ISFC 43

PROCEEDINGS
Learning Language, Learning Through
Language, Learning About Language:
Glocalising Systemic Functional Linguistics

19 – 23 July 2016

UNIVERSITAS PENDIDIKAN INDONESIA

BANDUNG, INDONESIA

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 Welcome From the Convenor

Good morning ladies and gentlemen,

It is my pleasure and privilege to welcome all of you.

Today marks our 43rd International Systemic Functional Congress, and we are very proud to be
able to host it today here at Indonesia University of Education in Bandung Indonesia.

Just before we get started, I would like to express my gratitude to all of the role players who
generously helped us make this event possible, especially Indonesia university of Education for
hosting this congress, Center for Language Diplomacy and Development Strategy for its great
support in jointly organizing this event with Indonesia Unviersity of Education, Agency for
Language Development and Cultivation, Ministry of Education and Culture, and Ministry of
Research, Technology, and Higher Education for their invaluable contributions to making this
event possible. We couldn't have done it without them all.

Those agencies and invdivuals have made this event possible because of our mutual passion for
empowering citizenries through literacy education, and Systemic Functional Linguistics has been
acknowledged globally and adapted locally as the concept that allows us to meet the passion. In
this annual meeting we agreed to come up with this theme: ―Learning Language, Learning
through Language, Learning about Language: Glocalizing Systemic Functional Linguistics‖ as the
energy that powers us in this congress. Within more than a week, we will engage our minds in
many robusts initiatives, research findings and planned activities. I hope that our engagement will
prove to be memorable and fulfilling for us. This kind of engagement is of course not the only
thing that is important to us, we will be meeting lots of new people and making new friends along
the way. We value and cherish the friendships we make as they often form a strong common
ground which then makes them last for years to come.

Thank you for attending our congress and bringing your expertise to our gathering.
So a very warm welcome to all of you, enjoy and have a productive congress.

Emi Emilia

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 Table of Contents
Welcome From the Convenor ........................................................................................................... 2
ISFC 43 Committees ......................................................................................................................... 5
ISFC 43 Abstract Reviewers ............................................................................................................. 6
ISFC 43 Papers ................................................................................................................................. 7
Critical Discourse Analysis of Media: ISIS, Islam, and Slavery ...................................................... 7
The Use of Comics to Allow Creativity and Promote Higher Order Thinking Skills .................... 13
How SFL Can Transform the College Prep Classroom .................................................................. 19
Assessing Writing of BIPA‘s Students: A Case Study on the Student Writings at a BIPA
Institution in Vietnam ............................................................................................................ 24
Critical Discourse Analysis of Jokowi‘s Speech at APEC CEO Summit 2014 by The Application
of Transitivity ........................................................................................................................ 32
Schematic Structure Analysis of A Retelling Narrative to the Teaching of Language for Preschool
Children ................................................................................................................................. 39
Scaffolding in the Teaching of Writing Discussion Texts Based on SFL – Genre Based Approach
............................................................................................................................................... 45
Process Types in Malay Narrative Texts .......................................................................................... 52
Comparing Theme-Rheme System of Two English Translations of Indonesian Short Story ―Jalan
Lain Ke Roma‖ ...................................................................................................................... 62
Stand Up Comedy: Language Play and Its Functions (Systemic Functional Linguistics Approach)
............................................................................................................................................... 70
Fitur Linguistik Bahasa-Bahasa Indonesia Timur Sebagai Pemersatu Rumpun Austronesia ........ 77
Positioning the Product and Consumer through Imperative Mood Theme: A Systemic Functional
Linguistics Perspective Analysis on 3 Mild Cigarette Slogans ............................................. 85
Grammatical Functions of Preposition with: A Corpus-Based Study from the Perspective of
Systemic Functional Grammar .............................................................................................. 94
A Systemic Functional Linguistic Analysis of Undergraduate Students‘ Theses Writing Texts in
English ................................................................................................................................. 100
Wars of Media: The Transitivity System of Fraud-Case Headlines Addressing an Indonesian
Media-Owner Politician ...................................................................................................... 109
Thematic Progession Patterns in the Translation Book of Islamic Moral Ethic Bidayatul Hidayah:
Syntax and Translation Analysis ......................................................................................... 116
Appraisal Attitude in President Joko Widodo‘s Speech ............................................................... 128
Experiential Meaning in the Students‘ Interpretation of Song Lyrics .......................................... 134
Register in Classroom Discourse: An SFL Perspective ................................................................ 141
A Probe into the Axiology of Attitudinal Evaluation in Metaphorical Language ........................ 148
An Investigation of Women‘s Identity in Malay Society from A Systemic Functional Perspective
............................................................................................................................................. 154
A Text Analysis on The Phenomenal Discovery in Science News For Kids Magazine ............... 161

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Transitivity Analysis on Tidung‘s Narrative Text Entitled ―Legend of King Bagei: The Four Eyes
King‖ ................................................................................................................................... 166
An Argumentative Text Analysis: A Systemic Functional Perspective ....................................... 172

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 ISFC 43 Committees

Advisory Board

Furqon (Rector of Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia)

Dadang Sunendar (Head of Agency for Language Development and Cultivation)
Siti Wachidah (President of Association of Systemic Functional Linguistics of Indonesia)
Asep Kadarohman (Vice Rector of Academic and Student Affairs)
Edi Suryadi (Vice Rector of Finance, Resources, and General Administration Affairs)
Aim Abdulkarim (Vice Rector of Planning, Development, and Information System)
Didi Sukyadi (Vice Rector of Research, Partnership, and Business Affairs)
Didi Suherdi (Dean of Faculty of Language and Literature Education)

Steering Committee

Fuad Abdul Hamied

Nenden Sri Lengkanawati
E. Aminudin Aziz
Dadang Sudana
Tri Indri Hardini
Andoyo Sastromiharjo

Organizing Committees
Chair : Emi Emilia
Vice Chairs : Safrina Noorman
Iwa Lukmana
Secretaries : Wawan Gunawan
Pupung Purnawarman
Treasurers : Iyen Nurlaelawati
Lulu Laela Amalia
Committee : Ahmad Bukhori Muslim Ripan Hermawan
Members Joni Endardi Ari Arifin D
Riyadi Haryadi Fachru Ridha
Agus D Priyanto Imam Jahrudin
Eri Kurniawan Prianto
Nita Novianti Kasno Pamungkas
Harni Kartika Ningsih Irvan Faizal Lesmana
Riesky Lingga Aditya
Ernie D. A. Imperiani Sutansah
Dian Yuliana Aam Aminah
Dian Nugrahaeni Antonius Kelikawe
Deddy Suryana Amat Triatna
Sri Harto Bayu Permana Sukma
Muhammad Handi Gunawan Theya Wulan
Nia Nafisah Primasari
Siti Afni Afiyani

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 ISFC 43 Reviewers

Ahmad Bukhori Muslim

Beatriz Quiroz

Emi Emilia

Eri Kurniawan

Erika Matruglio

Glacomo Figueredo

Harni Kartika Ningsih

Helen Lewis

Iwa Lukmana

Janine Delahunty

Jing Hao

Pauline Jones

Sally Humphrey

Shooshi Dreyfus

Trish Weekes

Wawan Gunawan

Yaegan Doran

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 ISFC 43 Papers

Critical Discourse Analysis of Media: ISIS, Islam, and Slavery

Afriliani
University of Indonesia
Afril.queenzzy@gmail.com

Abstract
Anti-slavery movement promotes issues against human trafficking. Those can be seen on reports
of anti-slavery on mass media. One of the recent issues is kidnaping women and children of war
captivation in Syria by ISIS. This act of ISIS provokes debatable arguments whether it is legalize
of Islam doing or not. It brings on another issue about how Islam sees justification of human being
and points toward whether Islam bringing peace or violence. An interesting opinion is up on CNN
Freedom Project Editorial. Critical discourse analysis is used here to investigate point of view of
the writer on the Issue. The research wants to find the writer‘s ideology and the hegemony of the
text. The method of analysis is qualitative by describing the data based on theories. The article is
parted by Macrostructures (Van Dijk, 1980) and then it examines the ideology and tendency of the
text using Fairclough‘s theory (1995). It has the implication to find and to assess the function of
media discourse such as in influencing readers by its power toward sensitive issues such as war
and peace campaign.

Keywords: Critical Discourse Analysis, ISIS, Islam, and Slavery.

Introduction

Slavery is not something new but an old practice since long ago. It used to be the effects of
poverty, part of local tradition, and war captivation. The recent of slavery practice is kidnaping
women and children of war captivation in Syria by ISIS. ISIS has known by attacking and
targeting military and civil who are being claimed standing on different religion and political
ideology. Lately they are not only attacking but also enslaving women and children from the
minority or non-combat and non-Muslim of Yazidi and Kuffa races. ISIS has been controversial
and being questioned by media, it can be seen as ISIS become headline in mass media and
constantly being reported in television. One of media who spotlight the action of ISIS is CNN.

CNN is one of leading worldwide media. It has large amount of readers and known of their
trusting report. CNN has specific goal of promoting anti-slavery movement by launching their
new column of Freedom Project. This Project is created in order to publish and campaign the act
to free slavery all over the world. Seeing the large impact of article which is published by it, it
become interesting research of critical discourse to seek the ideology and tendency of the writer‘s
idea of ISIS, Islam and Slavery

Data and Method

The source article of this research is taken from an article titled ―ISIS says Islam justifies slavery-
what does Islamic law says?‖ The article is an opinion of an expert of Islamic Law, Prof. Bernard
Freamon. In 5th November 2015, the article had 269 feedbacks. For analysing the data, first, I
would to extract the text by deciding the macro preposition. The method I use here is qualitative.
To find the proposition of each line; deletion, selection, construction, and generalization are used

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(van Dijk, 1980). Second, the idea of each paragraph will be combined to find the topic and the
interpretation of the discourse.

Discourse Analysis on Media

Critical discourse analysis (CDA) is built around the belief that all texts have power and intention
to influence the readers (van Dijk, 1985). In critical discourse analysis, the topics which usually
come up are power, dominance, ideology, hegemony, class, gender, social structure, and social
rules. Fairlough (1995) says critical discourse analysis study social problems and ideological
tendency. CDA can be analysed by interpreting and doing explanation throughout the texts.
Fairlough (1989) explained that CDA is a process to seek relationship between language, power,
and ideology that are hidden from public by using linguistics tools. CDA for media has been
discussed in many studies, I take an example of what Haarman and Lombardo (2009) did for
analysing news program in TV in case of war in Iraq. They are comparing the point of view of
American, British, and Italian media in reporting Iraq war.

Language in texts always simultaneously functions ideationally in the representation of experience

and the world, interpersonally in constituting social interaction between participants in discourse,
and textually in tying parts of a text together into a coherent whole and to situational contexts
(Halliday, 1978). As a text has interaction of participants in it, I seek the main points of the texts
by identifying the actors and its relationship in the text. Then, in my critical discourse analysis of
online media, I choose to see every idea in the text by every paragraph. From subtracting the text
into some macro preposition (van Dijk, 1980), there are thirty three propositions. From these, the
lexical choice will be evaluated. Furthermore, I would like to distinguish the use of certain actors.

These are the macro prepositions of the text:

1. ISIS does enslavement of Yazidi and other ethnic groups.

2. ISIS offered legal justification or Shariah for the enslavement of non-Muslim.

3. ISIS has a duty to kill or enslave Yazidi as part of Jihad.

4. The argument is wrong relying on imperial of Islam Stories.

5. It is an affront to right-thinking Muslim and criminal perversion of Islamic law.

6. There is consensus to be free from slavery and slave-trading

7. ISIS seeks to remove Islamic jurisprudence.

8. The Quran (holy book) accepted the existence of chattel slavery.

9. The Quran established new ethic of slavery and ISIS uses of certain Quran texts.

10. The Quran does not mention about slave market or slave trading.

11. It exhorts believers to free their slaves.

12. The high road (Quran) leads human to free slaves.

13. The Prophet, Muhammad emancipates thousands of slaves.

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 14. This is condemnation of trafficking.

15. It is true Prophet gives and receives slaves.

16. The new ethic emphasis the emancipation of slaves.

17. The Prophet freed all slaves.

18. There is only one Quran‘s verse authorizes of capturing prisoners of war and it does not
permit slavery.

19. Enslaving a prisoner of war is illegal and part of Islamic crime.

20. Muslim imperialists and slave-traders illegally raided non-combatant villages under
perpetual jihad (religious duty).

21. ISIS ideologues want to revive this legacy.

22. Traditionalist interpreters conclude that slavery is lawful because Quran regulates it.

23. All of the Quran verses on slavery encourage emancipation.

24. The Quran contemplated disappearance of chattel slavery.

25. ISIS refers the disappearance as an abandonment of Shariah.

26. This (slavery) is wrong. The verses contemplated of a slavery-free society.

27. Enslaving human being is the worst type of corruption.

28. The verse aims to make sure none enslave another.

29. Prominent jurists have agreed with this position.

30. No scholar of Islam disputes that Islam aims to abolish slavery.

31. It is Muslim consensus on the prohibition of slavery.

32. ISIS has wrongfully enslaved the Yazidis and others.

33. All Muslim should condemn these act and free slavery.

From these preposition, I draw six groups of prepositions that contain some ideas. The first idea is
from preposition 1, 2, and 3. The writer wants to show that what ISIS has done is something
cruel. ISIS claims their base of slavery is Islam, and writer supports that claim by relate that ISIS
and Islam is one of key chain. The second idea is from preposition 4, 5, 6, and 7. The second idea
is kind of different from first idea. The writer contradicts that ISIS doing is Islamic way. The
writer states that what ISIS doing is ruling out the convention among Muslims. Now, the second
idea gives some clear of writer tendency of the perception of ISIS rule and Islamic law are
different. By the first and second idea, the writer want to emphasize that slavery is exist in Islam‘s
history but it is not part of the law.

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The third idea is contained in preposition 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 18, 19, and 23. In these prepositions,
the writer describes the position of slavery in Quran. The writer admits the practice of slavery is
existed and mentioned in Quran. However, the writer emphasize that is only one verse mentions
about slavery and more verses mentions about free slavery. What writer about to say is making
Quran as the base of slavery practice is a non-sense since Quran does not allow slavery.

Next, the fourth idea is reflected on preposition 13, 15, and 17. The writer wants to relate the life
of Prophet Muhammad and slavery. When ISIS claims that Muhammad did slavery practice such
as received and gave slaves, the writer intends to show that Muhammad did more actions of
emancipate slaves. So, ISIS cannot seek refuge from what Muhammad had done. The fifth idea is
contained in preposition 20, 21, 22, 24, and 25. The idea is about how ISIS is influenced by the
life of imperialism in Islamic era after prophet Muhammad died. The writer emphasizes that
imperial practice is not Islamic rule. Once again, by idea fourth and fifth, the writer
counterattacks the ISIS‘s claim is based on the weak basis of Islam.

For the six prepositions, it is gotten from prepositions 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, and 31. These lines are
restatement of Quran is opposed slavery. Slavery is also the form of violating the convention
among Muslims. When the idea get a repetition, it means that the writer want to emphasize the
most important thing since Quran is the primary source of Muslims doing. Then, the last idea is
contained in prepositions 32, and 33. This is about the conclusion of what writer says. He judges
the ISIS doing is wrong and slavery is not Islam way. Furthermore, he invites all Muslims to
condemn the slavery acts of ISIS.

From all thirty three preposition, i draw the conclusion that the writer ideology is opposed ISIS.
Almost all ideas want to rebut ISIS and to make different ISIS from Islamic law. The text wants
to influence the reader that ISIS is not part of Islam. The interesting part is this editorial column is
about anti-slavery and campaign of free slaves. The column campaigns that the victim of war
such as women and children are not a commodity to be bought and sold. The writer‘s ideology is
quite clear; he wants to correct what ISIS doing and gives the true foundation of Islamic
perspective in slave issues.

The Actors and Structures of the Text

This editorial text has function to promote anti-slavery. One of strategy to achieve its function is
by rebutting the wrong claims. By this way, the writer can contradict the other part idea with his
idea in one versus one perspective. Another way to achieve its function is by admitting opposite
claim but with additional information which can make stronger his idea of rejecting the slavery
practice. The last strategy of this text is by influencing other who is non-Muslim that Islam is
done nothing wrong and invite all Muslims to realise the important of this issue and condemn the
slavery act.

Since it is such sensitive issues that bring some religion aspect, one strategy to make the text to be
received by wide background of audience is by build the similarity point of view in solidarity and
humanity. When it comes to solidarity, such sensitive issues like religion and race will not become
backstop in peace campaign.

After having the text divided from some macrostructures, then I find the topic is about ISIS,
Islam, and Slavery. To take into some consideration, I would like to see how the actors mentioned
in the texts have its role in build the influence in this text. Van Leeuwen (2008) mentions why
social actors have important role in discourse study. He says that how actors represented is

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important for example as agent and patient. The relationship will help to find out the bias in
discourse.

In this discourse, the writer wants to oppose ISIS as agent of slavery compare to Islam which
ISIS claims as their base of doing slavery practice. The writer put ISIS as actor that is the same
with imperialism practice. Then, Islam is reflecting in Quran, and prophet behaviour.

The Order of the Text

To make this text have big power to influence people, the text is composed in some point that
contradicts other points. Before the text is over, the writer restate or highlight once again his
believe. At the end of the text, he invites the reader to free slavery and condemn ISIS doing. The
text is kind of Exposition text with some modification to achieve its function as peace campaign
text. Here is the structure of the text:

 Idea A  contradict  idea AA

 Idea B  contradict  idea BB

 Idea X  contradict  idea XX

 Restate the most important thing

 Conclusion

 Invitation to the reader to act base on the writer‘s advice

Conclusion

Critical discourse analysis (CDA) is used to find the hegemony and ideology that intended to
be hidden in a text. For a text which contain sensitive issues like race, religion, and political
ideology, CDA is the most appropriate approach in analyse this kind of text. When a text that have
mission to promote peace and freedom, it is better to make the reader feeling sympathy and to
invite readers to make a solidarity move and think. In text which is about ISIS and slavery, the
writer wants to counter all ISIS‘s claims which base on religion view. The writer shows that what
Islamic law is not what ISIS has done. From this analysis, we get benefit in identifying and
learning how to make a text as peacemakers to be received well by readers.

References

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Caldas-Coulthard, CR., Coulthard, M. (Eds.). (1996). Text and Practices: Reading in Critical
Discourse Analysis. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publisher.
Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Studies of Language. New
York: Longman.
Freamon, Bernard. (2015). ISIS says Islam Justifies slavery- what does Islamic law says?.
(http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2014/11/05/isis-says-islam-justifies-slavery-
what-does islamic-law-say/) Retrieved at 18th December 2015.
Haarman L. and Lombardo L. (Eds.). (2009). Evaluation and Stance in War News: A Linguistic
Analysis of American, British and Italian Television News Reporting of the 2003 Iraqi
War. London: Continuum.
Halliday, M.A.K. (1978). Language as social semiotic: the social interpretation of language and
meaning. London: Edward Arnold.
Machin, David and Mayr, Andrea. (2012). How to do Critical Discourse Analysis. London:
SAGE.
van Dijk, TA. (1985). Discourse and Literature. Amsterdam : John Benjamin Publishing
Company.
-------------, TA. (1980). Macrostructures: An Interdisciplinary Study of Global Structures in
Discourse, Interaction, and Cognition. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Publisher.
van Leeuwen, Theo. (2008). Discourse and Practice: New Tool for Critical Discourse
Analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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 The Use of Comics to Allow Creativity and Promote Higher Order Thinking Skills

Badriah
SMAN 2 Cianjur
badriahbadriah57@gmail.com

Abstract

The study aimed to find out the effect of the use of comics on 11th elective program graders of
SMAN 2 Cianjur in their Narrative text understanding performance as well as their attitudes
towards it. The results show that visual images in form of student-generated comic strips allow for
creativity where students can express ideas by images combined with text, and promote higher
order thinking skills (analyzing, evaluating, creating) through student-centered work. From its
findings, the study concluded that comics is: 1) effective for constructive activities such as writing
and speaking and 2) benefitted slow learners as they can take advantage of visual guide to practice
target-language use.

Keywords: Comics, Narrative, higher order thinking skills

Introduction

Bringing something students‘ familiar with into the language class may turn the lesson into
extraordinary outcome and provide new learning atmosphere. At the same time, students are
demanded to apply their intellectual skills which are grounded in lower order thinking skills. In
other words, fun learning linked with prior knowledge of subject matter content facilitates room
for students to develop their creative tendencies and divergent thinking skills. One of the familiar
things to students is comics. Using comics for methodological purpose not only amuse and
interest students but also they can be stored and recalled easily as they are episodically organized
(Csabay, 2006). As Eisner (1985) wrote that comics are the arrangement of pictures or images
and words to narrate a story or dramatize idea, and they act as visual medium that combine the
written word with visual concept (Tiemensma, 2009).

Comics in education is not something new. Many scholars have subscribed to the study of them.
First, in 1940‘s, Sones (1994) conducted a series of study of using comic books and mentioned
their usefulness. Then, it was reported that in 1970‘s teachers used comics in the classroom and in
other area as well. As an example, the comic strip formats was also reported that they were used
by the armed forces to present instructional material (Trent & Kinlaw, 1975). Since then, many
studies conducted on this area. For example, in 1990, Stanulewizs reported that stories in pictures
not only make writing more attractive and simulate discussion, they also bring an air of something
unsual when boredom is about to knock at the door of classroom. Even in 2001, Art Spiegelman
won Pulitzer Prize for his book entitled ―Maus‖ which proving that comics can be artistically
mature and literate work. Seeing the vast use of comics, this study focuses on the use of comics in
the classroom activities, more specifically in engaging students with Narrative text.

Comics as media of instruction create joyful learning. Yet, it is suggested that learning also, at the
same time, allow student to comprehend the material and their cognitive competence improve. For
these reasons, in this study the students were challenged to involve in creative thinking such as
converting Narrative text into student-generated comics. Creative thinking in this study refers to
the activity demanded ‗cognitive skills and abilities for coming up with solution to problem
situation‘ (Arends & Kilcher, 2010). In this study, the students unpacked the text into parts, then
put them together to form a coherent comics which has different appeareance from its original

13
text. They also developed character profiles, imagined the words of characters, built a set of
captions, used inking and coloring.

The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the utilization of student-generated comics, in the
format of comic strips as contextualized strategies in language instruction as alternative methods
at senior high school where English as foreign language. This study is relevant for teacher who is
posted at senior high school who concern on students reluctance and their boredom learning
Narrative text that always appear in form of long passages. This study is designed to evaluate the
effects presenting with the comic strips used in the instructional and investigate whether the
students‘ cognitive competence level improve.

Methods

The use of comics are designed to evaluate their effects on students‘ competence in using English
as foreign language at grade 11 of Elective Program of SMAN 2 Cianjur in Academic Year
2014/2015. The sample was taken from Elective Program (English-2). The instructional material
was Narrative text to facilitate them to gain listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. The
end of the lesson was hoped that students were able to analyze the social function of the text, to
use the generic structure and language features of text. When they enrolled grade 11, their test
results that was stated in report card for their English cognitive and performance competence is on
a score 70 to 82. As reference for students‘ competence, the minimum ‗criterion-referenced
grading‘ (a set standards and indicate to what degree students have achieved mastery of particular
standard) for the students is 78. Based on the score the students gained, in this study they were
categorized into three levels, namely basic, proficient, and advanced. Basic level was given to
students who failed to reach the mastery or who score 70-75, proficient level was for students who
score 76-85, and advanced level for students who score 86-100. Classroom instruction went for 2
hours per week. The study took 8 meetings.

The instruments for the study were four texts, they were: 1) The Skeleton in the Cupboard for
listening activity and helped the students got the main idea of the text, 2) The History of Jack and
the Beanstalk for reading activity and facilitated the students to get the social function of the text,
the structure and language features of the text, 3) The Wolf and the Crane to assist students to
comprehend language features used Narrative text especially direct and indirect sentence, and 4)
Descriptive-Narrative text which created by students to escort them to higher order thinking skills.
From each text, the students demonstrated their comprehension by presenting the text they were
learning in the form of comics.

Data were collected within a-6-week span. The student participants were given specific task
corresponding to the usage of comics. The use of comics applied during the treatment. The
students were given texts in different forms (text 1-4) and then changed them into comics to
depict their content understanding of the text. Besides demonstrating their comprehension in the
form of comics, for text no. 1 and no. 2 the students were asked to use comics they created to
accompany them during monolog presentation. The rests were comics as tool to allow students
creating new text.

To analyze data collected, the students‘ comics were scored and categorized into three level of
core proficiency of English (basic, proficient, and advanced). Meanwhile, the students‘ monolog
were scored based on rubric for speaking adapted from Thornburry (2000).

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Results and Discussion

The students‘ overall English productive performance, as shown by their comics, writing and
monolog level from Text 1 to Text 4, is presented in Table 1. Table 1 indicates an improvement in
students‘ proficiency level. A comparison of the students who post in basic level or ones who fail
to achieve mastery of narrative standard are none. It can be concluded that Comics project
promoted the students‘ writing and speaking proficiency. The progress is elaborated in the
subheadings below.

Table 1 Participants‘ Proficiency

Text 1: Skeleton in the Cupboard

Text 1 was entitled The Skeleton in the Cupboard intended to provide listening practice. Upon the
the completion of listening activity the students collected their work in the form of comic as
shown in Sample 1 as follow.

Sample 1. Visualization of Text 1

Sample 1 show two things, to say the least.

First, creating Comics has an effect on
critical thinking of students. The comics
were created to depict ―it was a busy day, as
usual. The traffic circle began to get
scorched in the strengthening heat of that
morning as a protest was taking place.
People in a long wavy line were staging
outcry against the issue of Playboy
magazine-Indonesian version. They were
jamming up the well-known capital city of Jakarta (Picture 1). The condition was indeed
troublesome for Sinta and her friend who were among those who were trapped in that awful
situation, behind steering wheel (Picture 2).

Picture 1 provides information of the sun‘s heat by the picture of yellow sun at the top right
corner. Besides, to show people who were protesting, it has cars, and people who held banner with
‗say no to porn‘ on it. Meanwhile Picture 2 represents that there were two people in a car and one
of them was behind a steering wheel.

Secondly, Comics becomes tool for building better writer. This means that comics encourage what
so called ‗fluency before accuracy‘ (Denne-Bolton, 2013). Fluency is gained through comics
writing to communicate what the students‘ understood about the passage with the absence of
pressure. Then, the experiment and play with language that the students did during creating
comics allow them to learn independently both cognitively and linguistically. As shown in the
writing upon the completion of comic strips (Sample 2) below.

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Sample 2. Student‘s writing to Communicate Comics

(It is a hectic day as usual, I and

Annie were in a public cab to our
Campus University of Indonesia but
unluckily, we‟re trapped in a
protesting about playboy magz
Indonesia Version. The people were
jamming up, in a wavy-line. They
were from local community and
religious group, to protest the issue)

One aspect worth noticing from Sample 2. Student‘s writing above is that the students created a
new and different text, yet it had similar meaning as expected given the original text. This
condition was also found in the stage when the students were asked to present the text in monolog.
It is safe to say that comics empowering students, since comics seem to give them great help to be
confident in presenting the text in monolog and a room for independence of thought. Their
experience during creating comics provide knowledge to be shared in spoken form with almost no
hesitation and comics they made acted as guidance during the presentation.

Based on the results of text 1, it can be inferred that the use of comics had a positive influence on
students writing and speaking proficiency. This is supported by the student‘s positive point of
view towards using comics in the lesson, as shown in Sample 3 below.

Sample 3. Student‘s opinion

The draw is really affected me, it make me more

creative..that is possible to make student not bored
and more like art.

Text 2: The History of Jack and the Beanstalk

Text 2 facilitated students to comprehend a passage. It was carried out by reading a passage then
the students were asked to do student-generated comics of what they have understood from the
passage. The results of text 2 in form of comic strips imply that the use of picture-text
combinations give a great help to represent reading comprehension (see Sample 4) and they
scaffold speaking skills by using comic strips as visual aid.

Sample 4. Visualization of Text #2

Sample 4 indicates that generating comic strips improve

the students‘ ability in writing narrative text. The
improvement is in the content which was facilitated by
generating sequence of narrative in each strip, dialogue
in the bubble, caption for each panel, and picture to
reflect event(s).

In other words, student-generated comics makes the

generic structure of narrative text applied as the comics
strips presented in chronological order. Sample 4 shows

16
that the orientation is provided in the caption of panel 1 (In the days of King Alfred there lived a
poor woman. She was a widow and had an only child named Jack). The orientation is significant
part of a narrative text that in this sample include when, where, who, what and why.

Sample 4 also indicates that student-generated comic strips are helpful for student in re-writing
story with appropriate generic structure of narrative text. This was supported by students‘ opinion
on using comics to comprehend the text (Sample 5).

Sample 5. Students‘ opinion about using comics

Yes, I think drawing helping me to

understand the story, because without the
image we can‟t understand the story, so
therefore the image is helpful to understand
the story, made like comic story line, make
us understand.

Text 3: The Wolf and the Crane

Text 3 was to help students understand the language features of narrative text. One of the major
features used in it such as direct and indirect speech. Based on results of this study, it was found
out that student-generated comics acted as effective medium for students in applying, analyzing,
and synthesizing target language grammar as shown in Sample 6 below.

Sample 6. Converting Direct to Indirect Speech

Sample 6 represents the usefulness of student-

generated comics that force students to
concentrate and to use their imagination as well.
The students analyzed the direct speeches which
were uttered by character. Then they converted
and created them into indirect ones. As an
example ―Please Miss Crane don‟t fly away. I
need your help. I‟m in a great trouble‖. The
sentence was converted into ―The wolf asked the
Crane not to fly away, he needed the crane‟s help
because he was in a great trouble‖.

Text 4: Student-generated Text

Text 4 was dedicated to invite students to create a text based on comics provided. Retelling
comics served students with fun, interesting and motivating atmosphere to incorporate target
language culture and their pragmatic intelligence. The data from the students‘ writing show that
the students passed the criterion-reference grading. The students-generated text comprised of
orientation, complication, and resolution. The text also applied the appropriate language features
of narrative text such as the use of direct-indirect speech, past tense, adjective, and adverbial
phrase. In short, the use student-generated text based on comics provided facilitate student-
centered and student-directed learning.

17
Conclusion

The use of both student-generated comics and student-generated text allow students to gain more
understanding about the text comprehensively and improve students‘ core proficiency in narrative
text. The student-generated comics based on written and spoken narrative text aid the students to
apply generic structure and language features of the text appropriately. It also provides room for
student to experience independent thinker and to maximize the activity of analyzing, synthesizing,
and creating text (higher order thinking skills) as student act as illustrator or writer of comics.
Meanwhile, student-generated text based on comics gave the students chances to practice and
produce a narrative text in personal and creative way. By using comics as the procedure in this
study show that the students who are in basic level eventually improve their performance and
proficiency. It is assumed, there is correlation between the ability to represent the text
comprehension by depicting it in the comic strips with the ability to present it in the form of
written and spoken form of language. Further, the use of student-generated comics to represent
reading comprehension provided the basic level students room to gain improvement in another
language skills such as writing and speaking.

References

Arends, R., & Kilcher, A. (2010). Teaching for Students Learning: Becoming an Accomplished
Teacher. New York: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group.
Csabay, N. (2006). Using Comic Strips in Language Class. English Teaching Forum, 24-26.
Denne-Bolton, S. (2013). The Dialogue Journal: A Tool for Building Better Writers. South Africa:
English Teaching Forum.
Eisner, W. (1985). Comics and Sequential Art. United State: Poorhouse Press.
King, F., Goosn, L., & Rohani, F. (2000). Higher Order Thinking Skills: Definiiton, Teaching
Strategies, Evaluation. UCLA: The National Center for Reasearch on Evaluation, Standards,
and Student Testing (CRESST).
Sones, W. (1994). The Comics and Instructional Method . Journal of Educational Sosiology, 232-
240.
Stanulewizs, D. (1990). Stories in Pictures. English Teaching Forum, 34-35.
Thornburry, S. (2000). How to Teach Speaking. UK: Longman.
Tiemensma, L. (2009). Visual Lieracy: To Comics or not to Comics? Promoting Literacy Using
Comics. 75Th IFLA General Conference and Council (pp. 1-10). Italy : World Library and
Infomation Congress.
Trent, C., & Kinlaw, R. (1975). Comic Books: An Effective Teaching Tool. Journal of Extension,
18-23.

18
 How SFL Can Transform the College Prep Classroom

Catherine B. Tulungen
Culver Academies, Culver, Indiana, USA
Catherine.Tulungen@culver.org

Abstract
This brief paper is written to accompany a presentation at the 43rd International Systemic
Functional Congress in Bandung, Indonesia. Aimed at teachers of academic English at the high
school and college level, this paper describes how one English teacher at Culver Academies, a
private boarding school in the United States, has been able to transform her classroom after
learning about Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). Not only have the results been remarkable
for the English Language Learners in her program, but the SFL influence has also begun to spread
within the school. This paper explains how the systemic functional understanding of academic
English changes the classroom discourse and determines content, approaches, feedback, and
assessment. As students better understand clause-level meaning and typical patterns of academic
English, they can draw on various linguistic options to produce language which is more
appropriate in a school environment. For other college preparatory programs to benefit from what
SFL offers, there would need to be a sea change in the understanding of language teaching and
communication.

How SFL Can Transform the College Prep Classroom

In whatever configuration, in traditional rows or in the pod-like groupings of the 21st century
classroom, students bring with them their hopes and expectations. They want to succeed and
envision themselves functioning effectively in the school environment. In programs designed to
prepare students for college, the teacher‘s task is to ensure that students can navigate within and
through the academic world, and in this effort communication skills are key.

During my 25 years of teaching, my efforts have focused primarily on training non-native

speakers of English to be successful in their academic endeavors. Internationally, I have trained
doctors, nurses, teachers, and theologians for international conferences and graduate study in
English. More recently at a private boarding school, I have been teaching international students,
most of whom dream of studying at the best universities. Throughout my career, I have found it
easy to teach the typical rhetoric of larger spans of academic text and the discrete grammar and
accuracy issues at the local level, but for years I was frustrated by what I call the mid-level
language, the language of the clause and shorter text spans. Although I had some tricks up my
sleeve that helped students practice certain clause-level patterns, the available teaching materials
were inadequate and instructional approaches using traditional grammar were ineffective. I often
commiserated with other ESL teachers. I lamented about writing that included all the right ideas
but was nevertheless awkward and inappropriate. I was frustrated by the realization that only a
few of my most gifted students would ever reach academic fluency. In my graduate work, I had
been taught to continuously reflect upon my teaching, but reflection only found me in the
doldrums. Then, 6 years ago when a colleague and I attended a session on academic writing at
our local TESOL (Teachers of English for Speakers of Other Languages) conference, I was
introduced to Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). In spite of its complex diagrams and cryptic
terminology, SFL seemed to reveal the nature of academic language. From that point on I became
a student of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) and what I have learned has transformed and
continues to transform my teaching.

19
SFL can challenge the beliefs and assumptions that are the foundation of language teaching. The
most profound challenge for many language teachers might come with the realization that there
are distinct literacies or ―languages‖ within a language. The common view of language as a
nebulous or amorphous whole can leave teachers and students groping around in the dark, but if
teachers and students can understand the fundamental differences between casual, conversational,
or narrative English and the language of academics, then it can be taught. Many teacher training
programs put forth that language learners must climb step-by-step up the developmental slope to
reach the proficiency required for higher level academic work. Realizing even minimal fluency in
academic English would be at the pinnacle of their efforts. But, SFL showed me that the
academic register was distinctly different and that mastery of casual, conversational English
doesn‘t necessarily transfer to any kind of academic fluency. Students and language teachers can
and should aim straight for the target language. In college preparatory programs, whose goal it is
to help students learn the language of academics, spending time making corrections on other
language is not time well spent. Instead of immersing students in some kind of generic language
and hoping it will do the trick, teachers need to maximize student exposure to a certain brand of
language and provide opportunities for them to meaningfully use a type of language which is far
removed from their daily or routine experiences. Not only does SFL explain academic language
in a more meaning-full way, it also more clearly explains clause-level language and how ideas are
connected between and within clauses. The clearer understanding of the nature of academic
language that SFL can give teachers means that instruction can be explicit and targeted.

Even with my novice grasp of SFL, I recognized that early action was necessary, so together with
a colleague who taught part-time in my department, I began to completely revise the curriculum in
Culver‘s ESOL program. The focus of teaching had to be on academic language, and this meant
ridding our program of the many exercises that are common in ESL classrooms worldwide.
Personal narratives are now only for the first day of class to get to know each other. No more
describing dorm rooms to practice using adjectives, or detailing daily routines to practice simple
present tense. Past tense is practiced through writing about history or reporting on finished
research. Inauthentic texts highlighting the awkward use of transition words in making
connections have been replaced by authentic academic texts which illustrate the real way
academicians connect ideas together. Accompanying a story about a young girl who moves from
Mexico to the United States, our students explore immigration and immigration policies. When
reading a story about a young boy who thinks he is going to die, the students research, read, and
report on medical myths. Writing assignments are expository, analytical and document-based.
Vocabulary lists are no longer randomly occurring difficult words. Instead, students learn how to
classify words into various categories, each requiring a different kind and amount of attention, and
our shared vocabulary lists focus on academic words that are productively used across disciplines.
Students are trained to pay attention to nuances in meaning, transitivity, collocations and sentence
frames. In the realm of grammar and accuracy, attention to structure focuses on accurate
expression of appropriate and viable academic language. In this new classroom, speaking
exercises are designed to keep students swimming in the deeper academic pool. Immersing the
students in the kind of language that is valued in the academic realm encourages them to make
meaning and interact within that context.

I soon came to realize that many of the published materials commonly used in English classrooms
are not suited to this new understanding of language. Grammar books and writers‘ handbooks
that provide examples and practice exercises using casual, conversational, or narrative language
do little to help the aspiring college student. Even the ubiquitous lists that so many English
teachers rely on – lists of modal verbs, lists of coordinating and subordinating conjunctions, lists
of adverbial transition words – are misleading because the words and phrases listed are not all

20
equally valued in the academic register. I began to design my own materials and exercises, and
although I have since found several texts that are of some use in teaching academic English, there
is a great need for more textbooks to be written based on an SFL perspective.

A systemic functional understanding of academic language offers an authentic understanding of

language and how it is used. Academic language is not elitist or exclusionary, but it is functional,
having developed out of the need to efficiently and effectively discuss complex ideas. After a
recent presentation in an advanced writing class, one of the students approached me to say, ―Now
I get why my mother speaks the way she does about medicine!‖ Because language and the ability
to think critically go hand in hand, teachers are called to help students learn the language of their
subject areas. At the same time, teachers must avoid the convenient trap of formulaic writing.
There are no absolutes. Among other factors, linguistic choices depend on intent, on audience, on
context, on the message, on the role of the communicator, on the medium being used to
communicate, on attitudes toward the topic, on the degree of uncertainty, and on what begs
emphasis, so teachers need to equip their students with options and help them understand how
various linguistic choices might influence meaning and message.

While the task might seem infinitely complex, there are some fairly concrete steps teachers can
take in teaching academic English. A crucial first step is to help students build an awareness of
language use and meaning-making. With a heightened awareness of language and a repertoire of
linguistic choices to draw on, students can then practice meaning-making. Feedback within the
classroom setting, especially teacher feedback, further serves to hone student skills.

In their quest to become independent learners, students need to begin by developing an awareness
of language. Most students arrive in college prep classrooms with no ability to identify systems of
meaning in texts. In fact, most have never thought about how meaning is made. To develop an
awareness of language, exercises need to focus the students on finding certain meanings in texts.
For example, students could highlight all of the time expressions in a history text or find all of the
words or phrases that suggest any degree of uncertainty in a report on recent research. With
proper scaffolding and practice, students can develop a sense for meaning and how to locate
meaning in texts. As their awareness grows, students can begin to consider why in the history text
many of the time references seem to be located at the start of clauses, or why the writer might
choose to use the modal can in reporting on research findings. In developing such an awareness
of language, students need to be able to accurately locate the meanings and identify the elements
that play a role in making that meaning; this includes identifying relevant structures, word forms,
collocations and surrounding frames of meaning. When students begin to observe patterns in the
use of language, it often inspires further linguistic exploration or even comparative study of other
texts. Students begin to view any text as an opportunity to learn about content and language. This
building of awareness then pays off in better reading comprehension skills and a greater ability to
manipulate language in speaking or writing.

As students begin to practice meaning-making, feedback becomes vitally important. Although

feedback can come from various sources in a language classroom, feedback is primarily about
negotiating meanings, and in this effort teacher feedback is key. Because SFL has uncovered
many of the salient features of academic language, teachers can guide students in knowing what
kinds of language tend to be more academic. Feedback can focus on features like lexical density,
typical structures, and the way logical connections are made in academic English. Once some
general differences are established, focused feedback can help students tackle the individual issues
they face. In my classroom, I have developed a color-coded system for providing written
feedback on student writing. My students know that yellow highlighting indicates casual,
conversational language or slang, and that comments in light blue point out grammar or accuracy

21
issues that do not affect meanings. The comments in purple or pink are at the heart of our work
together. It is in the pink and purple where meaning is negotiated. I can even successfully work
in SFL terminology as I teach concepts like modality, transitivity or Theme/Rheme organization.
Teaching certain terms ultimately saves me time when giving feedback because my students and I
develop a common vocabulary.

