Institutional Self-Promotion: A Comparative Study of Appraisal Resources Used by Top- and Second-Tier Universities in China and America

Self-promotion is a ubiquitous institutional practice of universities worldwide. It serves a variety of high-priority institutional purposes such as vying for a pre-eminent position in university league tables, recruiting students and academics, attracting governmental and private funds, and seeking university-business cooperation opportunities. Central to self-promotion is the role that language plays. Previous studies have conducted linguistic analyses to uncover universities' promotional strategies. However, few have examined how universities appraise themselves from a cross-cultural and cross-tier perspective. Drawing on a discourse analysis approach, this study examined how 160 top- and second-tier Chinese and American universities appraised themselves in the "About Us" texts on their official websites. Cross-country and cross-tier comparisons were conducted by determining the frequencies of specific appraisal resources and performing a close analysis of the functions and features of these resources. The findings revealed significant cross-country and cross-tier differences in the ways the universities project and position themselves to their stakeholders. These differences are discussed against the backdrop of particular socio-cultural, socio-political, and socio-economic factors that constitute the ecologies of higher education.