(IJACSA) International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, Vol. 11, No. 8, 2020 193 | Page www.ijacsa.thesai.org A Computational Approach to Explore Extremist Ideologies in Daesh Discourse Ayman F. Khafaga College of Science and Humanities, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia Abstract—This paper uses a computer-based frequency analysis to present an ideological discourse analysis of extremist ideologies in Daesh discourse. More specifically, by using a computer-assisted text analysis, the paper attempts to investigate the hidden extremist ideologies beyond the discourse of the first issue of Rumiyah, one of the main digital publications of Daesh. The paper’s main objectives are to expose hidden ideologies beyond the mere linguistic form of discourse, to offer better linguistic understanding of the manipulative use of language in religious discourse, and to highlight the relevance of using a computer-based frequency analysis to discourse studies and corpus linguistics. The paper also employs van Dijk's ideological discourse analysis, by adopting his positive self-presentation and negative other-presentation strategies. Findings reveal that Daesh discourse in Rumiyah is rhetorically structured to hide the manipulative ideologies of its users, which in turn functions to reformulate the social, political and religious attitudes of its readers. Keywords—Computational linguistics; concordance; Daesh; frequency analysis; ideology; Rumiyah I. INTRODUCTION This study presents a computer-based frequency analysis to explore the extremist ideologies in the discourse of Daesh’s Rumiyah. This computational linguistics treatment is based on both a frequency distribution analysis conducted by the program of concordance and van Dijk’s [1] ideological discourse analysis, by adopting his positive self-presentation and negative other-presentation strategies. Such a targeted linguistic treatment is emphasized by Smith [2] who reports that the emergence of some extremist religious movements, with their intentional discursive attempts to maintain their manipulative ideology, paves the way for more counter linguistic analysis, and opens new scopes of linguistic studies in the field of ideological discourse. This paper, therefore, attempts to investigate the extremist ideologies encoded in one of Daesh’s publications: Rumiyah [3]. The study, therefore, is analytically based on both a computational approach, represented by the program of concordance, and van Dijk’s [1] ideological discourse analysis. A. Significance of the Study The significance of this paper lies in its attempt to demonstrate the relevance of applying a computer-based frequency analysis to the linguistic analysis of texts. This is conducted by shedding light on the extent to which computer software packages, such as concordance can effectively be used to help researchers from different research domains to arrive at concise and accurate results during the process of analysis. In light of the current study, concordance is applied to one of Daesh’s publications (Rumiyah magazine) in order to uncover the hidden ideologies of its discourse. This might help readers of such magazine to resist the misleading information and deceptive tactics that depend on religious argumentations. The paper, therefore, might contribute to the field of computational linguistics, because it attempts to show the analytical integration of computer software programs, linguistics, and ideology. B. Research Questions This paper attempts to answer the following research questions: 1) To what extent does a computer-based frequency analysis help in the linguistic analysis of texts and talks? 2) What are the hidden ideologies encoded in the discourse of the selected magazine? 3) How can these ideologies be decoded by means of a computer-based frequency analysis? C. Objectives of the Study There are three objectives this study tries to achieve: 1) To explore the extent to which discourse is religionized to encode specific ideologies of its users. 2) To uncover the hidden extremist ideologies beyond the mere linguistic structures of Daesh’s Rumiyah. 3) To prove the relevance of using computational analyses to discourse studies and corpus linguistics. The rest of this study is organized as follows. Section 2 presents the literature review of the study, by shedding light on: (i) computational linguistics represented by concordance and its frequency distribution option, (ii) the notion of ideology within the scope of ideological discourse analysis, and (iii) a brief account of positive self-presentation and negative other- presentation strategies. Section 3 offers the methodology of the study, which comprises the approach of the study and data collection and description. Section 4 is devoted to data analysis. Section 5 is a conclusion and provides some recommendations for further research. II. THEORETICAL PRELIMINARIES AND LITERATURE A. Computer-Based Frequency Analysis The frequency analysis attempted to be applied in this study will be conducted by the computer software program: Paper Submission Date: July 30, 2020 Acceptance Notification Date: August 14, 2020