An understanding of SFL can help teachers to know what to teach and how to teach, but in our
modern educational culture, student performance also needs to be assessed. In this effort, while
keeping the end goal in sight, teachers can assess student work at any stage in their learning. In
the beginning stages, assessment might focus on the students‘ ability to find and identify isolated
features or certain meanings in texts. As students move through drafting texts and responding to
feedback, teachers can assess student ability to negotiate meaning. Initially, students will not be
able to attend to multiple aspects at once, so assessments can focus on certain features of text. In
later stages of learning, students will be able to juggle multiple aspects of meaning-making, and
assessment can parallel students‘ move toward independence.

An understanding of SFL has influenced all aspects of my teaching, and the resulting success of
many of the students in our program has drawn the attention of the administration and colleagues
in other departments. Over the last 6 years, our students have realized more significant gains in
standardized testing scores and students coming out of the ESOL program often outperform the
American students in mainstream classes. Over the past several years I have had the chance to
guest lecture in AP and Honors classes on the nature of academic language and on the system of
noun modification in academic texts. This past year, I was invited to be part of a committee that
developed a new rubric for assessing student performance in the 12th grade writing program. I
also recently partnered with one of the math teachers to explore how a focus on language could
enhance the teaching of math in her class. The success of that collaboration has led to the forming
a working group to discuss language and communication across the curriculum. While in my
setting I have been fortunate to have had the freedom to make changes, other teachers who are
preparing students for further study may not have as much flexibility. Bringing SFL into more
classrooms will necessitate significant professional development, but given the results I have seen
in my classroom, it would be worth it.

Books that helped me: (in the order in which I read them)

Hinkel, E. (2004). Teaching academic ESL writing: Practical techniques in vocabulary and
grammar. Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates.
Fang, Z., Schleppegrell, M., & Lukin, A. (2008). Reading in secondary content areas: A
language-based pedagogy. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Schleppegrell, M. (2004). The language of schooling: A functional linguistics perspective.
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Newer edition published by Routledge in 2008.
Bloor, T., & Bloor, M. (2004). The functional analysis of English: A Hallidayan approach (2nd
ed.). London: Arnold.
Third edition is available through Routledge.
Halliday, M. A. K., & Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (2014). Halliday's introduction to functional
grammar (4th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

Activities and Exercises that work:

22
 Initial Presentation: Comparing Versions Expressing Similar Meanings and Text Analyses
(looking at various features found in academic versus casual/conversational language)
 Unpacking for Comprehension
 Mapping Texts
 Awareness-building – identifying various features in texts
 Collecting Language – (for example, the language of cause and effect, the language of
comparison and contrast, the language of modality, etc.)
 Making It Transparent – Why we do what we do…(including language and thinking, how
language is valued, the generic academic audience, use of third person and objectivity,
entities and relational processes, modality, building meaning and making thinking
transparent, finding what hides within abstract language, multiple layers of meaning in
text, macro- to micro-organization, genre versus register, the ―plicit‖-ness in texts,
embedded meaning and hypo- and para-taxis, options versus absolutism, room for
creativity and personal voice)
 Working with Words and Expressions – (including classifying words based on type of
learning required, identifying meaning in context, defining, explaining, potential
synonyms, examining grammatical role, collocations, frames of meaning, other forms
 Lightening the Burden of Grammar – Grammar in Four Parts
o Verbs (including finite, tenses, modals and larger system of modality)
o Nouns and Noun Modification (especially pre- and post-modifiers, and essential
versus non-essential elements)
o Circumstances – types and options
o Connectors and Connections
 Packing and Unpacking – options and nuances of meaning
 Approaches to Paraphrasing - unpacking, packing and grammatical metaphor
 Editing and Proofreading – considering repetition, number of clauses, Themes,
conjunctions and connections, packing, embedding, word choice, and saliency of meaning
 Moving toward Independence – Can they do it? (projects requiring multiple skills)

23
 Assessing Writing of BIPA‘s Students: A Case Study on the Student Writings at a BIPA
Institution in Vietnam

Daud Yusuf, Sri Nurasiawati

Centre for Language Strategy and Diplomacy Development, Language Development and
Cultivation Agency, Ministry of Education and Culture
daud.yusuf@kemdikbud.go.id
sri.nurasiawati@kemdikbud.go.id

Abstract
This paper presents an investigation of writing performance of students of Indonesian language
for Speaker of Other Languages/Bahasa Indonesia bagi Penutur Asing (BIPA). The study aims at
identifying the profile of student writings as a part of assessment the program. Furthermore, this
study is expected as a reflection on determining the focus on learning material in teaching writing
as well as assessing the BIPA‘s program as whole. The study employed a case study. The study
took six student writings from three times assignment; two writings of each assignment
representing the low and high scored writings. In addition, the writings taken from some students
of an institution of BIPA in Vietnam were involved as data. Systemic functional linguistic in
genre-based framework was used as a tool of analysis. Besides, analysis of thematic progression
pattern was also used to identify the structure of ideas of student writings. The study will show
the result of analysis of structure of organisation and linguistic features of student writings.

Keywords: BIPA, writing, SFL.

Introduction

Indonesian Language for Speakers of Other Languages/Bahasa Indonesia bagi Penutur Asing
(further written as BIPA) is a program of non-Indonesian students to learn Indonesian language as
their second/foreign language. BIPA‘s program is one of the language agency vision in extending
the role of Indonesian language to be used abroad, as well as the ASEAN Economic Community
(AEC) has begun. Ministry Education and Culture through the Agency for Language
Development and Cultivation, Centre for Language Strategy and Diplomacy Development/Pusat
Pengembangan Strategi dan Diplomasi Kebahasaan (PPSDK) recently assigned Indonesian
language teachers to several institutions around the world. There are some teachers which
assigned in several institutions around South East Asian countries, including Vietnam.
Furthermore, PPSDK assigns one teacher in one institution in Vietnam. The assignation of
teachers is one of the language agency‘s effort in expanding Indonesian language through formal
education.

The program, in addition, needs to be assessed in order to find out its effectiveness. The
assessment has to cover all aspects focusing on both process and product. The assessment of
process is further realised by monitoring and evaluating the teachers; and the products are realised
in form of syllabus, teacher‘s lesson plan, student assignments, and final reports. Hence, student
assignments become one of the indicator of the success of the program. The common language
lesson assignment, in addition, is writing. However, writing is a challenging task, especially for
students who learn language in foreign language context. For its challenge, writing skill mastery
often used as the main indicator of language mastery. In this context, analysing student writings
enable us to measure the performance of language mastery of the students involved in this
program. In brief, assessing student writings is a part of evaluating the program.

24
The indicator of mastering writing skill is the ability to transfer ideas in the target language, in this
case, Indonesian. Writing means transferring ideas into a meaningful written text. Assessing the
text in terms of both content and its contexts, furthermore, can be done by using functional
linguistic. Functional linguistics view language as ―resource for making meaning‖ which attempt
to describe language based on the text and their context (Gerot & Wignell, 1994), so that the
analysis of the text should cover not only the structure of text itself, but also cover the context or
function of the language (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004). In addition, Martin (2000) proposed
functional linguistic as a knowledge of applied linguistics to solve the problem, which means the
study of functional linguistic should be driven from the problem to solve; hence, this paper
proposed a question on the performance of the BIPA‘s student in composing writings.

Analysing the writing in functional view requires the comprehensive analysis in terms of its ‗text‘
and its ‗context‘. Rose (2006) talks of the layers of the language within the text. These layer are
illustrated with a mode that places any given written text within a particular genre field (the type
of the text) and register (the tone or voice of the text). The layers, furthermore, illustrated as
follows.

Figure 1. Metafunction and Layers of Language (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004; Rose, 2006)

Figure 1 demonstrates the layers of language and within these broad fields of genre and register,
Rose places:

 aspects of the overall structure of a given text (or ‗patterns within the text‘—such as
chapters, sections, paragraphs—that shape the overall text);
 aspects of the sentences within that text (‗patterns within the sentence‘—such as clauses
and phrases that shape the sentence); and,
 aspects of word recognition (‗patterns within the word‘—such as the common letter
patterns that shape the words).

The assessment, furthermore, may open up for a discussion at the broadest levels of textual
analysis—that is, at the levels of genre (What kind of text is this?) and register (Whose ‗voice‘ is
speaking, what audience is being addressed, what mode of address is the author using?) and text
structure (Is this a story set out in chapters, a report set out in sections? Does it have a shape of the
‗beginning-middle-end‘ type or is the end foretold at the beginning? etc.). In addition, Knapp and
Watkins (2005, p. 93) propose an assessment model of writing which features the analysis of:
generic features (consisting genre, theme, structure/organisation, specific language features,
vocabulary), textual language (connectives, reference, tense, and sentence structure), syntactical
language, and spelling. Nevertheless, this paper presents the analysis of the writing in terms of the

25
structure based on Rose‘s layer of language and the system of textual meaning as supporting data.
The scope of this study concerns on the rethorical sturcture and the thematic progression
regarding the ideas structured in the student writings.

The system of logic and ideas of text in functional grammar further realized by the system of
theme. The system of theme is the realisation of the textual metafunction of language as proposed
by Halliday. System of theme is concerned with the organisation of information within individual
clauses, and through this, with the organisation of a larger text (Martin, 1992 in Emilia, 2014, p.
225). Theme system involves theme and rheme; in a simple way, theme comes first in sentence
(Coffin & Hewings, 2004 in Emilia, 2014, p. 225).

There are three type of themes: topical, interpersonal, and textual theme. Topical theme expresses
some kind of ‗representational meaning‘. When the theme is realised by subject, it is called
unmarked theme. However, if the theme is non-subject, it is called marked theme. Furthermore,
the interpersonal theme is often used to indicate the writer‘s/speaker‘s personal judgement on the
meaning, or to foreground the writer‘s viewpoint (Emilia, 2014, p. 229). In Indonesian language,
the example of interpersonal theme are: ―sudahkah... akankah‖ (unfused finite), ―saya pikir ...‖
(mood adjunct), ―tentunya, ...‖ (comment adjunct), calling someone‘s name before saying
something (vocative adjunct), and ―ya/tidak‖ (polarity adjunct). The textual theme is related to the
linking functions. The theme further illustrated in the table 1 as follow.

Table 1. Example of theme and rheme analysis

Theme
Rheme
Textual Interpersonal Topical
*unmarked Oleh karena mengapa kerbau Tidak memiliki tanduk?
itu,
*marked Pada suatu harimau pergi meninggalkan
hari, hutan

Moreover, regarding the theme choices in a text, theme progressions, in which the text develop
the ideas they present can be classified into three: the zig-zag pattern or simple linear theme
progression (SLP), the reiteration pattern or constant theme progression (CTP), and the multiple
theme pattern or derived theme progression (DTP) (Emilia, 2014, p. 241). The zig-zag pattern or a
linear thematic progression involves the content of the theme of the second sentence or clause
derives from the content of the previous rheme. Furthermore, theme in the reiteration pattern
enters into relation with a number of different rhemes, or the same element occurs regularly as
themes. In addition, the multiple theme pattern or progression with derived themes involves a
passage as a whole concerns or single general notion, and the themes of the various constituent
clauses all derive from that general notion, but not identical to one another. The use of specific
thematic pattern, furthermore, shows the characteristics of the text in textual language areas.
Following table shows the example of thematic progression analysis.

26
 Table 2. Example of theme progression analysis

Progression Theme Rheme

Reiteration/ Pak Thuan menyukai bahasa Vietnam. Theme 1 Rheme 1
Constant
thematic Dia pernah mengunjungi Vietnam. Theme 2 Rheme 2
progression
(CTP) Dia juga mahir berbahasa lainnya. Theme 3 Rheme 3
Zigzag/ Saya sudah mengunjungi banyak Theme 1 Rheme 1
Simple kuil.
linear Theme 2 Rheme 2
progression Kuil <<yang saya adalah kuil Chau Doc.
(SLP) kunjungi>> Theme 3 Rheme 3
Kuil Chau Doc terletak di selatan Vietnam.
Multiple/ Hari itu, saya pergi ke tiga tempat. Theme 1 Rheme 1
Derived
theme Pertama, saya pergi ke danau toba. Theme 2 Rheme 2
progression
(DTP) Kedua, saya pergi ke pulau Samosir. Theme 3 Rheme 3

Method

The study employs a descriptive qualitative case study by using genre-based framework (Knapp &
Watkins, 2005; Rose, 2006) and thematic progression theory as proposed by Fries (2002, as cited
in Emilia, 2014) for the study attempts to investigate the profile of six student writings. The texts,
furthermore, were taken from six students whom involved in BIPA program at Vietnam. Each
student represents three different writing assignments from low and high scored writings, in which
it aims at identifying the contrast among the writings.

The data were taken from some BIPA teacher in Vietnam whom sent the texts as a report of the
program. Teacher was asked to give a score on BIPA‘s writing assignment, and the lowest and
highest score on each assignment were taken as instrument. After gathering the data, genre-based
framework analysis are employed to analyse the data by: (1) close-reading the texts, (2)
identifying the structure of the text, (3) identifying the topics/ideas based on the structure, (4)
identifying the tenor, mode, and field of the text, (5) breaking down the text into clauses, (6)
determining the theme and rheme, (7) classifying the thematic progression pattern, whether it is
constant, linear, or multiple theme, and (8) interpreting the findings to draw a conclusion of how
BIPA students present their ideas in their writing.

Findings and Discussions

The study results the analysis of student writings as follows.

Text 1: The first group is identified as description, because it has additional information regarding
the participant introduced. The second group, further, is identified as general identification. In
terms of structuring ideas, the text has jumbled group of information for the writer put separately

27
the appearance, activities, writer's affection and some other new information excluded on the
information group. It also has description^general identification pattern, in which it is like
descriptive but it is reversed.

The text uses both CTP and SLP, in which SLP is used only on the first sentence as the
introductory information of the described participant, yet the participant is not clear. The writer
further used the CTP for the rest of the text, so the participant is focused enough. However, the
writer use 'dia' (3rd pronoun) too many times without referring the pronoun into the proper noun
first. Thus, it confuses the reader.

However, the text is cohesive and coherence enough by using the conjunction and reiterating
theme. In brief, it has reversed descriptive-like genre. The purpose is to describe somebody, hence
the writer tried to describe his lecturer although it's not well structured. The text, furthermore, is
poor in characterising a descriptive text.

Text 2: The first group is identified as description, because it has additional information regarding
the participant introduced. The introduced participant is unclear for the writer used third pronoun
'dia' without referring it into a proper noun. In terms of structuring ideas, the text has jumbled
group of information, as the writer put separately the appearance, activities, hobbies, writer's
affection and some other new information excluded on the information group. It also has only
description pattern; in which it is like descriptive but it is missing general identification.

The text uses both CTP and SLP with CTP is dominant, and the SLP is used only of the
markedness, yet the reference of participant is not clear. The writer used the constant thematic
progression in the rest of the text, so the participant is focused enough. However, the writer use
'dia' (3rd pronoun) which is too much without referring to the proper noun. Hence, it also confuses
the reader.

However, the text is cohesive and coherence enough by using the conjunction and reiterating
theme. To conclude, it has descriptive-like genre. The purpose is to describe somebody, hence the
writer tried to describe somebody although the most important part of descriptive is missing, that
is, general identification. Therefore, the text is failed in achieving its purposed, as well as
characterising a descriptive text.

Text 3: The text has introductory section. As the theme contain the specific participant with the
elaboration giving information of who is the participant, the group is identified as general
identification. The second group, the writer explicitly state 'pengalaman saya' (my experience). It
contains only two events signalled with two independent unmarked topical theme. The structure
of the text, furthermore, identified to have general_identification^events pattern, in which it has
head of descriptive and the body of recount. By identifying this part, we can see that the writer has
failed in structuring the text. As the contents mostly retelling the writer's experience, we assume
that the writer hasn't succeeded in creating the orientation for his text.

The text uses both CTP and SLP, in which the use of CTP is dominant. The use of CTP is good to
make the text focuses on the specific participant. Moreover, by using CTP, writer is able to
maintain the focus of the participant in the text so it's clear. However, SLP pattern is also needed
in recount as the writer may extend the topic by adding some new information within the events.

Writer is able to use conjunction properly to maintain the cohesion within the group. However,
author didn't use time signal/adverb of sequence to maintain the coherence of each event. The
elaboration of the events is also too much with the over usage of „dan‟ in one sentence. The

28
connection between group is realised by time adverb, in which it's good enough to characterise a
recount text.

So, based on the analysis of structure and thematic progression, the text has descriptive-head and
recount-body characteristics. It has writer's identification but It also purposed to tell past
experience of somebody/the author himself. Therefore, the text has failed in achieving it purposes.
The genre is unclear, the events are not sequenced, and too much elaboration within the events.

Text 4: The text has orientation for the theme contains the information of specific participant with
the elaboration of giving details on a general event. Furthermore, the group is identified as
orientation. The second group, the writer state 'what happened in the event which introduced first'
so we identify the group as event. It's also signalled by temporal conjunction 'ketika', which is
characterising an event in a specific genre, that is, recount. The third group is also signalled by
time conjunction ‗setelah itu‖. It also tells 'what happened next' although the new information
given is not regarding the event. It has general affection of the writer; in which it is suitable if
only the writer put it in the end of the text.

The text uses CTP and SLP, in which the use of CTP is dominant. The use of CTP is good to
maintain the focus on a specific participant, so that the participant in the text is clear. However, it
lacks of SLP pattern in events in which the SLP is able to retain the plot of the events.

Writer is able to use conjunction properly to maintain the cohesion within the group. The writer
also able to maintain the coherence between events by adding the adverb of sequence, in which it's
good enough to characterise a recount text. So, based on the analysis of structure and thematic
progression, the text has recount characteristics. It has orientation^events pattern, and it purposed
to tell past experience of somebody/the author himself. The text succeeds to achieve it purposes
although it has too much additional information of the events.

Text 5: The text has an orientation which introduce the participant of the text. The complication
further signalled by the use of time signal ‗suatu hari‘ which tells what happened to the
participant and elaborated on ‗what‘s going on‘. The third group, a new participant is introduced
in the story as a rival of the previous participant, so the group is identified as reorientation. The
next group is complication (of the second orientation) which tells us what happened on the
participant. The last group is identified as resolution, in which it shows how the complication
ended. Based on the structure identification, the text has
orientation^complication^reorientation^complication^resolution, thus it has narrative
characteristics.

In terms of the thematic progression, the text has CTP and SLP thematic progression. The
dominance of CTP's usage in writing a story is considered appropriate. Moreover, the story has
third person view, in which it can maintain the focus of the subject/participant of the story.
Besides, the writer is able to maintain the cohesion, by adding the logical connector for the theme
as new information. Each part of the text has connection, so the coherence is good enough. Thus,
in terms of logical connection, the fourth group is identified as reorientation for the theme has no
connection with the previous given information. The fourth and fifth group has no thematic
connection both with the information in previous group and with the resolution. The resolution
connects with the complication introduced with the first orientation. This looks like a different
story inside the story.

The identified problems are the clause no 16 in reorientation section and the clause no 25, 27 in
second complication. The author overuses the third pronoun 'dia (he/she/him/her)'. The clause 'dia

29
lebih kaya dari pada dia' is a comparison of themselves, and it's unclear which 'dia' is referred. If
the author uses the proper noun as the subject, the clause become clear and it may coherence as
the topic with connect with previous information given. For instance, an alternative solution is to
change the clause becomes 'Si Petani lebih kaya dari pada si adik ratu, or si adik ratu lebih kaya
daripada si petani, or dia lebih kaya dari pada si petani (dia still maintain the theme in previous
clause, while petani connects the paragraph with the general topic in the story). Same as previous
case, dia kalah has unclear reference. The author should choose who is lose, whether the queen's
sibling or the farmer. An alternative solution is to change the sentence becomes "si petani pun
kalah" to maintain the connection between the complication and its resolution in further groups.

To sum up, the text is fair in terms of the structure organisation, and it has narrative-like
characteristics. It has Orientation^Complication^Reorientation^Complication^Resolution pattern.
The text is fair enough to achieve the purpose, to amuse or entertaining the reader, although the
unclear reference in the aforementioned clauses may confuse the reader and makes the part of the
text disconnected.

Text 6: The text is opened by introductory/narrating speech (as usually found in telling
story/drama) in which the writer tells us the main topic of the story. The second group is identified
as orientation for the writer starts the topic by using time signal ―pada suatu hari”. The section
introduce the participants involved in the writings. The third group, furthermore, is identified as
complication in which the writer began to introduce the problem happen to the participant. The
forth group is identified as resolution for the writer tells us how the problems are solved. The last
group is identified as coda for it has the final result/impact of what happened to the participants,
and restate the main topic of the writings. In terms of the function, the text is good in terms of the
structure organisation, and it has narrative characteristics. It has
Abstract^Orientation^Complication^Resolution^Coda pattern.

In terms of thematic progression, the writer uses CTP and SLP (in which the use of CTP is more
dominant). This pattern, furthermore, is considered appropriate in composing a narrative writing.
Besides, the story has third person view, in which it can maintain the focus of the
subject/participant of the story. In terms of logical connection, the writer is able to maintain the
cohesion and the coherence, by adding the logical connector for the theme as new information.
Each part of the text has connection, so the coherence is good enough. The reference is also good
as the author didn't overuse the pronoun, so the focus of the participant is clear.

As a narrative story, the text is pretty good in achieving its purpose, to amuse or entertain the
reader, each part of the text is connected, the participant is clear and coda restate the result of
resolution (which is very good in foreign language writing).

Conclusions

Based on the analysis using genre-based framework, students‘ performance in writing is

considered low in terms of the structure. Text 1 and Text 2 from assignment 1 has failed to
achieve its purposes, and it also has failed to characterising descriptive text. Furthermore, Text 3
and Text 4 from Assignment 2 has fair enough to achieve the purposes, although the text 3 has
unclear genre while the text 4 has not well-structured events to characterise a recount writing.
Moreover, in text 5 and text 6 from assignment 3, the structure is good enough to characterise a
narrative text. Both text has good in achieving narrative purposes, although text 5 has unclear
reference (by overusing the pronoun). The text 6 has successful enough to feature a narrative text.
The last results further may raise a question, how can the low scored writing (Text 5) perform
better than the high scored one (Text 6) in terms of structure and linguistic features? Further study

30
may analyse the writings profile in a comprehensive layers of language, from the genre level into
the words/letter pattern‘s layer.

References
Eggins, S. (2004). An introduction to systemic functional linguistic 2nd Edition. London: Printer
Publishers, Ltd.
Emilia, E. (2005). A critical genre based approach to teaching academic writing in a tertiary EFL
context in Indonesia. PhD thesis. Dept. of Language, Literacy and Arts Education, University of
Melbourne.
Emilia, E. (2014). Introducing functional grammar. Bandung: Pustaka Jaya.
Gerot, L. & Wignel, P. (1994). Making sense of functional grammar: an introductory workbook.
NSW: Antipodean Educational Enterprises.
Halliday, M. A. K. & Matthiessen, C. (2004). An introduction to functional grammar third
edition. London: Edward Arnold.
Knapp, P. & Watkins, M. (2005). Genre, text, and grammar: technologies for teaching and
assessing writing. Sydney: University of New South Wales press.
Martin, J. R. (2000). Design and practice: Enacting Functional Linguistics. In proceeding paper
on the 20th Annual Review of Applied Linguistics. New York: Cambridge University Press,
p. 116 – 126.
Rose, D. (2006). Towards a reading-based theory of teaching. Keynote address delivered at the
33rd International Systemic Functional Linguistics Conference, Sao Paulo.

31
 Critical Discourse Analysis of Jokowi‘s Speech at APEC CEO Summit 2014 by The
Application of Transitivity

Dwi Pebrina Sinaga, Nanan Kandagasari, Eline Rozaliya Winarto

Universitas Padjadjaran
dwipsng@gmail.com

Abstract
This study is an analysis of the linguistic structure of Jokowi‘s speech in terms of transitivity
based on Halliday‘s systemic functional linguistics. Fairclough‘s three dimensional frameworks
and Halliday‘s functional grammar will be employed to do the research, in which linguistic
features, news production and social contexts are explored. This study is an analysis of the
linguistic structure of Jokowi‘s speech in terms of transitivity based on Halliday‘s systemic
functional linguistics. This study analysed the speech in terms of Jokowi‘s communicative
functionality as the context at the time was to persuade businessmen to invest for his country. By
figuring out the process types used by Jokowi, as well as participants therein and circumstances
assosiated with, the ideologies and identities of Jokowi are revealed and carried out. The research
revealed that material process, attributive relational process, and verbal process can be used to
represent Jokowi‘s identities while material processes and verbal process are used to represent
Jokowi‘s ideologies. This is finally in line with Fairclough‘s understanding of ideology as
embedded in discursive practice.

Keywords: critical discourse analysis, speech, transitivity, ideology.

Introduction

This research examined the application of transitiviy of the Systemic Functional Linguistics
(SFL), as a theoretical tool in the analysis of ideology and identity in political speech. A speech is
considered as the main focus in Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). At the end the 1970s, CDA
has established as one of the domain of research in discourse studies. It is known as an approach
that is based on the union of language studies and social theory (Fairclough, 1992). Additionally,
this study is also under discourse analysis. Discourse analysis (DA), according to Sharififar and
Rahimi (2015), is ―a broad field which is related to use of language in context‖. Furthermore, they
also state one of the important features of DA is to study authentic text and conversations in the
social context. The early DA has concerned with the internal structure of texts. CDA's aim is to
examine the relationship between the language, ideology, and power; Furthermore, its aims is to
find out the assessment and exploitation of language dominance through text. One of the most
important linguistic theories correlated with a critical discourse approach is that of Halliday's
systematic functional grammar. It is supported by some linguists such as (Chouliaraki and
Fairclough 1999, Fairclough, 1992, 1995 a and b, Kress, 1985) who used it for analyzing the text
because systematic functional grammar has a significant role in critical interpretation of linguistic
expression in various discourses. As a matter of fact, systematic functional linguistic (SFL) model
has been applied as a tool for analyzing the texts.

The analysis‘ aim is to identify and explain how ideology and identity are constructed and
represented through Jokowi‘s speech. For ideology, Fairclough understands it as embedded in
discursive practice and he believes that people can be positioned within different and competing
ideologies (Jorgensen and Philips, 2002, pp.75-76). For identity, Laclau and Mouffe understand it
as identification with subject position in a discursive structure, the subject is fragmented or
decentred as it has different identities according to those discourses of which it forms part, and so
on (Jorgensen and Philips, 2002, p.43).
32
This research is divided into four sections. The first section situates the study within Joko Widodo
as the president of Indonesia by providing his political background. The next three sections
outline the basic tenets of Transitivity of Systemic Functional Linguistics, an analysis of data on
discussion, and the last is concluding remarks about the association between language and
ideology and identity.

Theoretical Framework

The theory of Systematic Functional Linguistics (SFL) that is developed by M.A.K. Halliday
since 1960s is ―a theory of meaning as choice, by which a language, or any other semiotic system,
is interpreted as networks of interlocking options: ‗either this, or that, or the other‘, ‗either more
like the one or more like the other‘, and so on‖ (Halliday, 1994, p.40). Nevertheless, only the
structural part of SFL, or Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG), is enough to ―show how the
options are realized‖ (ibid, p.41).

According to Halliday‘s SFG, ―all adult language is organized around a small number of
―functional components‖ which corresponds to metafunction (or the purposes which underlie all
language use) and that these metafunction have a systematic relationship with the lexicogrammar
of the language‖ (Bloor & Bloor, 2004, p.10).

According to Halliday and Hassan (1989, p. 10), a text, in the general term, is ''language that is
functional''; meaning written and verbal language which conveys social meaning in a specific and
real situation. Indeed, for Halliday the texts serve as the study of meaning and use of phrases and
words rather than just the union of words and sentences. It takes into account two perspectives
concurrently such as text as product and text as process. A text is considered as a product when
it studies the linguistic structures. Simultaneously it is a process in terms of semantic component
or encoding the meaning. These grammatical systems provide a basis for explaining the meanings
of different kinds. Halliday's basic idea is that language is established metafunctionally.
Therefore, Halliday's functions of language are called metafunctions and they have three kinds of
semantic units: ideational functions, the interpersonal function, and the textual function. Relating
to this study, transitivity system is a realization of ideational funtion.

Ideational Metafunction

The ideational function refers to those functions that provide a basis for understanding human
experience as a kind of resource for realizing the ''reality'' (Halliday, 1994). In other words, this
function conveys both new information and elements are unfamiliar to the listener. The events and
experience are represented by this function in both the real and intuitive world. Based on Halliday,
this function is separated into logical and experiential metafunctions. The former, logical refers to
the combination of two or more grammatical units into a more complex one. The experiential
function refers to grammatical options that allow individuals to create meanings about the world
around them and language evolved through this process. The latter, experiential refers to
transitivity system that comprises six processes (taken from Sharififar et al, 2015) as follow:

1) Material processes: Physical action in the real world.

2) Relational processes: Expressing possession, identifying, attribute

3) Mental processes: Processes of cognition, affection and perception.

4) Verbal processes: Processes of communication.

33
5) Behavioral processes: Hybrid processes = a material + mental process.

6) Existential: Processes of existing by an empty there in subject position.

Discussion

Text Analysis of Jokowi‘s Speech at APEC CEO Summit 2014

Transitivity Analysis

Through the analysis of transitivity, it is revealed that how changeable Jokowi‘s identity was
when he delivered his speech at APEC CEO Summit 2014 in Beijing, China, and also reveal what
ideologies Jokowi brought while delivering his speech. Firstly, regarding identity, Jokowi has
fragmented himself into three types of person; they are identity of president, businessman, and
problem-solver. Secondly, regarding ideology, Jokowi has implicitly shown his ideology of
blusukan (noticing the lowest level people in society) and his country‘s ideology which is
pancasila, point 4, that says people meet to discuss and find solution of their problems. The
following is table 1 to show the percentage of process types used by Jokowi:

Table 1. Transitivity in Jokowi‘s Speech at APEC CEO Summit 2014

Process types Frequency Percentage
Material 53 42
Relational 38 30.2
Mental 28 22.2
Verbal 6 4.8
Behavioural 0 0
Existential 1 0.8

From Table 1, it is seen that material processes are used dominantly with 42%, followed by
relational processes with 38%, mental processes with 22.2%, verbal processes with 4.8%, and the
least is existential process with 0.8% while behavioral process did not occur.

The speech was actually started by thanking people for coming and Jokowi used verbal process to
represent that. Some verbal processes were also used by Jokowi whenever he wanted to change
one topic to another topic. The verbal process then was used to end the speech by thanking people
there.

Now, for the dominant processes, which are material processes, were used to explain what the
government and Jokowi have done recently and will do in the future. Regarding the actions that
Jokowi will do in the future, he represented them in his government‘s wants by using mental
processes, that is why the mental processes appeared a lot. That is to say that some material
processes are the Jokowi government‘s idea projection. In terms of persuasion, Jokowi used
relational processes. Through the use of relational processes, he also indentified himself as the
former businessman and governor; he also described how large the country he leads is by using
these processes. Then, the existential process was used to reveal the existence of one problem he
ever faced and resolved.

With the use of material process, Jokowi has shown his identity as a president who has power to
push his people in his government to do whatever he asks, as can be seen from the following
sentence:

34
(1) I (actor) will push (material process) my ministers, my governors, my mayors (goal), to help
clear this problem.

With the use of material process also, Jokowi has shown his ideology in noticing and
caring the lowest level of his people by helping to raise the income of the fishermen and micro
enterprises as well. This is supporting what the activity where he is famous about, which is
blusukan. Here is the piece of his speech accordingly:

(2) Some subsidy we (actor) want to channel (material process) to the fishermen (recipient), to
give (material process) them (recipient) boat engines (goal), to give (material process) them
(recipient) refrigerators (goal).

(3) We (actor) want to increase (material process) the income of the fishermen (goal). Some fuel
subsidy we (actor) want to channel (material process) to micro and small enterprises
(recipient) in the villages.
(4) We (actor) want to help (material process) them (goal) raise (material process) their working
capital (goal).
With attributive relational process, Jokowi has shown his identity as a former businessman
to show people that he knows well how to do a business. Here is a piece of his speech
accordingly:

(5) Today, I am happy, I am very happy, to be with you, because you know I (carrier) was (att.rel.
process) a businessman (attribute) years ago.
With identifying relational process, Jokowi tried to make the businessmen there believe that the
investment opened in Indonesia is not only for his country‘s goodness but also for all
businessmen‘s profit. In other words, Jokowi once more has shown his identity as businessman
who knows about this very well. Here is a piece of speech accordingly:

(6) This (identified) is (identifying process) your opportunity (identifier)

With possesive relational processes, Jokowi used we and I as the dominant possessor. By
using we, Jokowi on behalf of Indonesia, states that how big the population of Indonesia is and
how many islands Indonesia has. Apparently, Jokowi sees this is a big factor that can bring
investors to invest. Regarding I, Jokowi mentioned that he had experience with land acquisition
and this related to problem he had towards the project (Jakarta Outer Ring Road) he had when he
was a governor. This then is to imply that he has a lot of experinces. Here are pieces of speech
accordingly:

(7) We (possessor) have (possessive process) a population of 240 million (possessed)

(8) We (possessor) have (possessive process) 17.000 islands (possessed),

(9) I (possessor) have (possessive process) problem (possessed)

(10) I (possessor) have (possessive process) project (the Jakarta Outer Ring Road) (possessed)

(11) I (possessor) have (possessive process) experience with land acquisition (possessed)

With the use of verbal process, Jokowi also has shown his ideology in resolving the
problem with discussion, and this is in line with his country, Indonesia‘s ideology which is to find
solution through musyawarah mufakat (deliberative concescus). Here is a piece of his speech
accordingly:

35
(12) I invite them and then we (sayer) talk (verbal process) about the problem (verbiage). Four
times. Four times meeting. And the problem is cleared.

Discursive Practice Analysis of Jokowi‘s Speech at APEC CEO Summit 2014

Joko Widodo (generally known as Jokowi) is the current President of Indonesia serving in this
position since October 2014. His nomination as PDI-P candidate for the 2014 presidential election
was announced on 14 March 2014. The presidential election was held on 9 July 2014. After some
controversy about the result of the election, Jokowi was named as president-elect on 22 July. He
was formally declared as the winner of the election by the General Elections Commission (Komisi
Pemilihan Umum or KPU), winning more than 53% of the vote over his opponent, Prabowo
Subianto (the leader of Gerindra party), who disputed the outcome and withdrew from the race
before the count was completed.

Jokowi was born in a poor family in the city of Surakarta, therefore Widodo had to face his share
of struggles as a member of the underprivileged section of the society and he had to take
education in State Primary School 111, Tirtoyoso, known for being a school for less wealthy
citizens. Because of the family‘s dire financial situations, he had to start working as a young boy
to support his family and to pay for his own education. At twelve, he started working in his
father's furniture workshop. The evictions he experienced three times in his childhood however
affected his way of thinking and his leadership later on as the mayor of Surakarta (Solo) as he
organised housing in the city. He was also successful to re-establish his business and by 2002
became a very successful furniture exporter. He then served as the chairman of a local branch of
the country‘s influential furniture manufacturers‘ association. He is known to be hard working and
intelligent. He studied hard and graduated with a degree in forestry engineering from the
prestigious Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta. While being a governor of Jakarta, Jokowi
followed the practice (known as blusukan) of regularly arranging well-publicized visits to local
communities, often in quite poor areas, across Jakarta.

Based on the explanation above, it is known that Jokowi‘s life and career backround affected the
speech he gave at APEC. His poor family formed him to be hard working and looking after the
other poor people, therefore he emphasised his plan mostly towards poor people of Indonesia. In
addition, his strong belief of knowing business is also affected by his successful business
background as furniture exporter.

Socio Cultural Analysis of Jokowi‘s Speech at APEC CEO Summit 2014

The context when Jokowi delivered his speech was when 1500 APEC Economic Leaders, CEOs,
and leading thinkers gathered in Beijing at an event namely the APEC CEO Summit 2014. It was
held from November 8 to 10, 2014, in Beijing, China. The Summit is the premier platform for the
APEC Economic Leaders and business executives to discuss Asia-Pacific economic issues and
promote regional trade, investment, and cooperation. It is known as the most influential and high-
level business event in the region. The key issues are facing the development of the Asia-Pacific
economic by sharing views on "Advancing Regional Economic Integration", "Promoting
Innovative development, Economic Reform and Growth" and "Strengthening Comprehensive
Connectivity and Infrastructure Development".

In line with the situation mentioned previously, it is understandable why Jokowi openly invited
investors there to invest in Indonesia in many sectors regarding the key issues brought by APEC.
It was a definitelty right place and moment to state that for Jokowi. Here, Jokowi tried not to
mince his words, instead he described the situation of Indonesia as it is.

36
In addition, Pancasila (originally from Sanskrit: "pañca" meaning five, and "sīla" meaning
principles) as the official philosophical foundation of the Indonesian also affects Jokowi‘s speech
at the time as he proudly represented how he could solve a problem by gathering and discussion
with other people. This action is apparently expresed in the fourth principle of Pancasila. The
following is five principles of Pancasila:

1. Belief in the one and only God (in Indonesian, Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa).

2. Just and civilised humanity (in Indonesian, Kemanusiaan Yang Adil dan Beradab).

3. The unity of Indonesia (in Indonesian, Persatuan Indonesia).

4. Democracy guided by the inner wisdom in the unanimity arising out of deliberations
amongst representatives (in Indonesian, Kerakyatan Yang Dipimpin oleh Hikmat
Kebijaksanaan, Dalam Permusyawaratan Perwakilan). Musyawarah Mufakat
(Deliberative Consensus)

5. Social justice for all of the people of Indonesia (in Indonesian, Keadilan Sosial bagi
seluruh Rakyat Indonesia).

The speech Jokowi delivered at APEC CEO Summit however attracted various reactions not
only in Indonesia but also in foreign countries. Some of them gave the positive responses, yet
some others gave the negative ones. One of the positive responses came from Hikwanto
Jumawana, a professor in international affairs, stated that Jokowi‘s speech addressed the main
problem he wanted to convey. On one hand, one of the negative responses came from Desmond J.
Mahesa, a Gerindra politician, stated that Jokowi‘s 13 minute speech was like ‗a seller‘.
Nevertheless, since the one who gave the negative response is actually from a Gerindra politician,
someone who is from the same party as Jokowi‘s opponent when presidential election, Prabowo,
it can be interpreted that there is still a friction between Jokowi and Prabowo‘s side. Moreover, it
was only about a month away from the declaration of winner election to APEC Summit 2014. The
friction between them is of course still hot.

Conclusion

Here we come up to the conclusion of this research that through the analysis of transitivity, it is
revealed that Jokowi represented his identities as president, businessman, and problem-solver by
using material, attributive relational, and verbal processess. On the other hand, he also represented
his ideology of blusukan (noticing and caring lowest level people) and pancasila (point 4:
discussion for achieving a solution). These results are definitely affected by Indonesia, a country
he leads, which is menjunjung tinggi pancasila as the basis of that country which has complex in
religions, tribes, etc.

References
Bloor, T., & Bloor, M. (2004). The Functional Analysis of English: A Hallidayan Approach. New
York: Oxford University Press.
Chouliaraki, L. and Fairclough, N. (1999). Discourse in Late Moderenity: Rethinking Critical
Discourse Analysis. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and Social Change. Cambridge, UK: Policy Press.
Fairclough, N. (1995B). Discourse Across Disciplines: Discourse Analyzing in Researching
Social Change. AILA Review, 12, 3-17

37
Kress, G. (1989). Linguistic Processes in Sociocultural Practices. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Fairclough, N. (1995a). Critical Discourse Analysis. London: Longman.
Halliday, M.A.K. (1994). An Intoduction to Functional Grammar. Sydney: Edward Arnold.
Halliday, M.A.K., & Hasan, R. (1999). Language, Context and Text: Aspect of Language in a
Social Semiotic Perspective. Geelong: Deakin University.
Jorgensen, M. and Phillips, L. (2002). Discourse Analysis as Theory and Method. London: Sage
Publications.
Sharififar, M., & Rahimi, E. (2015). Theory and Practice in Language Studies. Critical
Discourse Analysis of Political Speeches: A Case Study of Obama‟s and Rouhani‟s
Speeches at UN. (pp. 343-349).

