees

to see and identify themselves for the related symptoms.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html
 Analyze on CDC Facebook page: COVID-19 Reported
Cases (last updated April 15,2020)
In this post on the CDC Facebook website, It also has the CDC logo and COVID-19, with a more

significant font highlighted with dark green. This is an identical design. Facebook followers

understand the subject and contributor.

The context is easy to understand. It shows an American map with different colors, with a legend on

the side attached with title and a numbers range for each color.

CDC Facebook authority only posts two sentences with a brief summary of what is on the map. It

gives guidelines on wearing a cloth face covering and keeping 6 feet or more of physical distance to

prevent getting COVID-19. It also provides a hyperlink for the detailed data.

It also provides a specific data table that shows the age group and race to specify target groups that

quickly get COVID-19. With this data table, most people will understand its information easier than

well-written words alone with a self-check for more precaution.

https://www.facebook.com/CDC/photos/a.184668026025/10157832941771026/?type=3&theater
Analyze on CDC Facebook page: COVID-19 Reported
Cases (last updated April 15,2020)
On the comment page of the COVID-19 Reported Cases, it has 3.1

thousand reactions to the data reported by using emojis. When the

followers write their comments, some like to use an abbreviation, or

a facial expression image to express their thoughts and attitudes.

https://www.facebook.com/CDC/photos/a.184668026025/10157832941771026/?type=3&theater
Speech Acts
CDC, as an information provider, has all its information collected from local governments and medical experts. CDC

has provided a written document in English with flyers, imagine instruction, videos, data table, and many other

language forms to service USA society. Its tone is straight forward. CDC has updated its information daily to make sure

all participants are getting the newest information. The CDC also opens many social media accounts to serve as many

people as possible.

CDC Facebook followers like , and make comments on CDC’s post on the Facebook page. Some click the emoji to

express their feelings, such as crying face, sad face, or a thumbs up that indicates that they like and apricate the

information that CDC has posted. The followers also want to make comments on each other’s posts. Some people

post a facial expression photo to show their feelings towards others’ post, such as a facial expression like to roll the

eyes up and angry face means despise or dislike the comment that person posted.
Power Structures
The data that I have observed has showed that the CDC is a trusted and influential website. I have learned many

things from my observations. First, the CDC understands that America has a large group of immigration. The

information the CDC provides to the USA public is always presented in a multi-language format, such as Spanish,

Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese, etc., many participants quickly find the information that can help their individual

needs. Secondly, the CDC also provides not only written instructions but also videos, and flyers, that serve different

education levels to the public. Third, CDC updates the information daily so that people are made aware of their

surroundings, and can be more cautious in following the advice that the CDC is giving to the public to protect

themselves from COVID-19.

 Conclusion
• America, as a country which has massive immigration with many languages. The CDC
webpage is assisting in many languages such as Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, ASL,
etc. The CDC webpage is also using standard and non-standard forms of English, imaging and
videos to inform different levels of education to a diverse population.

• The CDC collects actual data from each state. The CDC webpage updates its data to the public
daily, for the use of many businesses and group studies and are downloaded from their
webpage.

• Many followers like to post comments on the CDC Facebook page. The majority of the followers
like to write non-standard forms of English or use emojis and imaging to express their feelings.
They don’t often post their comments on the CDC’s webpage.

• The Language is just a tool for the society to communicate better.

 Thanks for your watching!

https://images.app.goo.gl/7ogaSqDnXH8uewE7
 Reference
1. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html

2. https://www.facebook.com/CDC/photos/a.184668026025/10157832941771026/?typ
e=3&theater

3. https://images.app.goo.gl/7oKgaSqDnXH8uewE7