Abstract: The discourse function of tense in news has been widely studied in linguistic domain. This paper focuses on investigating the discourse functions of tenses in English news by introducing Halliday’s discourse grammar and discourse function, and analyzing characteristics of tense in English news. Four types of tenses, including simple present tense, simple past tense, present progressive tense and past progressive tense in The Other Extradition and Will Castro Be Next in the Dock? extracted from The Guardian and News Statesman are discussed, in which simple present tense and simple past tense are further analyzed. The study shows that, the use of simple present and past tense can reflect the subjective or objective attitude of the author and can promote the vividness and efficiency of English news.
Key words: discourse function; tense; English news
摘要：英语新闻中时态的语篇功能在语言学领域被广泛研究。本篇文章通过介绍韩礼德的功能语法，语篇功能，英语新闻中时态的特点，着重分析研究英语新闻语篇中时态的语篇功能。本文从The Guardian和 News Statesman两本新闻杂志中分别选The Other Extradition 和Will Castro Be Next in the Dock?取两篇新闻语篇，分析了其中一般过去时，一般现在时，过去完成时，以及现在完成时四种时态，并更深次地分析了一般现在时态和一般过去时态。研究表明，在新闻语篇中，现在时态以及过去时态的使用，可以体现出作者的主客观态度，能够更好地促进新闻的生动性和有效性。
关键词：语篇功能；时态；英语新闻