38
 Schematic Structure Analysis of A Retelling Narrative to the Teaching of Language for
Preschool Children

Editia Herningtias
Universitas Indonesia
editiah28@gmail.com

Abstract
For narrative purposes, children can learn it by story-telling or reading a book with adult.
However, at preschool age, children express an interest in the story in a different way compared
with adults. Children will ask adult to retell a story more than once. In the process of story-telling,
children acquire new vocabulary with the help of visual images in the book. However, with the
limited vocabulary, when re-telling a story, children will use vocabularies that explain the core of
each story. This is qualitative study with experimental method, controlled observation. For this
study, I used data from the audio transcript of two people, an adult and a preschool age child
named Rena (3 years). The book used for this study was a brief English-language book mounted
to 8 pages, titled The Ugly Duckling. Adult recorded the story first, then the child listening to the
recorded story by adult. Then, the child was also recorded when she re-telling the story. It was
found that the 3 years old-child retold a story in similar way with adult. They have (1)
corresponding orientation: introduce mother of the ducks and eggs as characters in the text, (2)
complication: both adult and child focus on last egg—the ugly duck, (3) evaluation: other ducks
are being confused with the ugly duck and the ugly duck feels sad, (4) solution: the ugly duck
meet beautiful swans, (5) coda: the ugly duck happy with beautiful swans. Child can also realize
three metafunctions in the text, (1) the ideational: mother of the ducks, ducks, ugly duck, and
swans, (2) the interpersonal: relations between the characters, and (3) the textual: use cohesive
devices, such as ―lalu‖ (and then).

Keywords: Preschool Child, Narrative, SFL

Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) and Narrative

Language is the primary tool which is used in communication (Lauder, 2007). In language
education, M. A. K. Halliday introduced Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). It is a theory of
language based originally in the work of M. A. K. Halliday beginning in the mid to late 1950s. It
is systemic because language can be seen as a system of choices for making meaning (Halliday &
Matthiessen, 2004). Furthermore, it is functional because it can be used to achieve goals in society
(Eggins, 2004). Theories of language are developed to help explain language use for educational
purposes, one of those theories is narrative theory.

Narrative is one of discourse example. In discourse, we know about organon model, which said
that reader or listener as receiver will appeal what writer or speaker said in narrative as sender.
Thus, sender sends symptom, and then this symptom is received as a signal for receiver. This is
known also as organon model of Karl Bühler (Renkema, 2004).

39
Figure 1. Bühler‘s Organon Model

As we can see at figure 1 above, what sender sends symptom and receiver receive it as a signal. In
other opinion, Prof. Benny H. Hoed, from Universitas Indonesia said that receiver will get the
point of the whole narrative differently. In the other words, what writer or speaker said in
narrative will not be accepted a 100% by reader or listener (Hoed, 2014). Thus, Hoed (2014) had
revision concept of organon model. He said that amount of lines in signal is different from amount
of lines in symptom.

In narrative, there are four schematic structures: (1) orientation (preliminary information about the
participant, the setting of space, time, and the action), (2) complication (involves the problem
culminating in a crisis), (3) evaluation (creates a feeling of suspense and marks a break between
orientation and complication), (4) resolution (How protagonist manages to resolve the crisis), and
(5) coda (refers back to the theme of the abstract and make an overall statement about the text)
(Eggins, 2004). There are also three metafunctions in language: the ideational (participants and
what they doing), the interpersonal (relationships), and the textual (clausal theme with cohesive
devices) (Halliday & Mattiessen, 2004). The ideational metafunction represents the participant,
what participant doing, and the circumstances in the text. The interpersonal metafunction
concerned with how relationships and attitudes are negotiated between people in the text.
Moreover, the textual metafunction is responsible to analyze clausal theme. Through those three
metafunctions, we can realize a lexico-grammatical pattern in the text.

3-Years Old Child and Narrative

In the process, children receive language used by people around them. According to Tarigan
(1988), child language acquisition obtained from natural contact that involves the understandings
and idioms are conducted without any formal activities. Therefore, chatting or storytelling activity
is one way to give and receive vocabularies to be used again in the similar situations. They will
use them when they have started to produce words. O‘Grady (2007) said that by the age of three,
children—as preschool children—can produce basic of sentence formation and try to imitate
adult. In this age, children can produce subject-verb-object sentence as basic sentence, for
example, ―I eat banana‖.

Differently, children express their language in simpler sentence construction than adults
(O‘Grady, 2007). However, in their simple sentences, adults can understand what they said. Thus,
from this opinion, we can say that proposition1 of children will be simpler than adults. In other
hand, we have known that narrative has four schematic structures and three metafunctions in
language. From simple proposition by children, we will see about the schematic structures and
metafunctions of narrative that children appeal as receiver from adults as sender.
1
Smallest unit of meaning (Halliday & Hasan, 1976).

40
Retelling Narrative Adult to 3-Years Old Child as Preschool Child

From the explanation above, we assume that proposition of children is simpler than adults. Those
simple propositions by children, we show us about the schematic structures and metafunctions of
narrative. This is the purpose of this research: to see the schematic structures and metafunctions of
narrative by preschool children.

For this research, I used controlled observation. I used data from the audio transcript of two
people, an adult and a preschool age child named Rena (3 years). Adult recorded the story first,
then the child listening to the recorded story by adult. The situation is taken when a child want to
go to sleep. Then, the child was also recorded when she re-telling the story. The situation is
almost the same: tell a story to her doll as her child before go to sleep.

The book used for this study was a brief English-language book mounted to 8 pages, titled The
Ugly Duckling. The book was chosen because it is quite short and full of pictures with the layout
of the sentences the story only on one side of the page. For telling this story, adults use his
sentences in Bahasa Indonesia refers to English text in the book. Thus, adult also change the
sentences from English into Bahasa Indonesia.

All the utterances are recorded, for research purpose. As result, we can see that child‘s utterances
are simpler that adult‘s utterances. We can see at the table below:\

Table 1. Adult and Child Utterances (Page 1—2)

Child Utterances
Picture Adult Utterances
(Rena‘s)
(1) Suatu hari, ada seekor (1) Halo, namaku e.. induk
induk bebek yang bebek.
bertelur. (2) Aku punya anak-anak
(2) Telur-telur lainnya aku
sudah menetas. (3) Itu telur belum menetas
(3) Tetapi masih ada satu (4) Lalu siapa ya di
telur yang belum dalamnya ya?
menetas.
(4) Wah, induk bebek
menunggu satu telur
lagi

From the data in Table 1, we can see that in pages 1—2, both adult and Rena—a 3 years old child
which is called as preschool child—has corresponding orientation: introduce mother of the ducks
and eggs as characters in the text. The propositions that is used by child is shorter than adult‘s. In
utterance (1) both adult and child, we can see the main proposition which is ―induk bebek‖ or
mother of the ducks that they are introduced. In pages 1—2, both adult and child also focus on the
last egg which is not yet hatched. This last egg would be a starting point of a crisis; we called it as
a complication on narrative. We can see this complication on utterances (3) Table 1 in both
participants: adult and Rena. For the last utterances, instead of giving expression ―wah‖2, the child
use conjunction ―lalu3‖. Both can be cohesive devices to make this narrative comprehension.

2
Wow.
3
And then.

41
Table 2. Adult and Child Utterances (Page 3—4)

Picture Adult Utterances Child Utterances (Rena‘s)

(1) Telur itu sudah menetas.
(2) Ternyata anak bebek
terakhir berbeda dengan
anak-anak bebek lainnya.
(3) Semua anak-anak bebek
menjadi bingung.
(4) Induk bebek juga merasa
bingung.
(1) Ooh, kakak bebek.
(2) Itu berbeda telurnya.
(3) Isinya kakak bebek.
(4) Bebek kecilnya dua-
duanya bingung.
(5) Mama..mama..induk
bebeknya bingung juga.

In pages, both adult and Rena focus on the last egg. This part also part of complication that the
last egg can be a problem because this egg is an ugly duck. These ugly duck is a gray duck which
is physically different from the others. The feeling that other ducks feel is confuse and this is
showed in utterances (3) and (4) Table 2 in adult, while we can see in utterances (4) and (5) Table
2 from child. In Rena‘s utterances, there are two utterances that have similar proposition:
utterances (1) and (3) Table 2. It show that the child do repetition for explain a narrative. That is
the reason why in these pages child has more utterances than adult.

Table 3. Adult and Child Utterances (Page 5—6)

Picture Adult Utterances Child Utterances (Rena‘s)

(1) Kemudian, anak bebek (1) Lalu bebek kakaknya dia
yang berbeda itu sedih. sedih karena nggak ada
(2) Dia berjalan-jalan teman-temannya.
sendirian dan tidak punya (2) Dia berjalan-jalan..
teman. (3) Dia berjalan-jalan sendiri.

There are 3 utterances from Rena and 2 utterances from adult in Table 3. We can also see the
evaluation that the ugly duck feels sad about that situation. Both adult and Rena uses word
―sedih4‖ in their first utterance for page 5—6. The child do—again—repetition in utterance (2)
and (3) in Table 3 for explain that the ugly duck walk alone to go somewhere because the ugly
duck feel sad. In this part, adult uses ―kemudian5‖ as cohesive devices, while Rena as preschool
child uses ―lalu6‖, both ―kemudian‖ and ―lalu‖ have similar meaning to show sustainability.

Table 4. Adult and Child Utterances (Page 7—8)

Picture Adult Utterances Child Utterances (Rena‘s)

(1) Sampai akhirnya, anak (1) Lalu dia pergi ke bebek
bebek itu bermain dengan angsa.
angsa-angsa yang cantik. (2) Lalu ada cantik-cantik
(2) Akhirnya, dia punya angsanya.
teman baru. (3) Satu cantik.
(3) Angsa-angsa cantik. (4) Dua cantik.
(5) Tiga cantik.
4
Sad
5
And then
6
And then

42
 (6) Empat cantik.
(7) Lima cantik.
(8) Lima yang cantik.
(9) Selesai.

This Table 4 shows that in pages 7—8, utterances of the child are six utterances more than the
adult. However, both adult and Rena give us similar information that finally the ugly duck find
beautiful swans as new friends who want to be the his friend. This is a part of solution in the
narrative, that finally the ugly duck find new friends and live happily. There are interesting
utterances are from the child in Table 4. In utterances (3)—(7) Table 4—there are five utterances,
she counts the swans. It shows not only the repetition from the word ―cantik7‖, but also basic
number one to five. Besides that, the different utterance can be seen on the last utterance from
Rena. She uses the word ―selesai8‖ to show that this is the end of the story, while adult did not do
that. In this Table 4, adult uses variations of cohesive devices: ―sampai akhirnya9‖ and
―akhirnya10‖, but Rena uses ―lalu‖ as cohesive device in the first utterance.

From all utterances, we can also see the metafunction from this narrative. Both adult and Rena
give us information about the ideational or the participants of the narrative: mother of the ducks,
ducks, the ugly duck, and the swans. They also give us information about relation between the
participants or interpersonal relations. And the last, both adult and child use some kind of
cohesive devices. However, adult uses variation kind of cohesive devices: ―kemudian‖, ―sampai
akhirnya‖, ―akhirnya‖, while Rena uses less cohesive device: ―lalu‖. It shows that the child uses
less difficult sentence and cohesive device than the adult in narrative.

Conclusion

It was found that the 3 years old-child, Rena, retold a story in similar way with adult. With fewer
propositions than adult, Rena retold similar idea in semantic ways, what Halliday and Hasan said
about proposition and semantic (Halliday & Hasan, 1976). Rena and the adult used similar idea of
proposition, although Rena used simpler propositions than adult.

It also shows corresponding orientation: introduce mother of the ducks and eggs as characters in
the text, complication: both adult and child focus on last egg—the ugly duck, evaluation: other
ducks are being confused with the ugly duck, solution: the ugly duck meet beautiful swans, coda:
the ugly duck happy with beautiful swans.

Rena can also realize three metafunctions in the text. The ideational: mother of the ducks, ducks,
ugly duck, and swans, the interpersonal: relations between the characters, and the textual: use
cohesive devices, such as ―lalu‖. Thus, from this finding, it can be concluded that through
narrative, children learn language and it shows that preschool children can also realize narrative
schematic structure through their simple propositions. As a preschool child, Rena uses less
cohesive device than adult. She use only ―lalu‖ as cohesive device.

7
Beautiful
8
The end
9
Finally
10
Finally

43
Thus, from this research, we can see that the child uses less difficult sentence and cohesive device
than the adult in narrative. However, the preschool child can get the point of schematic structure
and metafunction of narrative as the same as adult.

References
O‘Grady, William. (2007). How Children Learn Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Tarigan, Henry Guntur. (1988). Pengajaran Pemerolehan Bahasa. Jakarta: Depdikbud.
Hallliday, M. A. K., & Matthiessen, C.M.I.M. (2004). An Introduction to Functional Grammar
(3rd ed.). London: Arnold.
Eggins, S. (2004). An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics (2nd ed.). New York:
Continuum.
Arikunto. (1993). Prosedur Penelitian: Suatu Pendekatan Praktek (edisi kesembilan). Jakarta:
Rineka Cipta.
Halliday, M. A. K., & Hasan, Ruqaiya. (1976). Cohesion in English. London: Longman.
Hoed. Benny H. (2014). Semiotika dan Dinamika Sosial Budaya. Depok: Komunitas Bambu.
Lauder, Multamia RMT, Yuwono, Untung, & Kushartanti. (2007). Pesona Bahasa: Langkah
Awal Memahami Linguistik. Jakarta: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama.
Mulyana. (2005). Kajian Wacana: Teori, Metode, dan Aplikasi Prinsip-prinsip Analisis Wacana.
Yogyakarta: Tiara Wacana.
Renkema, Jan. (2004). Introduction to Discourse Analysis. Amsterdam: John. Benjamins.

44
 Scaffolding in the Teaching of Writing Discussion Texts Based on SFL – Genre Based
Approach

Eva Fitriani Syarifah

Universitas Majalengka
eva.fsyarifah@gmail.com

Wawan Gunawan
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
wagoen@upi.edu

Abstract

In developing students‘ literacy learning, SFL-Genre Based Approach projects scaffolding

activities with respect to individuals‘ zone proximal development. However, the way in
which scafolding is implemented in this approach is still questionable with respect to the
contexts of teaching and the nature of the concept which includes modelling and text
reproduction. This study attempts to investigate the implementation of scaffolding in the
teaching of writing discussion texts based on SFL-GBA and how it improves the students‘
writing. The data were collected from the observation of teaching and learning processes. In
analyzing the data, a qualitative design, which employed coding and categorization process
with reference to the research questions, was used to find the patterns of scaffolding with
reference to the concept of scaffolding and the concept of genre-based pedagogy. The
analysis reveals that scaffolding processes were implemented in terms of macro and micro
scaffoldings. Macro scaffolding is related to designed-in including the strategy of how the
teacher set the teaching goals, how the classroom was organized, and how the tasks were
selected and sequenced. Micro scaffolding can be found in a verity of classroom interactions.
The analysis found ten types of micro scaffoldings impelemented in this genre based
approach.

Keywords: scaffolding, discussion texts, SFL- genre-based approach

Introduction

In writing essays, the students‘ deal with some problems mostly in getting ideas, organizing
ideas, developing details, choosing correct words and structuring ideas in correct sentences, and
maintaining paragraph unity (Laksmi, 2006; Lestari, 2008). To anticipate the problems, some
scholars proposed the implementation of genre based approach in teaching writing. Genre based
approach gives positive impacts on English Language Teaching (Derewianka, 2003; Hyland,
2007). In genre based approach, the concept of teaching writing is teaching the students in the text
level by involving the stages of teaching namely building knowledge of field, modeling, joint
construction and independent construction (Emilia, 2011; Feez & Joyce, 1998). The
implementation of genre-based approach follows the concept of scaffolding or teacher-supported
learning (Hyland, 2004).
In the classroom context of classroom interaction, the term scaffolding has been taken up to
portray the temporary assistance or support that teachers provide for their students in order to
assist them to complete a task or develop new understandings, so that they will later be able to
complete similar tasks alone (Dufficy, 2001; Hammond & Gibbons, 2005; Michell & Sharpe,
2005; Walqui, 2006).Scaffolding is categorized into macro and micro level (Hammond, 2001). A
macro scaffolding sequence is a teaching learning unit designed around the curriculum cycle.
Macro-level scaffolding is related to larger issues such as program goals and the selection and

45
sequencing of tasks (Hammond & Gibbons, 2005). In this scaffolding level, the teachers are
required to be able to decide appropriate educational goals, and to articulate these goals both in
terms of language goals and specific curriculum goals (Hammond, 2001). That is, they are able to
make decisions about ‗scaffolding what‘. At macro level, there are five key elements of
scaffolding: the teacher‘s goal, the teacher‘s understanding of the linguistic demands of the
associated tasks, knowledge of the students and their current abilities and understandings, careful
sequencing of tasks designed to develop the practices required to achieve the goal, and a gradual
but constant shift of responsibility for task completion from teacher to student (Hammond, 2001;
Walqui, 2006).

In addition, micro scaffolding occurs within the broader macro scaffolding. It is the teacher‘s
supports which occur in the ongoing interaction (Hammond, 2001). Micro scaffolding which
occurs during the teacher and the students‘ interaction can be identified as five types (Roehler &
Cantlon, 1997). However, Walqui (2006) categorized this type of scaffolding into six types which
include modeling, bridging, contextualization, schema building, re-presenting text and developing
metacognition. The five types of scaffolding classified by Roehler and Cantlon (1997) include
offering explanation, inviting students‘ participation, verifying and clarifying students
understanding, modeling of desired behavior, and inviting students to contribute clues.

Method

This research was conducted at tertiary level, specifically at a university in Majalengka, West Java
Province, using a qualitative design. The purposive sampling technique was used in determining
the subjects of the research. Six students were purposively chosen as focus participants in this
research. Research instruments utilized in this research included: (1) participatory classroom
observations to gain the picture of the scaffolding processes implemented in the teaching writing
of discussion texts based on SFL-GBA; (2) interviews to complete the data obtained from
classroom observation and documentation of students‘ texts. Data analysis was performed through
three stages: first, identifying the scaffolding processes implemented in the teaching process and
the students‘ improvements in their texts. Second, reducing the data obtained in accordance with
the purpose of the research. Third, mapping the patterns and relationships of each element as
found in the previous two stages.

Findings and Discusion

The scaffolding processes as implemented in the teaching writing of discussion texts under SFL –
genre based approach were categorized in terms of macro and micro levels. Macro scaffoldings
revealed in this research were identified through: (1) teaching goals, (2) selection and sequence of
tasks (3) and classroom organization. The teacher mentioned the teaching goals in each teaching
session and they were also stated in the teaching document i.e. lesson plans. The teacher provided
tasks based on the students‘ need. Moreover, the tasks were sequenced from the easiest to the
complex one. In some activities, the students‘ were asked to work in pairs or groups. For instance,
in joint construction of the text, the students‘ were asked to write a discussion text in group.
Micro scaffoldings revealed in this research included: (1) offering explanation; (2) modeling; (3)
bridging; (4) inviting students‘ participation; (5) inviting students to contribute clues; (6) schema
building; (7) verifying and clarifying students‘ understanding; (8) re-presenting text; (9)
contextualizing; (10) and developing metacognition.

46
Offering explanation

This type of scaffolding which appeared in the teaching phases was in forms of declarative and
procedural knowledge. Declarative knowledge can be identified when the teacher explained the
discussion text which was being learnt by the students explicitly, such as explained the schematic
structure and the language features of discussion genre.
In the following example, the teacher provided declarative knowledge when explaining the
schematic structure of discussion genre.

Teacher : Do you know the structure of discussion text?

Students : (no response)
Teacher : hmm, look at this. If you want to write a discussion text, so you need to
present the issue, the arguments for, the argument against, and the
conclusion. Those are the structures of a discussion text. Now, look at the
example of discussion text, the see the structures of the text!
In the excerpt above, the teacher asked whether the students know the structure of discussion text
or not. The students gave no response so the teacher explained the structure of discussion text
explicitly. Then, the teacher checked the students‘ understanding about what had been explaining
by asking the students to analyze the schematic structure of the text model. This activity is very
helpful to increase the students‘ understanding of the schematic structure of discussion text
(Roehler & Cantlon: 1997).

Inviting students’ participation

This type of scaffolding can be identified when the teacher give the students opportunities to join
the process that was occurring. The example of this type of scaffolding is presented in the
following excerpt.
In this example, the teacher invited the students participation by asking the student opinion about
what was being discussed.
Teacher : So, which one is the argument for?
Students : (raising their hand)
Teacher : Okay, Olive. So, which one is the argument for?
Olive : The second paragraph. The first reason why the corruptors should be
given the death penalty because they cause difficulties for economic
development.
In the interaction above, it can be observed that the teacher invited students‘ participation by
asking the students to mention which one is the argument for in the text. Since the students
participated actively during the teaching and learning process so it was not difficult to invite their
participation during the teaching and learning process in this teaching cycle.

Verifying and clarifying students’ understanding

This type of scaffolding can be identified when the teacher checked the students‘ emerging
understanding. The excerpt below is presented the example on how the teacher verified and
clarified the students‘ understanding. After explaining about the use of connective conjunction as
one of 1the language features of discussion text, the teacher verified and clarified the students
understanding by asking some questions.
Teacher : Any question about connective conjunction used in discussion text?
Students : (no response)
Teacher : Andi, please take a look to the example text! Can you mention the example
of connective conjunction in the text?

47
 Andi : For example, if we want to continue to the second paragraph, we can use
―Below are the discussion of argument for and against the death penalty‖
Teacher : Okay, good. What else?
In the excerpt above, the teacher verified and clarified the students understanding illustrated in the
italic sentences by asking some questions and give feedback to the students‘ responses. When the
students shared their understanding or answered the questions correctly it means that the students
were acknowledged what was being discussed.

Modeling

Modeling which was found in this teaching cycle of this present study was in form of
demonstration. The demonstration provided by the teacher includes providing several models of
discussion genre.
Teacher : Now, I have two examples. Read these texts first!
Have you finished read those texts?
Students : Yes.
Teacher : Comparing these texts, which one do you think is a discussion genre?
Students : The second text, the first text...
Teacher : Yes, Andi. Why do you say that the first text is a discussion text?
Andi : Because we can found the argument for and against the issue in the text.
Teacher : How about you, Olive?
Olive : I agree with Andi.
Teacher : The first text is the example of a discussion text. How about the second
text? What type of text is it?
In the interaction above, the teacher gave two models of different texts to give a real example of
text being learned by the students. The students were asked to compare both text and decided
which one was a discussion text. This activity can give some benefits for the students since they
need to be given clear examples of what is requested of them for imitation when they are
introducing to a new task so they are able to develop product looks like (Walqui, 2006).

Inviting students to contribute clues

This type of scaffolding was identified in the teaching phases when the teacher encouraged the
students to contribute clues how to complete the tasks. The following excerpt provides the
example on how the teacher provided this type of scaffolding.

Teacher : After reading the text. So, why do people agree with the death penalty?
Students : (raising their hands)
Teacher : Okay, Yogi.
Yogi : It is related to deterrence effect.
Student : Miss...
Teacher : Yes, Andi.
Andi : Justice.
Teacher : Why justice?
Andi : Because it will make the victim‘s family trauma when they know the
perpetrator still alive.
Teacher : How about deterrence?
Yogi : The perpetrator cannot commit another crime or the potential criminal will
think twice.

48
In the excerpt above, the teacher invited the students to contribute clues as illustrated in the italic
sentences, the teacher guided the students to share their arguments by asking them question ―why
do people agree with death penalty?― . Then the students gave responses to the teacher question.
In line with that, Roehler and Clanton (1997) say that this type of scaffolding can be valuable
since the students were persuaded to offer clues and verbalized the process together with the
teacher.

Bridging

Bridging is provided by the teacher to activate students‘ prior knowledge (Walqui, 2006). This
type of scaffolding could be identified when the teacher asked the students to share their
experiences related to the theme that will be introduced in the lesson.
Teacher : Do you still remember what type of texts that you have learned in the
previous writing course or when you were in senior high school?
Students : Letter, CV...
Teacher : In senior high school?
Students : Narrative, descriptive
Teacher : What else?
Students : Recount..
Teacher : How about discussion text?
Students : (no response)
Teacher : Have you learned about discussion text?
Students : No.
In the excerpt above, the teacher tried to connect what is going to be learned by the students with
their prior knowledge or experience. The teacher asked the students whether they have learned
about discussion text or not.

Schema building

This type of scaffolding was found in this teaching phases. It can be identified when the teacher
asked the students to preview the text in the preparation for reading so the student began their
reading with the new concept which they need to familiar with. In the following example, schema
building occurred when the teacher directed the students to the most important part which would
be discussed in the following activity. It can be seen in the following excerpt.
Teacher : Before finding out the elaborations, what you need to do is mark each part
of this text, which one is the issue, the argument for, the argument against,
and the conclusion.
Students : Yes, Miss.
Teacher : Okay, go on.
In the excerpt above, it was revealed that the teacher asked the students to capture the broader part
before portrait the details. This is in line with the suggestion proposed by Walqui (2006) that
schema building is important because the student must have ―a general knowledge of the broad
picture before studying the details.‖ This schema building is also useful since it will help the
learner to focus on important information to come.

Contextualizing

This type of scaffolding was found in the teaching phases can be identified when the teacher gave
analogies related to the topic being discussed. This can be seen in the following example:

49
 Teacher : Talking about discussion genre, it looks like two sides of a coin. There
will be different arguments related to the issue. In discussion texts, we need
to present arguments that support and oppose the issue.

Any questions so far?

Students : Which arguments that should be presented as the first one?

Teacher : Commonly, arguments that support the issue come first.

In the excerpt above, the teacher gave an analogy about two sides of a coin. The teacher said that
discussion genre looks like a coin which has two sides. In discussion genre, an issue is also
presented in two different points of views (Emilia, 2014).

Representing Text

This type of scaffolding can be identified when the teacher invited the student to check the
language used in one text and the others. The example can be seen in the following expert:

Teacher : Now you have two different texts. What you need check the language
features of each text. Then analyze which text is discussion text?

In the excerpt above, the teacher asked the students to analyze the language features of two
different texts. As mentioned by Walqui (2006) this can help students to maximize their capacity
in understanding the genre being discussed.

Developing Metacognition

This type of scaffolding can be identified in the teaching phases. For instance, the teacher gave a
model and practice as a whole class before students worked in pairs or small groups.
Teacher : Now, look at this example of discussion text. The first paragraph is the
issue. The issue presents the topic that we are going to discuss in the next
paragraph. The second and third paragraph provides arguments related to
the issue. The second paragraph is argument for which support the issue.
Meanwhile, the next paragraph consists of argument against which oppose
the issue. The last is conclusion. Now look at the second text. Can you
mention which one is the issue?
Students : The first paragraph.
Teacher : How do you know that the first paragraph is the issue?
Bambang : Because it presents the topic that elaborated in the next paragraph.
In the excerpt above, it can be seen that the teacher provide an exercise in a whole class before
asking the students to analyze texts in pairs and groups.

Conclusion

The results of this research revealed that the scaffolding processes as reflected in teaching cycles
can be categorized into macro and micro scaffoldings. Macro scaffolding deals with the teaching
goals, classroom organization, and the selections and sequences of the task. This category was
found in all of the teaching cycles. In addition, micro scaffolding deals with the scaffolding
provision in the classroom interaction. Micro scaffolding as reflected in the teaching cycle took
place in the building knowledge of field, modeling of the text, and joint construction of the text.
There are ten types of micro scaffolding which were found in the present study include offering

50
explanation, modeling, bridging, inviting students‘ participation, inviting students to contribute
clues, schema building, and verifying and clarifying students‘ understanding, re-presenting text,
contextualizing, developing metacognition. These types of scaffolding mostly took place in
modeling of the text cycle.

References

Derewianka, B. (2003). Trends and Issues in Genre - Based Approaches. RELC Journal, 34, 133–
154.

Dufficy, P. (2001). Scaffolding and Assisted Performance in Multilingual Classrooms. Journal of

Educational Enquiry, 2, 33–49.

Emilia, E. (2011). Pendekatan Genre Based dalam Pengajaran Bahasa Inggris: Petunjuk bagi
Guru. Bandung: Rizqi Press.

Emilia, E. (2014). Introducing Functional Grammar. Bandung: Pustaka Jaya.

Feez, S., & Joyce, H. (1998). Text - Based Syllabus Design. Sydney: National Centre for English
Language Teaching and Research.

Hammond, J. (2001). Scaffolding, Teaching and Learning in Language and Literacy Education.
Newton: PETA.

Hammond, J., & Gibbons, P. (2005). Putting scaffolding to work: The contribution of scaffolding
in articulating ESL education. Prospect, 20, 6–30.

Hyland, K. (2004). Genre and Second Language Writing. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan
Press.

Hyland, K. (2007). Genre pedagogy: Language, literacy and L2 writing instruction. Journal of
Second Language Writing, 16, 148–164.

Laksmi, E. D. (2006). Scaffolding Students‘ Writing EFL Class: Implementing Process Approach.
TEFLIN Journal, 17, 144–156.

Lestari, L. A. (2008). The Interactional Approach To The Teach-Ing Of Writing And Its
Implications For Second Language Acquisition. TEFLIN Journal, 19, 42–56.

Michell, M., & Sharpe, T. (2005). Collective instructional scaffolding in English as a Second
Language classrooms. Prospect, 20, 31–58.

Roehler, L. R., & Cantlon, D. J. (1997). Scaffolding: A Powerful Tool in Social Constructivist
Classrooms. In Scaffolding Student Learning Instructional Approaches and Issues. Canada:
Brookline Books Inc.

Walqui, A. (2006). Scaffolding Instruction for English Language Learners: A Conceptual

Framework. The International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, Vol. 9, No.
2, 159–180.

51
 Process Types in Malay Narrative Texts

Hanita Hassan
Language Academy
hanita@utm.my

Ibrahim Mohd Jais

Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Ibrahimmj@utm.my

Abstract
This paper explores the process types and their functions in Malay narrative texts. Following
Aman (2012), who believes that to be a scientific study, Malay linguistic analysis should be based
on real discourse as language data, this study thus analysed the narrative texts of Mahsuri, a story
of the famous Malay legend of Langkawi Island, using transitivity theory (Halliday, 1994).
Aman (2014) reclassified Malay process types through his work on a novel entitled Sungai
Mengalir Lesu (or The River Flows Wearily) by a Malaysian laurate, A Samad Said (1997).
Having said that, this study aims to expand the study by Aman to other narrative genres. A total
of eight narrative texts was used as the data for this study. Four texts were taken from the
Tourism Information Boards, which are located at Makam Mahsuri, the famous tourist destination
in Langkawi. The other four texts were taken from the Malaysian Tourism official website,
MyKedah Blog by Kedah State Library Corporation, and Sastera Rakyat Blog. The total number
of words, for all the texts, was 4189 with 438 ranked clauses. It is important to note that many
Malay sentences do not require verbs, or in other words, the presence of a verb is not essential in
a Malay sentence (Karim, 1995). Consequently, the clause ranking process was done based on
the main framework of Malay structures, that is, by identifying the Subject and Predicate.
Subject is the title, whilst predicate is the story or explanation about the subject (Omar, 1986).
There are four basic Malay structures, of which the subject is always a noun phrase, whereas, the
predicate can be a noun, verb, adjective or prepositional phrase. However, the noun, adjective or
prepositional phrase can function as a verb phrase when they are placed as a predicate
(Hirobumi@Rahmat, 2011). The process types of narrative text on Mahsuri were determined
using a combination of Halliday's (1994) Transitivity theory, Malay basic structures and Aman's
(2012) notion on Malay process types. Similar to Aman (2014), the findings reveal that the
material process is the most significant process type and followed by situation. This shows that
the most important function in unfolding stories is to narrate what happened and also to illustrate
the situations or conditions of the events. Verbal and mental process types are of equal
importance, by which the verbal process is used to signify who said what, whilst interestingly the
mental process is to connote the beliefs of the society in those days. In addition, the findings of
this study also show that a relational process foregrounds the participant's identity or attributes
and the existential process type is to indicate the presence of participants. Interestingly, there is
no verb-to-be in Malay, however, it is replaced with ialah or adalah, the process type called
‗perihalan‘ or description. For future research, we suggest that more studies on the pattern of
Malay process types used in other genres are needed.

Keywords: Ideational metafunction, Malay literary text, Malay structure, process types and
transitivity analysis

Introduction

Malaysia is known for her diverse tourist attractions across the country and a variety
tourism commodities to cater for different tourists‘ needs. Having said that, the Malaysian
52
tourism commodities comprise of various types of exciting tourist destinations, natural wonders,
shopping paradise, eating places, exciting choices of entertainment and lastly a fascinating
diversity of cultures (Hassan et al, 2008). Most importantly, culture is one of the promising
commodities in tourism industry since current tourists expect to experience the culture of the
visited region in which tourism provides genuine, meaningful interactions between cultures
(Rojek and Urry, 1997) and, furthermore, Wen and Chia (2012) claim that tourists are pleasantly
moved by different cultures.

Following this, cultural representations are vital to Malaysian tourism industry as a means of
fulfilling the tourists‘ interest in seeing the uniqueness of ‗others‘ and portraying one‘s
cultures is part of self-presentation that distance ‗Us‘ form ‗Others‘ (Goffman, 1959; Hassan et
al, 2008; Rojek and Urry, 1997). The information on cultures can be divided into five categories,
for instance, people, festivals, traditional lifestyles, traditional music and traditional games. The
diversity of Malaysia cultures, which is the result of multi-ethnic groups in Malaysia, has turned
to be an invaluable tourism commodity to the Tourism Malaysia. Besides, the multi-ethnic
groups that reside in Malaysia have also resulted into various colorful cultural festivals (Hassan,
2014). Most interestingly, the representations of traditional lifestyles, by which the primitiveness
and genuine friendliness of Malaysian, are intentionally portrayed to highlight the unique cultural
features, which are believed to be able to allure tourists who really fancy otherness (White,
2007). When talking about people and traditional lifestyles of others, one element should not
be missed is the history of the people.

History can be told in the form of narrations and the focus of this paper is to discuss the process
types and their functions in Malay narrative. In addition, having realised the importance to have a
scientific study on Malay linguistic analysis, of which the study should be based on real discourse
as language data, this study thus analysed the narrative texts of Mahsuri, a story of the famous
Malay legend of Langkawi Island, using ideational metafunction (Aman, 2012; Halliday, 1994).

Mahsuri was a beautiful young woman and was born in Langkawi Island. She was accused to
commit adultery in the absence of her husband, Wan Derus. In relation to that, she was sentenced
to death by the Chief of Village (or Ketua Kampung), who happened to be her father in law. Upon
the execution of her death sentence, she cursed that the island would not be peaceful and prosper
for seven generations. There is her tomb called Makam Mahsuri which has become one of the
famous tourist attractions on the Langkawi Island.

The story of Mahsuri can be obtained from many sources and one of it, which is a very brief
version, is the Tourism Information Boards at the Mahsuri tomb or Makam Mahsuri. Other
sources are the Malaysian Tourism official website, Kedah State Library and Folk Art blogs. This
paper aims to discuss the process types of Malay narratives based on the story told about Mahsuri
using Halliday‘s (1994) theory of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), Aman‘s (2012)
classifications of Malay process and Omar‘s (1986) Malay basic structures.

Reconstruction of Malay Process Types

Aman (2014) reclassifies Malay process types through his work on a novel entitled Sungai
Mengalir Lesu (or The River Flows Wearily) by a Malaysian laurate, A Samad Said (1997). He
claims that the current ‗reference grammar‘ of Malay does not based on the scientific and
reasonable values as been required for a language description. The reference of Malay, or known
as Tatabahasa Dewan by Karim et al. (1996) is described ‗based on an abstract competence
system and structural-oriented, or based on a personally created idiolect and framework of context-
independent sentences‘ (Aman, 2012: 1313). Therefore the work on real Malay discourses is very

53
much needed since language description should reflect a human communication system in real
context. Having said that, this study was interested to expand the study by Aman to other narrative
genres.

It was found that there are seven types of process for the Malay creative narrative genre. The
processes are action, mental, situational, existence, relational, description and verbal. This thus
means that Malay speakers represent their world of experience through seven main processes and
Table 1 summarises the process types found in Malay creative narratives.

Table 1. Malay Process Types

No Process Process Features Participants

1 Action Represents physical action  Actor (explicit/implicit)

(including metaphors)  Goal or beneficiary
2 Mental Represents mind, thought,  Senser, Phenomenon
emotion, etc.
33 Situation 4 Represents situation 5 · Experiencer
64 Existence7 Represents existence 8 · Introducer
95 Relational10 11
Represents relation / equation · Identifier, Identity
126 Description
13 Represents description 14 · Introducer, Value
157 Verbal 16 Speaking 17 · Speaker, Receiver, Target

(Adapted from Aman, 2012: 1315)

An action process is the process of doing which involves physical force for Malay speakers to
represent their world of experience and a mental process type, on the other hand, does not involve
physical action but it is a process of sensing, which means it is related to the mind, such as
feelings, thought, perception, cognition, attitudes, intentions and so forth. A situational process
type is a unique process in Malay and its role is to represent the speaker‘s world of experience that
is related to a situation or condition and experiencer and participants of this process that can be
human or non-human.

If in English the existence process is identified with the word there is/are, in Malay it is signaled
through the word ada or tidak ada. Besides the situational process type, a relational process in
Malay has its own unique identity since Malay is a non-finite language, or in other words, the
verb-to-be does not exist in Malay. The relational process in Malay equates two elements of
participants in representing their world of experience and the process is normally construed from a
noun group. The first participant is labelled as ‗identifier‘ and the second is ‗identity‘ (Aman,
2012).

Verb-to-be is, however, replaced with ialah or adalah, which functions to connect the subject and
predicate (Karim, 1995; Hirobumi @ Rahmat, 2011).

Since many sentences in Malay do not require verbs, many users of the Malay
language mistakenly use ialah and adalah as a translation of the English verb whereas
the presence of a verb is not essential in a Malay sentence […] it is important to
realise that ialah and adalah are NOT the equivalent of the verb ―to be‖. …

54
 Remember that in Malay not ALL sentences require verbs in their predicates. Other
parts of speech such as the noun, the adjective and the preposition can function as the
main item in the predicate. This is a very important difference between English and
Malay.

(Karim, 1995: 210-11)

Even though adalah and ialah are regarded to replace the verb-to-be, the process type is not
catergorised as relational process type, instead it is known as perihalan or description. The
function of a description process type is to describe the world of experience, this is based on the
discourse of narrative type analysed by Aman (2012). Lastly, the verbal process is similar to
English, of which it is the process of ‗speaking‘. There are two kinds of verbal projections –
quoted and reported.

This paper thus aims at discussing the process types found in Malay narratives. Even though it is
categorized as storytelling discourse which is similar to Aman‘s study, the genre is not of the same
kind. The genre of this study is fiction storytelling based on the legends and history of the Malay
community, which have been foregrounded and turned out to be one of the tourists‘ attractions.

Analytical Framework

A total of eight narrative texts was used as the data for this study. Four texts were taken from the
Tourism Information Boards, which were located at Makam Mahsuri, the famous tourist
destination in Langkawi. The other four texts were taken from the Malaysian Tourism official
website, MyKedah Blog by Kedah State Library Corporation, and Sastera Rakyat Blog.

The total number of words, for all the texts, was 4189 with 438 ranked clauses. It is important to
note that many Malay sentences do not require verbs, or in other words, the presence of a verb is
not essential in a Malay sentence (Karim, 1995). Consequently, the clause ranking process was
done based on the main framework of Malay structures, that is, by identifying the Subject and
Predicate. Subject is the title, whilst predicate is the story or explanation about the subject (Omar,
1986). There are four basic Malay clause structures, of which the subject is always a noun phrase,
whereas, the predicate can be a noun, verb, adjective or prepositional phrase. However, the noun,
adjective or prepositional phrase can function as a verb phrase when they are placed as a predicate
(Hirobumi@Rahmat, 2011).

Similar to English, there are two types of clauses; independent and dependent. If independent
clause is a complete clause that connotes meaning, dependent clause on the other hand, is not a
standalone clause and does not give meaning. Clause complex is a combination of these two types
of clauses. Table 1, for example, shows the clause complex found in the data.

Table 1. Determining independent and dependent clauses

Atas sebab itu, Mahsuri dan Deramang dijatuhkan hukuman bunuh oleh Dato Pekermjaya setelah
termakan hasutan isterinya

Independent Clause Dependent Clause

55
In this study, both types of clauses were counted as ranked clauses and analysed using the
transitivity method. The process types of narrative texts on Mahsuri were determined using a
combination of Halliday's (1994) Transitivity theory, Malay basic structures and Aman's (2012)
notion on Malay process types. Table 2 illustrates the transitivity analysis conducted on the
narrative texts.

Table 2. Identifying process types

Clause Subject Process Predicate

1.1 Atas sebab itu, Mahsuri dan Dijatuhkan hukuman bunuh oleh Dato
Deramang Sentence Pekermjaya
On reason that,Mahsuri and punishment death by Dato
Deramang Because of that, were sentenced Pekermjaya to death by Dato
Mahsuri and Deramang (Process - Pekermjaya
material)

1.2 setelah termakan isterinya

after hasutan wife his
after influence by his
he wife
was influenced

(Process - Mental)

Types of Process in Malay Narratives

The findings of this study have shown the same process types found as in Aman‘s (2014) study.
Nevertheless, if material (51.9%), situation (30.8%) and mental (55%) are the most process types
found in Aman‘s study, the three most process types found in this study are material or action verb
(46%), situation (15%) and verbal (10%). Table 2 summarises the process types found in Malay
narratives.

