A SFL Approach to Analyzing Texts

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  Abstract:Systematic functional linguists formalized the relationship of language and social context, and adopted three register variables which they referred to as field, tenor and mode for the study of interrelation between language and context of situation. This paper intends to chart an exploration of language metafunctions through a comparative analysis of two texts of distinctive modes (i.e. spoken vs. written); by deploying a broad range of grammatical tools such as word class and nominal group, transitivity and theme, mood and modality, it also investigates how language choices vary to realize meanings of a series of strata when positioned in distinct contexts of situation.
  Key words:personal pronouns nominalizations processes mood shift of tones
  
  ⅠTheoretical Orientation
  The notion TEXT initiated by SFL-oriented linguists,is consistently associated with social context to convey meanings that are appropriate to the given situations. As Butt, et, al. (2000) defines, that a text is "a harmonious collection of meaning appropriate to its context."(p.3) Therefore texts differ situationally when contexts vary, writers/speakers are expected to construct situation-oriented texts that are interpretable to readers/hearers in specific contexts. Such texts in contexts can be exemplified in two aspects, one is the context of culture, the other being the context of situation. More specifically, as for the context of situation, which "concerns the specific situations within the context of culture"(Butt, et,al.,2002, p.3) , can be exemplified by three parameters, namely "Field, Tenor and Mode." (Halliday, 1985, p.12) Theoretically they are defined by Halliday(1985) in turn, as " the nature of the social interaction taking place, the social roles and relationships of the participants, and the channel of communication."(p.12) This paper aims to explore the situational differences of texts in Mode, tying to reveal the distinction of spoken and written texts by comparing phases abstracted from Speaking with conviction (See Taylor Mali,2003) and Whyr’ terrist is missing in action. (See Cooney, 2009) Grammatical tools as diverse as word class and nominal group, mood and modality, transitivity and theme are applied in the two texts to illustrate both similarities and differences in spoken-like and written-like texts, alternatively, phonological tools including phoneme, syllable, rhythm and intonation are also adopted in analyzing the spoken text. Overall, the comparison between the two texts at different grammatical levels will be displayed in summary tables , which forms the methodological basis of the interpretation in the research paper.
  Ⅱ Background
  As for the two analyzed texts, Text 1: Speaking with conviction(Taylor Mali, 2003) is perceived as a spoken-like text(mode),whereas Text 2: Why ‘r’ terrist is missing in action. (Cooney, 2009) seems to be written-like.(mode) On the one hand, Compared with Text 2, languages adopted in Text 1 is less complex but more fragmented, with less lexical density, fewer nominalizations , fewer attributive adjectives and fewer subordinate clauses applied. Instead, there are more active verbs and verb-based phrases in Text 1 to construe doing, moreover, the first person reference ( I ) is more frequently used in Text 1 , which potentially represents the relationship between the speaker and the hearers(tenor). Most importantly, as a spoken-like text, Text 1 is produced to adjust to the speaker’s intonation and rhythm , which indicate that languages in Text 1 can be characterized by pitch range, pausing and phasing and so forth. On the other hand, Text 2 employs more grammatical words , prepositional phrases and subordinate clauses to make the meaning appropriate to the written discourse. Unlike text 1, nominalization is more frequently adopted to repackage clauses as participants to realize the lexical density. Overall Both Text 1 and Text 2 employ considerable nominal groups,and adopt declarative sentences when giving information, while employ interrogative sentences when demanding information. Additionally, more specific similarities and differences between the two texts will be further indicated and discussed by employing the grammatical tools in the following interpretation.
  Ⅲ Interpretation
  -Word Class
  Word class typically deals with the classification of words, in functional grammar it assists in adapting words into clause and phrases, which are the constituents of texts in contexts. At this rate word class can be regarded as an indirect channel through which the analysis of texts in contexts can be realized. And accordingly word class can be applied in Text 1 and Text 2 to display the similarities and differences in mode.
