The research of stereotyping of Muslims in the English-language media discourse is based on cognitive, linguocultural and discursive aspects. The topicality of the research is defined by the growing interest to linguistic mechanisms of creating the ethnoreligious stereotypes in the media, as well as the verbal aspect of using Muslim stereotypes in the media sources of different Engish-speaking countries, their common and distinguishing features. The purpose of the study is to establish the basic and specific stereotypes portraying Muslims in the media culture of the USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand; define the ways of linguistic representation of Muslim stereotypes in the media language of the mentioned countries depending n the cultural, political and social context; identify ways media stereotypes influence on the general idea of the English-speaking society representatives concerning Muslims as the ethnoreligious group.
The research materials include media articles, essays, informative and advertising materials, political leaflets, blogs and discussions within such domains of media discourse as printed media, electronic media and dictionaries.
The scientific novelty of the proposed study is supported by the fact that the phenomenon of stereotyping and linguistic representation of stereotypes is considered within the framework of joint discoursive and cognitive approach; the concept of "ethnoreligious stereotype" is clarified; the notion of "stereotype" and "cognitive distortion" are distinguished; it is found that the features of Muslims as a social group contain ethnic, religious and national traits; the Muslim stereotypes, available in the media sources of English-speaking Western countries are categorized. The ethnoreligious Muslim stereotypes, their emotional content and key nominations have been analyzed taking into account the extra-linguistic factors: the cultural context, socio-political events, specifics of the mentality, geopolitical and economic factors of the English-language media environment.
Stereotypes are seen as fragments of linguistic and conceptual world view that represent a stable, typed representation of an object or situation, and are bound to the source culture and national / religious / ethnic or other identity. Each type of discourse affects the formation of stereotypes in a specific way; in the media discourse stereotyping occurs through a combination of standardized schemes and senses, their frequent repetition, which eventually leads to the formation of media stereotypes. As media discourse includes a set of all linguistic and extralinguistic factors: communicative situation, specific textual material existence, its cultural, ethnic, social context, subtext, etc., the media stereotypes provide complex effect on the readership.