56
Table 2. The Process Types of Malay Narratives

Types of Process
No of Total
No of
Text Ranked process
Words Relational
Clauses Relationa Existentia Mental types
Material Pertalian Description
l Keadaan l Mind Verbal
Lakuan (Relation- Perihalan
(Situation) kewujudan a
ship)

1 180 15 6 1 1 2 1 4 15

2 90 7 6 1 7

3 77 7 1 4 1 1 7

4 60 7 5 1 1 7

5 100 10 3 2 1 3 1 10

6 1090 121 51 23 17 7 9 12 2 121

7 269 17 4 2 2 1 1 7 17

8 2323 254 124 35 16 18 24 27 10 254

Total 4189 438 200 67 35 31 40 45 20 438

Percen-tage (%) 45.66 15.30 7.99 7.08 9.13 10.27 4.57 100.00
46 15 8 7 9 10 5 100.00

Interestingly, even though this study and Aman‘s study used similar genre texts, that is, narrative,
the prominent of process types used is not the same. The data of this study was narrative texts on
history, whilst Aman‘s data was a novel. Similarly, a study by Adisaputra (2008) on the
transitivity analysis of two different textbooks, i.e. Bahasa Indonesia and Social Science used by
Grade 2 students of Primary Schools in Bali, found a slight difference in the prominent types of
process used in both textbooks. In Bahasa Indonesia textbook, the prominent process types are
material (61.5%), followed by existential (23.1%), mental (7.7%) and relational (7.7%). Social
Science textbook, on the other hand, has the highest of material process type (56.2%) and followed
by existential (12.5%), verbal (25%) and relational (6.3%). If mental is one of the prominent
process types in Bahasa Indonesia textbook but not in Social Science. Whilst, one of the
prominent of process types in Social Science textbook was verbal.

Similar to Aman (2014), the findings reveal that the material or action process is the most
significant process type and followed by situation. This shows that the most important function in
unfolding stories is to narrate what happened and also to illustrate the situations or conditions of
the events. Some examples of material process type found are dilahirkan (born), dikahwinkan
(married to), berlaku (happen), singgah (stop by), menaikkan (raise) and dijatuhkan (fall). The

57
example of situational process, of which the role is to represent the speaker‘s world of experience
that is related to a situation or condition and experiencer, on the other hand, is shown in Excerpt 1

Excerpt 1.

Bermula daripada itu bumi Langkawi tidak pernah aman

Starting from that the land Langkawi never in peace

However, unlike Aman‘s process types (2012, 2014), in this study the situational process type is
regarded as a relational process but not to represent relationships but to represent the situation of
the experiencer which can be human or non-human. In Excerpt 1, for example, the experiencer is
bumi Langkawi or Langkawi Island and the situation is tidak pernah aman or never in peace.

Verbal and mental process types are of equal importance, by which the verbal process is used to
signify who said what, whilst interestingly the mental process is to connote the beliefs of the
society in those days. The verbal process type in Malay found in the data is signified from the
verbs as dikhabarkan (rumor), menuduh (accuse), dikatakan (say) and bersumpah (curse). On
the other hand, the mental process type is represented from the processes like termakan.
Interestingly, termakan (eat) is literally a material process which is an action verb. However, in
the context termakan hasutan which means ‗was influenced‘ is metaphorically used as a mental
process. Other examples of mental process found in the data are khuatir and bimbang which
both mean the same that is worry (see Excerpts 2 and 3).

Excerpt 2

Dia juga bimbang populariti suaminya merosot

He also worry popularity husband her decline

He was also worried that her husband‟s popularity would decline.

Excerpt 3

dan khuatir suaminya masih menyimpan hasrat ke atas Mahsuri.

and worry husband her still keep intention on

Mahsuri and worried her husband
still had feeling towards Mahsuri

In addition, a relational process was identified to foreground the participant's identity or

attributes. Excerpts 4 and 5 illustrate the relational process bernama, which functions to equate
two elements of participants in representing their world of experience (Aman, 2012).

Excerpt 4

Si bapa bernama Pandak Maya

(the) father name Pandak Maya

The father named Pandak Maya

58
Excerpt 5

dan seorang anak perempuan bernama Mek Yah

and one daughter name Mek

Yah and one daughter named Mek Yah

As Aman (2012) claims that the relational process is normally construed from a noun group, the
transitivity analysis conducted found that Excerpts 4 and 5 are of the noun groups, father and
Pandak Maya in Excerpt 4, whilst daughter and Mek Yah in Excerpt 5. Thus bernama, or named,
is identified as the relational process of which the function is to relate the nouns used as subject
and predicate.

Interestingly, similar to Aman (2012), the process type called perihalan or description which is
construed from the words ialah or adalah is not significant. The findings of this study show that
the percentage of description process found was very small which means this process is not
frequently used (Hirobumi @ Rahmat, 2011). Excerpt 6 shows the use of adalah in the text.

Excerpt 6

Tujuan tiang ini didirikan agak tinggi adalah untuk menggelakkan peralatan dalam
Purpose pillar this build quite high is to avoid equipment in
rumah rosak apabila banjir berlaku.

house damage when flood happen

The purpose for this pillar to be built quite high was that to avoid furniture from being damaged
during flood.

Similar to English, the existential process type is to indicate the presence of participants.
Nevertheless, unlike English, the existential process type is not only identified from the word ada
(there is) or tidak ada (there is no), other processes that can be used to connote the existential
process type are menimbulkan (create), mencetuskan (trigger) and dibuktikan (prove). For
instance, in Excerpt 7 the word menimbulkan is used as an existential process to portray the
curiosity is caused by Mahsuri‘s white blood.

Excerpt 7

Darah Mahsuri yang putih menimbulkan tandatanya

Blood Mahsuri which white raise

question
Mahsuri‟s white blood raised curiosity.

The summary of the process types of Malay narrative texts is as shown in Figure 1. There are
seven process types, which are, material, situation, verbal, mental, relational, existential and
description.

59
 Material (Lakuan)  Dilahirkan, dikahwinkan, singah,
menaikkan, dijatuhkan
Situation (Keadaan)  tidak pernah aman
Verbal (Verbal)  dikhabarkan, menuduh,
The
dikatakan, bersumpah
process
Mental (Minda)  termakan hasutan, bimbang,
types of
khuatir
Malay
Relational (Pertalian)  bernama
narration
Existential  ada, tidak ada, menimbulkan,
(Kewujudan) mencetuskan, dibuktikan
Description  adalah, ialah
(Perihalan)

Figure 1. The process types of Malay narratives

Conclusion

The findings of this study show that there are three mostly used process types such as material,
situation and verbal. The material process type is used to represent the action experience and the
situation process type is to foreground the situation of the experiencer while the relational process
type is to portray the participant's identity or attributes. The process type is nevertheless called
‗perihalan‘ or description not relational. The verbal process type can be construed from a variety
of processes and not limited to say or speak. For future research, we suggest that more studies on
the pattern of Malay process types used in other genres are needed.

Acknowledgement

We would like to acknowledge and extend my gratitude to the Ministry of Higher Education
(MOHE), Malaysia and Research Management Centre, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia for the
research fund under Fundamental Research Grant Scheme R.J130000.7841.4F576.

References:
Adisaputra, A. 2008. Linguistik fungsional sistemik: analisis teks materi pembelajaran di sekolah
dasar (SD). Jurnal Ilmiah Bahasa dan Sastera. IV(1). 12-21.
Aman, I. 2012. A scientific study of language through the human communication system notion.
Procedia: Social and Behavioral Sciences. 46. 1312-1317.
Aman, I. 2014. ―Proses‖ dalam ayat wacana: representasi pengalaman dunia penutur. Jurnal
Bahasa. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. 1-19.
Goffman, E. 1959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. USA: Doubleday

Halliday, M.A.K. 1994. An Introduction to Functional Grammar (2nd Edition). London: Arnold.
Hassan, H. 2014. The representation of Malaysian cultures in tourism brochures. Procedia:
Social and Behavioral Sciences. 118. 140-151.
Hassan, H., Habil, H., and Nasir, Z.M. 2008. Persuasive strategies of tourism discourse. In H.
Habil and H. Hassan. New Perspectives in Language and Communication Research. Johor:
UTM Press. 1-19.

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Hirobumi @ Rahmat, S. 2011. Kata pemeri: Satu takrifan nahuan dalam kerangka ayat Bahasa
Melayu. Jurnal Bahasa. Vol. 11(2): 163-195.
Karim, N. S. 1995. Malay Grammar for Academic and Professionals. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan
Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Karim, N.S., Onn, F.M., Musa, H., & Mahmood, A.H. 1996. Tatabahasa Dewan (Edisi Baru).
Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Omar, A. 1986. Nahu Melayu Mutakhir. Kuala Lumpur. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Rojek, C. and Urry, J. 1997. Touring Culturess: Transformation of Travel and Theory, London:
Routledge.
Wen, S.C. and Chia, C.M. 2013. Tourist experience expectations: questionnaire development and
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61
 Comparing Theme-Rheme System of Two English Translations of Indonesian Short Story
―Jalan Lain Ke Roma‖

Herlina Astuti Efse B, Emma Nababan

Centre for Language Strategy and Diplomacy Development, Language Cultivation and
Development Agency, Ministry of Education and Culture
herlina.efse@kemdikbud.go.id

Abstract
This paper presents the result of a research in progress. The research aims to describe the way two
different translators translate an Indonesian short story entitled ―Jalan Lain ke Roma‖ by Idrus
into English. The first translator is an English native speaker and the second translator is an
Indonesian native speaker. This is a qualitative research using Systemic Functional Linguistic,
more specifically theme system. The result of this research is expected to show the differences of
linguistic features between the translation by the first translator who is an English native speaker
and the translation by the second translator who is an Indonesian native speaker.

Keywords: narrative text, linguistic features, Systemic Functional Linguistic, theme system

1. Introduction

In general, a translator produces a better translation if he/she translates a text into his/her own
language rather than from his/her language into a foreign language (Hoed, 2006). Thus,
Indonesian-language text would be better translated into English by an English speaker rather than
by an Indonesian speaker. Nevertheless, the statement is not necessarily true. Therefore, this
research aims to assess the translations quality produced by the source language speaker, in this
case Indonesian speaker and the target language speaker, in this case English speaker by analyzing
the choice of themes they made.

In translation, the meaning can be negotiated with the help of theory. Systemic Functional
Linguistics is a linguistic theory that sees language as a medium to create meaning in the context
of (Eggins, 2004, p. 327). Meaning and context are two things that the translators have always
deal with. SFL may be the right bridge between the two, which is associated with linguistic
meaning and a broader context.

The researches in the translation field that analyze the Theme system with an SFL approach have
been conducted a lot. It is proved that the SFL can offer a comprehensive and effective theoretical
framework in order to help conveying the meaning in the source text into the target text

2. Theoretical Framework

The Theme system is concerned with ―the organization of information within individual clauses,
and through this, with the organization of a larger text (Martin, 1992, Matthiessen, & Painter,
1997, p. 21). Theme is the grammatical system that organizes the clause in such a way that it helps
to construct the environment.

Theme in English can be thought of as that element in a clause or larger unit of text which comes
first (Coffin & Hewings, 2004, p. 136). The Theme system is realized through a structure in which
the clause falls into two main constituents, a Theme and a Rheme. Here is the example:

62
Table 1. Analysis of Theme and Rheme of a sentence

Arya has finished practicing shooting

Theme Rheme

Theme is a functional term that helps us to understand how information is communicated in

sentences. When new information is introduced, it has to relate to what is already known by the
reader. This normally means that the given or established information comes first, followed by the
new or unknown information. Theme is therefore the grammatical name given to the first part of a
sentence that establishes the known information shared between writer and readers. Although the
Theme is in the most prominent position in a sentence (it comes first), it is not necessarily the
focus of the sentence. The focus is the new information being introduced, which is called the
Rheme. For example, note in the following how the emphasis of each sentence is the new
information or Theme provided about the themes.

Table 2. Analysis of Given and New information.

Given information in Theme New information in Rheme

Sansa Stark has two younger brothers: Bran and Rickon.
Bran is nine years old…
and Rickon is six years old.
Bran and Rickon are amazingly cute.

Regarding the Given and New information, Coffin & Hewings (2004, p. 136) state that Theme
and Rheme is a major component of the textual metafunction, that is, in the organization of a text
as a message.

2.1 Types of Theme

There are three types of Themes that relevant to the metafunctions of language: topical Theme,
interpersonal Theme and textual Theme. Topical Theme is the first element of the clause that
expresses some kind of ―representational meaning‖ (Martin, et al., 1997). It is realized in
Transitivity structure, as a Participant, a Circumstance or a Process.

Table 3. Examples of Topical Theme

Unmarked Love is not an emotion.

Participant (subject as a It (love) is a drive.
as aTheme Theme) It comes from the wanting part of the
mind.

Marked Tomorrow my boyfriend and I will meet in the

Circumstance church.
as a Theme
Marked Go to the gymnasium often!
Process
as a Theme
Topical Theme Rheme

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If the first topical element of a declarative clause is also the Subject of the clause, it is called
unmarked Theme. If the Theme is non-Subject, it is called marked Theme.

Interpersonal Theme, is the interpersonal part of the Theme, and it is often used to indicate the
writer‘s or speaker‘s personal judgment on the meaning or to foreground the writer‘s view point
(William, 1993 in Emilia, 2014)

Table 4. Examples of Interpersonal Theme

Unfused Finite Should I leave you now?

As a Theme Have you told him that you‘re leaving?
Mood I think
The photographer is the best man you ever date.
Adjunct (I believe)
Comment
Obviously family meeting is useful to unify our perception.
Adjunct
Vocative Gendry, you should come to the Casterly Rock.
Adjunct
Polarity Yes
Adjunct No
Interpersonal Topical Rheme
Theme Theme

Textual Themes are the elements ―which do not express any interpersonal or experiential
meaning, but which are doing important cohesive work in relating the clause to its context‖
(Eggins, 1994). Textual Themes serve the purpose of the most clearly indicating the ‗linking
function‘ (Martin, et al., 1997) of the textual metafunction.

Table 5. Examples of Textual Theme

Jon Snow took the Night's Watch vow, but he broke his vows for
Coordination
Ygritte.
Many thieves and criminals are sent to The Castle Black because
Subordination
they deserve severe punishment.
Many people refuse Joffrey as a king, who is the illegitimate
Relative
child of Robert Baratheon.
Besides, the Red Wedding [[which is arranged by Lord Walder
Conjunctive
Frey]] is the most heartbreaking moment.

3. Data Analysis

The data presented in this paper is the analysis of the first two paragraphs of the short story ―Jalan
Lain ke Roma‖ because, as mentioned above, this paper presents the result of a research in
progress. Here is a Theme-Rheme system analysis of the source language, the translation
produced by an English speaker (hereinafter referred to as Translation 1), and the translation
produced by an Indonesian speaker (hereinafter referred to as Translation 2).

3.1 Analysis of the Theme-Rheme system in the source language

C 1. Open mula-mula jadi guru sekolah rakyat

C 2. sudah itu (Open) jadi mualim

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 C 3. lantas (Open) jadi pengarang

C 4. kemudian(Open) jadi tukang jahit

C 5. Tentang perawakannya tak banyak yang dapat diceritakan

C 6. Ia punya dua kaki, dua tangan, dua telinga, dua mata dan satu hidung

C 7. Bahwa lobang hidungnya ada dua

C 8. itu sudah sewajarnya

C 9. Open seperti manusia lain, lain tidak

C 10. Tapi namanya memang mempunyai riwayat

C 11. Itu tidak dapat disangkal

C 12. Beribu-ribu nama lain ada, Abullah dan Effendi, Al‘aut dan Binuwak

C 13. (Nama-nama itu) enak kedengaran

C 14. dan (nama-nama itu) sedap dilihat

C 15. jika (nama-nama itu) tertulis

C 16. Dan orang-orang yang kritis sudah pasti tidak akan merasa puas

C 17. jika tidak diterangkan mengapa Open bernama Open

C 18. Open sendiri sudah barang tentu tak ada bagiannya dalam memberi nama itu

C 19. waktu itu ia masih merah

C 20. sebentar-sebentar ia berteriak

C 21. dan buru-buru datang ibunya berbuka dada disodorkannya ke mulut bayi ini sesuatu
yang menjulur dari dada terbuka itu

C 22. Open menghirup dengan senangnya

C 23. (Open) berhenti berteriak

C 24. dan setelah selesai, (Open) tidur dengan nyenyaknya

C 25. Pekerjaan ayah dan ibunyalah memberikan nama itu

C 26. dan orang yang pernah mengalami ini pasti akan mengakui

C 27. bahwa pekerjaan itu bukan pekerjaan mudah

3.2 Analysis of the Theme-Rheme system in the Translation 1

C 1. Open was first a primary school teacher,

65
 C. 2. after that (Open was) an Islamic teacher,

C 3. then (Open was) a writer,

C 4. and finally (Open was) a tailor.

C 5. About the man's physical appearance, there is little to say

C 6. he had two legs, two arms, two ears, two eyes, and one nose.

C 7. He had two nostrils, too,

C 8. but that‘s only natural.

C 9. In short, Open was like other men.

C 10. As for his name, however, there is unquestionably a story there.

C 11. What with the thousands of other names—Abdullah, Effendi, Al‘aut, Binuwak,
and so on—that sound nice and look pretty

C 12. when (they were)written down.

C 13. the more sensitive reader will no doubt feel cheated

C 14. if (they are) not told how Open got his name.

C 15. Obviously Open himself had no part in his choice of name.

C 16. He was just a newborn baby at the time.

C 17. When he cried

C 18. his mother would rush to him, her bosom bare, to thrust a protruding nipple into his
mouth.

C 19. He‘d stop his screaming

C 20. (he‘d) suckle contentedly

C 21. and then(he‘d) fall asleep.

C 22. His concern was not his name.

C 23. No, (it was not)

C 24. the duty of name-giving falls to parents

C 25. and anyone who has ever been through the process will admit

C 26. it's not an easy task.

3.3 Analysis of the Theme-Rheme system in the Translation 2

66
C 1. At first, Open was a primary school teacher

C 2. then (Open was) a propagator

C 3. after that (Open was) an author

C 4. then (Open was) a tailor

C 5. There is not much to tell about his appearance

C 6. He has two legs, two ears, two eyes and one nose

C 7. That he has two nostrils

C 8. it‘s not surprising as well

C 9. In short, Open is like other people

C 10. That‘s all

C 11. But his name indeed has its own history

C 12. and it‘s undeniable

C 13. inasmuch as there are thousands of names such as Abullah and Effendi, Al‘aut and
Binuwak

C 14. names that are nice to hear and to write

C 15. Critical people will certainly be dissatisfied

C 16. if there is no explanation

C 17. why Open named Open

C 18. Of course, Open doesn‘t have any role in giving that name

C 19. At that time, he was just a red infant who intermittently cried

C 20. that his mother came hurriedly

C 21. and (his mother) showed the protrude part of her chest immediately

C 22. then (his mother) gave that protrude thing into the mouth of this infant

C 23. Open sucked it happily

C 24. (Open) stopped crying

C 25. and after (Open) being done with his business

C 26. he would sleep like a log

C 27. However, it was his parents‘ onus to give him a name

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 C 28. and everybody who has experienced it will absolutely agree

C 29. that this job is not easy at all

The table below shows the difference between the Theme-Rheme system of source language and
two translations above.

Table 5. Comparison of Themes in the texts

Types of Theme Translation 1 Source Text Translation 2

Unmarked Topical 12 11 9
Marked Topical 5 6 7
Interpersonal 2 - 1
Textual 7 10 12
Total 26 27 29

The table above indicates that Translator 1 used unmarked topical Theme more than the writer of
the source text. He tried to stay focus on the main character, Open. This is demonstrated by the
topical Themes that occupied by the participant (Open). Translator 1 showed his existence as the
translator by using interpersonal Theme that does not exist in the source text. Besides, Translator
1 minimized the use of textual Theme in order to keep on track that the main idea of the story is
the participant, Open.

On the other hand, Translator 2 distracted the reader s‘ attention on the main character, Open
by using more textual Theme (conjunction) in the story. Translator 2 reduced the number of
unmarked themes that had impact on the increase of the number of marked theme (textual theme).
Same with Translator 1, Translator 2 also showed his existence as the translator by using
interpersonal Theme that does not exist in the source text.

IV. Conclusion

From the analysis of the first two paragraphs of short story ―Jalan Lain ke Roma‖ above, the
researchers have not been able to determine whether the Translation 1 is source-language-oriented
or target-language-oriented; so is the Translation 2. This is caused by the insufficient data
analyzed that it's too early if the researchers have to come to the conclusion which translation is
better judging from the Theme-Rheme system, whether the translation by the English speaker or
translation produced by the Indonesian speaker. Thus, to assess the translations quality produced
by both of the translators, in terms of the accuracy, the naturalness, or the readability, in-depth
data analysis of the entire text is needed.

References
Baker, M. (1992). In Other Words. London & New York: Routledge.
Coffin, C. & Hewings, A. (2004) IELTS as preparation for tertiary writing: distinctive
interpersonal and textual strategies. In L.J. Ravelli. & R. A. Ellis (2004). Analysing
academic writing. London: Continuum.
Eggins, S. (1994). An introduction to systemic functional linguistics. London: Printer Publishers,
Ltd.
Emilia, E. 2014. Introducing functional grammar. Pustaka Jaya: Bandung

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Halliday, M.A.K., and Matthiessen, C.M.I.M. (2004). An introduction to functional grammar (3rd
ed). London: Arnold.
Hoed. B.H. (2004). Penerjemahan dan kebudayaan. Pustaka Jaya: Jakarta
House, J. (1997). A model of translation quality assessment. Tübingen: Gunter Narr.
Kim, M. (2014). Using systemic functional text analysis for translator education. Journal. St.
Jerome Publishing: Manchester
Kridalaksana, H. 2008. Kamus Linguistik. Jakarta: Gramedia.
Martin, J.R., Matthiessen, C.M.I.M., & Painter, C. (1997). Working with functional grammar.
London: Arnold.

69
 Stand Up Comedy: Language Play and Its Functions (Systemic Functional Linguistics
Approach)

I Dewa Putu Wijana

Faculty of Cultural Sciences Gadjah Mada University
Idp_wijana@yahoo.com

Introduction

Halliday (1976) differentiates the social function of a language into two categories, namely
ideational function and interpersonal function. This classification is similar to Brown and Yule‘s
concept between transactional and interactional function (Brown & Yule, 1983, 1-2). Ideational
function concerns with the function to express ideas or thoughts. Meanwhile, interactional
function relates with its function to create and maintain social interactions between the speakers.

In the global era which focuses on scientific and technological development, ideational or
transactional function seems to get more attention. While, the interpersonal or interactional is
neglected. Therefore, interactive discourses, such as riddles and other types of language plays get
the impact. The declination of researches‘ attention toward several types of interactional
discourse, especially ones that contain language plays and the same kind is mainly caused by the
existence of negative opinions which consider that language plays are childish, and inappropriate
to use for discussing serious matters (Cook, 2000, 81).

Rejections against everything associated with language plays have occurred for along time. For
example, Aristototeles regards language plays as something can threat philosophy (Ulmer,
1988). Johnson views thet language plays as ―the fatal Cleopatra‖ which destruct Shakespeare
plays (Redfern, 1984). Even more extremely a literary critic describes language plays as a low
quality activity. All these opinions are certainly illogical and often not objective, and inconsistent.
They are totally not aware that rhyming concepts, such as alliteration, metaphor, and irony
seriously discussed in literary analyses are actually a representation of language plays (Cook,
2000, 81). Oracles, implicit advices are essentially language plays. Shakespeare, a famous English
literary writer often exploits language plays in his comedy or tragedy literary works. For example,
When Hamlet‘s Mother got drunk because of the wine that has been filled in a poisonous pearl by
a man whom she was in the party with. He shouted ‖Is this union here‖. Union is another word
for referring to ‗pearl‘ in the Elisabethan English beside the meaning of ‗wedding party‘ that
will bring his mother to her death. For his skill in playing on words, Shakespeare was even
called ―a dedicated punster‖ In a very impressive Javanese traditional play performed by a
famous group from Tulungagung once I watched in local television program, the fail of Arya
Penangsang in defeating his longstanding enemy Sultan Agung who is also popularly called Jaka
Tingkir is caused by his incapability in interpreting the oracle (Sanepa) expressed by his adviser
when his enemy was already face to face with him. The oracle is an implicit command:
Rangkakna! The meaning intended by his adviser to him is ‗Tusukkan/tikamkan kerismu‘
(Stabb your kris!). However, what he comprehended was ‗sarungkan kerismu‘ (sheathe your
kris!) because this word is accidently ambiguous (taksa). Because of his misinterpretation, Sultan
Agung liberated from the tragedy, and at the end of the story, Arya Penangsang was killed by Suta
Wijaya, Sultan Agung‘s son.

These facts clearly shows that it is obviously misleading to regard that play on word activities are
unimportant or trivial in human life. In many diverse societies, punning activities have very
central role in rituals as well as in cultural transformation processes. For examples, in Gonds
community (middle of India), men gathers in the side of village when one of their member is

70
passed away. They are riddling accompanied by drum beats (Cook, 2000, 79). Handleman (1996,
49) notes that African, Caribbean , and south East Asian societies, use riddles in various ritual
ceremonies, such as marriages, funerals, wakes, religious worships, and the choice of a king. In
East Toraja, riddles are played when they wake watching the dead before funeral. Meanwhile in
West Toraja, the riddle reciting is done during the coming out of rice grains (Stokhof, 1980, 56;
Wijana, 2014, 8). Riddle is one of discourse genres that is full of puns.

The other evident that proves the centrality of punnings in human life is the never ending
comedy programs shown in visual mess media. The cease of one program is quickly replaced by
the other. The fade of Srimulat popularity and its actors Timbul, Basuki, Eko, Topan, Lesus, etc.
was succeeded by the emergence of Opera van Java that popularizes Parto, Sule, Aziz, etc.
Afterwards we saw ILC (Indonesia Lawak Club) with Cak Lontong as its central joker. ILC
might get its name from playing on ILC (Indonesia Lawyer Club). Probably it is just only the
common people knows which one is funnier. Shop names often exploit play on words. In
Yogyakarta there is a shop named Isakuiki (isaku iki ‗Just this I can do‘), reflex massages Kakiku
(kakiku ‗my foot‘) , restaurant Takashimura (Tak kasih murah ‗I give you a cheap price), beauty
salon La Risa (lariso ‗hopefully sell well‘), fried chicken small restaurant Kentucku Fried Chiken
( ken tuku fried chicken ‗is asked to by fried chiken‘). T Shirt business are also pond of puns in
popularizing its designs. After Dagadu, Joger in Bali does the same thing. These kinds of activity
are also found in Bandung and other cities as well.

The importance of role played by punning activities attracts me to discuss the functions of
language found in Stand Up Comedy, the most recent and popular comedy show broadcasted by
Metro TV Station. This television program shows the skillfulness of a comedian (comic according
this program) in telling jokes in front of its audience who are mostly teenagers or adolescents. In
every show, there are at least three comedians performing his/her joking skill about their
experiences and showing their high capability in playing linguistic elements of hierarchical levels.

2. Theoretical Frame Work

Language variations used by the speakers in sociolinguistic perspectives are strongly influenced
by extra linguistic factors that are varied but essentially the same between one theory and the
others. In Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) theory used as an approach in this brief paper,
the situational contexts are field, tenor, and mood (Halliday, 1978, 33; ). Field refers to what is
happening, what speakers and hearers are doing, and the characteristics of the social actions being
done by the interlocutors. Tenor refers to people involved in the verbal interactions which include
their personal relationship (degree of intimacy), the role they play in that particular situation, etc.
Mood refers to parts played by the language, All effects expected to gain by the interlocutors by
using certain type of text including its symbolic organization, role, function, channel, and
rhetorical mode as well. By this theoretical frame work, it can be hypothesized that the language
variation used by the comedian or jokester in Stand Up Comedy Show to amuse the audience has
various symbolic functions for gaining certain effects to the direct audiences who present in the
TV studio, and the indirect audiences, all people out side the studio who watch the Stand UP
Comedy program. It is certainly out of my capacity to able to discuss all Stand Up comedian
discourses in this paper. Therefore, I will focus my attention to comical discourse episode
delivered by a woman comedian named Wati Salsabila.

3. Contextual Framing of Stand Up Comedy

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This section is intended to put the Stand Up Comedy discourse in the frame of three contextual
aspects of systemic functional linguistics have been outlined above. The framing yields the
following result:

Field: A comedian wants to tell his/her imaginative experiences to the audiences in order to
amuse them.

Tenor: A comedian and audience who relatively have the same status, interact directly or
indirectly in informal situation and intimate personal relationship.

Mood: The discourse delivered by the comedian should effectively amuse the audience
indicated by laugh and smile expressed or shown every time the jokester throw the
jokes.

This contextual framing lead us to understand the language variation exploited in Stand Up
Comedy discourse and its functions in the whole process of verbal interactions.

4. Language Play in Stand Up Comedy

Even though the discourse is delivered in humorous mood of interaction, this does not mean that
the thematic structures the comedian want to convey are unserious matters. In many cases, the
social problems implicitly criticized by the comedian are important issues being faced by the
community for gaining quick response and improvements. In Wati Salsabila‘s discourse we can
notice critics against various social issues, such as the attitude of some people to value more
highly everything that come from out side than one they have already had passed down by their
ancestors, as shown by the children naming. The ability of Indonesian medical doctors or might
also be its other scientists is considered so low that they can not make precise predictions of
many things, such as the wrong prediction of birth. Many Indonesians are wasteful and
consumptive. They can spend ten million rupiahs for shopping per day, and own 10 mobile
phones, more than they really need. Many electronic cinemas have low quality because they are
not seriously made, and more strikingly, most of them do not reflect the real social conditions. All
of these can clearly be seen from various of aspects, such as casting, unnatural dialogs, directing,
story quality, etc. Social health and social welfare are also used to be the critic materials of Wati
Salsabila‘s jocular discourse, such as the large numbers of mosquito and big families with bad
economic condition.

To achieve effective deliverance, these thematic issues must be wrapped by the use of appropriate
language style. The language style which is commonly used for delivering jocular texts and the
sorts is informal style. Standard languages which is tightly bound by complicated grammatical
rules are not suitable to use in joke telling activities (Apte, 1985, 190-191; Wijana, 1995, 141).
Humorous text which is full of ambiguities can only develop in nonstandard varieties.
Ambiguities, the most significant characteristics of humorous text, which can be created by
various linguistic violations are difficult to appear in well formed utterances that usually express
accurate meanings. Ambiguities in humorous discourse constitute an effective tool to transfer two
totally opposing perceptions, such as good and bad, honest and dishonest, important and trivial,
etc. For all of these matters, consider the following (1) to (13) below:

(1) Namanya sendiri katanya adalah Wati Salsabila yang tidak matching dengan wajahnya
merupakan singkatan dari Waduh Mati Salah Sambung Bisa Lahir karena pada waktu
kecil seharusnya tidak lahir sebab anak yang ke-10.

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 ‗Some one said that her name was Wati Salsabila which is not matched with her face. This
name is an abbreviation of Waduh mati salah sambung bisa lahir (Oh my God, even wrong
number can be born)‘. At that time she should not been born because she was the 10th child‘.
(2) Karena ada 10 anak dalam keluarga, tetangganya sering menyebut keluarganya P10, yakni
(walaupun tidak tepat betul jumlah P-nya), Putra-putrinya Pak Pono Pada Perang Perkara
Panganan Peyek.
‗Because there were ten children in the family, the neighbor often called her family the ten
P, Putra-Putrinya Pak Pono Pada Perang Perkara Panganan Peyek (Mr Pono‘s children were
quarreling because of chip‘
(3) Tetangganya namanya seperti nama Spanyol padahal dari Wonogiri, yakni (Iwan) Aldiano
singkatan dariAlhamdulilah Dia Nongol karena pada waktu kecil sulit lahir

‗Her neighbor‘s name is like a Spaniard. In fact he is from Wonogiri, that is Iwan Aldino
which stands for Alhamdulilah Dia Nongol (Thanks God, finally he comes out) because at
that time he was difficult to be born‘

(4) Sebenarnya pagi ini saya dipanggil SBY, tapi saya nggak mau, saya lebih berat
Stand Up karena nama saya Wati bukan SBY.
‗Actually this morning I was called (by) SBY, but I would not come, I would rather chose
Stand UP because my name is Wati, not SBY.
(5) Ini HP saya baru masih anget.
‗This my hand phone, still hot.
(6) Susu mana bagus di perut.(karena seharusnya di dada)

‗How can breasts be good in the stomach because they must be in the chest‘

(7) Saya benci ke Mall karena sejak melihat tulisan Jumbo sale - Big saleberarti yang
gemuk-gemuk saja yang dijual dan tulisan Sale All Itemberarti yang hitam-hitam saja yang
dijual.
‗I hate going to mall after having seen the ad Jumbo sale – Big sale. It means that they only
sell the big (fat), and the ad Sale all item. It means that they only sell the black.
(8) Anak tetangga saya diperkirakan lahir Januari oleh dokter eh ternyata lahir bulan Desember
sehingga diberi nama Kukira Januari.
‗My neighbor‘s child was predicted to be born on January, but apparently in December, and
then he was named Kukira Januari‘.
(9) Ninabobok oh nina bobok

Kalau tidak bobok digigit nyamuk

(Lagu ini bohong karena sudah tidur tetap digigit nyamuk, dan anaknya sendiri namanya

bukan Nina)

‗Sleep my baby, sleep my baby!‘

‗If you do not sleep, the mosquito will bite you‘

(This song is not true because the mosquito still bites even the baby has already slept, and
the baby‘s name is not Nina)

(10) Karena nila setitik rusak susu sebelahnya.

‗Because of one drop indigo, one side of the breast is rotten‘

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 (11) Anak-anak bisa menyulap radio menjadi nanas. Radio disiram air panas dipegang anak
kecil jadi nanas, nanas.
‗Children can conjure up a radio to be a pineapple. The radio is sprayed by hot water, and
then the children holding it will scream ―hot, hot!‖
(12) Tong kosong, mari diisi.
‗An empty barrel, let us fill it!‖
(13) Pada saat itu tidak ada tv, satu-satunya hiburan ya hanya itu.

‗At that time, there was no TV, the only amusement was just that activities‘

In this episode, the ambiguities are created by various techniques and linguistic manipulations.
Abbreviation technique that create a contradiction between part of her elegant Arabic name
Salsabila and its real meaning which the shorter form stand for ‘Salah sambung bisa lahir‘ is
applied in (1), P 10 that stand for ‗Putra-putrinya Pak Pono Pada Perang Perkara Panganan
Peyek‘ (2), and the impressive Italian name Aldiano that poolishly stands for ‗Alhamdulillah dia
nongol‘ (3). In (4), (5) and (6) the ambiguity is respectively made possible by the polysemi of
Indonesian words interfered by Javanese dipanggil that can mean ‗to be invited for a ministry
position‘ and ‗is called by the name‘, anget can be associated with ‗new‘ in relation with ‗news‘
or ‗newly copied papers‘, bagus can mean ‗healthy for stomach‘ and ‗its appropriate anatomical
position‘. In (7) and (8) the ambiguity is caused by the accidental homonyms between Indonesian
and English or Japanese like words. Those are between item and item ‗a colloquial form for hitam
‗black‘, Kukira ‗Japanese name‘ and kukira ‗I think‘. This phenomenon is the same with the
combination of Nina in Nina Bobok ‗title of Indonesian children bed time song‘ in (9). In (10) the
joke is evoked by the ambiguity of susu that can means ‗milk‘ and ‗breast‘ and slight phonetic
modification sebelanga ‗earthen cooking pot‘ into sebelahnya ‗next side of‘. The conventional
proverb is Karena nila setitik rusak susu sebalanga ‗Because of one drop indigo, one (earthen)
cooking pot of milk is rotten‘. In (11) the word panas ‗hot‘ is slightly changed into nanas because
of children early language acquisition in which they tend to reduplicate the final syllable of
words they want to master. The word nanas is accidently homonymous with nanas that means
‗pineapple‘. Some Indonesian proverbs are so popular that the speaker can identify them without
being completely expressed. In (12) the conventional proverb is Tong kosong nyaring bunyinya
‗empty barrel has a nice sound‘ that intended to tease a talkative person with limited knowledge.
In this joke the proverb is treated literally to be Tong kosong, mari kita isi ‗Empty barrel, let us fill
it‘. Finally in (13) the ambiguity is caused by several interpretation of word itu ‗that‘. For
euphemistic expression to avoid vulgarism this word can also pragmatically refer to ‗sexual
activity‘ that cause her having big family.

The other language plays found in this episode are the film titles which the comedian stars in
―Ketika Aku Tidak Ada‖ (When I did not exist) and ―Wanita di Balik Pintu‖ ‗The Woman behind
door‘ implicate that she never acts in any film. An hyperbolic song title ―Akan Kupeluk Dia
sampai Mati‖ ‗I will hug you until dead‘ is taken literally to evoke sadistic situation. The Song
Lyric Mungkin hanya Tuhan yang Tahu Segalanya ‗May be only God knows everything‘, taken
from ―Engkaulah Segalanya‖ ‗You are My everything‘, popularized by Ruth Sahanaya, is
considered to hesitate the God‘s power because of the use of mungkin ‗may be, possible‘.

The language style used for joking activities will certainly have very different characteristics in
various hierarchical grammatical and discursive aspects (phonology, lexicogrammar, cohesion,
coherence, etc.) compared to other register styles for conducting different activities.

5. Language functions in Stand Up Comedy

74
Language has many communicative functions in human life, and even now no one can count them
exactly because the large number of activities that can be carried out by using this verbal human
means of communication. In addition, an utterance expressed by the speakers can simultaneously
perform two or more functions in every speech event. However, if the language function can
simply differentiate into two categories, these are transactional and interactional function, the
joking activities found in this Stand Up comedy episode more appropriately belong to the second
category, i.e. interactional function. Even though there is also some information want to
communicate by the comedian to his/her audience, she seems more concerned to express her
criticism on the social conditions in indirect, humorous, and interactive ways. The choice of this
mood of interaction are intended to minimize the destructive or aggressive effects of the jokes
might bring to the audience. As far as the interactional function is concerned, this language
function must also be divided into several subcategories. Apperently, in the earlier version,
Halliday in relation to children language acquisition, as cited by Siregar (2011, 5), describes his
language function theory into seven categories, and the two main categories are a part of them.
One of the main categories are given different label, i.e. representative function for ideational
function, and transactional function for interpersonal function. Those categories completely are
instrumental function for exploiting the circumstance and making certain situation to happen,
regulatory function for regulating or controlling situation, representational function for making
statement and explain realities, interactional function for keeping on social relationship, personal
function for expressing personal feelings, heuristic function for learning science and knowledge,
and imaginative function for creating imaginative ideas. Based on this theoretical framework,
Wati Salsabila‘s Stand Up Comedy episode at least conveys three dominant communicative
functions, i.e imaginative, personal, interactional and regulatory functions. By imaginative
function the comedian create fictional or imaginative stories about herself, her family, and other
events occurring in her society. By personal function, she express her feeling and criticism about
all of those situation. By interactional function, she use the informal mood of interaction to create
intimate relation with the audience in order to elicit their smile and laugh. Finally, by regulatory
function she indirectly persuade the audience, especially the authoritative parties to take a part for
improvements.

6. Conclusion

Joking activities that are commonly considered unimportant or trivial, in fact, play central roles in
human life because of their various functions, especially one for criticizing various social
conditions happen in the speakers‘ community. However, to create unaggressive and constructive
criticisms, the comedian should build an intimate relation with his/her audience for its effective
deliverance. Consequently, He/she should use certain mood of interaction using informal language
style with full of ambiguities that can easily confuse audience‘s perceptions about many things in
order to elicit audience‘s smile and laugh.

References
Apte, Mahadev L. 1985. Humor and Laughter. Ithaca. Cornel University Press.
Brown, Gillian & George Yule. 1983. Discourse Analysisis. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Cook, Guy. 2000. Language Play, Language Learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Halliday, M.A.K. 1970. ―Language Structure and Language Function‖. John Lyons (ed.) New
Horizons in Linguistics. Harmondsworth. Middx: Penguin Books.

75
Halliday, M.A.K. 1978. Language As Social Semiotic: The Social interpretation of Language
and Meaning. Edward Arnold.
Halliday, M.A.K. & Hasan, Ruqaiya. 1992. Bahasa, Konteks, dan Teks: Aspek-aspek Bahasa
dalam Pandangan Semiotik Sosial. Diterjemahkan oleh Asruddin Barori Tou. Yogyakarta:
Gadjah Mada University Press.
Redfern, W. 1984. Puns. Oxford: Blackwell.
Stokhof, W.A.L. 1980. ―100 Woisika Riddles‖. Majalah Ilmu-Ilmu Sastra Indonesia. Jilid IX,
No. 1. Hlm. 53—101. Jakarta: Fakultas Sastra Universitas Indonesia.
Siregar, Bahren Umar. 2011. Seluk Beluk Fungsi Bahasa. Jakarta. Pusat Kajian Bahasa
Universitas Katolik Atma Jaya.
Ulmer, G. 1988. ―The Puncept in Gramatology‖. J Culler (ed.): On Puns: The Foundation of
Letters. Oxford: Blackwell.
Wijana, I Dewa Putu. 1995. Wacana Kartun dalam Bahasa Indonesia. Disertasi Doktor.
Universitas Gadjah Mada.
Wijana, I Dewa Putu. 2014. Wacana Teka-teki. Yogyakarta: A Com. Press.