  In the first place, the personal pronouns in the two texts are realized in different ways. As found in Text 1, the personal pronouns which describe the interactants are mostly first person (I) and second person (you), however this is not the case in Text 2, instead, third person (it) is more frequently adopted in Text 2 to serve as personal pronouns. For instance, in Text 1 , clauses "I implore you, I entreat you and I challenge you ";"you know, "; "as if I’m saying" indicates the personal pronouns are realized by first person and second person, however , in Text 2, "it is a small thing"; "it seems the biggest casuality "; "it has not been alone" emphasizes that the personal pronouns are normally achieved by third person. Secondly, there seem more conjunctions adopted in Text 2 than Text 1. Take the first paragraph in Text 2 for example, there are considerable conjunctions used in the clause "It is a small thing when compared with"; "the damage by my spellchecker, but "; "that’s not entirely true, but " , yet conjunctions seldom appear in Text 1. Thirdly, verbs in Text 1 is active, with simple present and present perfect tenses applied. Such as "it has somehow become "; " have been attaching ". However in Text 2 such active verbs are rarely used.
  Such differences between the two text further exemplify how spoken-like and written like texts differ, firstly , as for the personal pronouns, in Text 1 the speaker relies heavily on the immediate context for understanding, therefore he sets closer relationship with hearers to make the meaning immediately communicated. Consequently first person and second person pronoun are applied in the text to engage the hearer and reduce the distance between participants .Contrarily, written text focuses on explicitness of the meaning, that is, its given context should be explicit, explanatory and academic, therefore the third person assists in making the writing appropriate to the context. Secondly, as the texts in written discourse are neatly categorized as "planned, organized and transactional"(Lingley, 2005), the conjunctions are exclusively used in Text 2 to make the writing well-organized. Thirdly, compared with written texts, the complexity of spoken texts, as Halliday (1985)asserts, is dynamic and intricate, which are realized by active verbs to convey actions or processes dynamically in the spoken texts.
  Nominal Group
  The participant in a clause is normally achieved by a nominal group. As the participant grammatically constitutes clauses which affect the function of language, the realization of nominal group in texts becomes important in analyzing texts in different contexts.
  By and large the nominal groups in Text 1 is simpler, with less complex premodification and postmodification applied. However , nominal groups in Text 2 comprise of complex constituents. For example, nominal groups found in Text 1 including "declarative sentences"; "nothing personally invested in my opinions" are of simple modifications, yet those in Text 2 such as "the corrective cry of the pedant"; the biggest casualty in the war on terrorism" indicate their complexity. Moreover, nominalizations are exclusively applied in Text 2 , they can be evident in the nominal group "the missing"; "the pronunciation of infrastructure" in Text 2.
  The differences further suggest the distinction of spoken and written texts. Compared with spoken texts, written texts is produced at monologic, synoptic, lexically dense, and grammatically packed levels. To achieve this goal, the constituents in the clauses, including participant, are realized through syntactic constructions and lexicogrammar which are characterized with written features. For instance, the nominalizations in Text 2 transform verbs into nouns to reach incongruent meanings in written language, reconstructing either actions or processes as things. Moreover, the modifications applied in nominal groups in Text 2, enable the participants to be more intricate, which further illuminates written-like texts are more lexical dense. As opposed to written text, participants in spoken texts are produced with less complex modifications nor nominalizations, which indicates that "lexical density in spoken texts is said to be lower" (Eggins, 1994, p. 61).
  Transitivity
  Transitivity "belongs to the experiential metafunction and is the overall grammatical resources for construing going on." (Martin et.al, 1997, p.100). transitivity in functional grammar comprises of three components , namely process, participants and circumstances, which also serve as useful tools to analyze texts in different parameters of contexts.
  More specifically, as found in Text 1, considerable clauses comprise of mental and verbal processes, which respectively construe perception and saying. Such as clauses "I implore you, I entreat you, and I challenge you" whose processes are verbal, and "you hadn’t realized"; ..believe strongly." l; "don’t think I’m a nerd" whose processes are mental . Clauses in Text 2, however, consist mostly of relational process which relates the participant to its identity and meaning. For instance, "it is a small thing"; " other words seem to be victims.." "it seems the biggest casuality.." used in the written texts to state the events.
  The differences in process types indicate different contexts, at this rate the processes can be applied in spoken and written texts to reveal how they are different. On the one hand, the spoken text is initiated to represent the speaker’s inner world , and project the inner world as speech and thought, therefore the mental and verbal processes are applied to construe saying and thinking to fit the context. On the other hand, the written text reports utterances to the reader, aiming at identifying identity, role or meaning, accordingly the relational processes , that is, the being words are adopted in Text 2 .
  Mood
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