76
Fitur Linguistik Bahasa-Bahasa Indonesia Timur Sebagai Pemersatu Rumpun Austronesia

Joni Endardi
Pusat Pengembangan Strategi dan Diplomasi Kebahasaan
rizalrahmat146@yahoo.com

Abstract
Study of Easter Indonesia‘s vernacular, especially using Genolinguistics approach is an
interdisciplinary study between comparative historical linguistics and genetics. This study has
been initiated by Language Development and Cultivation Agency since 2008. It focused on the
eastern Indonesia‘s vernaculars. Until 2016, the linguistics feature of 14 vernaculars such as Abui,
Marind, Mee, Dhani, Tobati, Namblong, Tarfia, Lamaholot, Adang, Kei, Ternate, Makian, Alor,
and Gresi have been investigated in this study. The study about the those 14 vernaculars was
taken in the region of East Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, and Papua as representatives of the linguistic
features of eastern Indonesia. In the study, it was showed that most of features of those 14
languages have the same characteristics with Austronesian prototype. It was proved by the finding
of the possessive adjective/ possessive pronoun system, the number system, the sentence
construction system, and genetic evidence in those 14 languages. Brandess stated that, one of the
common markers which mostly used as possessive adjective of the Austronesian language family
is *nia. It was proved by the using of ne, ni, ma, ge, and de which inherited the substance the
proto language *nia. There was similarity in counting system of those languages, in which the
natives only recognized one to four and one to ten. The system of phrase construction and
sentence construction showed that those languages used DM (head-modifier) system. Genetic
evidence supported the result of linguistics anaysis. It showed that the natives of those vernaculars
have DNA VHB B3 types; the types that represent most of Austronesian native speakers.

Keywords: Austronesian, Genolinguistics, Language Family, Lingustic Features.

Latar Belakang

Banyak teori yang dikemukakan tentang asal-usul bahasa Austronesia. Ada yang berpendapat
bahwa negeri asal bahasa Austronesia adalah daratan Asia, tetapi dengan variasi tempat, dan ada
juga yang berpendapat bahwa negeri asal bahasa Austronesia adalah Indonesia (Keraf, 1984:184).
Para ahli perbandingan bahasa (komparatifis) Austronesia sebagian besar berpendapat bahwa di
wilayah Indonesia terdapat bahasa rumpun Austronesia yang disebut juga dengan istilah Melayu
Polinesia.

Dalam buku Keraf, yang mengikuti kerangka dasar Salzner dan juga dilengkapi dengan catatan-
catatan yang diajukan Dyen, mengelompokkan bahasa-bahasa Austronesia ke dalam dua
kelompok besar, yaitu (1) bahasa-bahasa Austronesia Barat atau disebut juga bahasa-bahasa
Indonesia atau bahasa-bahasa Melayu yang terdiri atas bahasa-bahasa Hesperonesia (Indonesia
Barat) dan bahasa-bahasa Indonesia Timur (Maluku) dan (2) bahasa-bahasa Austronesia Timur
atau disebut juga bahasa-bahasa Oseania atau bahasa-bahasa Polinesia yang terdiri atas bahasa-
bahasa Heonesia (Polinesia dan Mikronesia) dan bahasa-bahasa Melanesia (Melanesia dan Pantai
Timur Irian) (Keraf, 1984: 206)

Brandess (1884 dalam Mahsun, 2010) mengklasifikasi kelompok Austronesia ini atas Austronesia
Barat dan Timur. Wilayah pakai bahasa Austronesia Barat mencakupi wilayah Indonesia Barat,
yang meliputi kepulauan Sumatra, Jawa, Bali, Lombok, sebagian pulau Sumbawa (Sumbawa
Barat, Kabupaten Sumbawa, dan Kabupaten Sumbawa Barat), dan Kalimantan, sedangkan

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Austronesia Timur meliputi wilayah Indonesia bagian timur mulai dari wilayah timur pulau
Sumbawa (kabupaten Dompu, Bima, dan Kota Bima), Sulawesi, NTT, sampai ke Papua.

Blust (1977, 1978, dan 1982) mengelompokkan bahasa Austronesia atas Austronesia Barat,
Tengah-Timur, dan Timur. Pengelompokan Austronesia atas tiga kelompok ini dilakukannya
dengan mencoba mencermati kembali kelompok Austronesia Timur yang dilakukan Brandess.
Wilayah pakai bahasa subkelompok Austronesia Timur itu, dipilah lagi oleh Blust ke dalam dua
subkelompok, yaitu Austronesia Tengah-Timur dan Austronesia Timur itu sendiri.

Persebaran bahasa Austronesia lebih luas dibandingkan dengan persebaran bahasa Indo Eropa,
Asia Barat, dan Asia Timur atau Semit. Bahasa Austronesia berkembang menjadi 1.200 bahasa
lokal, dari Madagaskar (Afrika) di barat sampai Pulau Paskah di timur, dari Taiwan di utara
sampai Selandia Baru di selatan. Keturunan bahasa Austronesia tumbuh dan berkembang ratusan
tahun dan digunakan oleh 300 juta manusia di Asia Timur dan Asia Pasifik. Para penutur bahasa
Austronesia beragam, misalnya mulai dari para nelayan, pelaut, pedagang, bangsawan, pengeliling
dunia, sampai kaum petani di pedalaman. Sekitar 200-an juta manusia penutur bahasa Austronesia
hidup di Kepulauan Nusantara dan Kepulauan Pasifik (http://nusantaratour.wordpress.com/nenek-
moyang-bangsa-indonesia).

Untuk itu, genolinguistik sebuah kajian kolaborasi antara ilmu linguistik terutama linguistik
diakronis dan biologi molekuler (genetika) sangat penting perannya di dalam menjawab isu ilmiah
mendasar yang terus dalam perdebatan, yaitu pembedaan rumpun bahasa di Indonesia terdiri atas
bahasa Austronesia dan Nonaustronesia yang bermuatan politis dan mengancam kesatuan NKRI.
Betapa pentingnya genolinguistik menjawab berbagai persoalan bahasa, bangsa, dan negara
tersebut dilatarbelakangi oleh beberapa hal. Sebagai negara kepulauan, masyarakat Indonesia
sangat beragam dengan populasi etnik serta bahasa sekitar 659 (Pemetaan Badan Bahasa, 2014).
Secara geografis, garis Walacea (teori lama yang telah terbantahkan) membagi Indonesia menjadi
dua paparan, yaitu paparan Sunda di bagian barat dan paparan Sahul di bagian timur.
Pengelompokan tersebut didasarkan pada keanekaragaman spesies hewan dan tumbuhan di
paparan tersebut.

Di sisi lain, Penyebaran VHB sangat mungkin terbawa bersamaan dengan migrasi manusia. Pola
penyebaran serotipe HBsAg di Indonesia dapat dibagi dalam empat wilayah sesuai serotipe
dominan, yaitu: (1) adw: Sumatera, Jawa, Kalimantan, Lombok, Bali, Ternate, Morotai; (2) ayw:
Nusatenggara Timur dan Maluku; (3) adr: Irian Jaya dan sebagian Maluku; (4) serotipe campuran:
Kalimantan, Sulawesi, dan Sumbawa (Mulyanto dkk., 1997). Keanekaragaman serotipe dan
genotipe VHB di Indonesia dan besarnya tingkat keragaman genetik manusianya menjadi sangat
menarik untuk dikaji terutama hubungan antara struktur genetik pupulasi, penyebaran serta
penggolongan bahasa di Indonesia, dan penyebaran VHB di Indonesia.

1. Bahasan Utama

Mahsun (2010: 198) memaparkan salah satu ciri bahasa Austronesia di Kepulauan Nusantara
adalah hadirnya unsur yang menjadi penghubung antara yang diterangkan dengan yang
menerangkan. Unsur yang demikian itu secara stimulatif disebut sebagai penanda milik/ posesif.
Ada atau tidaknya penanda milik atau posesif dalam bahasa Austronesia tertentu bukan berarti
bahwa dahulunya penanda tersebut memang tidak dimiliki. Mungkin saja karena perkembangan
diakronis tertentu yang dialami bahasa tersebut dari konstruksi yang memiliki penanda milik
menjadi konstruksi yang tidak berpermarkah milik atau dapat dikatakan bahasa itu mengalami
inovasi.

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Mahsun (2010:198) yang mengutip pendapat Nothofer yang menyebutkan bahwa pemarkah yang
menjadi penghubung tersebut, dalam bahasa-bahasa Austronesia, berwujud *nia, yang refleksinya
dalam bahasa-bahasa turunan dapat bervariasi. Dalam bahasa Jawa pemarkah itu muncul sebagai
ne atau e, seperti pada frasa-frasa s|patune amir ‗sepatu milik Amir, sepatu Amir‘, ibune jOkO
‗ibu milik Joko, ibu Joko‘, bapake kasnO ‗bapak milik Kasno, ayah Kasno‘, omahe pa? lurah
‗ rumah milik Pak Lurah, rumahnya Pak Lurah‘, dan lain-lain.

Dari empat belas sebagai sampel penelitian, dapat diketahui bahwa terdapat sepuluh macam
penanda milik atau posesif. Kesepuluh penanda milik itu adalah.

(1) Penanda miliki ge terdapat dalam bahasa Gresi di Papua.

(2) Penanda milik ni terdapat dalam bahasa Tarfia dan bahasa Tobati di Papua; bahasa Alor dan
bahasa Makian di Maluku.

(3) Penanda milik de terdapat dalam bahasa Namblong di Papua.

(4) Penanda milik en terdapat dalam bahasa Marind di Papua.

(5) Penanda milik he terdapat dalam bahasa Abui di Maluku.

(6) Penanda milik na terdapat dalam bahasa Ternate di Maluku.

(7) Penanda milik ma terdapat dalam bahasa Dani di Papua.

(8) Penanda milik ya?, iya?, dan ya terdapat dalam bahasa Mee di Papua.

(9) Penanda milik secara bentuk leksikal tidak dimiliki dalam bahasa Lamaholot di NTT.

(10) Penanda milik ni dan ni? terdapat dalam bahasa Kei di Maluku.

a. Bahasa Gresi

Contoh bahasa Gresi adalah sebagai berikut.

1. aya ge yap

Ayah pos rumah

‗rumah punya ayah = rumah ayah‘

2. undatraG ge k|bali

kakak pos pekerjaan

‗pekerjaan punya kakak = pekerjaan kakak‘

3. ag| undatraG ge uGkabu

saya kakak pos kepala

‗kakak saya punya kepala = kepala kakak saya‘

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 4. aya ge taici

ayah pos pekerjaan

‗pekerjaan punya ayah = pekerjaan ayah‘

Pada data tersebut terlihat hadirnya bentuk ge yang merupakan unsur penanda milik dalam frasa
bahasa Gresi.

b. Bahasa Tarfia

Contoh bahasa Tarfia adalah sebagai berikut.

1. duk ni siwi-k
saya pos hidung-ku (k < ku < aku)
‗saya punya punya hidung = hidung saya‘
2. ik ni siwi-m
kamu pos hidung-mu (m < mu < kamu)
‗kamu punya hidung = hidung kamu‘

Pada data tersebut terlihat hadirnya bentuk ni yang merupakan unsur penanda milik dalam frasa
bahasa Tarfia.

c. Bahasa Tobati

Contoh bahasa Tobati adalah sebagai berikut.

1. ayi ni rum

Ayah pos rumah

‗ayah punya rumah = rumah ayah‘
2. six ni jeih|jOk
adik pos tangan
‗adik punya tangan = tangan adik‘

Pada data tersebut terlihat hadirnya bentuk ni yang merupakan unsur penanda milik dalam frasa
bahasa Tobati. Unsur penanda milik dalam bahasa Tobati sama bentuknya dengan unsur penanda
milik dalam bahasa Tarfia.

Berdasarkan data tersebut digambarkan bahwa kelima bahasa yang diklasifikasikan sebagai
bahasa Non-Austronesia oleh SIL, yaitu bahasa Tarfia, Tobati, Alor, Kei, dan Makian Timur
masih merefleksikan bentuk Austronesia *nia dalam bentuk yang lebih pendek, yaitu pelesapan
vokal [a] pada posisi akhir, sehingga menjadi ni. Dalam bahasa Makian Timur selain muncul
bentuk posesif ni (bentuk umum) juga muncul bentuk posesif di (bentuk halus). Selain dalam
keempat bahasa itu, penanda milik juga ditemukan dalam bahasa Namblong, Gresi, Marind, Abui,
Mee, dan Ternate yang masing-masing muncul dalam bentuk-bentuk de, ge, –en, he, ya, ya?,
iya?, dan na. Sementara itu, dalam bahasa Adang dan bahasa Lamaholot tidak muncul penanda
milik. Jadi, penanda hubungan antara unsur yang diterangkan dengan unsur yang menerangkan
dalam konstruksi milik/genetif memiliki realisasi yang berbeda-beda namun dapat dirunut
kesamaan sejarah kekerabatan bahasanya, yaitu di antara kesembilan bahasa tersebut, baik bentuk
ni, de, ge, –en, he, maupun na berasal dari bentuk Austronesia *nia. Bentuk ni terjadi melalui
proses pelesapan bunyi akhir bentuk Austronesia: *nia. Bentuk di terjadi melalui proses pelesapan

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bunyi akhir bentuk Austronesia: *nia dan juga terjadi perubahan konsonan [n] menjadi [d].
Perubahan konsonan [n] menjadi [d] sangat dimungkinkan, karena kedua konsonan tersebut
sama-sama berupa konsonan apikoalveolar. Bentuk de terjadi melalui proses kontraksi antara
bunyi [a] dengan bunyi [i] pada bentuk Austronesia: *nia dan juga terjadi perubahan konsonan [n]
menjadi [d]. Bentuk ge diduga diturunkan dari bentuk de, karena perubahan dari [d] menjadi [g]
lebih mungkin dibandingkan perubahan dari [n] menjadi [g]. Konsonan [d] dan [g] sama-sama
berupa konsonan hambat bersuara. Adapun bentuk posesif he pada bahasa Abui diduga diturunkan
dari bentuk ge, karena konsonan [g] dan [h] biasa saling menggantikan (ingat hukum r g h van
der Took). Dengan demikian, tahap-tahap terbentuknya bentuk penanda milik dalam bahasa-
bahasa tersebut dapat diskenariokan sebagai berikut.

Austronesia Purba: *nia > ne > en (metatesis)> de > ge > he >na > ma > ya atau

*nia > ni > di

Bahasa Lamaholot

Bahasa Lamaholot merupakan bagian dari bahasa daerah di Indonesia kawasan timur. Apakah
memiliki kontruksi frasa susun terbalik atau lazim seperti halnya ciri bahasa-bahasa daerah di
Indonesia kawasan barat dapat dicermati melalui contoh berikut.

Rumah saya laGO? gOE`

1 rumah saya
D M

Rumah kami laGO? kamE?

2 rumah kami
D M

Rumah kamu laGO? mi&O?

3 rumah kamu
D M

Setelah mencermati berian atau pemercontoh enam kontruksi frasa dari bahasa Lamaholot di
Larantuka, Nusa Tenggara Timur dapat disimpulkan bahwa tidak semua bahasa daerah di
kawasan Indonesia bagian timur memiliki kontruksi frasa susun terbalik, yaitu M-D. Hal tersebut
dibuktikan oleh konstruksi frasa bahasa Lamaholot yang memiliki ciri lazimnya bahasa daerah
Indonesia kawasan barat, yaitu kontruksi D-M. Bukti ini setidaknya dapat meruntuhkan pendapat
para ahli linguistik dari kelompok SIL (Summer Institute Linguistic) bahwa bahasa daerah di
Indonesia kawasan timur berkonstruksi M-D sebagai ciri bahasa Nonaustronesia.

Pembagian wilayah Indonesia berdasar subtipe dan subgenotipe

Berdasarkan penyebaran subtipe dan subgenotipe virus hepatitis B di Indonesia tersebut, dapat
disusun pengelompokan daerah di Indonesia berdasar distribusi subtipe/subgenotipe, menjadi 4
kelompok daerah yaitu: 1. Daerah adw/B3 meliputi Sumatera, Kalimantan, Jawa, Bali dan Nusa
Tenggara Barat; 2. Daerah adw/C5 meliputi Sulawesi bagian utara dan Maluku Utara;3. Daerah
ayw/C2 meliputi Nusa Tenggara Timur, Maluku Selatan dan Sulawesi bagian selatan; 4. Daerah
adr/C6 meliputi Papua Indonesia (Gambar 2). Yang menarik di sini adalah bahwa batas antara

81
Zona subtipe adw/genotipe B di bagian barat dengan subtipe ayw/genotipe C di bagian timur
Indonesia adalah sama dengan garis Brandes, yaitu mulai dari Selat Sape di selatan terus ke Selat
Makassar di utara. Terdapat subzone C7 di Zona genotipe B yaitu di Bali, Lombok, dan
Sumbawa, yang dihuni oleh penduduk penutur bahasa Subfamili Bahasa Bali-Sasak-Sumbawa.
Pembagian daerah tersebut kelak menjadi penting, manakala kita hendak memproduksi vaksin
hepatitis B yang lebih efektif; yaitu dengan jalan membuat vaksin hepatitis B rekombinan yang
diturunkan dari genom HBV yang sesuai dengan kelompok subtipe/subgenotipe masing-masing
daerah tersebut.

Gambar 2. Zona subtipe/subgenotipe HBV di Indonesia

Indonesia dihuni oleh lebih dari 442 suku bangsa, yang masing-masing menggunakan bahasanya
sendiri. Diperkirakan nenek moyang penduduk Indonesia mulai masuk ke Indonesia (dari Afrika)
secara bergelombang pada sekitar 40,000-50,000 tahun yang lalu. Datang melalui berbagai rute
antara lain: pertama melalui jalur laut dari daratan Asia langsung ke Sumatera Barat (Padang).
Kedua, melalui semenanjung Malaka terus ke Sumatera, baru menyebar ke pulau-pulau lain di
bagian timur Indonesia. Ketiga, melalui Filipina terus ke Sulawesi Utara (kepulauan Sangihe,
Manado). Dan keempat, konon ada yang datang dari Taiwan melalui laut terus ke pulau-pulau di
bagian timur Indonesia, termasuk Papua.

Pada awal migrasi nenek moyang kita, ―kelompok-besar‖ mereka memakai bahasa yang sama dan
juga membawa virus hepatitis B dengan genotipe tertentu. Selama migrasi, mereka mulai
memisahkan diri dan terbagi dalam kelompok-kelompok lebih kecil sesuai dengan rute yang
mereka tempuh. Praktis tidak ada komunikasi antar kelompok yang bermigrasi, sehingga akhirnya
terbentuk alat komunikasi (bahasa) untuk ―kelompok-kecil‖ nya masing-masing. Selama puluhan
ribu tahun bermigrasi, bahasa mereka makin jauh berbeda dengan bahasa awal ―kelompok-besar‖
pada waktu mereka mulai bermigrasi. Selain evolusi bahasa, tubuh mereka juga ikut berevolusi
guna beradaptasi dengan lingkungan geografis tempat mereka tinggal; virus hepatitis B yang
terbawa oleh ―kelompok-kecil‖ tersebut juga ikut berevolusi untuk menyesuaikan diri dengan
tubuh inangnya. Akhirnya terbentuklah keaneka ragaman genom virus hepatitis B yang

82
menyesuaikan diri dengan keaneka ragaman jaringan tubuh individu dalam kelompok-kecil
tersebut.

Hubung Kait Sistemik Linguistik

Konteks adalah aspek-aspek internal teks dan segala sesuatu yang secara eksternal melingkupi
sebuah teks. Berdasarkan pengertian tersebut, maka konteks secara garis besar dapat dibedakan
menjadi dua kelompok, yaitu konteks bahasa dan konteks luar bahasa. Konteks bahasa disebut
konteks internal atau konteks linguistik, sedang konteks luar bahasa disebut konteks eksternal atau
konteks sosial. Konteks linguistik mengacu kepada unit linguistik yang mendampingi satu unit
yang sedang dibicarakan. Konteks sosial mengacu kepada segala sesuatu di luar yang tertulis atau
terucap, yang mendampingi bahasa atau teks dalam peristiwa pemakaian bahasa atau interaksi
sosial. Konteks sosial ini terbagi ke dalam tiga kategori, yaitu konteks situasi, konteks budaya,
dan konteks ideologi. Konteks situasi terdiri atas apa (field) yang dibicarakan, siapa (tenor) yang
membicarakan dan kepada siapa dibicarakan, dan bagaimana (mode) pembicaraan itu dibicarakan.
Konteks budaya dibatasi sebagai aktivitas sosial bertahap untuk mencapai suatu tujuan. Dalam
pengertian ini, konteks budaya mencakup tiga hal, yaitu (1) batasan kemungkinan ketiga unsur
konteks situasi, (2) tahap yang harus dilalui dalam satu interaksi sosial, dan (3) tujuan yang akan
dicapai dalam interaksi sosial. Konteks idiologi mengacu kepada konstruksi atau konsep sosial
yang menetapkan apa seharusnya dan tidak seharusnya dilakukan seseorang dalam satu interaksi
sosial. Dengan batasan ini, ideologi merupakan konsep atau gambar ideal yang diinginkan atau
diidamkan oleh anggota masyarakat dalam satu komunitas, yang terdiri atas apa yang diinginkan
atau yang tidak diinginkan terjadi. Di samping pemahaman mengenai konteks, inferensi juga
merupakan proses yang sangat penting dalam memahami teks. Inferensi adalah proses yang harus
dilakukan oleh pendengar atau pembaca untuk memahami maksud pembicara atau penulis.
Pemahaman ini didasari pula oleh pemahaman makna berdasarkan konteks linguistik maupun
konteks sosial. Pemahaman konteks sosial dalam teks dapat dilakukan dengan berbagai prinsip
penafsiran dan prinsip analogi. Di antara prinsip penafsiran tersebut adalah prinsip penafsiran
personal, lokasional, dan temporal(Sumarlam, 2003:47).

Sudut pandang linguistik historis komparatif dan genetika memiliki kesamaan pandangan tentang
latar belakang kesejarahan suatu kata dalam konteks sejarah perkembangan bahasa harus dikaji
bersama-sama untuk menghasilkan analisis bahasa yang komperehensif. Hal tersebut juga
dilakukan oleh teori sistemik linguistik dimana di dalam menganalisis wacana melibatkan
beberapa aspek bahasa yang melingkupinya seperti budaya, situasi sosial, register, mode, field,
dan tenor.

Kesimpulan Awal

Hasil penelitian genom virus hepatitis B di Indonesia menunjukkan adanya variasi genom yang
tinggi antar berbagai daerah/etnik di Indonesia. Dari 38 subgenotipe yang sekarang terdapat di
seluruh dunia, 25 (65%) subgenotipe ada di Indonesia. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian tersebut,
dengan jumlah sampel yang sangat terbatas, dapat diambil kesimpulan spekulatif sebagai berikut:
1. Terdapat petunjuk adanya pola penyebaran genom virus hepatitis B yang mencerminkan
berbagai rute migrasi nenek moyang kita dimasa lampau.
2. Adanya genom virus hepatitis B (subgenotipe B3) yang tersebar luas dan merata di seluruh
Indonesia mengindikasikan bahwa nenek moyang kita, yang bermigrasi ke Nusantara dalam
kelompok-kelompok kecil melalui berbagai rute migrasi tersebut, berasal dari ―kelompok-
besar‖ yang sama; yaitu ―kelompok-besar‖ dengan pengidap virus hepatitis B subgenotipe B3
dominan.

83
3. Keaneka ragaman genom virus hepatitis B dipersatukan oleh genom yang sama, subgenotipe
B3; seperti halnya bangsa Indonesia, dipersatukan dalam Negara Kesatuan Republik
Indonesia dengan semboyannya ―Bhineka Tunggal Ika‖, berbeda-beda tetapi tetap satu jua.

Pustaka
Blust, Robert A. 1977.‖The Proto-Austronesian Pronouns and Austronesian Subgrouping: A
Preliminary Report‖. Dalam University of Hawaii Working Papers in Linguistics, 9(2): 1-
15.
Blust, Robert A. 1978. ―Eastern Malayo-Polynesian: A Subgrouping Argument‖.dalam Second
International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics: Proceedings, Fascicle 1: Western
Austronesian, (Pacific Linguistics C6: 181-234).
Blust, Robert A. 1982. ―The Linguistic Value of the Wallace Line‖. Dalam Bijdragen tot de Taal-
Land-en Volkenkunde. 138: 231-250.
Brandes, J.L.A. 1884. Bidrage tot de Verglijkende Klankleer der Westersche Afdeeling van de
Maleisch-Polynesische Taalfamilie. Utrecht: P.W. van de Weijer.
Eggin, S. 2004. An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics. London:Continuum.
Halliday, M.A.K. 1994. An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Arnold.
Halliday, M.A.K. 2002. Linguistic Studies of Text and Discourse. London: Continuum.
Halliday, M.A.K. 2006. The Language of Science. London: Continuum.
Mahsun. 1995. Dilektologi Diakronis: Sebuah Pengantar. Yogyakarta: Gadjah Mada University
Press.
Mahsun. 2005. Penelitian Bahasa: Tahapan Strategi, Metode, dan Tekniknya. Jakarta: Rajawali
Grafindo.
Mbete, Aron Meko. 1990. ―Rekonstruksi Protobahasa Bali-Sasak-Sumbawa. Disertasi Doktor.
Jakarta: Universitas Indonesia.
Mulyanto dkk. 1997. ― Distribution of the Hepatitis B Surface Antigen Subtypes in Indonesia:
Implication for Etnic Heterogeneity and Infection Control Measures‖. Dalam Archives of
Virology 142: 1221-2129, Austria.
Mulyanto. 1991. ―Perbedaan Imunogenisitas Hepatitis B Surface Antigen (HBsAg) dari Berbagai
Subtipe: Studi Seroepidemiologik dan Laboratorik dalam Rangka Pemurnian HBsAg‖.
Disertasi Doktor, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya.
Sumarlam dkk.. 2003. Teori dan Praktik Analisis Wacana. Surakarta: Pustaka Cakra.

84
 Positioning the Product and Consumer through Imperative Mood Theme: A Systemic
Functional Linguistics Perspective Analysis on 3 Mild Cigarette Slogans

Kasno Pamungkas
kasno.pamungkas@unpad.ac.id

Eva Tuckytasari Sujatna

eva.tuckyta@unpad.ac.id

Abstract
This research aims to describe the placing of the product and the consumer based on the theme
and rheme of the slogan in clause as a message analysis, the transitivity and process of the slogan
in clause as representation analysis, and mood and residue in clause as an exchange. The
framework of this research is Systemic Functional Linguistics which discusses clause structures
especially clause as a message, clause as representation, clause as an exchange and situational
contexts. Halliday (1985), Gerot and Wignell (1995) theories which tell theme and rheme in
clause as message, clause as representation, clause as an exchange and the situational context are
the major theories of this study. Meanwhile, theories of the advertisement proposed by Cook
(1992), Danesi (2004), and Tanaka (2001) are applied as minor theories. The data used in this
research are slogans of some mild cigarette products in Indonesia. The results of this research
show that there are two kinds of theme in imperative mood, process as theme and product name as
theme which stand for subject filler of the slogans, that imply to the positioning of the consumer
and the product. In the process as theme the consumer is asked to do the process used in the
slogan then it places the consumer as the agent doing the process and the product is as the goal of
the slogan. Meanwhile, in the product name as the theme, it shows what to do by the product.
Therefore, it places the product name as the agent doing the process and places the consumer as
the goal of the slogan.

Keywords: Theme, Rheme, Transitivity, Process

1. Introduction

In the world of advertising, language has an important role since most ads are always
accompanied by utterances providing information in several forms such as words, phrases, or
sentences. Cook (1992) states, "The slogan is a short and striking or memorable phrase used in
advertising". The utterances of the slogan work verbally to spice up the ads. In addition, language
is a means to emphasize slogan or statement related to subtextual meaning (Danesi, 2004: 268).
Therefore, the science of language, linguistics, has a role in determining the message to be
conveyed in the slogan. From this rationale, this study aims to analyze the advertising slogan
based on the Systemic Functional Linguistics perspective, especially the clause as a message that
addresses themes and rheme, clause as representation addressing the transitivity and clause as an
exchange focusing on mood and residue of the ads slogan in English.

Gerot and Wignell (1995: 82) defines clause as the largest grammatical units, and the group of
two or more clauses are clauses which are logically related to one another. According to the
Systemic Functional Linguistics approach, Halliday (1985) divided the clause becomes clause as
an exchange, as a representation clause, and clause as a message. Based on the structure, the third
clause function according to Halliday (1985) have differences that can be seen in the following
table.

Table 1. Clause Function according to Halliday (1985)

85
 Clause The students have studied functional grammar
As a representation Actor Process Goal
As an exchange Mood Residue
As a message Theme Rheme

Of the three clause functions, it can be described and identified the positioning of the consumer
and the product in the slogans.

2. Research Method

The method used in this research is analytical descriptive one. According to Nunan (1992: 3)
Qualitative research assumes that all knowledge is relative, that there is a subjective element to all
knowledge and research and that holistic ungeneralisable studies are justifable. The aim of
descriptive research is to describe condition and phenomenon status. Therefore, it intends to
describe the positioning of the consumer and the product based on Systemic Functional
Linguistics perspective contained in the slogan. In addition to the descriptive, this research is also
an analytical one, i.e. to discuss and analyze the themes of slogan in the imperative-mood slogans.
The author obtained data from some electronic and printed media such as internet, newspaper,
product package, etc. After collecting the data, the writer classified the data related to the mood
and residue system to find the imperative slogans. Then the data are analyzed in order to see the
theme and the process used in the slogan.

3. Theoretical Framework

3.1 Clause as a Message

Clause is organized as a message by placing elements clauses relate to each other. One or a group
of elements in the clause serves as a Theme which is then combined with a group of other
elements called Rheme.

3.2 Theme and Rheme

In Systemic Functional Linguistics, theme implies the starting point of the message, the main
intention contained in a clause. It is as previously stated by Halliday (1985: 38) "Theme is the
element of the which serves as the point of departure of the message: it is that with the which the
clause is concerned". Meanwhile, another part of the clause which is not a theme is called rheme.
Halliday (1985: 38) defines, "Rheme is the remainder of the message, the part in which the theme
is developed. 'According to this definition, rheme is part of the message which develops the
theme. Look at the following clauses to describe the structure of themes and rheme:

1.a. The policeman shot the bank robber near a bar

1.b. The bank robber was shot by the policeman near a bar

1.c. Near a bar the policeman shot the bank robber

The three clauses above, generally contain the same information. However, there are
differences on the theme of the clauses. The first clause puts the policeman as the theme, the
second clause uses the bank robber as a theme, and third clause puts near a bar as the theme. The
configuration of theme and rheme can be described in the following table.

Table 2. Configuration of Theme and Rheme

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 The policeman shot the bank robber near a bar
The bank robber was shot by the policeman near a bar
Near a bar the policeman shot the bank robber
Tema Rema

The theme differences in clause signifies the emphasis on different information. Clause The
policeman shot the bank robber near a bar put constituents the policeman as the most information
information, whereas clause The bank robber was shot by the policeman near a bar uses
constituents the bank robber as the theme and the clause near a bar the policeman shot the bank
robber put constituents near a bar as theme. Gerot and Wignell (1995: 103) in line with that
proposed by Halliday, the theme is identified as an element that starts the clause and the departure
point for a message, while the rest of the elements is rheme. The difference between theme and
rheme can be classified based on the position and function as shown in Table 3.

Table 3. The distinction between Theme and Rheme

Theme Rheme
Position Initial, starting the clause Following the theme
Function Explaining the clause Explaining the theme

3.3 Clause as A Representation

Clause as a representation, according to Gerot and Wignell (1995: 52), consists of participants,
processes, and circumstances. From these elements, the process is central transitivity expressing
action, events, feelings and others found in the clauses. Halliday (1985: 102-113) defines the types
of process as follows:

1. Material process, a verb that describes the physical action, such as study, catch, shoot, etc.

2. Mental process, expresses a feeling, thought, and perception that is characterized by verbs such
as pleased, understand, realize, know, believe, see.

3. Behavioral process, describe the actions or behavior in physiological indicated by verbs such as
breathing, dreaming, snoring, smiling, hiccupping, looking, watching, listening, Pondering, etc.

4. Verbal process, disclose or stating verbally indicated by verbs such as explain, say, tell, inform,
announce, report.

5. Relational process, stating the circumstances, ownership, attributive, and the like as indicated
by verbs like tobe (is, am, are), has, appear.

6. Existential process, describe the presence or existence which is indicated by the use of
exspletive there such as there is a teacher in my class.

7. Meteorological process, shown with introductory ‗it‘ like it's hot inside.

3.4 Themes and Mood

Mood consists of two (2) forming elements, namely: Subject and Finite. Broadly speaking, Gerot
and Wignell (1995: 111) divides the mood by which the form of declarative clauses, imperative,
interrogative, and exclamative. Theme could also be connected with the mood, but different from
mood elements, the theme does not require finite as residue has.

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3.5 Imperative Mood Themes

Key message to be conveyed in imperative clause is the speaker or writer wants the reader or
consumer of the product to do something or 'I want you to do something'. Thus, there is a theme
that is unmarked ie 'you or let's‘ unless the process of the clause serves as a theme. Gerot and
Wignell (1995: 112) it can be analyzed based on the orientation of the text. If the text is oriented
to demand or action of nature govern the process acts as a verb or a theme, otherwise if the text-
oriented action taken by the speaker to someone else then omitted subject is the theme of the
clause. Look at the following example of the imperative mood slogans:

A. Capture all the goodness in life (Kompas, January 26, 2008)

B. Give you a heaven at the capital (Kompas, January 26, 2008)

Both of the slogans are imperative mood clauses. However, to determine the theme, they get
different treatment. The slogan A ask the reader or consumer to take action. Therefore, the process
'capture' roles as a theme as shown in Table 4.

Table 4. Process as theme

Capture all the goodness in life

Theme Rheme

Meanwhile, in the slogan B, the process acts to another person, the reader or consumer. It is
characterized by goal ‗you‘ as the recipient of the action. Applied in the advertising slogan, the
subject or the actor tends to be filled by the name of the product being advertised. Therefore, the
description of the theme and rheme is shown in the following table.

Table 5. Omitted Subject as theme

(product name) give you a heaven at the capital

Theme Rheme

4. Slogan

According to (Danesi, 2004: 268) there are some technical language used to achieve
advertisement goal and even to make people become aware of the benefits and importance of a
product for them. Here are some characteristics of slogan language:

- Reminding tothe product, for example: Have a great day, at McDonald's

- Using imperatives to bring the effects of advice and suggestions.
- Create a formula that effect less meaningful statement be true.
- Alliteration, repetition of sounds to improve the chances that the brand name will be
remembered and inspired by poetic impression, for example: The Superfree Sensation
(repetition of sounds [s]), Guinness is Good for you (repetition of sounds [g])
- Ignoring the intention but is marking the fact that the slogan was able to capture the
reader's attention, for example: Do you know what she's wearing?
- Metaphor, by creating a powerful parable about the product.
- Metonymy, by creating a powerful metaphor for such products.

5. Discussion

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5.1 Talk Less Do More (Clas Mild, 2008-2012)

5.1.1 Product Name as Theme (Omitted Subject)

Analysis (Clas Mild) talk less

(Clas Mild) do more
Subject GS<F>
LS<F>
PS<F>
Theme & Rheme Th Rh
Transitivity Actor Material Process
Mood Imperative

Situational Context Analysis:

1. Field: Focus object of this slogan is Clas Mild cigarette products from PT. Nojorono.

2. Tenor: PT. Nojorono or author of slogans promoting the products.

3. Mode: written language slogan that serves to reflect the Clas Mild products.

Based on the structure of the clause, this advertising slogan does not have a theme and only
consists of rheme. Since a clause as a message should consist of a theme and rheme, it can be
analyzed that the theme of the slogan is implicitly stated in the slogan. The implicit theme refers
to products advertised by the slogan, so that the product name acts as a filler (filler <F>) of the
theme. Thus, the theme of this slogan is the product itself i.e. the Clas Mild cigarettes, while the
rheme of the slogan is the overall advertising slogan, talk less do more.

Since the word ‗Clas Mild‘ is, in the transitivity analysis, the implied actor of the the material
process "talk" and "do", it can be seen that Clas Mild cigarette is conveying a message that it does
not talk much in their market competition but it does a lot of work in order to be able to compete
with other similar products. It will be no problem to have the market competition with the other
products with cheaper or higher price, more excellent and luxurious presentation and the ones
which claims more experience to have. This ads slogan can be a satirical slogan to other products
with their ads. Therefore, it can be an answer for other product ads and the issuing of this slogan
could be the response to advertising slogans of other similar products.

5.1.2 Process as Theme

Analysis Talk less

Do more
Subject SG
SL
SP
Theme & rheme Th Rh
Transitivity Material Process
Mood IMP

In addition to placing the product name as the omitted theme of this slogan, the theme of this ads
slogan can also be the process "talk" and "do" while the rheme is "less" and "more". From the

89
analysis of this data, it can be seen that the subjects of grammatical and logical do not always exist
in the imperative mood slogan, while the psychological subject or theme is always there in all
kinds of slogans. Material process "talk" and "do" in this slogan tells the readers (consumers) to
take actions envisaged by the rheme "less" and "more". Since it is imperative, based on the
transitivity, the material process put the reader (consumer) as the actor to do more and little talk.
Furthermore, based on the context of the situation, the process "do" in this slogan can be
associated to perform work related to the advertised product i.e. "to smoke". Therefore, the slogan
of this ad contains a command, suggestion, or preference not to do a lot of talking but to smoke
and enjoy the cigarette is better.

5.2 Enjoy aja (LA Starlight, 1999-2011)

5.2.1 Product Name as Theme (Subject Filler)

Analysis (LA Starlight) Enjoy aja

Subject GS<F>
LS<F>
PS<F>
Theme & rheme Th Rh
Transitivity Behaver Mental Process
Mood IMP

Situational Context Analysis:

1. Field: Focus object of this slogan is LA Starlight tobacco products from PT. Djarum

2. Tenor: PT. Djarum or the author of the slogan that promote tobacco products.

3. Mode: written language slogan that serves to reflect LA Starlight product.

Looking at the structure of the clause, it seems that this advertising slogan does not have a theme
and only consists of rheme. That a clause as a message should consist of a theme and rheme, it can
be analyzed from the mood system of the slogan. The theme can be implicitly stated in the slogan.
The implicit theme refers to the products being advertised by the slogan, then the product name
acts as a filler (filler <F>) of the theme. Thus, the theme of this slogan is the product itself i.e. the
LA Starlight cigarette, while the rheme of the slogan is the overall advertising slogan, enjoy aja.

Since the word ‗LA Starlight‘ is, in the transitivity analysis, the implied behaver of the the
material process "enjoy aja", it can be seen that LA Starlight cigarette does not matter to be
existing and competing with other similar products. It will be ready and enjoy the market
competition with the other products with cheaper or higher price, more excellent and luxurious
presentation and the ones which claims more experience to have in the cigarette market. This ads
slogan can be an answer for other product ads and the issuing of this slogan could be a response to
advertising slogans of other similar products.

5.2.2 Process as Theme

Analysis Enjoy aja

Subject SG
SL
SP

90
 Theme & rheme Th Rh
Transitivity Mental Process
Mood IMP

Beside placing the product name as the omitted theme of this slogan, the theme of this ads slogan
can also be the process itself, "enjoy" while the rheme is "aja". From the analysis of this data, it
can be seen that the grammatical and logical subjects do not always exist in the imperative mood
slogan, while the psychological subject or theme always exists in all kinds of slogans. Mental
process "enjoy" in this slogan tells the readers (consumers) to feel the situation. Since it is
imperative, based on the transitivity, the mental process put the reader (consumer) as the behaver
to have the feeling. Furthermore, based on the context of the situation, the process "enjoy" in this
slogan can be associated to enjoy the advertised product i.e. "to smoke". Therefore, the slogan of
this ad contains a command, suggestion, or preference to enjoy smoking the LA Starlight
cigarette.

5.3. Go Ahead! (Sampoerna Mild, 2009-sekarang)

5.3.1 Product Name as Theme (Subject Filler)

Analysis (A Mild) go a head

Subject GS<F>
LS<F>
PS<F>
Theme & rheme Th Rh
Transitivity Actor Material Process
Mood IMP

Situational Context Analysis:

1. Field: Focus object of this slogan is the A Mild cigarette products from PT. HM. Sampoerna

2. Tenor: PT. HM. Sampoerna or author of slogans that promote tobacco products.

3. Mode: Language, shaped slogan that serves to reflect the product A Mild.

According to the structure of the clause, this advertising slogan does not have a theme and only
consists of rheme. Since a clause as a message should consist of a theme and rheme, it can be
analyzed that the theme of the slogan is implicitly stated in the slogan. The implicit theme refers
to products advertised by the slogan, so that the product name acts as a filler (F) of the theme.
Thus, the theme of this slogan is the product itself i.e. the A Mild cigarette, while the rheme of the
slogan is the overall advertising slogan, go ahead.

Since the word ‗A Mild‘ is, in the transitivity analysis, the implied actor of the the material
process "go ahead", it can be seen that A Mild cigarette will go ahead in their market competition
and be ready to compete with other similar products. As the first product of mild cigarette, A Mild
will be no problem to have the market competition with the other products with cheaper price and
just follow it. This ads slogan can be a satirical slogan to other products with their ads. Although
there are many other mild cigarette produced afterwards, A Mild will go ahead in the market. This
slogan is a continuation of previous advertising slogan "Others can only follow". A Mild issuing

91
these ads with the slogan could be as the response to advertising slogans and other similar
products means that A Mild will continue to be acceptable with more expensive price. As the first
brand of mild cigarette, there is a confidence that A Mild will hold the market though there will be
more competitors reducing the consumer response.

5.3.2 Process as Theme

Analysis Go A head
Subject SG
SL
SP
Theme & rheme Th Rh
Transitivity Material Process
Modus IMP

In addition to placing the product name as the theme of the advertising slogan, the theme slogan A
Mild imperative mode can also be a verb / process "go" while remanya is "ahead". As the theme
of the analysis process, material process "enjoy" in this slogan tells the reader to perform the
actions described by rema "ahead", ie the reader to continue what has been done. Thus, based on
the context of the situation process "go" on this slogan can be associated to perform work related
to the advertised product, the "smoke". Thus, in the analysis process as its theme, the slogan of
this ad contains a vague persuasion to the reader to enjoy the A Mild cigarette product they're
advertising and also convince consumers not to turn to other products even at a cheaper price.

6. Conclusion

From the analysis of the data, some conclusions can be drawn up related to the topic of this study,
namely: there are two kinds of theme in imperative mood, process as theme and product name as
theme which stand for subject filler of the slogans, that imply to the positioning of the consumer
and the product. In the process as theme the consumer is asked to do the process used in the
slogan then it places the consumer as the agent doing the process and the product is as the goal of
the slogan. Meanwhile, in the product name as the theme, it shows what to do by the product.
Therefore, it places the product name as the agent doing the process and places the consumer as
the goal of the slogan. The data analysis of imperative mood slogan that puts the process as the
theme, it expresses a request for doing actions carried out by the reader or consumer. In the
imperative mood advertising slogan with the omitted subject which put the product name as the
theme, the advertising slogan is not only directed to the reader as a consumer, but also addressed
to competitors. Meanwhile, in the process as the theme, messages advertising slogan aimed at
consumers and not to the other products as competitors.

References
Blakemore, Diane. 2003. Understanding Utterances. United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing
Bloor, T. & Bloor, M. 1995. The Functional Analysis: A Hallidayan Approach. New York: St.
Martin Press
Cook, Guy. 1992. The Discourse of Advertising. London: Routledge
Danesi, Marcel. 2004. Messages, Signs, and Meanings: A Basic Textbook in Semiotics and
Communication. Toronto: Canadian Scholars‘ Press. Inc.
Eggins, S. 1994. An Introduction to Systemic Functional Grammar. London: Pinter

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Gerot, Linda and Wignell, Peter. 1995. Making Sense of Functional Grammar. Sydney:
Antipodean educational Enterprises.
Goddard, Angela. 1998. The Language of Advertising: Written Text. London: Routledge
Halliday, M.A.K., 1985. An Introduction to Functional Grammar. Maryland: Edward Arnold
Publisher
Jefkins, Frank. 1997. Periklanan. Jakarta: Erlangga
Pamungkas, Kasno. Tema pada slogan iklan berbahasa inggris dimedia cetak. Diss. Thesis, 2009.
Koh, Simon & Ishak, Mubaraq. 1992. Advertising: Question and Answer. Singapore: Brighton
Publication
Richards, Jack. 1996. Functional English Grammar. USA: Cambridge University Press
Sudaryanto, 1990. Aneka Konsep Kedataan Lingual dalam Linguistik. Yogyakarta: Duta Wacana
Press
Sujatna, Eva Tuckytasari. 2014. Understanding English Syntax. Bandung: Unpad Press.

93
Grammatical Functions of Preposition with: A Corpus-Based Study from the Perspective of
Systemic Functional Grammar

Li Guoyuan

School of Foreign Languages, Renmin University of China

Beijing, China
lylyguoguo@163.com

Abstract
English prepositions, as functional words, only account for a small part in the big family of
English words. Over the years, many researches have been carried out to analyze English
prepositions from various perspectives. However, few researches have been conducted to
systematically classify the grammatical functions of English prepositions from the perspective of
Systemic Functional Grammar. Therefore, this paper seeks a thorough classification of the
grammatical functions of the English preposition with from the angle of Systemic Functional
Grammar, to reveal the important role of Systemic Functional Grammar in explaining the
phenomena of using English prepositions in different situations. The theoretical base is mainly
environmental elements involved in the ideational function. The corpus-based approach is
adopted, with BNC providing the data. The results of this study indicate that the English
preposition with has fifteen different grammatical functions from the perspective of Systemic
Functional Grammar, which to some extent reflects its grammatical functions in traditional
grammar, but at the same time adds some more detailed types of grammatical functions.

Keywords: Preposition with, Grammatical functions, Systemic Functional Grammar,

Circumstantial elements, Corpus

Introduction

As an important part of English, prepositions have aroused much attention in current linguistic
studies. Preposition refers to ―a word or group of words, such as in, from, to, out of and on behalf
of, used before a noun or pronoun to show place, position, time or method‖ (Wehmeier, 2004:
1351). Looked at in isolation, prepositions are very simple in structure. However, prepositions are
so frequently used in English in combination with other words that they play a very important role
in helping convey meanings. According to Kennedy (2000), there will be a preposition in almost
every eight English words. And the functions of prepositions vary with the words that they
combine with, thus making prepositions have various kinds of functions in different contexts.
Therefore, simple in structure but complicated in usage as a result of high frequency and multi-
function, prepositions are not easy to master.

Nowadays, the phenomenon of misusing prepositions is very common among people who learn
English as a second language. According to De Felice and Pulman (2008: 169), ―Prepositions and
determiners are known to be one of the most frequent sources of error for L2 English speakers‖.
One of the major reasons for this problem is that we do not have an in-depth understanding of the
different grammatical functions of these prepositions. Therefore, this paper intends to have a
thorough systematic analysis of the grammatical functions of prepositions, which can help EFL
(English as a Foreign Language) learners grasp the usage of prepositions better.

Literature Review

In this study, the preposition with is the focus. The preposition with is one of the 14 most

94
frequently used prepositions in Brown Corpus and LOB Corpus: of, in, to, for, with, on, at, by,
from, into, about, through, over, and between (Xing, 2008), so analyzing it can be representative
to some extent. In the book A Comprehensive Grammar of English Language, the preposition with
has eight functions: space, pervasive, manner, means and instrument, accompaniment, support and
opposition, ―having‖, ingredient, which provides the study of preposition with with a wide scale.

Over the years, different perspectives have been adopted by researchers and scholars to
investigate the preposition with. Huangpu (1995) investigates the usage and classification of the
preposition with from the perspective of traditional grammar and thirteen kinds of grammatical
functions are sorted out in the study. Wang (2006) analyzes the grammaticalization of with based
on a discussion of the pattern of change in English and Chinese comitative prepositions and she
conducts a study about the evolution patterns of meanings, parts of speech and grammatical
functions of the preposition with and Chinese comitative prepositions from a diachronic view. Li
(2011) carries out a comparative study of English preposition with and German preposition mit to
summarize the similarities and differences between these two prepositions from the synchronic
view. Ren and Zhang (2012) investigate the semantic meanings, grammatical functions, common
usages, and unusual usages of the preposition with from the perspective of Semantics. Chong
(2006) carries out a corpus-based study on the collocation of preposition with and nouns,
comparing the data of Chinese college students in preposition collocation and that of English
native speakers, and providing the reasons for the wrong use in preposition collocation.

Through the literature review above, it is undoubted that all these researches have contributed to
the studies of prepositions from different perspectives. Nevertheless, the previous studies about
prepositions from the perspective of Cognitive Linguistics or traditional English grammar only
classify the grammatical functions of prepositions from a general angle. The present study can
provide a new pattern to categorize the grammatical functions of prepositions from a more
detailed angle, which can be supported by the findings obtained in this study.

Methodology

This section aims at introducing the methodology used in the present study, including the
theoretical framework, research questions, data collection method and data analysis procedure.

Theoretical Framework

In this study, the theoretical framework of Halliday‘s Systemic Functional Grammar is adopted.
The theory emphasizes the functional quality of language, studies the resources which produce the
meaning of language actually used in real life, and has a big power of explaining linguistic
phenomena in the social environment. Aside from putting forward the different types of processes
that make up the reality, along with the relevant participants, Halliday also highlights the
importance of circumstance. Circumstantial elements in most cases ―are those in which the
participant typically is indirect, being linked into the process via some preposition or other‖
(Halliday, 1994: 149-150). On the whole, nine types of circumstantial elements are included, that
is, Extent (Distance, Duration), Location (Place, Time), Manner (Means, Quality, Comparison),
Cause (Reason, Purpose, Behalf), Contingency (Condition, Concession, Default), Accompaniment
(Comitation, Addition) , Role (Guise, Product), Matter, and Angle.

Research Method

In this part, the research method in the present study is introduced. To be specific, research
questions, data collection method, and data analysis procedure are introduced.

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 a. Research Questions

a. This corpus-based study mainly focuses on the following questions:

b. What are the grammatical functions of the preposition with from the perspective of
Systemic Functional Grammar?
c. How does each type of grammatical functions distribute in the use of the
preposition with?
d. How does each type of grammatical functions of the preposition with perform its
functions?

b. Data Collection and Data Analysis

Data for the study consists of ten thousand instances in which the English preposition with
appears. In the present study, all of these ten thousand instances are randomly collected from the
corpus BNC (British National Corpus). And the concordancer Xaira is used to obtain the
concordance results.

In terms of the data analysis procedure, four steps are involved: getting the concordance results,
identifying the grammatical functions of the preposition with through quantitative text analysis,
categorization and statistics, and description of each grammatical function of the preposition with,
which involves both quantitative and qualitative description.

Systemic Functional Grammatical Analysis of Preposition With

This section serves to provide the general picture of the grammatical functions of the preposition
with, and the descriptions and discussions of the grammatical functions of the preposition with as
circumstantial elements.

The General Picture of Grammatical Functions of With

As the preposition with can function as the participant of a process or as the qualifier of nouns,
these ten thousand instances in which with appears are annotated in types including the participant
function and the qualifier function as well as those nine types of circumstantial elements. The
frequency and percentage of the with prepositional phrases as circumstantial elements are shown
in Table 1.

Table 1. Distribution of grammatical functions of with as circumstantial elements

Type Frequency Percentage (%) Subcategory Frequency Percentage (%)

Location 95 1.38 Place 95 1.38
Means 1503 21.84
Manner 2109 30.64 Quality 349 5.07
Comparison 257 3.73
Reason 628 9.12
Cause 682 9.91
Purpose 54 0.78
Condition 64 0.93
Contingency 127 1.85 Concession 40 0.58
Default 23 0.33

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 Comitation 2480 36.03
Accompaniment 2480 36.03
Product 207 3.01
Matter 1160 16.85 1160 16.85
Angle 23 0.33 23 0.33

From Table 1, it can be concluded that there are mainly thirteen types of grammatical functions of
the preposition with as circumstantial elements. The statistics disclosed from the table and figures
above also indicate the order from the most-frequently used grammatical function to the least-
frequently used grammatical function, which can be presented as: Comitation, Means, Matter,
Reason, Quality, Comparison, Product, Place, Condition, Purpose, Concession, Angle, Default.
According to the percentages of these grammatical functions, these grammatical functions can be
classified into two groups: more-frequently used grammatical functions and less-frequently used
grammatical functions, with the former containing Comitation, Means, Matter, Reason, and the
latter containing Quality, Comparison, Product, Place, Condition, Purpose, Concession, Angle,
Default.

The results from Independent-samples T test show that there are significant differences
(P=0.042<0.05) between the distributions these two groups of grammatical functions. Based on
these results, it can be concluded that there is a higher frequency of using the preposition with to
perform the grammatical functions of Comitation, Means, Matter, and Reason.

Grammatical Functions of With as Circumstantial Elements

As for all the grammatical functions of the preposition with, the following part gives a detailed
account for four most-frequently used grammatical functions of the preposition with.

1. Accompaniment--Comitation

With reference to the type of Accompaniment in circumstantial elements, two subcategories are
included: Comitation and Addition. According to Halliday (1994: 156), ―Accompaniment is a
form of joint participation in the process‖. As to the two subcategories of Accompaniment,
Comitation ―represents the process as a single instance of a process, although one in which two
entities are involved‖, while Addition ―represents the process as two instances‖ (Halliday, 1994:
156). As for the grammatical function of the preposition with in this type of circumstantial
elements, it only has the grammatical function of Comitation.

With regard to the grammatical function of with functioning as Comitation, there are 2480
instances, accounting for about 36.03% among all the 6883 instances of circumstantial elements,
occupying a predominant place in using with prepositional phrases as circumstantial elements.

Performing the grammatical function of Accompaniment, with prepositional phrases have the
same grammatical function as words like and, beside. The with prepositional phrase combines
with the subject of the clause as one single element. For instance, in how his wife ran away with
the painter, with the painter conjoins with his wife as one single element in the clause. To express
the similar meaning, the preposition with can be replaced with and, that is, how his wife and the
painter ran away.

2. Means

According to Halliday (1994: 154), ―Means refers to the means whereby a process takes place‖.
The grammatical function as Means occupies 1503 instances among the whole sample of 6883

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instances, taking up about 21.84%. This subtype holds the biggest part in the grammatical
function type Manner, accounting for about 71.27% of the whole instances of Manner.

Performing the function as Means by which the process in the clause takes place, the preposition
with has the same grammatical function as the preposition by. For example, in the sentence Flush
the trap with a bucket of clean water, the prepositional phrase with a bucket of clean water plays
the role of Means by which the process flush the trap takes place.

3. Matter

Concerning Matter, ―it is related to verbal processes‖, and ―it is the circumstantial equivalent of
the Verbiage, ‗that which is described, referred to, narrated, etc.‘‖ (Halliday, 1994: 157). With
regard to this type of circumstantial elements, 1160 instances of with prepositional phrases fall
into this group, making up 16.85% of the whole sample of 6883 instances.

Performing the grammatical function as Matter, with prepositional phrases sometimes appear
alone, sometimes appear in the form of with regard to, with respect to, or with reference to. To
put it another way, the preposition with functions the same as prepositions like about, concerning
with respect to this grammatical function of Matter. For example, in I will attempt to do this with
reference to the issue of the social consequences of closing primary schools in rural areas, the
complex preposition with reference to appears as a whole following the nominal group the issue of
the social consequences to express what is referred to in the clause. Another sentence can be used
to express the same meaning: I will attempt to do this concerning the issue of the social
consequences of closing primary schools in rural areas.

4. Reason

In the whole sample of 6883 instances, there are 628 instances of the grammatical function of with
as Reason, occupying about 9.12%. Within the grammatical function domain of Cause, this
subtype holds about 92.08%, as the major part of the type of Cause.

Performing this grammatical function, with prepositional phrases provide the reasons for which
each process takes place. For example, in the sentence My fingers were going numb with cold, the
prepositional phrase with cold provides the reason for the process my fingers were going numb. In
other words, in this sentence, the preposition with has the same grammatical function as the
complex preposition because of or as a result of. Therefore, another equivalent sentence can
express the same meaning: My fingers were going numb because of the cold.

Conclusion

Based on the quantitative text analysis, categorization, and statistics, it is found that the
preposition with is diversified in its grammatical functions, encompassing about fifteen types,
including Qualifier, Participant, Comitation, Means, Matter, Reason, Quality, Comparison,
Product, Place, Condition, Purpose, Concession, Angle, and Default. Among the thirteen types of
circumstantial elements, the preposition with is more-frequently used in grammatical functions as
Comitation, Means, Matter, and Reason, which has already been confirmed by the results of
Independent-samples T test. As for other grammatical functions like Quality, Comparison,
Product, Place, Condition, Purpose, Concession, Angle, and Default, they are not so frequently-
used in the form of the preposition with. To a large degree, the findings in this paper confirm
those eight grammatical functions in traditional grammar, but provide more detailed types

98
concerning the grammatical functions of the preposition with from the perspective of Systemic
Functional Grammar.

As for the implications of this study, there are two main aspects. First, this quantitative and
qualitative research can lay some foundation for further academic study of prepositions from the
perspective of Systemic Functional Grammar. Second, this research can offer some references for
teaching and learning of English prepositions. With a more detailed classification, the
grammatical functions of prepositions will be understood more easily and clearly, providing a new
perspective for preposition teaching and learning, which will be conducive to the acquisition of
prepositions for second language learners.

In the present study, some aspects need to be improved. First, a larger size of sample with more
instances could be collected in future studies so as to give a more comprehensive analysis of the
grammatical functions of the preposition with. Second, the identification in terms of each
grammatical function of the preposition with could be more accurate.

References
Chong, X. (2006). Corpus-based study on the ―prepsotion/noun‖ collocational behaviors of
Chinese college English learners--Using with as an example. Journal of Xinyang Agricultural
College, 16 (3), 138-142.
De Felice, R., & Pulman, S. G. (2008). A classifier-based approach to preposition and determiner
error correction in L2 English. Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on
Computational Linguistics,1, 169-176.
Halliday, M.A.K. (1994). An Introduction to Functional Grammar (Second Edition). Beijing:
Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
Huangpu，X. (1995). The discussion of the usage and classification of the preposition with.
Journal of Baotou Medical College, 11 (4), 64-66.
Kennedy, G. (1991). Between and through: The company they keep and the functions they serve.
In Aijmer, K. & Altenberg, B. (Eds.), English Corpus Linguistics: Studies in Honour of Jan
Svartvik. 95-110. London: Longman.
Li, Y. (2011). Comparison of German preposition ―mit‖ and English preposition with. Liaoning
University Science and Technology Journal, 34 (2), 218-220.
Ren, W. & Zhang, P. (2012). A semantic analysis of the preposition with in College English
Intensive Reading. Overseas English, (1), 247-248.
Wang, J. (2006). The grammaticalization of with--A discussion on the pattern of change in
English and Chinese comitative prepositions. Journal of Zhejiang Education Institute, (4),
81-86.
Wehmeier, Sally. (2004). Oxford Advanced Learner‟s English-Chinese Dictionary (Sixth
Edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Xing, Z. (2008). A Corpus-Based Study on the Use of Preposition on by Chinese College English
Learners. Unpublished Master‘s dissertation, Dalian Haishi University.

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 A Systemic Functional Linguistic Analysis of Undergraduate Students‘ Theses Writing
Texts in English

Magdalena Ngongo

Artha Wacana Christian University

Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia
magda_tars@yahoo.com

Abstract
This paper reports on a functional linguistics investigation of the lexico- grammatical features of
theses writing texts in English. The theoretical and analytical framework are based on Systemic
Functional Linguistic theory that originatedfrom the work of Halliday (1985, 1994, 2004), and
developed by other such as Martin (1985, 1992), Eggins (1994), Martin and Rose (2003). The data
informing this paper were 10 English theses writing written by undergraduate students who got
‗A‘ grade in their theses examination. This written data were analysed based on Functional
grammar (Systemic Functional Linguistic), focused on the level of lexico-grammatical features.
namely Transitivity, Mood and Thematic analysis. The analysis revealed that theses writing texts
in English on lexico-grammatical features covers transitivity, mood, and theme. (1) The
transitivity consists of three elements, (a) participant realized by noun group and personal
pronoun, (b) circumstances realized by adverbial and prepositional phrase, and (c) process
realized by six process types, namely material, verbal, mental, behaviour, existential and relational
process. (2) Mood type consists of indicative only without imperative. It also has mood structure,
namely affirmative and interrogative structure. (3) Theme has two types: topical and textual theme
and therefore text thematic structure consists only textual and followed by topical theme.
Keywords: lexico-grammatical features, text, theses writing

1. Introduction

Writing a thesis for students of English study program of Atha Wacana Christian University,
Timor, Indonesia is necessary for them as one of the requirements to be fulfilled in the
undergraduate degree. Students must write a thesis based on their capacity, interest and field of
study, such as teaching English or local languages. It is realized that writing thesis for students
needs times to do it. ―It is widely acknowledged that writing is seen as a site of interaction
between writers and readers.‖ (Liu 2013:1). Through written texts, writers construct solidarity
and alignment with potential or target readers (Thompson, 2001 in Liu, 2013).

In writing, one important point to be considered is the use of lexicogrammar that can be made
use of functionally. Based on linguistic systemic functional theory proposed by Halliday ((1985,
1994, 2004, 2014) mood, transitivity, and theme systems are included in the level of lexico-
grammar. Mood directly realizes interpersonal meaning, transitivity realizes experiential meaning
and theme realizes textual meaning. Thus. in writing theses, undergraduate students
simultaneously used these three metafunction of meaning that were realized by mood, transitivity
and theme systems.

Lexico grammatical features is important to be studied since it can give information how
undergraduate students functionally use the three system systemically. There were some studies
had been done by researchers such as Filho (2004) who proved that SFL was suitable for the
investigation of lexicogrammartical complexification at the advanced level, Ngongo (2012, 2013,
2015) who focused on mood, transitivity, theme system in text using local languages namely
Waijewa language and Kupang Malay language; Parson (2014) that found out there was a

100
significance difference between the use process types and no significance difference in the use of
theme and complexity; etc.

This paper is aimed to answer the question‗How is lexicogrammatical features of theses writing
text in English?‘ In order to discuss these problems, Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL)
theory is applied, especially in the level of lexicogrammar features.Therefore, underlying theory
is the second section be discussed after introduction as first section, and it is followed by
research methods as section three. The fourth section is results and discussion. Then, the last
section or the fifth one is conclusion.

2. Underlying Theory

Theory of Systemic Functional Linguistics is employed to discuss lexicogrammatical features

namely mood, transitivity and theme system in theses writing texts written by undergraduate
students. Systemic functional linguistic theory (SFL) has centered on the lexico-grammatical study
of the three metafunctions of ideational meaning, interpersonal meaning and textual meaning by
taking clause as representation, exchange and message.SFL, has developed from the work of
M.A.K. Halliday (1985, 1994, 2004) The SFL conceptionof language is a set of resources that
enable speakers to exchange meanings.

3. Research Method

The method applied in this study is descriptive, especially documentary analysis.The data
informing this paper were 10 English theses writing written by undergraduated students of
English study program of Christian Artha Wacana University who got ‗A‘ grade in their theses
examination in 2015. This written data were identified and analysed following analytical
procedures techniques and it was based on Systemic Functional Linguistic, focused on the level
of lexicogrammar. The results of the analysis is presented by using formal, informal method and
combining formal and informal methods.

4.Results and Discussion

4.1 Mood System in Theses Writing Text

Based on the analysis, it was found out that mood system of theses writing text realized
interpersonal metafunction of meaning. Clauses using to exchange experience were generally
known that the view of mood related to verb form stating a fact or an action, such as, indicative:
declarative, interrogative, imperative, and subjunctive. Therefore, the kinds of clauses in mood
system were declarative, interrogative. Whereas, mood type consists of one main type only,
namely, indicative that consisted of two sub-type, declarative and interrogative. Declarative sub-
type consisted of affirmative only without exclamation. Interrogative type consisted of yes/no
question and WH- interrogative. In fact, it was found out that almost all mood system are
declarative. The interrogative were used under Research problems sub-topic of theses writing
especially in chapter one. More explanation relating to mood system is described in the following
parts.

4.1.1 Declarative Type

It was generally found out that the number of clauses using indicative type were more used than
other types. Clauses of indicative type in texts can be seen in this following data.

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///In perseveration error, the speaker repeats the sound of a word and brought this sound to the
next word//

(PS 2015:34)

(01)

The speaker repeats T the sound of a word and

brought this
sound to the next word
Subject Predicate Complement
Mood Residue

Clause number one is an example of declarative type, especially affirmative type. This clause has
interpersonal meaning, that is stating a fact or action. Speaker in this clause states a fact. Relating
to the subject used generally those theses writing texts used proper names/noun. Sometimes the
use of pronoun he/she or they were used to refer the book writer (s) as primary or secondary
resources.

4.1.2 Interrogative Type

Clauses using interrogative either wh-interrogative or yes/no interrogative consisted of 20 number

that were stated in chapter one under subtitle research problems or research questions. Data
showing the use of interrogative are as follows.

Wh-interrogative

Wh-interrogative type in text can be shown in this following data.

How is the application of Multiple Intelllegences in ELT classroom?(FN 2015: 3)

What are the role of teacher in applying Multiple Intellegence in ELT classroom?(FN 2015: 3)

(02)

How is the application of Multiple intelllegences in ELT

classroom
Residue Mood

(03

What are the role of teacher in applying Multiple intellegence in ELT

classroom
Residue Mood

Clause number two and three are wh-clause type. This wh-element having question related to
adjunct and complement.

Yes/no interrogative Type :

Yes/No interrogative type in text can be shown in this following data.

102
Does the use of cooperative learning model „Number Head Together (NHT)

Strategy improve students‟ learning outcomes in Reading English?

Can the use of Dictogloss technique increase 2nd grade students‟ listening skill…? (ASJ 2015:5)

(04)

Does the use of cooperative learning improve students‟learning

model „Number Head Together (NHT) outcomes in
strategy reading English
Mood Residue

(05)

Can the use of Dictogloss increase 2nd grade students‟ listening

technique skill…
Mood Residue

In clauses number fourand five, the information needed is whether yes/no to the question asked.
Referring to the use of imperative and exclamation types, undergraduate students tended not to
use both types of mood clause. They generally just used lots of indicative type.

4.2 Transitivity System in Theses Writing Texts

Based on the analysis, it was found out that of transitivity contained element that described
experience and this related to the use of process. Process was the main part used in clause
because it can hold participants. The use of transitivity in clauses related to grammar element that
used to express the relation of participants involved in an event.

Each clause had transitivity that stated a number of core arguments needed. Moreover,
transitivity in grammar had semantic base to know the function of core argument. Transitivity
was clause system that effected not only the verb but also participants and circumstances.Thus, it
is clear enough that these three elements were found in theses writing text.

4.2.1 Participant, Process, and Circumstance

Text transitivity is the source to describe experience and this is done through the use of process
form, that is process itself, participant/event, and circumstance. Process in clauses occur in theses
writing text was realized by verb group, participant/event was realized by noun group, and
circumstance was realized by adverbial group and prepositional phrase.

There are six types of process used, namely process of material, mental, verbal, behavioral,
relational, and existential. Concerning to the text transitivity used in clauses of theses writing texts,
the three elements, participants, process and participants are described as follows.

4.2.1.1 Participant

Participant was one of the elements in transitivity that was realized by noun group. Personal
pronoun was a partin process used as participants. Look at the examples of the following data.

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(06) /// Manystudents, especially senior high school students have problem in listening...//because
their listening

laboratory was demaged/// (AB 2015:5)

(07) //Teacher should use Dictogloss technique and apply it in class to increase students‗ listening
skill//

(AB 2015:48)

These two clauses ( number 06 and 07),have group nouns as participant.Participants generally
used in texts were proper names, nouns or groups of nouns.

4.2.1.2 Element Process

Element process was the important element in transitivity since it stated number of valence in a
clause. Transitivity analysis contained elements as source to describe experience that related to
process. Therefore, process elements were focused in analyzing transitivity. It was found out that
there were six processes used in theses writing texts. Examples of clauses using six process can
be seen in this following data.

(08) It brings the reader to see the plot of the story (OH 2015:1)

Pt Material.pr Pt

(09) The writer would like to support the theory of substitution in novel.

Pt Mental pr Pt

(10) Huda stated that NHT can improve students‟ spirit of cooperation…(ASJ 2015:4)

Pt Vbl pr. Conj adjunct Material pr. Pt

(11) They will only listen to the text and do not write down …. (AB 2015:42)

Pt adjunct Bev.pr. Pt Conj Neg. Mat.pr

(12) Every broadcaster has different style in sending message to the audience. (PS 2015:22)

Pt Rel.pr

(13) There are some principles for material designer…. (FN 2015:11)

Ex.pr

Existential existent

Moreover, the number use of the six types of process used in theses writing texts is presented on
table one.

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 Table 1. The number of Process Types in theses writing texts

Theses Writing Proses Types Total

Texts Material Mental Verbal Behav. Rel. Ext. number
1. ASB 141 32 25 17 114 6 335
2. ATB 82 62 28 8 175 8 363
3. ASJ 90 44 18 9 106 5 272
4. FN 84 31 30 16 76 4 171
5. JRD 140 54 55 22 162 1 434
6.MRD 47 21 14 1 81 1 165
7. OSH 60 23 12 11 109 8 223
8. PS 121 43 45 8 80 5 302
9. SR 99 15 3 3 159 12 291
10.YMN 28 24 13 2 286 2 407
Total 892 349 243 97 1384 52 2963

Table one shows the various use number of processes in text. From the ten theses writing in
English there were 2963 use number of the six process types. It can be seen that the most use
number was relational process that consisted of 1348 use number, then it was followed by
material process that consisted of 892 use numbers, mental process was 349, verbal process was
243, behavioral process was 97 and existential process was 52. The most use number of
relational process indicates that writers usually expressed views that related to process of being
and having. Those texts were usually showed the characterization and identification. While the
least number is existential since the theses writing writers rarely mentioned an existence of
something. The most use of relational process is caused by the subject matter discussed in which
there are three discussed about language and seven discussed about techniques of teaching
language.

4.2.1.3 Circumstances

Circumstances in transitivity is realized by adverbial group and prepositional phrases. This element
is used to add information, such as information relating time, place , manner, or reason, cause. The
main element of circumstances are place, reason, manner and time. Example of data using place as

///sometimes people will think to return homeland…///(JRD 2015:46)

Cir Pt MA Mental pr Cir.

3.3 Theme in Theses Writing Text

Theme in these writing texts showed the use of topical, interpersonal and textual themes. Topical
theme is in main clause, including imperative sentence. Components in topical theme are
participants known as nominal circumstances or prepositional phrase ( PP), adverbial group, and
process known as verbal group. Topical theme contains only one experiential element. It means
that theme in clause has its first constituent either participant, circumstance or process. It also
happens that other elements in clause precedes topical theme, such as, textual theme or
interpersonal themes.

Textual theme covers continuatives components, conjunctions, conjunction adjunct, and Wh-
relative. While, components in interpersonal theme covers vocative, modal adjunct, finite element,
and Wh-question.

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Example of data showing various types of themes in text are as follows.

(14)/// This function refers to the information that expressed by the the speakers about his/her
feelings// However, expressive function of language can be the representative of the speakers‟
emotion…// (ATB 2015:1)

///This function refers to the information…///

Top.theme rhem

(15) ///However, expressive function of language can be the representative of the speakers…///

Tex.theme Top.theme Rheme

The example number 14 and 15 showed the use of topical and textual themes. Number 14 only
has topical theme while number 15 has textual theme and topical themes. It was found out the
theses writing texts written used lots of topical themes and textual themes only. These theses
writing texts rarely used interpersonal themes. The use of interpersonal theme could be seen in the
subtitle of Research problems/ question. These ten theses writing contained 20 interpersonal
themes using wh-questions and yes/no interrogatives. This less use of interpersonal themes might
caused by the fact that the theses writing texts was a report of research done.

The examples of data showing interpersonal themes are as follows:

(16) //Does the use of cooperative learning model “Number Head Together Strategy improve
students learning

Theme rheme

outcomes in Reading English?(ASJ 2015:5)

(17)//What are the roles of teacher in applying of Multiple Intellegences in ELT…//(FN 2015:3)

Int.theme rheme

Beside the use of topical and textual themes, these theses writing texts used lots of marked
themes, data of clauses using marked themes can be seen in this following examples

(18)//In order to get the data accurately, the writer observed the ELT classroom activities
for three times//

Mark theme Top.theme rheme (FN 2015:30)

(19) In applying the cooperative learning model …, students can share their idea with
their friends …///

Mark theme top.theme rheme (ASJ 2015:41)

The underlined words of those clauses known as marked themes. Whenever the view of marked
and unmarked theme described, it only happened to the topical theme and not to the textual or
interpersonal theme. The used of topical theme whether it was marked or unmarked theme
depended on clause of mood. The important thing should be understood that unmarked theme was

106
different from mood of clause. Marked theme was not functioned as subject but it was adjunct in
which they were adverbial group and preposition phrase or complements ( in this case as nominal
group).

It was also found out that the common used of marked theme in text was prepositional phrase and
adverbial group. It was also found out that complement was also commonly used as marked theme
in declarative. Concerning to the text thematic structure of theses writing seemed that textual was
followed by topical theme then rheme (see example number 15) or other side it can be topical
theme only then followed by rheme (see example number 14).

5. Conclusion

Based on the discussion it can be concluded that the use of lexicogrammar in theses writing texts
that covers mood, transitivity and theme system showed some conclusion. First, the use of mood
system was realized by the use of declarative and interrogative types. This function of using mood
system was to give information and state idea/ opinion relating to topic discussed. Second, the use
of transitivity system was realized by the use participants, circumstances and six types of process
in which relational process type was most used and behaviour process was least used. The most
use of relational process was caused by the varieties topics of discussion. Third, the use of themes
are various in which topical theme was more used than other two themes. This indicated that
writers intend to have a report and give comment to the fact found. Whereas, the few use number
of interpersonal theme caused by the type of channel in which the writer reported things be done.

It can besuggested thatEnglish lecturers especially lecturers of grammar/structure and writing

should made aware of their students‘lexicogammatical features by giving them more exercises
functionally. Furthermore, other studies should be undertaken in order to find out
lexicogrammatical fetures based on varities of texts, spoken or written.

References
Halliday , M.A.K. (1985). An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London:EdwardArnold
Halliday,M.A.K. dan Martin,.J.R, (1993). Writing Science and Discursive Power. London: Falmer
Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.
Halliday,M.A.K.. (1994). An Introduction to Functional Grammar. (2nd Edition). London: Arnold.
Halliday,M.A.K. (2002).Linguistik Studies of Texts and Discourse. London. London: Continumm
Halliday,M.A.K. dan Matthiensen, M.,I.,M. Christian, (2004).An Introduction to Functional
Grammar.(3rd Edition). London: Arnold.
Eggins S. (1994). An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics. Pinter Publishers. London
Martin, J.R. & D. Rose, (2003). Working With Discourse: Meaning Beyond the Clause. London:
Continuum.
Martin J.R( 1992). English Text: System and Structure. Amsterdam. John Benyamin Publishing
Company
Ngongo, M. (2013) ―Teks Kette Katonga Weri Kawendo Pada Masyarakat Adat Wewewa di
Pulau Sumba: Analisis Linguistik Sistemik Fungsional.” A Disertation. UNUD, Denpasar
Ngongo, M. (2015). Text Transitivity in Mathew, New Testament of Kupang Malay Language
Vol. 2 No.1 Jurnal Ilmu Pendidikan Bahasa, Program studi Pendikan. Bahasa
PascasarjanaUNDANA

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Parson Daniel. 2014. An Analysis of Lexicogrammar in Samples From a Corpus of Science Texts
Humanities Review Vol.19, 2014 Kwansei Gakuin University Nishinomiya, Japan.
Christopher Gledhill (2015) .A Lexicogrammar approach to checking quality:looking at one or
two cases of comparative translation www.ella.univ paris-doderof.fr/_...lexicogrammar
approach_+…
Xinghua Liu. (2013) . Evaluation in Chinese University EFL Students‘ English Argumentative
Writing: An
APPRAISAL Study. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching 2013, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp.
40–53 © Centre for Language Studies National University of Singapore

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Wars of Media: The Transitivity System of Fraud-Case Headlines Addressing an Indonesian
Media-Owner Politician

Marsandi Manar
The University of Bangka Belitung (UBB)
Kampus Terpadu Universitas Bangka Belitung Balunijuk Bangka Belitung
manaryana_dianmaya@yahoo.co.id

Abstract
Regardless of the fact brought by the news of media, its language was found to be structured in
terms of its importance rather than its chronology (Knox in Coffin et al., 2010). This maneuver of
language employed by media has been known as the ‗psychological wars of media‘ (Behnam &
Khodadust, 2001). The current study hence scrutinizes how the transitivity system was
manipulated by three huge Indonesian leading media in addressing a fraud case linked with one
media owner politician. 27 Indonesian headlines about the media owner‘s attendance to the KPK
(Indonesian Corruption Eradication Commission) with his capacity as a witness were collected
from online and TV news. Then the transitivity system of clauses derived from the headlines was
analyzed with the SFL-based principle. The analysis revealed that the transitivity system
employed by one media whose owner was linked with the case tended to represent the owner in a
positive image while the one manipulated by its two media counterparts was inclined to stigmatize
him with a negative tone.

1. Introduction

Plethora of studies has scrutinized the language of media such as news, editorials, and headlines
(Ansary & Babaii, 2004; Chen, 2005; Kosha & Shams 2005; Matu & Lube, 2007; Matu, 2008;
Mineshima, 2009; Yagoobi 2009; Ayola, 2010; Haig, 2012; Sajjad, 2013; Mahfouz 2013; Nabifar
2013; Ahangar et al., 2014; Santosa et al., 2014). As the representation of humans‘ experiences,
language specifically clauses has been found to play roles in achieving certain goals including the
incompatible political goals or ideologies brought by distinct media (Matu, 2008; Yagoobi, 2009,
Seo, 2013; Ahangar et al., 2014). This maneuver of language employed by media has been
brought forward by the studies of transitivity system recently.

The system of transitivity is derived from the Systemic Functional Linguistics firstly introduced
by Michael Halliday in 1960s and it pays great attention to how ideational, especially experiential
meaning of texts as social functions are represented in the form of clauses (Halliday &
Matthiessen, 2004). Its tenet is how humans‘ experiences realized in clauses are represented
through the choices of process, participant, and circumstance types (ibid). As its origin, ―the
transitivity system construes the world of experience into a manageable set of PROCESS TYPES‖
(ibid). The process is embedded with participants (animate or inanimate), various attributes, and
oblique circumstances (ibid). The process involves things which go on against background details
of place, time, manner, etc., (Thomson, 2004).

Under the Hallidayan experiential meta-function, the process of human experiences encompasses
majorly three domains, namely, outer experiences epitomized in the process of doing or
happening termed as ‗material process‘ such as ‗walk‘, ‗climb‘; inner conscious experiences
labeled as ‗mental processes‘ such as ‗understand‘, ‗feel‘; and experiences relation building
known as ‗relational process‘ typically represented by the finites ‗be‘ and ‗have‘ (Halliday and
Matthiesen, 2004). Subsequently, the three processes can result in other types of processes, that is,
the boundary between mental and material processes termed as ‗behavioral process‘ involving
humans inner mental activities resulting in unmarked physical activities such as ‗smile‘; between

109
mental and relational processes known as ‗verbal process‘ as in ‗says‘, ‗reports‘; and a boundary
between material and relational processes labeled as ‗existential process‘ typically epitomized by
―there + be‖ (Ibid). Practically, the transitivity system serves to achieve the social functions of
texts in any types of discourse through the choices of processes, participants, circumstances, and
the patterns of the three constituents.

Studies of Halliday‘s transitivity system in political discourse have shed light on the insights of
how it was structured to achieve certain political goals. Transitivity studies on the genre of
speech, for instance, have revealed that material processes were used dominantly by presidents
(Liping,2014) to gain sympathy by showing what they had done for their people and what they
would do for them (Naz et al., 2012; Kondowe, 2014). In another genre, analysis of process types
in media news texts has depicted how a similar issue is represented by different media in distinct
ways especially through the different choices or types of process and participant roles (Matu,
2008; Yagoobi, 2009 ; Ahangar et al., 2014).

Despite of the myriad studies of media texts, little attention has been given to headlines.
Regardless of whether audiences follow the content of news or not, just reading headlines can
direct readers to the ideology brought by a media. Besides, existing studies of transitivity system
on headlines have focused more on diverse participants. Hence, the current study complement
previous studies through the scrutiny of transitivity system on less diverse participants, especially
involving only two parties viz. the Indonesian Corruption Eradication Commission and a media-
owner politician (initialed ‗SP‘). The present study is an attempt to answer the following question:
What processes and participant roles are portrayed in the three media?

2. Methodology

The research design adopted in the present study was the content analysis. The content analysis is
claimed as the tool applicable for all context and various social disciplines in analyzing the
message of texts scientifically (Neoundroft, 2002). It is associated with ―a research technique for
making replicable and valid inferences from texts (or other meaningful matter) to the contexts of
their use‖ (Krippendorff, 2004). Similarly, in the current study the transitivity system as the
constituent of SFL is viewed not merely as a pattern of rules but more as a communicative
function in a particular context.

The text in the current study was studied from the bottom up (Swales, 2002 cited by Charles et.
al., 2009), where linguistic features from a number of data were analyzed by means of converting
frequency of occurrences into percentage. 27 headlines from three different media addressing the
same issue were selected, especially on 15 October 2015. One media (labeled as media A) belongs
to the media-owner politician addressed by the fraud-case while its two other counterparts (media
B & C) belong to two other media-owner political party leaders who have been showing opposite
political stance. The transitivity system of clauses derived from the headlines was analyzed by
means of classification of process, participant, and circumstance types analyzed with table of
analysis adapted from Halliday & Matthiesen (2004).

3. Results and Discussion

Table 3.1. Types of processes in the three media

Material Mental Verbal Behavioral Relational Existential

Media A 54.50 % 0.00 % 27.30 % 0.00 % 18.2 % 0.00 %
Media B 60 % 0.00 % 40 % 0.00 % 0.00 % 0.00 %

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 Media C 61.10 % 5.56 % 11.10 % 0.00 % 22.22 % 0.00 %

As depicted above, in the media A owned by the politician linked with the case, the most frequent
process in sequence is the material, verbal, and relational processes with the absence of other
processes. In its first opponent media, the media B, material processes appeared most frequently
as well followed by verbal processes without other types of processes. In its second competitor,
still material clauses were used dominantly but slightly different with the two media, here
relational processes outnumbered the verbal processes. Besides, a mental clause was identified
where this was absent in the media A and B.

The dominant use of material clauses followed with verbal clauses were also found in the study of
headlines in Iran‘s media (Koosha & Shams, 2005; Yaghoobi, 2009; Ahangar, et al., 2014).
Material clauses are frequently used by presses because they brought tangible and believable
messages (Eggins, 2004) while verbal clauses are utilized in media due to the dependence of
political discourse on verbal exchange in representing facts (Fowler, 1991).

In the media A above, the dominant material and verbal clauses were set to create power and
positive image to the under-case media owner politician so that he will be viewed as the possibly
right guy in that case. Contrarily, its two opponent media counterparts made use the material and
verbal clauses to stigmatize him with weak position and negative portrait. This finding was in line
with the study conducted by Koosha & Shams (2005) where material and verbal clauses were
utilized to create a negative image to a target being reported. As claimed by Chen (2005) on his
transitivity study of media texts, verbal clauses allowed media to reveal its own attitudes towards
the target or the person being reported with positive, neutral, or negative tones. The tones of
verbal clauses found in the media A are illustrated in the following extracts.

SP Minta Diperiksa Lebih Cepat. A-2 ││SP Minta Jadwal Pemeriksaan

Dimajukan.A-6

SP akan (berkata) Jujur Apa Adanya.A-8

The verbal processes above were made neutral. As climbed by Chen (2005), the processes of
‗asked‘ and ‗said‘ have no either positive or negative attitudes. In its two media counterparts, the
verbal clauses are represented as follows.

SP dipanggil (KPK) sebagai saksi. B-1 ││ SP minta diperiksa malam ini. B-3

padahal dia dipanggil (KPK) Senin. B-5 ││ SP Dicecar KPK soal Aliran Uang
RC .B-10

SP Siap Dipanggil Jika Diperlukan. C-5 ││ (KPK) Panggil SP. C-17

All verbal processes in the media B and C above were made negative except for the B-3. The use
of ‗was called‘ and ‗was questioned‘ addressed by a judicial institution that has the power to an
individual bears negative attitudes towards the second participant. The choice of negative verbal
clauses in this case was to weaken the position of the target being reported.

Another finding to be noted above was the presence of relational clauses in the media A (3rd rank)
and media C (2nd rank outnumbering the verbal clauses). As pointed out by Reath (1998) ―when
an idea is expressed by a clause with a relational verb, the writer can influence the opinion and

111
ideological stance of the reader‖. In the media A, relational clauses were adopted to create
positive attributes to the under-case politician. To sound objective, the carriers were not directly
related with the figure rather they were made as non-human first participants. On the other hand,
in its second media counterpart, relational clauses were utilized to create a negative image to the
under-case media owner politician. Here, the dominant carriers are not addressed directly to him
but rather to the KPK. This distinct manipulation of relational clause use is exemplified in the
following extracts.

Inisiatif SP Datangi KPK Lebih Awal Beri Preseden Positif. (A-11)

KPK Periksa SP (ellipsis) Wajar. (C-2)

Relational clauses found in the current study were utilized to represent the acts of judgment. They
served as the grounds for biased identifications and descriptions (Hodge and Kress, 1993 in
Koosha & Shams 2005) addressed to a target being reported. As pointed out by Koosha and Sham
(2005), processes of relation reflect overtly biased identifications and descriptions of the in-group
and the out-group, emphasizing difference and relations of power. Thus, the use of relational
clauses enable media to be categorical and judgmental in favor of the in-group, and, consequently,
in disfavor of the out-group (Koosha and Sham, 2005).

Table 3.2. Representation of dominant participants in the three media

SP as actors KPK as actors SP as sayers KPK as sayers

Media A 66.67 % 33.33% 100% 0%

Media B 0% 100% 25% 75%

Media C 9.09% 81.80% 0% 100%

The finding above indicates that in the media A, SP was represented most frequently as actors and
sayers while in its two media counterparts he was represented as goals and targets. In other words,
KPK frequently served as the actors and sayers in the media B and C but functioned as the goals
and targets in the media A as exemplified below.

SP as the 1st participant as the actor SP Datangi KPK (A-4)

as the sayer SP Minta Diperiksa Lebih Cepat (A-2)

KPK as the 1st participant as the actor (SP) Diperiksa KPK (B-2)││ KPK Periksa SP (C-
8)

as the sayer SP Dicecar KPK soal Aliran Uang RC (B-10)

(KPK) Panggil SP (C-17)

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As proposed by Eggins (2004), the notion of participant roles in material clauses especially the
actor and the goal can be probed by the question ―What X do to Y?‖. Based on this notion, the
‗actor‘ can be claimed as the participant that has more power over the ‗goal‘. In the media whose
owner was linked with the fraud case involving his subordinate, he was mostly represented as the
‗actor‘ while in its two opponent media he was made as the ‗goal‘. In the clauses (SP) Diperiksa
KPK (B-2); KPK Periksa SP (C-8) above for example, the goals (SP) either in the active or
passive construction are portrayed as the ones who has less power and weak position.
Nonetheless, other studies have reported that participant roles as actors can also result in a
negative image especially when those with power (out-group parties) are the ones who have
initiated badly events to the in-group parties (Yaghoobi, 2009; Matu, 2008).

Despite by means of material process utilization, the weak position of a participant revealed in the
headlines above was also depicted in the verbal clauses. In the media A, most out-group being
reported was represented as ‗sayers‘ but in the media B and C, the out-group was mainly
portrayed as the second participant or ‗target/receiver‘. In the extracts SP Dicecar KPK soal
Aliran Uang RC (B-10); (KPK) Panggil SP (C-17), for instance, the out-group serves as the
target/receiver which has less power and weak position. As asserted by Eggins (2004), ―receiver is
the one to whom the verbal process is directed‖. This tenet implies that when a participant is
positioned as a ‗sayer‘, he has the power over the ‗target/receiver‘.

The different representation of participant roles above hints that in addressing the same issue, the
trio of media created distinct power representation. The media A stigmatized SP as the one who
has power as well as his own initiative to deal with KPK while the two other media labeled the
KPK as the one that has the power. The two other media represented SP as the weak target by
representing him as the one who received material and verbal actions from the KPK.

4. Conclusion

The findings of the current study reiterate that despite of fact brought by the news of media, the
fact itself was found to be represented in different ways through the maneuver of clause
representation especially process manipulation. The findings underpin the notion that news media
do not solely reflect the social reality but create dominant ideologies in representing a political
stance. This maneuver of language use in representing media‘s perceptions of reality has been
revealed by the scrutiny of the process and participant of texts. Nevertheless, the results of the
present study rely on limited numbers of data. Hence further relevant studies making use of larger
numbers of data are needed to replicate and confirm the findings.

References
Ahangar, A.A., & Sultani A.S. (2014). A Critical Study of News Discourse: Iran‘s Tenth
Presidential Election of 2009 (1388) in Keyhan and Etemad Newspaper. International
Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World, 6 (1), 151-169.
Ansary, H., & Babaii, E. (2004). The Generic Integrity of Newspaper Editorials: A Systemic
Functional Perspective. Asian EFL Journal, 6 (3), 96-119.
Ayoola, K. (2010). The Presentation of Ideological Perspectives on Niger- Delta Discourse in
Nigerian Newspapers. Journal of the Nigeria English Studies Association (JNESA), 13(1),
17-32.
Behnam, B., & Khodadust M.R. (2001). A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Event of September
11, 2001 in American and Syrian Print Media Discourse. The Journal of Applied
Linguistics, 3 (2), 23-43.

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Charles, D., et al., (2009). Academic Writing at the Interface of Corpus and Discourse. NY:
Continuum.
Chen, L. (2005). Transitivity in Media Texts: Negative Verbal Process Sub-functions and Narrator
Bias. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 43 (1), 33-51.
Coffin, C., et al., (2010). Applied Linguistics Methods: A Reader. NY: Routledge.
Eggins, S. (2004). An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics (2nd ed.). NY: Continuum.
Fowler, R. (1991). Language in the News: Discourse and Ideology in the Press. London:
Routledge.
Haig, E. (2012). A Critical Discourse Analysis and Systemic Functional Linguistics Approach to
Measuring Participant Power in a Radio News Bulletin about Youth Crime. Studies in
Media and Society, 4, 45-73.
Halliday, M.A.K., and Matthiessen, C.M.I.M., (2004). An Introduction to Functional Grammar
(3th ed.). London: Hodder Headline Group.
Kosha, M., & Shams, M. R. (2005). A Critical Study of News Discourse: Iran‘s Nuclear Issue in
British Newspapers. Iranian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 8 (2), 107- 142.
Kondowe, W. (2014). Presidents and Ideologies: A Transitivity Analysis of Binguwa Mutharika‘s
Inaugural Address. International Journal of Language and Linguistics,2,174-180.
Krippendorff, Klaus. (2004). Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology. California:
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Liping, C. (2014). Experiential Metafunctional Analysis of Winston S. Churchill‘s Speech on
Hitler‘s Invasion of the U.S.S.R. English Language Teaching, 7, 132-136.
Mahfouz, A.R. (2013). A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Police News Story Framing in Two
Egyptian Newspapers before January 25 Revolution. European Scientific Journal, 9 (8),
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Matu, P.M., & Lubbe H.J. (2007). Investigating Language and Ideology: A Presentation of the
Ideological Square and Transitivity in the Editorials of Three Kenyan Newspapers. Journal
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Matu, P.M. (2008). Transitivity as a tool for ideological analysis. Journal of Third World studies,
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Mineshima, M. (2009). Discourse Analysis of News Texts by the Application of Systemic
Functional Grammar. Bulletin of Niigata Institute of Technology, 14, 101- 123.
Nabifar, N. (2013). Types of Grammatical Metaphors in Health and Business Texts of Iranian
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Naz, S., Alvi, S.D., & Baser, A. (2012). Political Language of Benazir Bhutto: A Transitivity
Analysis of Her Speech ‗Democratization in Pakistan‘. Interdisciplinary Journal of
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Neuendorf, K. A. (2002). The Content Analysis Guide Book. London: Sage Publication.
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Sajjad, F. (2013). Critical Discourse Analysis of News Headline about Imran Khan‘s Peace March
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Santosa et al., (2014). Genre and Register of Antagonist‘s Language in Media: An Appraisal
Study of Indonesian Newspapers. Kata, 16 (1), 23-36
Seo, S. (2013). Hallidayean Transitivity Analysis: The Battle for Tripoli in the Contrasting
Headlines of Two National Newspapers. Discourse and Society, 24 (6). 774-791.
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Communication, 21. Retrieved from http://www.immi.se/intercultural/nr21/yaghoobi.htm

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 Thematic Progession Patterns in the Translation Book of Islamic Moral Ethic Bidayatul
Hidayah: Syntax and Translation Analysis

Muhammad Yunus Anis

Arabic Literature Department, Sebelas Maret University Surakarta
yunus_678@staff.uns.ac.id

Abstract
One of the models of translation in Asian languages is ―word for word translation‖ between
Arabic and Javanese language. It has many characteristics based on grammatical and orthography
aspects. This model of translation reflects a great relation of Asian, Arabic, and Javanese cultures.
This cultural relation was shown in the moral ethic book of Bidayatul-Hidayah written by Imam
Al-Ghazali, one of the famous Islamic Scholar. This book was translated into Javanese language
by Kyai Hamam Nashiruddin from Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. This translation model is
considered to have been protected the indigenous language of Java among other languages in
Indonesia. This paper is aimed to answer about several questions: 1) what kinds of theme are used
in the translation book of Bidayatul-Hidayah, 2) how are the majority of themes progressed in the
text of translation book of Bidayatul-Hidayah, 3) and then what kinds of the elements of textual
cohesion are dominantly used in the text of translation book of Bidayatul Hidayah. This paper is
based on (1) theme and rheme theory, (2) thematic progression patterns in Arabic Language, and
(3) the elements of textual cohesion theory. The thematic progression analysis pattern can help
develop the skill of students to compose the Arabic text correctly and systematically (Parera,
2009:301). The result of the article has shown that there is a connection line between empowering
of Arabic Javanese translation and protecting the indigenous language.

Keywords: theme and rheme, thematic progression patterns, textual cohesion, Arabic Javanese
translation book of Bidayatul-Hidayah.

A. Background of the Study

Communication involves the actual use of language in real (Connolly, 1991:1). As we have
known that language is the main medium for communication. To get a benefit communication, we
should do a translation process from one language into the other language, from source language
(SL) into target language (TL). Beyond the process of translation, there is a main purpose to
transfer some messages. One of the resources to understand about the language, communication,
and translation is SFL (Systemic Functional Linguistics). Matthiessen (2010:1) has described SFL
for any number of purposes, they are: (1) to read SFL literature, (2) to analyze texts using SFL
descriptions, to compare source and target texts in translation studies, to develop SFL description
based on SFL theory. In this case, the purpose of this article is to develop the SFL theory in the
Arabic – Javanese translation process and product in the translation book of moral ethic of
Bidayatul Hidayah.

Bidayatul-Hidayah (ath-thariq al-„ubudiyyah) or ―the way of slavery to the God‖ is the famous
book of moral ethic in the Islamic students at traditional boarding school in Indonesia. This book
was written by Imam Al-Ghazali. This book had been translated into another language, such as in
Javanese language. Kyai Haji Hammam Nashirudin from Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia, was
the translator of that book into Javanese language. There are several chapters about moral ethic in
this book, such as: (1) preface of the book about how the etiquette of learning, (2) the obedience
toward Allah SWT, (3) the moral/ethics/ ādāb to wake up from sleeping, (4) the moral/ ethics
entering the toilet or bathroom, (5) the moral/ ethics for doing wudhu‟ (cleanness), (6) the moral/
ethics for taking a bath, (7) the moral/ ethics for doing tayammum, (7) the moral/ ethics for going

116
out from the mosque, and so on about the moral/ ethics in daily life based on Islamic ethics. By
looking the pattern of delivering the message in every single chapter, the author of the book had
been used the constant pattern. This constant pattern in delivering the Islamic message becomes
the main reason selecting Bidayatul-Hidayah as a main data in this research.

Thus, this article tried to find out the pattern of textual message and organizing the information for
the sake of delivering the moral ethics tenets. In the case of organizing the information structure,
we can look from the pattern of theme and rheme in the clause or sentence in the book of Islamic
moral ethic, then how the theme was progressed in the text, finally, this article will figure out the
elements of textual cohesion based on SFL theory. SFL also described about the system of
meaning. In this case, we will look how the information to be constructed in the book of Islamic
moral ethic Bidayatul-Hidayah. This paper is mainly focused to the elaboration of theme and
rheme in the Arabic – Javanese translation book and how the theme was progressed in the Islamic
moral ethic book (from Arabic to Javanese Language). This analysis has the significant
correlation with the Haliday‘s theory about clause as message. For further example we can look at
from the data (1) and (2) below.

(1) Bismmillahir- rachmānir-rachim (SL)

Theme Rheme

Ngawiti ingsun kelawan nyebut asmane Allah (TL)

Theme Rheme

(2a) Alchamdu- lillahi chaqqa chamdihi (SL)

Utawi sekabehane puji iku kagungane Allah kelawan saktemen-temene puji ing Allah (TL)

(2b) wa- ash-shalātu was-salāmu ‗ala khairi khalqihi Muchammadin rasulihi (SL)

Utawi tambahe rahmah lan tambahe salam- iku mugi tetep ingatase- bagus-baguse- makhluke
Allah- Gusti kanjeng nabi Muhammad- utusane Allah (TL)

Theme as an initial element in SFL should be described by looking the rheme in the text. In the
text (2a) and (2b), we can conclude that in the beginning of SL, there is a theme which has the
definitive marker (al) and the nominative marker /u/ as subject of the clause, and then the
translation in Javanese language was beginning by the word as a marker of subject ―utawi‖. Raof
(2007) has elaborated before about the subject, theme and agent in Modern Standard Arabic.

Almanna (2016) also had focused the analysis of translation annotation based on the thematic
progression. There are two recognized approaches: The Hallidayan approach and the Prague
School approach. Based on the Hallidayan approach, any clause comprises two parts: (1) the
‗theme‘ of the clause (what the clause is concerned with) and (2) the ‗rheme‘ of the clause (what
is said about the theme), ―whatever is chosen as a theme is put first‖. Halliday uses this gloss ―I‟ll
tell about....‖ to identify the function of theme. Consider the following example.

(3a) Wan-naflu huwa ar-ribchu wa bihi al-fauzu bid-darajāti

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 Utawi perintah sunnah- iku utawi naflu- iku bathi- lan kelawan bathi- biso merkoleh-
kelawan piro-piro darajat. (Nāshiruddin, 1964:34)

Naflu/ a Sunnah is the profit and the victory

(3b) Ar-ribchu wa bihi al-fauzu bid-darajati huwa an-naflu

The profit and the victory is a Sunnah/ Naflu

So, in the (3a) the theme is an-naflu (sunnah) (I‟ll tell you about an-naflu/sunnah), and in the (3b)
the theme is ar-ribchu wa bihi al-fauzu bid-darajati (I‟ll tell you about the victory and the profit).
This indicates that although the two examples (3a) and (3b) convey the same meaning, there are
two different points of departure – two different themes. If we looked at the examples above, we
can conclude that there is a significant mark in the Javanese language for the translation of the
theme, ‗utawi‘ or ‗utawa‘ the meaning in English language is ―or‖ (Maheswara, 2014:332). The
sentence (3a) indicates that the mark ―utawi‖ becomes the significant mark of the theme in
Arabic-Javanese translation.

Thus, we have to remember that the thematic progression is not the part of the cohesive device;
the thematic progression is a role in organization of the text. By analyzing the thematic
progression, we can conclude the organization of each segment of a discourse in terms of its
information structure, thematic patterns and the like is also part its structure, no less important
than the continuity from one segment to another. Baker (2011:131) used the term ―information
flow‖ to define the textual strategy in organizing messages. There are four types of thematic
patterns: (1) constant theme pattern (the theme of each sentence or clause is the same), (2) linear
theme pattern (the rheme of a sentence or clause becomes the theme of following clause or
sentences, (3) split rheme pattern (the rheme of a clause or a sentence has two or more parts; each
part becomes the theme of the following clause or sentence) and (4) derived theme (the theme
derives from a hypertheme).

Beeston (1968:8) had defined about the thematic sentence structure as: one in which, in principle,
the theme of the statement occupies the initial position after any introductory functional; in some
cases, however, this position may be occupied by some other element in the sentence (such as
prepositional phrase) provided that this is not a verb. Versteegh (Vol V, 2006:484) has concluded
that theme and rheme essentially refer to the two elements that make up an ordinary sentence with
a binary structure; the ‗theme‘ expresses old, familiar information, while the ‗theme‘ expresses
new information (focus). Versteegh also emphasized that in Anglophone linguistics (Arabic
Language), the equivalents are sometimes considered to be ‗topic/ comment‘ (most often), or
‗theme/ predicate‘. Differently from Beeston and Versteegh, Baker (2011:138) has concluded
that the thematic structure of the Arabic translation of this extract deviates from the original for a
number of reason, they are:

1. Arabic rarely uses independent pronouns because Arabic verbs are inflected for person,
number, and gender. This means that any combination of pronoun plus verb, such as I
took or I saw, is rendered by an inflected verb as theme in Arabic.
2. Arabic negative particles come in front of the verb, so that an expression such as I had
nothing against becomes literally ‗not was for me any objection‘, thus pushing the
‗me‘ further away from thematic position.
3. Arabic does not have an equivalent of the present perfect: I‟ve been a director is
rendered into Arabic as ‗since then become-I‘, thus putting a temporal adjunct in theme
position and pushing the inflected verb further towards the rheme.

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 B. Method

The method in this research was divided into three parts, (1) collecting the data from the book of
Bidayatul-Hidayah, the data is the clauses with nominal and verbal initial, (2) analysis data, using
the descriptive analysis, (3) reporting the data. There are three main theories that have a great
correlation with the research, (1) the theory of theme and rheme, (2) thematic progression pattern,
and (3) the textual cohesion. This paper is based on (1) theme and rheme theory of Prague School,
(2) thematic progression patterns in the Arabic Language based on Mona Baker (2011) and Ali
Almanna (2016), and (3) the elements of textual cohesion theory belongs to M.A.K. Halliday and
Ruqaiya Hasan and Thomas Bloor and Meriel Bloor

The data of the research is clauses with verbal and non-verbal predicate in the Arabic-Javanese
translation book, Bidayatul-Hidayah. The reason for choosing this object material is a
collaborative cultural translation which had been found from Bidayatul-Hidayah. There is some
uniquely synthesis between Arabic and Javanese translation model of thematic progression pattern
in that book. And also the book is very famous in the Islamic tradition students (santri) in
Indonesia. Many Islamic traditional students in Indonesia have to read that book in the first class/
level during their study as an introduction of Islamic law and Sufism. The method used in this
research is distribution analysis (metode Agih) with divided elements directly (bagi unsur
langsung) to know the given and new information, the thematic progression, and the cohesiveties
in the text of Bidayatul-Hidayah written by Imam Al-Ghazali. From the analysis, we will find how
Imam Al-Ghazali delivers the Islamic message of moral ethic into the readers.

C. Findings and Discussion

By using the functional grammar analysis, we can find from this research, two main paradigms of
text as a massage and text as a source and target text of translation process. In every single text of
Arabic and Javanese language, we will find the notion of theme and rheme. Theme is usually
associated with the given element in a sentence, that is, the element which shared between reader
and writer, while rheme contains new and focal elements. It is therefore natural in analysing text
to assume that theme part of a sentence is related to something that has already been established,
whereas the rheme part is the most likely location for what takes the text in new directions
(Mauranen, 1993:95). If we look at the translation book of Bidayatul Hidayah from Arabic (ST)
into Javanese (TL) language, we will consider some pattern of them and rheme in the text, they
are the dominant one, such as: (1) theme using the definitive marker (al) + /u/, (2) theme using the
imperative verb, (3) theme in the headline of every chapter, and (4) theme inside the conditional
sentences.

A. Theme using the definitive marker (al) + /u/

THEME RHEME
(1) fal-fardhu ra‘sul-māli wa huwa ashlult-tijārati
(2) wan-naflu huwa ar-ribchu wa bihi al-fauzu bid-darajāti

(1a) mongko utawi perintah fardhu iku ashli- bondho- ….

(2a) utawi perintah sunnah iku utawi naflu-

B. Theme using the imperative verb

THEME RHEME
(3) i‘lam anna awāmirallahi ta‘alā farāidh wa nawāfilu

119
(4) allahuma ij‘al lii nūran fii qalbiy wa nūran fii qabriy ….

(3a) weruha siro
(4a) ya Allah- mugi dadeaken tuhan
setuhune piro-piro perintahe- gusti Allah- iku ana
piro-piro fardhu- lan ono piro-piro sunnah
(Nāshiruddin, 1964:33)
kerana kula- ing nur- ing dalem ati kula- lan mugi
dadeaken ing nur- ing dalem- qubur kula
(Nāshiruddin, 1964:107)

C. Theme in the Headline of every Chapter in the Bidayatul-Hidayah

THEME RHEME
(5) fashlun fii ādābil-istaiqādzi minan-naumi
(6) bābu ādābil-wudhūi
(7) ādābul-ghusli -

(5a) utawi iku fasal suwiji
(6a) utawi iku bab
(7a) utawi iki iku tatakramane adus
(Nāshiruddin, 1964:79)
Ing dalem mertelaaken totokromone tangi saking
turu
Nerangake tata kramane wudhu
(Nāshiruddin, 1964:55)

D. Theme inside the Conditional Sentences in the book of Bidayatul-Hidayah

THEME 1 RHEME 1 THEME 2 RHEME 2

(8) fa idza istaiqadzta minan-naumi fajtahid an tastaiqidza
qabla thulu‘il-fajri

(Nāshiruddin,
1964:41)
(8a) mongko tatkalane Saking turu Mangka nemen- Ing yento – tangi
amrih tangi siro nemen nane siro siro- ing
sakdurungue –
metune fajar....
(9) fain ‗ajazta ‗an isti‘mālil-māi .... fashbir Chattā yadkhula
waqtul-fariidhati ...

(9a) maka lamun- apes Sangking nganggo- Mangka sabara Sahingga manjing
siro banyu ..... siro- apa weqtune shalat
fardhu ......

(Nāshiruddin,
1964:84)

How is the way to progress theme in the every sentences, in the Arabic – Javanese translation
book of Bidayatul-Hidayah. We can consider some examples below.

120
(1) The Constant Theme Pattern

Bloor (2004:88) The constant pattern, where a common Theme is shared by each clause and this
Theme equates with Given information, is common in short passages of biographical information
and sometimes in narratives which focus on the behaviour of one person. It is also frequently
found in textbooks and descriptions of factual information focusing on a particular thing thing or
concept. Buchairiy (2010:75) defined this pattern as /at-tawāliy ma„a maudhu„āt mustanbithah /.
We can look this pattern in the book of Bidayatul-Hidayah, such as in this part of sentences
below.

(Source Language: Arabic)

Fa‘lam (anta) ayyuhal-chariishul-muqbilu ‗ala ‗iqitbāsil-‗ilmi al-mudzhiru min-nafsihi...

(theme 1)

Fa anta sā‘in fii hadmi diinika wa ihlāki nafsika wa bai‘i ākhiraitika bidunyāka...

(theme 2)

Wa in kānat niyyatuka (anta) wa qashduka bainaka wa bainallahi ta‘ālā min thalabil-‗ilmi......

(theme 3)

Fabsyir (anta) fainnal-malāikata tabsuthu laka ajnichatahā idza amsyaita (anta)

(theme 4)

(Target Language: Javanese)

Mongko weruho siro – hei iling-iling wongkang banget demene- kang kumadep- ingatase

(theme 1)

ilmu- kang ngelaheraken saking awake charis.....

Mongko utawi siro iku wongkang lumalu- ingdalem ngerubuhaken- agama nira- lan

(theme 2)

ngerusaaken- lan ngedol akhirate ira- kelawan dunyo nira.....

Lan lamun ana- apa niyat iro – lan sejo niro – antarane siro – lan antarane – Gusti Allah –

(theme 3)

sangking olehe amrih ilmu....

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Mangka bungaha siro – mangka setuhune malaikat- iku nebar sopo malaikat- kerono siro- ing

(theme 4)

suwiwine – malaikat – tatkalane lumaku siro ........

(Nāshiruddin, 1964:8-12)

(2) The Linier Theme Pattern

(Bloor, 2004:89) The second time we look at in this chapter is the linear pattern. In this type, the
Rheme of one clause is taken up as the theme of the subsequent clause. Buchairiy (2010:75)
defined this pattern as /at-tawāliy al-‟ufuqi al-basith/, We can look at this pattern in the book of
Bidayatul-Hidayah below. In this pattern, we can look the example from how Imam al-Ghazali
explained about ―hidāyah‖ (guidance towards God)

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(Source Language)

Wa lākin yanbaghi laka an taʻlama qabla kulli syaiʼin ʼannal-hidāyata

Theme 1 Rheme 1

allatī hiya tsamratul-ʻilmi

Theme 2 Rheme 2

lahā bidāyah wa nihāyah wa dzāhirun wa bāthinun.

Theme 1 Rheme 2

Wa lā wushūla ilā nihāyatihā

illā baʻda ichkāmi bidāyatihā.

Wa la ‗utsūra ‗alā bāthinihā

illā baʻdal-wuqūfi ‗alā dzāhirihā.

(Target Language)

Lan tetepane- sayugjo- keduwe sira- opo ing yento ngerti siro- ing sakdurunge saben-saben
suwiji-suwiji – ing setuhune- pituduh yakni amal- kang utawi amal – iku uwohe ilmu – iku
keduwe hidayah- utawi kawitane – lan pungkasane – lan anduweni dzahir – lan anduweni batin –
lan ora ono tumeka iku tetep – maring pungkasane hidayah – anging sakwuse – ngukuhake –
kawitane hidayah – lan ora ono weruh iku tetep – ingatase njerune hidayah – anging sakwuse –
ningali – ingatase njobone hidayah.

(Nāshiruddin, 1964:12-13)

Falā tatrukis- siwāk

Theme 1 Rheme 1

fainnahu muthahhirun lil-fami wa murdhātun lil-rabbi wa muskhithatun lisy-syaithān…

Theme 2 Rheme 2

Mongko ojo ninggalake siro- ing gosok untu – mongko setuhune siwak – iku nuceaken – maring
cangkem – lan ngeridhaaken – maring pangeran – lan gedumelaken – maring syaithan.

(Nāshiruddin, 1964:55-56)

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 Diagrammatically, this pattern can be represented as in this figure.

Clause 1. Theme A + Rheme B

Clause 2. Theme B + Rheme C

Clause 3. Theme C + Rheme C

The Diagram of The Linier Theme Pattern

(3) The Split Rheme Pattern

The third common type of thematic progression dealt with here is known as the split Rheme
pattern. This pattern occurs when the Rheme of a clause has two components, each of which is
taken in turn as the Theme of a subsequent clause (Bloor, 2004:89). Buchairiy (2010:76) defined
this pattern as /at-tawāliy li-chaditsi muqassami/, An example about this pattern can be seen in
text of Bidayatul-Hidayah below.

Waʻlam annan-nās fī thalabil-ʻilmi ʻala tsalātsati achwālin:

RHEME = Theme 1 + Theme 2 + Theme 3

Rajulun thalaba-ʻilmi layattakhidzahu zādahu ilāl-maʻādi wa lam yaqsud bihi illa

Theme 1

wajhallahi wad-dāral-ākhirah…

Wa rajulun thalabahu liyastaʻīna bihi ʻalā chayātihi al-ʻājilati wa yanāla bihi al-‗izza

Theme 2

wal-jāha wal-māla…..

Wa rajulun tsālitsun ʼistachwadza ʻalaihi asy-syaithānu fat-takhada ʻilmahu dzarīʻatan

Theme 3

ilāt-takātsuri bil-māli….

(4) Derived Themes

We have looked so far at three common types of thematic pattern that help ini the structure of
coherent texts, but, as a glance at almost any book will show, they do not account for all the
thematic patterns that can be identified. In a longer text, a variety of topics for discussion might be
introduced by an author at, say, the beginning of a chapter. Later in the course of the chapter, the
author might refer back to any one of the topics or aspects of the topics and use it as Theme. As a
result, we often find texts where two or more independent Themes alternate within the text (Bloor,

124
2004:91). In this pattern, we can consider from the text in the book of Bidayatul-Hidayah, under
the tittle al-qaul fi maʻāshī al-qalbi (a speech in the sin of heart) (Nāshiruddin, 1964:255-256).

(Source Language: Arabic)

Al-qaul fī ma‘āshī al-qalbi (clause 1)

Theme 1 Rheme 1

Iʻlam ʼannash-shifāti al-madzmūmah fil-qalbi katsiratun (clause 2)

Theme 2 Rheme 2

Wa tharīqu tathhīril-qalbi min radzāʼilihā thawīlun (clause 3)

Theme 3 Rheme 3

Wa sabiīlul-ʻilāji fihā ghāmidhun (clause 4)

Theme 4 Rheme 4

(Target Language: Javanese)

Utawi iku – iku pangendika – ing dalem mertelaaken – bab ma‘shiate ati (clause 1)

Theme 1 Rheme 1

Weruho siro – setuhune – piro piro sifat – kang den cacat – ing dalem ati – iku akeh (clause 2)

Theme 2 Rheme 2

Utawi dedalane – nyuceni – ati – saking – piro piro reregete sifat – iku panjang (clause 3)

Theme 3 Rheme 3

Utawi dalane – nambani – ing dalem sifat – iku angel (clause 4)

Theme 4 Rheme 4

If we look at from the source language, the theme is derived from the definitive marker (al) + /u/
and then this pattern was translated into Javanese language using the marker ―utawi‖. We can look

125
at from the target language position. Furthermore, the rheme was translated into target language
using the marker ―iku‖. The word ―iku‖ in Indonesian language translated into ―itu‖ or ―that‖ in
English language (Maheswara, 2014:104). It means that the rheme as a new information tried to
be pointed into the reader, because the word ―iku‖, in Javanese language, has the main function
for the pointer of something.

The elements of textual cohesion in the translation book of Bidayatul-Hidayah can be divided into
(1) reference, (2) substitution, (3) ellipsis, (4) conjunction, and (5) lexical cohesion. As we have
seen in the text of the book Bidayatul-Hidayah, reference can be cohesive when two or more
expressions in the text refer to the same person, thing or idea using pronoun (dhamir) of the first
person. We can look from this source text and target text below. The marker of the reference as
the elements of textual cohesion in target text (Javanese translation) is ―utawi‖ and ―kelawan‖ +
the word being referred to.

(Source language)

Fal-fardhu ra‘sul-māli wa huwa ashlut-tijārah wa bihi tachshulu an-najātu.

(Target Text)

Mangka utawi perintah fardhu – iku ashli – bondho – utawi ra‘sul-mali – iku pokoke – dagangan
– lan kelawan pokok – dadi hasil – opo salamat.

(Nāshiruddin, 1964:255-256)

Subtitution is used where a speaker or writer wishes to avoid the repetition of a lexical item and is
able to draw on the grammatical resources of the language to replace the item. In the book of
Bidayatul-Hidayah, we can consider how the author tried to replacement the word Allah (God)
with the other word such as: (jabbāru-samāwāti wal-ardhi = kang mesiso ing dalem pitunge langit
lan ing dalem pitunge bumi) (Nāshiruddin, 1964: 37-38), (fi chadhratil-maliki al-jabbāri al-
qahhāri = ing dalem ngersane ratu, kang mesiso, ingkang mekso), (maulāka = sopo bendoro iro).

Conjunction is the term used to describe the cohesive tie between clauses or sections of text in
such a way as to demonstrate a meaningful relationship between them. It is also possible to
perceive this process as the linking of ideas, events or other phenomena. This ‗lingking‘ or
‗joining‘ is achieved by the use of conjunctive Adjuncts, which are sometimes called cohesive
conjunctives (for example, then, for this reason, on the other hand). These are words or
expressions that have two textual functions: they indicate conjunction and, at the same time
usually indicate the type of relationship that operate between the elements being joined.

Lexical cohesion refers to the cohesive effect of the use of lexical items in discourse where the
choice of an item relates to the choices that have gone before. In short, lexical cohesion involves
meaningful connection in the text that are created through the use of lexical items and that do not
intrinsically involve reference, substitution, ellipsis or conjunction. One important type of the
lexical cohesion, probably the one with the strongest cohesive force, is repetition (or reiteration)
of the same item. Synonyms and near synonyms can have the same effect as can other words
which refer to the same person. Such as, the word Allah, in the book of Bidayatul-Hidayah can be
considered by the translation form as ―ratu‖, ―bendoro‖, ―pengeran‖, ―ingkang mekso‖ etc.

D. Conclusions and Suggestions

126
After doing the analysis of the data, using the functional grammar approach, we can conclude
about the form of the theme and rheme in the translation text of Islamic moral ethic book
Bidayatul-Hidayah. First, there are four dominant pattern in the construction theme-rheme pattern
inside the Islamic moral ethic book, (1) theme using definitive marker (al) + /u/, (2) theme using
the imperative verb, (3) theme in the headline of every chapter in the book of Bidayatul-Hidayah,
and (4) theme in the conditional sentences.

Thematic progression pattern in the book of Bidayatul Hidayah can be divided into four main
items with their characteristics, they are: (1) the constant theme pattern, (2) the linier theme
pattern, (3) the split rheme pattern, and (4) derived themes. The marker of theme (old/ familiar
information) in Javanese language can be concluded by the word ―utawi‖, and the rheme (new
information) in Javanese language as target language, can be considered by the word ―iku‖. The
elements of textual cohesion in the translation book of Bidayatul-Hidayah can be divided into (1)
reference, (2) substitution, (3) ellipsis, (4) conjunction, and (5) lexical cohesion. The marker of the
reference as the elements of textual cohesion in target text (Javanese translation) is ―utawi‖ and
―kelawan‖ + the word being referred to.

References
Almanna, Ali. 2016. The Routledge Course in Translation annotation: Arabic-English-
Arabic. London: Routledge.
Baker, Mona. 2011. In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation Second Edition.
London: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group.
Beeston, A.F.L. 1968. Written Arabic: An approach to the basic structures. London:
Cambridge University Press.
Bloor, Thomas. and Meriel Bloor. 2004. The Functional analysis of English: A
Hallidayan Approach: Second Edition. London: Arnold.
Buchairiy, Sa‗id Chasan. 2010. At-Tachlil Al-Lughawiyyu Lin-Nash: Madkhal Ilā al-
Mafāhimi al-‟Asāsiyyah wal-Manāhiji. Kairo: Mu‘assasah al-Mukhtār.
Connolly, John H. 1991. Constituent Order in Functional Grammar Synchronic and
Diachronic Perspectives. Berlin: Foris Publication.
Maheswara, Majendra. 2014. Kamus Jawa Indonesia, Indonesia Jawa. Yogyakarta:
Pustaka Mahardika.
Matthiessen, Christian M.I.M, Kazuhiro Teruya, and Marvin Lam. 2010. Key Terms in
Systemic Functional Linguistics. New York: Continuum International Publishing
Group.
Mauranen, Anna. 1993. ―Theme and Prospection in Written Discourse‖. In the Mona
Baker et al (Eds). Text and Technology in Honour of John Sinclair (Page 95 – 114).
Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Nāshiruddin, Hammām. 1964. Bidāyatul Hidāyah. Kudus: Maktabah Manara.
Raof, Hussein Abdul. 2007. Subject, Theme and Agent in Modern Standard Arabic.
London: Routledge.
Versteegh, Kees (ed). 2006. Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics. Volume I
– V. Leiden: Brill.

127
 Appraisal Attitude in President Joko Widodo‘s Speech

Nurlela
Universitas Sumatera Utara

Abstract
This study attempts to investigate the attitudes, judgments, and appreciation of President Joko
Widodo realized in the text of his speech and how his attitude in appreciating and judging the
condition of Indonesia government, community, and the commitment of his staff in running the
betterment of Indonesian government. The theory of Appraisal including Affect, Judgments and
Appreciation (Martin & White 2005) was employed in this study. Qualitative content analysis was
employed in this research. The source of data was taken from the presidential speech on August
14, 2015. The findings show that Appraisal Attitude is represented by 78% Affect, 75%
Judgments, and 58% Appreciation which was on positive polarities. This means that Joko Widodo
showed his happiness to the government‘s performance, the capacity and tenacity of the people
and all his staff. This had been revealed by his statements that Indonesia is able to stand in the
same level with developed countries in the G-20, and the democracy index rose from 63.72 into
73.04 2015.

Keywords: Speech, Appraisal, Affect, Judgements, Appreciation

1. Introduction

Appraisal is one of three major discourse semantic resources construing interpersonal meaning.
Appraisal itself is regionalised as three interacting domains – attitude, engagement and graduation
(Martin and White, 2005:35). This paper focused on attitude, because it is concerned with the
speaker‘s feelings, including emotional reactions, judgements of behaviour and evaluation of
things.

This study is meant to give meaning to President Joko Widodo‘s speech (Jokowi) when he
directly delivered his formal speech for the first time in front of members of the house of
representative and all the guests, also indirectly all the people of Indonesia. Specifically, this
paper analysed Jokowi‘s attidude realized in presidential speech text he read on August 14, 2015.
This text is viewed as a high value, because it contained not only talked about last
events/activities executed by the government but also what activies will be run in next future in
order to get welfare of Indonesian people. In relation with this, it is meant to know how Jokowi
showed his attitude that he presented by using selected words.

Attitude is divided into three regions of feelings, ‗affect‘, ‗judgement‘, and ‗appreciation‘. Affect
deals with resources for construing emotional reactions, for examples feeling of shock in relation
to the event. Judgement is concerned with resources for asssessing behaviour according to various
normative principles, for examples criticism of the Australian Prime Minister. Appreciation looks
at resources for constuing the value of things, including natural phenomena and semiosis (as
either product or process) (Martin and White, 2005:35-36).

Based on the above description, the formulation of the problem is ―how were Affects, Judgements
and Appreciations realized in Jokowi‘s speech?‖ Each of these problems discussed one by one.

2. Review of Literature

2.1. Appraisal Theory

128
Appraisal Theory is a linguistics theory concerning on emotion, ethics, and aesthetics. It is
basically about the systems in a language that determine how speakers of the language should
express themselves in relation to their interlocutor or audience and the topics of their talk. The
process of talking is quite complex one. People calculate the knowledge of their
interlocutor/audience, process the proper wordings that match their calculation of their audienceís
knowledge, adjust the proper gesture and facial expression, and etc .

Appraisal Theory proposes that there are three linguistic resources to express emotions: attitude,
engagement, and graduation. The difference between the three is shown in the following words
(Martin and White, 2005: 35). Attitude is concerned with our feelings, including emotional
reactions, judgements of behaviour and evaluation of things. Engagement deals with sourcing
attitudes fand the play of voices around opinions in discourse. Graduation attends to grading
phenomena whereby feelings are amplified and categories blurred.

2.1.1. Attitude

Attitude is the sub-system of Appraisal Theory that, on the whole, covers feelings. The feelings
meant here are the feelings that are either explicitly stated or implicitly stated. Attitude is divided
into three regions: affect, judgement, and appreciation. Below are explanations of each of the
regions.

2.1.1.1. Affect

Affect is the linguistic resource used to show positive and negative feeling; whether a speaker is
bored, interested, happy, sad, etc. Several examples are grief, Iím grieved, it is a sad day. Affect is
further subdivided into four types: a. dis/inclination: how the speaker inclined or disinclined to
something. The typical words classified in this region are miss, long for, etc. b. un/happiness:
emotional feeling of the speaker whether he is happy or sad. The typical words classified in this
region are cheerful, gloomy, buoyant, etc. c. in/security: the speakerís emotions related with his
ecosocial wellbeing: anxiety, fear, confidence and trust. The typical words are: confident,
comfortable, trusting, etc. d. dis/satisfaction: emotions concerned with, displeasure, curiosity,
respect. The typical words are: engrossed, satisfied, pleased, etc.

2.1.1.2. Judgement

Judgement is about attitudes towards behaviour. The linguistic resources that fall under the
category of judgement are used to show or to express speakerspositions about others conduct:
whether he admires the behaviour or not, appreciates or condemns, and etc. Judgement is divided
into two types: 1. social esteem: is the region of judgements in which the evaluation of peopleís
conduct is based on social ethics; on a standard of appropriateness. In this region there are
judgements of a. normality (how unusual someone is); the typical words classified in this domain
are: normal, natural, familiar, lucky, stable, etc. b. capacity (how capable someone is): powerful,
vigorous, healthy, fit, etc. c. tenacity (how resolute someone is): plucky, reliable, tireless, loyal,
etc. 2. social sanction: is the region of judgements in which the evaluation of peopleís conduct is
based on legal/religious rules. Unlike those underlying social esteem, the rules on which social
sanction are based are usually codified and written.

2.1.1.3. Appreciation

Appreciation is about evaluation of things, of concrete, natural objects: a novel, scenery, a house,
a musical composition, or any other objects. Appreciation is further divided into three types: 1.

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reaction: related to affection. It is further sub-divided into two systems: that of impact (whether
the phenomenon grabs our attention) and quality (whether the phenomenon is liked by the
speaker). The typical words belonging in the region of impact are: arresting, captivating,
fascinating, etc. The typical words of quality are: okay, fine, beautiful, splendid, etc. 2.
composition: related to our view of order. It is further sub-divided into two systems: balance
[whether the phenomenon is orderly, has a sense of balance and connectedness in it] and
complexity [whether the phenomena is easy or difficult to comprehend]. Typical words of balance
are: symmetrical, proportioned, unified, logical, etc. Typical words of complexity are: simple,
lucid, clear, intricate, reach, etc. 3. valuation: related to our considered opinions. The typical
words belonging to this region are: penetrating, profound, priceless, worthwhile, etc.

3.Research Methods

Qualitative content analysis was employed in this research.Singh (2006:150) asserts that content
analysis, sometimes known as document analysis deals with the systematic examination of current
records or documents as sources of data. The data in this study were in the form of document of
speech by President Joko Widodo. The object of this study is Joko Widodo‘s speech delivered on
14th August 2015in welcoming the Independence day of Indonesia, ie at the level of words,
phrases, clauses and sentences. The data were analyzed by using the Appraisal System of attitude
and positioning. The data collection methods used were listening and jotting down method as
proposed by Sudaryanto (1993: 153). Listening method is done by listening to a speech text, then
noted the lexis or phrases included in the Appraisal devices. The methods of analyzing data used
in this study were matching technique. Matching technique in the data analysis is a technique in
which the decisive tool of analysis is on the outside, detached and not included as a part of the
language.

4. Results and Discussion

4.1.Results

The results of the study were gained from the content analysis based on the characteristics of each
component of Appraisal Attitude in Joko Widodo‘s speech. In terms of affect, it was found that
there are 33 words containing Affect and the most dominant affect is happiness with positive
polarity with ten 10 words or occurrences. The details are presented as the following:

Table 4.1. Affect in Speech Text Joko Widodo

Number
Polarity AFFECT
realis un/happines dis/satisfic in/security
s ation
Positive 1 10 7 8 26

Negative 0 1 1 5 7
Number 1 11 8 13 33

Examples of data analysis in this research on affective be explained as follows.

―Atas perjuangan dan kerja keras para pemimpin nasional tersebut, disertai dukungan
sepenuh hati dari seluruh rakyat Indonesia, hari ini di saat kita memperingati 70

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 tahun Indonesia Merdeka, kita mempunyai modal yang lebih dari cukup untuk
melompat maju. (Teks Pidato Kenegaraan Joko Widodo 14/8). ―

From the text above, the word ―sepenuh hati‖ or ―wholeheartedly‖ is included in affect on the
type of happiness: love. It is in line with the meaning of the "wholeheartedly" that feeling of love
for the state of the perceived, and seen that ―the people‖ as pointed by Joko Widodo illustrates
that people are happy with the leadership style of Joko Widodo. Thus, the people of Indonesia
support him wholeheartedly. That word is included in the meaning of happiness because it is not
appropriate when it is put on the kind of realist or security and happiness is more similar to the
word ―sepenuh hati or wholeheartedly‖.

Furthermore, in terms of Judgement realized in Joko Widodo‘s speech is illustrated in the next
table.

Table 2. Judgement in Joko Widodo‘s Speech

polarity Judgement Number

Social sanction Social esteem
Veracity Propriety Normality Tenacity Capacity
Positive 0 0 1 10 10 21
Negative 3 0 1 0 3 7
number 3 0 2 10 13 28

It was found that there are 28 words showing Judgement in the data, and the dominant type of
judgement is an assessment of the capacity and the positive polar tenacity with 10 words as the
total occurrences. Here is the example of judgement realized in the data.

―Lebih dari itu, Indonesia yang membentang dari Sabang sampai Merauke, dari Miangas
hingga Rote, adalah negeri dengan jumlah penduduk Muslim terbesar di dunia, negeri
demokrasi terbesar ketiga di dunia. Dalam hal berdemokrasi, kita telah menjadi salah satu
contoh gemilang di dunia. Dibandingkan dengan tahun 2013, indeks demokrasi kita naik
dari 63,72 menjadi 73,04 pada tahun 2015. Kita juga memiliki pemilih muda yang kritis,
dan bersemangat mengawal jalannya demokrasi dan pemerintahan (Teks Pidato
Kenegaraan Joko Widodo 14/8).‖

The word ―kritis‖ or ‗emergency‘ appeared above is categorized as Judgement. There are two
kinds of judgement, namely the assessment of an object or other things, and an assessment of the
individual or group of people. The word ―kritis‖ or emergency is the assessment given by Joko
Widodo to provide social rewards to young voters. In this case, leksis ―kritis‖ or emergency is a
kind of social rewards capacity. Meaning implied in the word ―kritis‖ is the capability of young
voters in keeping the democracy and the governance being on the track.

Then, the last section of appraisal attitude is appreciation. In this study, the realization of
appreciation in Joko Widodo‘s speech is presented in the table below.

Table 3. Appreciation in Jokowi‘s Speech

polarity Appreciation Number

Reaction Composition Valuation
Impact Quality Balance Complexity
Positive 2 10 2 2 9 25

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Negative 4 11 1 1 1 18
Number 6 21 3 3 10 43

In this study, there are 43 occurrences of appreciation. Appreciation is a personal evaluation of

‗things‘ we make and performances we give, but also including natural phenomena- what such
things are worth (Martin & White 2005). The most dominant appreciation in the data is ‗reaction‘
that is both positive and negative qualities, each of the categories comprises of 10 and 11 words.
Below is presented the example of Appreciation.

―Selain itu, banyak masalah mendasar yang menuntut penyelesaian. Di bidang

pangan, kita belum mencapai kedaulatan pangan, rentan gagal panen, dan mudah
diterpa ketidakstabilan harga pangan. Di bidang infrastruktur, moda transportasi
massal di tiap wilayah masih sangat kurang dan belum terintegrasi dengan baik.
(Teks Pidato Kenegaraan Joko Widodo 14/8).‖

From the text above, the word ―ketidakstabilan‖ or unstable is the representation of
Appreciation, on the type of composition: negative polarity. The word ―ketidakstabilan‖ is the
appreciation given by Joko Widodo on food prices, and that word is used to describe imbalance of
food price.

4.2.Discussion

From the research, it was found that the Appraisal attitude of appreciation is the most dominant in
President Joko Widodo‘s speech. Thus, it can be seen that Joko Widodo more judge about the
condition of the Indonesian nation with all aspects in it. The judgement done by him is more in the
area of quality and previous researcher also shows that the quality assessment is more dominant in
parts of Appreciation. The judgment of quality comprises of positive and negative. Thus, the
president Joko Widodo conducted a balance judgment. President Joko Widodo judges not only the
weakness, but also the positive qualities possessed by Indonesia also conveyed.

Then, the emotions showed in President Joko Widodo‘s speech is to be more on the happiness and
satisfaction felt by him on the community and his staffs. His first official speech illustrates his
attitude that he felt a lot of pleasure and love for nearly a year he has been working as President.
Although there are some negative polar words depicting his displeasure to the media which is
doing propaganda freely.

After that, the apreciation realized in Joko Widodo‘s presidential speech is dominated by the
apreciation of the capacity and persistence / tenacity owned by the people of Indonesia to help in
making better democracy and governance. Social appreciation conveyed by him is more on things
that are positive, it seems that President Joko Widodo provides high social rewards to the people
of Indonesia.

5. Conclusion

The findings show that Appraisal Attitude is represented by 78% Affect, 75% Judgments, and
58% Appreciation which was on positive polarities. This means that Joko Widodo showed his
happiness to the government‘s performance, the capacity and tenacity of the people and all his
staff. This had been revealed by his statements that Indonesia is able to stand in the same level
with developed countries in the G-20, and the democracy index rose from 63.72 into 73.04 2015.

References

132
Genovese, M. A. & Lori C. H. (2009). Encyclopedia of American Government and Civics. New
York: Facts on File Inc.
Halliday, MAK & Matthiessen, C.M.I.M. (2004). An Introduction to Functional Grammar.
London: Arnold.
Martin, J.R. & Rose,D.. (2008). Working with Discourse, Meaning beyond the Clause (2nd
edition reprinted). London: Continuum.
Martin, J.R. & White, P.R.R. (2005). The Language of Evaluation, Appraisal in English. New
York: Palgrave Macmillan.

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 Experiential Meaning in the Students‘ Interpretation of Song Lyrics

R. Yeni Dewi Cahyani

Universitas Al-Ghifari (UNFARI)
yenicahyani69@yahoo.com

Abstract
Meaning represented in a text may further be represented in a different text. Song lyrics can give
important clues about what people thought and felt.The language of the lyrics itself can express
different meaning. The problem is that the literal meaning of song lyrics is often hard to establish,
and this meaning is usually enriched with allusion, suggestion, and implied meanings. This study
examines the representation of their understanding of song lyrics into their own texts. The theme
song used here is focused on the songs about relationships i.e., ―Rolling in the deep‖ (Adele) and
―Because of you‖ (Kelly Clarkson). Having analyzed the students‘ texts using transitivity, the
finding shows that the differences occur in the use of processes and their functions. There are
three dominant processes that appear in the students‘ text in representing their interpretation of
both songs, i.e. material, relational, and mental processes. In relation to the meaning making
through representational strategies, the three processes dominated in the students‘ text synergized
to build the representation of the song meaning related to the meaning which was meant by the
song writer.

Keywords: Experiential meaning, interpretation, representation, song lyrics.

Research Background and Literary Review

Many historians have used song lyrics to help understand the culture and consciousness of the
people who sang and listened to them. Song lyrics can give important clues about what people
thought and felt, their daily struggles, and their dreams about the future. Lyrics are created by the
singer or composer. They usually make an interaction and communication to their listener or fans
with the language that they use in their lyrics. The language of the lyrics itself can express
different meaning. It can be also said that song always sends message in every lyrics; and every
song has the lyrics which gives a different meaning according to the language use. It means that
the language used in the song lyrics can gives different meaning which can influence someone to
act or to do something. And it can be a good thing or a bad thing. One of the best ways to get an
idea of the different things that a song means and has meant is to see what people have said about
it (Peake, 1980).

On the other hand, it is not true that any meaning is as good as any other. Interpretations that
contradict the literal meaning of the lyrics or the obvious intent of the performer, that are clearly
anachronistic, or that do not correspond to anyone‘s actual reaction to the song have to be
considered in a different light from meanings that were intended by the creators or that can be
shown to be widely shared among audiences (Griffee, 1992). Songs are almost always opened to
multiple interpretations (Peake, 1980).

Students interpret the song lyrics in a variety of ways to find the message of the song. When
interpreting the song lyrics, they try to understand the conditions of the world as it set up and
depicted within the song lyrics (Kurland, 2002). They examine features running throughout the
lyrics to see how the discussion shapes their perception of reality. They examine what the lyrics
do to convey meaning: how patterns of content and language shape the portrayal of the topic and

134
how relationship between those patterns conveys underlying meaning (Kurland, 2002). There
have been many different ideas about how meaning can be represented in their interpretation.
There are literally thousands of things, and they are different for each person.Their responses to
the song lyrics might different.

The study of the ideational meaning especially on the experiential side has been widely studied by
some scholars. They explained that the ideational meanings realize the contextual variable of field
(Halliday, 1985). These mean that the ideational function of language concerns for the
representation of experience of the world, and reflects the kinds of activities and the types of
participants which are involved (Halliday, 1985). Huisman (2002) and Lock (1996) mentioned
that the natural human experiences which are constituted the extended human‘s environment that
prove the theorizing of ideational meaning in SFL and, in particular, for the experiential meaning
choices of the Transitivity system could be related to different narrative worlds in different social
and historical contexts. They showed that the ideational meaning deal with the ways the language
represents the interlocutor‘s experience.

There are different realizations of the ideational meaning processes that appear in those texts.
However, it is also found that their studies mainly focused on the writer/author‘s point of view,
not on the reader‘s. Based on this phenomenon, this study is focused on representation of
represented text. More specifically, it examines the students‘ comprehension of the song lyrics,
the analysis of the students‘ interpretation of the song lyrics represented in their writing, and the
recognition of the meaning making through representational strategies. The analysis of transitivity
and its application basically follows the SFG‘s theoretical framework.

Students‘ Interpretation of the Song Lyrics

In revealing the students‘ comprehension to this song, they were given three guiding questions:
(1) What is the song trying to say? (2) What emotion does the song bring you? (3) What
lines/phrases seem most striking to you? Why? These three guiding questions are related to the
four levels of comprehension i.e. literal, inferential, evaluative, and appreciative. By using these
levels, readers are attempting to understand what the author meant by what he/she said in the song
lyrics. It is presumed that they have already memorized certain facts at the literal level and now
they are attempting to see the implications of the author‘s words.

The responses to the first guiding question for Rolling in the Deep showed that the students used
the different choice of words to express the song meaning realized in the song lyrics. Although
their selection of the words varies, they said the same idea about the song lyrics. Some students
said that this song is a sad song. The other students said that this song is a revenge song, and both
of their ideas are relevant with the song meaning that want to express by the song writer. This
song tells about the woman who feels hurt and wants to take revenge to her man that has made her
suffering. Their responses showed that the students had different levels of comprehension. Having
analyzed the students‘ text, there are only two levels of comprehension found in this study, i.e.
inferential level and evaluative level. The literal level is not found in the students‘ text. The
summary of the students‘ comprehension levels are showed in the table 1.

Table 1. The students‘ comprehension levels in interpreting the ―Rolling in the deep‖ song lyrics

Inferential Evaluative
Rolling in the deep A2, B2, B5, C3, C4, A.1, A3, A.4, A.5, B.1, B3, B4, C1,
C2, C5
Total 5 10

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Table 1 shows that five students were in the inferential level of comprehension. At this level, the
students use information explicitly stated in the passage to determine what is not stated. They
derived meaning by: 1) identifying implicit relationships (relationships not directly stated) such as
cause and effect, sequence-time relationships, comparisons, classifications and generalizations, 2)
predicting probable future outcomes or actions, 3) inferring an author‘s unstated meaning by
drawing conclusions based on specific facts, events, images, patterns or symbols found in selected
readings, 4) inferring the main idea of a selection when it is not explicitly stated, and 5)
identifying unstated reasons for actions or beliefs based on explicitly stated information (Hillerich,
1983). Meanwhile, ten students were in the evaluative level of comprehension. At this level, the
students analyzed and made judgments about what they read. They used evidence from the text to
reach conclusions and made generalizations about the text and its wider implications by: 1)
drawing conclusions about the author‘s motivation or purpose for writing a passage or story based
on evidence in the selection, 2) drawing a conclusion that is validated by the evidence in the
selection, 3) determining whether the information used by the author to support a conclusion is
accurate and/or credible, 4) differentiating between conclusions that are based on fact and those
that are based on opinions, 5) drawing parallels between the selection and issues and situations
relevant to the text, and 6) drawing conclusions about the characteristics, values, and habits of
human beings (Hillerich, 1983).

The responses to the first guiding question for Because of You showed that all of the students
mentioned that this song is about the hardships that the singer went through as a child and how
that affected her. This can be seen on the use of some words of emotion in their interpretation
such as sad, angry, afraid, hurt, scared, and traumatize. These words showed that the students
were able to reflect the emotion faced by the singer through their interpretation. This is the
experiential meaning where the students use the language to reflect the experience of its
participants as the agent who is doing the activity (Halliday, 1985). The summary of the students‘
comprehension levels are showed in the table 2.

Table 2.The students‘ comprehension levels in interpreting the ―Because of you‖ song lyrics

Inferential Evaluative
Because of you A1, A3, A4, B1, B2, C2, C4, A2, A5, B3, B4, B5, C1, C3
C5
Total 8 7

Table 2 shows that eight students were in the inferential level of comprehension and seven
students were in the evaluative level of comprehension.

The second guiding question is ―What emotion does the song bring you?‖ This question is
intended to examine the students‘ idea about the emotion of the song trying to bring them. The
finding showed that their interpretations of Rolling in The Deep tended to mention the negative
emotion realized in the song lyrics. They used some adjectives such as angry, pain, hurt, and sad.
These words indicated the negative emotion reflected in their interpretation. This was in line with
Wilcox (2008) who stated that for an idea to exist we must have words to express it. ―Rolling in
the deep‖ is a song about the pain, the dissapointment and the anger of a woman who has hurt by
her lover and she wants to do something to give lesson to the man so that he will regret of what he
has done. Meanwhile, for Because of You, the students‘ responses to this question show that they
have the same idea about the emotion expressed in the song lyrics. Their choices of words show
the same idea about the mood expressed in the song lyrics. The finding shows that their
interpretations mention the negative emotion of the song lyrics reflected in their writing. They use
the words angry, sad, afraid, scared, hurt, and traumatize to express their idea. Their

136
interpretations indicate that they are able to reflect the emotion of the song lyrics through their
interpretation (Halliday, 2004). The students‘ responses to the second guiding question indicate
their inferential level of comprehension. Their responses show that they predict probable future
outcomes or actions, and infer an author‘s unstated meaning by drawing conclusions based on
specific facts, events, images, patterns or symbols found in selected readings (Hillerich, 1983).
They sense how the song‘s writer was feeling and how she wanted the listener to feel while
listening and reading the song lyrics.

The third guiding question is ―What lines/phrases seem most striking to you? Why?‖ This
question is intended to examine the students‘ responses to the lines/phrases seemed most striking
to them. Their responses indicate the evaluative level of comprehension. At this level they draw
conclusions about the author‘s motivation or purpose for writing a passage or story based on
evidence in the selection, and they draw a conclusion that is validated by the evidence in the
selection (Hillerich, 1983). The fifteen respondents were able to mention and explain the
lines/phrases struck to them..

These responses shows that the students had different points of views and different striking lines
to the song lyrics in revealing the meaning behind the song. Based on the responses to the three
guiding questions, the students were able to interpret this song. They comprehended the message
behind the song lyrics. The students‘ interpretation showed that the song had touched their
feeling. This is in accordance with the key concept in Halliday‘s approach that the context of
situation obtained through a systemic relation of the social environment and the functional
organization of language need the natural tendency of a text to make sense of a text (Halliday,
1985:11; 1994: xxii).

Representation of the students‘ interpretation of the song lyrics in their writing

There are some differences occur in the students‘ texts of ―Rolling in the deep‖ and ―Because of
you‖ interpretation related to the type and the number of processes. These are happened because
the students produce different clauses in representing their interpretation of song lyrics. The
students‘ interpretations of song lyrics represented in their writing task from the transitivity point
of view were shown in Table 3.

Tabel 3. Summary of process type in the texts written by the students

Rolling in the deep Because of You Total

Mood Class A B C Total % A B C Total % %
Material 20 23 15 58 36 19 19 12 50 26.6 108 31
Mental 18 9 12 39 24.2 23 13 11 47 25 86 24.7
Verbal 5 6 4 15 9.3 3 9 1 13 6.9 28 8
Behavioral 1 0 1 2 1.3 7 0 0 7 3.7 9 2.5
Relational 17 17 13 47 29.2 20 24 27 71 37.8 118 33.8

The table shows that the 15 students‘ interpretation of Rolling in the Deep song was represented in
58 material processes (36%), 39 mental processes (24.2%), 15 verbal processes (9.3%), 2
behavioral processes (1.3%), and 47 relational processes (29.2%). The analysis above show a
clear preference for material processes. Meanwhile, the transitivity analysis of the 15 students‘
interpretation of Because of You song was represented in 50 material processes (26.6%), 47
mental processes (25%), 13 verbal processes (6.9%), 7 behavioral processes (3.7%), and 71
relational processes (37.8%). The analysis of Because of you representation show a clear
preference for relational processes.

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There are three dominant processes that appear in the students‘ texts in both songs, i.e. material,
relational, and mental processes. However, there are differences in the order of their occurrences.

The dominant use of material processes in Rolling in the deep appears to be in line with the
character of the song stated in FILTER Magazine retrieved from www.fitermagazine.com. Rolling
in the deep is talking about an emotional state which transformed into action state. Through her
song, Adele proclaims the rise of emotion that results in fantasies of revenge against a lover who
has done her wrong. The entire song sounds as if she is gathering strength to do something about
the pain. The words in the song lyrics paint a picture that will make the listeners feel like staring
self-consciously (Ricoeur, 1981), and the students‘ interpretation of this song produce the words
that show the action verb. This analysis indicates that the material processes are used dominantly
in the students‘ texts.

The dominant use of relational processes in Because of you appears to be in line with the character
of the song. Through her song, the ―Because of you‖ is a very powerful song. It is a song recorded
by an, Clarkson explains (in ToneMedia retrieved from www.songfacts.com on March 21, 2012)
that she tried not to make the same mistakes her parents did, and how because of the divorce she
is scared to fall in love, in fear of going through the same pain her parents did. The lyrics of the
song itself contain the description of emotional states, and the students‘ texts appear to be in line
with this description. This analysis shows that the words indicated in the students‘ texts describe
the condition faced by the singer. Their descriptions show that the relational processes are used
dominantly in their texts.

When the students‘ interpretation of both songs is analyzed in more details in relation with the
sub-category of each dominant process, there is a significant difference between them. The table
below shows the three dominant processes appeared in the students‘ interpretation of both songs
in relation with the sub-category of each process.

Tabel 4. Summary of the three dominant processes type in relation with the sub-category of the
process in the texts written by the students

Song Process
Material Mental Relational
Doing Happening cognition Perception affection Att. Id
Rolling In the 46 12 11 4 24 22 23
deep (79%) (21%) (28%) (10%) (62%) (49%) (51%)
(55%) (48%) (58%) (36%) (43%) (32%) (49%)
Because of you 37 13 8 7 32 47 24
(74%) (26%) (17%) (15%) (68%) (66%) (34%)
(45%) (52%) (42%) (64%) (57%) (68%) (51%)

The table above shows the result of descriptive statistics from the data. In interpreting of both
songs, the sub-category of material processes is dominated by the doing processes. This analysis
shows that the students‘ interpretation of both songs is in line with the character of the song. The
words of the song paint a picture that will make the listener to comprise the explicit physical
action of what is done by the singer (Halliday, 2004).

The table also shows that the sub-category of mental processes is dominated by the affection
processes. This analysis shows that the mental processes used by the students indicate that the
students are able to feel the sufferings face by the singer or song‘s writer (Halliday, 2004).

138
For the relational processes, the identifying processes dominate the Rolling in the deep
interpretation, i.e. 51%. This analysis shows that the students are able to identify what is done by
the singer. Whereas, in Because of you, the relational processes is dominated by attributive
processes, i.e. 66%. This analysis shows that the students are able to assign a quality to the event
faced by the singer (Halliday, 2004).

The three processes reflected in the students‘ text in representing their interpretation of song lyrics
above synergized to build the representation of the song meaning related to the meaning which
was meant by the song writer.

The idea was that the listener established meaning about the song based on their levels of
comprehension and their life‘s experiences related to the context and content of the song lyrics.
This means that the students make meaning from the culmination and relevance of data and
information within a context of the song lyrics which helps them to establish knowing (Kurland,
2002).

Implication for Language Teaching

There are some key factors for language teaching, especially in teaching critical interpretation or
reading skills, and song lyrics are a good way for teachers to help students learn them. The benefit
of using song lyrics in language teaching are mentioned as follow.

The song lyrics engage students with high musical intelligence and auditory learners. They teach
students to differentiate between literal and beyond literal meaning of texts and allow students to
practice discussion skills, which include supporting opinions with examples. The song lyrics also
teach the reading comprehension strategy of making connections between the text and the world,
the self, another text, or even other songs. Most lyrics need to be interpreted, and regular practice
of this may improve prediction and comprehension skills. References in lyrics provide a means to
integrate cultural dimensions in a lesson.

References
Adele. (2010). The meaning of Rolling in the deep song. Filter Magazine. December 3rd, 2010.
Retrieved from
http://www.filtermagazine.com/index.php/media/entry/adele_rolling_in_the_deep_live/>
Griffee, D. T. (1992). Songs in action. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians,
London: Macmillan Publishers; New York: Grove's Dictionaries.
Halliday, M. A. K. (1985). An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Arnold.
Halliday, M. A. K. (1994). An Introduction to Functional Grammar (2nd ed.). London: Arnold.
Halliday, M. A. K., & Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (2004). An Introduction to Functional Grammar
(3rd ed.). London: Arnold.
Huisman, R. (2002). Narrative and Transitivity: the Semiotic Construal of Meaning in Sequence.
Paper presented at the 29th International Systemic Functional Congress, 15-19 July,
Liverpool, UK.
Kurland, J. D. (2002). How the language really works: The fundamentals of critical reading and
effective writing. Retrieved from <http://www.criticalreading.com.>
Lamb, l. (2012). The mood and texture in Because of you. ToneMedia. 21 March 2012.
<www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=21312>

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Lock, G. (1996). Functional English grammar: An introduction for second language
teachers. Cambridge Language Education. New York: Cambridge University Press
Peake. L. E. (1980). Song. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, sixth edition, 20
vols., edited by
Stanley Sadie, Vol. 17: 510-523. London: Macmillan Publishers; New York: Grove's Dictionaries.
Wilcox, (2008). The Representation of Ideas. StudyMode.com. Retrieved 02, 2008, from
http://www.studymode.com/essays/Representation-Ideas-131044.html

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 Register in Classroom Discourse: An SFL Perspective

Setyo Prasiyanto Cahyono

Faculty of Humanities Dian Nuswantoro University, Semarang Indonesia
setyo.cahyono@dsn.dinus.ac.id

Abstract
This paper investigates the realization of register in classroom discourse covers field, mode and
tenor in lecturer-students classroom interaction. The data of this research were gained from
Intermediate English Grammar Class at Faculty of Humanities Dian Nuswantoro University
consisting of twenty five students and a lecturer. In collecting the data, the researcher did an
observation in the classroom and recorded the lecturer-students interaction during the teaching
and learning process. Meanwhile, in analyzing the register of lecturer-students classroom
discourse interaction, the researcher employs a register analysis framework proposed by Gerot and
Widgnel (1993) and Thompson (1996) for the lexicogrammar analysis and Butt et.al (2000) for
describing the contextual description of field, mode and tenor. The finding of the research reveals
that the interaction among students and their lecturer were running interactively. During the
teaching-learning process, the lecturer dominates all the interaction by producing more imperative
and declarative utterances as she gives information to the students. Besides that, in the interaction,
it is also found there is cohesiveness in the utterances produced by the lecturer and her students.
These cohesive devices (reference, conjunction and substitution) make the clauses hang together
and create a situational text.

Keywords: classroom discourse, interaction, metafunction, register, sfl

Introduction

Systemic functional linguistics, herewith SFL is a theory originally developed by Michael

Halliday in the early of 1960s and has been widely used by many scholars to teach English skills
around the world. Nowadays, SFL has been developing very rapidly in Indonesia and it has been
implemented in the school curriculum across the country. Since then, it is also used by many
English lectures to teach English skills such as writing, listening comprehension, speaking and
reading comprehension. SFL in English language teaching (ELT) is used as an approach to
increase or to seek students‘ English skills comprehension besides that Thompson (1996) suggests
that SFL or Functional Grammar also can be implemented in a particular discourse analysis which
is known as stylistics focusing on literature texts. In addition, SFL is also used to seek people
interaction whether it is short talk, conversation or an interview.

In this research, the researcher focuses his study on lecturer – students‘ interaction where the
interaction occurred in the classroom. Whilst, the interaction of students-lecturer is effected by the
context of situation occurred in the classroom during the process of teaching and learning.
Halliday (2014) stated that there are two contexts namely context of culture (Genre) and context
of situation (Register). The term context of situation refers to the environment, time and place in
which the interaction or conversation takes place and also describing relationship between the
participants. This theory is traditionally found in the concept of register, which helps language
learners or analysts figure out the language used in term of field, mode and tenor. Register,
according to Halliday and Hasan (1985: 41), is variation according to use. It means that different
context of people interaction will create different language variation in which it depends on the
conversation they created and surely its environment also affected their interaction whether they
have to use formal or informal language. In line with the previous reason, this research tends to

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answer the following question: ―How are the contextual description of field, mode and tenor of
discourse of the lecturer-students‘ interaction in the classroom?‖.

Theoretical Review
2.1 Systemic Functional Linguistics

Systemic functional linguistic or SFL grew out of the work of J.R. Firth in the early 30s or 40s but
then was developed by Halliday who studied under him. SFL is an approach that seeks language
as a social semiotic system which simply means that language is organized systematically and as a
resource for people to create meaning. In SFL, the relationship between meaning and form is one
of realization (Fontaine, 2013). This realization is organized into context: context of culture and
context of situation. Context of situation, herewith register is realized into three metafunction in
term of field, tenor and mode. Field deals with the subject matter or what is being talked, tenor
refers to the social relationship between the speakers involve in the conversation and mode refers
to what part of language playing or used (Derewianka, 2011, Martin and Rose, 2003 and Gerot
and Wigdnell, 1994).

2.2 Context of Situation

These three metafunction, field, tenor and mode, are realized in the context of situation namely
register. The term register frequently refers to the variety of language according to the user
determined by its situation. As language realizes its social contexts, so each dimension of a social
context is realized by a particular metafunction of language, as seen in table 1 below:

Table 1. Register and Metafunction

Metafunction Context
Interpersonal Tenor ‗kinds of role relationship‘
Ideational Field ‗the social action that is taking place‘
Textual Mode ‗what part language is playing‘

Source: Martin and Rose (2003:243)

These three metafunction: the tenor, field and mode of situation constitute the register of a text.
Those three dimensions are called register variable because they vary systematically. Halliday
and Hasan (1985) describe that register is a semantic concept. It is a concept of the kind of
variation in language that goes with variation in the text situation. Meanwhile, Butt (2000) defines
register as the way meanings vary consistently with the context of situation or according to use.
Thus, the use of register in conversation is to enable speakers to converse appropriately depending
on the situation they find themselves in at that time (Cahyono, 2016). Context of situation is
determined by its situational context where it depends on the speakers‘ topic of conversation
whether it is formal or informal. Formal interaction is always occurred in the office or at
classroom. Classroom discourse interaction is one of the examples of formal interaction which is
occurred in an academic discourse such as in the classroom interaction among teacher and his
students.

2.3 Classroom Discourse

Classroom discourse is a special type of discourse that occurred in the classrooms. The interaction
happened if there is meaningful interaction between teachers and their students in the classrooms.

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The aim of classroom discourse interaction is to gain insight into class based learning. As Walsh
(2006) puts it:

in light of the teachers‘ role, the discussion which follows focuses principally on features
of classroom discourse which are essentially the responsibility of the teacher. These are:
control of patterns of communication; elicitation techniques, repair strategies; and
modifying speech to learners.

The consequence of the above quotation is that in maintaining the classroom discourse interaction,
a lecturer should take responsibility in handling the classroom by keeping the communication
alive by doing some strategies of communication.

Methodology

In collecting the data, the researcher did an observation and recorded the whole process of
teaching and learning conducted by a lecturer and her 28 students at the intermediate grammar
class. The duration of teaching and learning process was approximately 90 minutes and during
teaching and learning process, detail interaction among students and their lecturer were recorded.
The data were analyzed qualitatively as it investigates the context of situation (register) of
lecturer-students‘ interaction in term of its field, mode, and tenor. After the recorded data were
obtained, the next step is transcribing the spoken data into written form. Meanwhile, in doing the
analysis, the researcher employed a framework proposed by Gerot and Widgnel (1993) and
Thompson (1996) for the lexicogrammar analysis including transitivity, mood and theme analysis
and Butt et.al (2000) for describing the contextual description of field, mode and tenor of
discourse. In addition, in analyzing the data, the first step is the data were segmented into clauses
and analyzed them in term of three metafunction by classifying each of them into lexicogrammar
analysis of transitivity, mood and theme. The last step is describing each of contextual description
of tenor, mode and field of discourse of leturer-students‘ interaction.

Result and Discussion

The following tables below are the findings and its discussion of the utterances of lecturer-
students interaction which have been analyzed based lexicogrammar analysis. The tables
employed in this paper refer to Butt (2000). The lecturer-students interaction is segmented into
clauses and analyzed them into its transitivity, mood and theme system. Briefly, it can be seen in
the tables below that each of the analysis is classified in the table.

Table 2. Lexicogrammar Analysis to Contextual Description of Field of Discourse

Experiential Meaning Field of Discourse Commentary

Process Types Experiential Domain Based on the

lexicogrammar
The most dominant process A lecturer explains a analysis, the main
types produced by lecturer new material by findings of the data is
and students are material scaffolding and giving mainly material
processes such as do, write, information about process which is
give, continue, and check. In comparison degree to produced by both
this case, the lecturer is the her students. The lecturer and her
most dominant in producing interaction occurred at

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the material process because Intermediate Grammar students. However,
she is the key participant or class and it was in the the key participant in
actor who gives information evening. the lecturer-students
to the students. interaction is the
lecturer herself as she
Goal is the one who gives
Short-term goal lecture to the students.
There are many goals found In addition, the use of
in the interaction which is Teaching comparison present tense in the
indicated by: around five, degree to university interaction indicates
cooking and reading, students. It means the an identifying
breakfast. goal of the teaching relational process.
and learning process is This process shows
Relational to explain the function that there is
The result
of comparison degree information delivered
There are two types of of the
in spoken or written by the lecturer to the
relational process: analysis
language. students. This
and
Attributive: is, are, have, has knowledge identifying process
of context underlines the long
Identifying: equal, is, include of culture Long-tem goal term goal of the
so it can lecturer-students
Verbal: ask, talk, say and be Teaching the types of interaction.
explain described comparison degree Meanwhile, the use of
and ask students to material process
Mental make comparison with determines the short
their own ideas. term goal of the
There are three types of Besides that, the lecturer-students
mental process: lecturer also gives interaction. Through
advice to her students the interaction, the
Cognitive: think, know,
about how to study lecturer invites her
understand
English grammar students to ask
efficiently and questions or answer
Perception: see, look
effectively during the the lecturer‘s
teaching and learning questions.
Affective: feel, seem, like
process. In addition,
Participants: the lecturer also asks
her students to do an
Actor: lecturer and students assignment regarding
to the material they
Circumstances: discussed on that day.
There are three circumstances
found in the lecturer-students
interaction

Place: at classroom

Time: in the evening

Manner: like that

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Table 3. Lexicogrammar Analysis to Contextual Description of Tenor of Discourse

Interpersonal Meanings Tenor of Discourse Commentary

Mood Selection Agentive or Societal The mood selection

Roles mostly employed by
Utterances which are mainly the speakers are
produced by the lecturer are Lecturer and her personal pronouns we
imperatives such as sit, go, students and I which refer to
open. In this case, the lecturer the speakers
gives information or explains themselves. However,
the material to the students. the students demand
Besides, it is also found Status: unequal information from their
declarative mood types and lecturer about the
also interrogative mood in the It is obviously that the
material given on
lecturer-students interaction status of relationship
comparison degree by
between them is
giving questions. In
unequal because they
addition, the lecturer
have different level
also asks the students
Person Selection to answer her
questions and make a
The use of personal pronouns
Social Distance: group discussion. This
such as we, I, and you. The
can be proved by the
personal pronoun we refers to The result
the lecturer and her students, The social distance declarative mood
of the between the lecturer which is produced
refers to the lecturer and her analysis
students, you refers to the and her students is mostly by the lecturer.
and maximal. It is because Meanwhile, the
students and I refer to the knowledge
lecturer. their relationship is students mostly
of context based on teacher and produced
of culture students nothing else. interrogative mood
so it can type as they always
be ask questions to their
described lecturer.

Table 4. Lexicogrammar Analysis to Contextual Description of Mode of Discourse

Textual Meanings Mode of Discourse Commentary

Thematic Choices Role of Language Based on the lecturer

and students
There are three types of Ancillary interaction at the
theme found in the lecturer- classroom, the type
students interaction: Topical, Type of Interaction of theme mostly

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Textual and Interpersonal The data were taken produces is topical
themes. from the lecturer- theme it, you, we
students interaction so meaning that the
Topical Theme it can be said that the focus of their
type of the interaction interaction is the
Mostly there are unmarked is dialog. students themselves.
Topical theme found in the Besides that, it is also
lecturer-students interaction Medium: spoken to highlight the
such as I, we, you, somebody, information of the
everyone, and he Channel: phonic lecture about
The result
of the comparison degree.
Textual Theme Rhetorical thrust:
analysis explanation as the However, the use of
In some utterances there are and lecturer gives cohesion in their
also found textual theme in knowledge explanation on new utterances is to build
lecturer-students interaction: of context material about coherent text.
and, so, however, although, of culture comparison degree. Conversely, the
because, and before so it can
lecturer tries to give
be
information about
Interpersonal Theme described
comparison degree
Maybe we, anyway she clearly in order to her
students understand
Cohesion her talk or
explanation.
There are 3 types of
grammatical cohesion found In delivering her
in the data: explanation, the
lecture can deliver
Personal Reference: It, she, the material well
we, them and you organize by doing
some steps like
Comparative Reference: opening, discussion
larger than, more beautiful and closing. So it
than, as big as, and the makes the teaching
smallest and learning process
run well and
Conjunction smoothly.
When, while, because, so,
and, although

Structural Pattern

The genre of lecturer-students

interaction is explanation.
The structure of interaction
consists of opening: greeting
and pair interaction,
Discussion: explanation, turn-
taking, repair and group
discussion, Closing:

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 evaluation and conclusion

Conclusion and Implication to Language Teaching

The use of language in the classroom discourse determines the level of language used by the
speakers. The ability of using language for the educators and students makes it possible for them
to understand different context of language use on the basis of meanings in different context.
Moreover, they can create a situational context of teaching at classroom by referring to the
metafunction cover field, mode and tenor. So, it can be summed up that lecturer and students can
speak more situational in term of field, mode and tenor. They can speak more organize and also
create a coherent text or cohesively because one of the metafuctions, textual meaning: thematic
and cohesion, has element that can assist people to speak precisely.

References
Butt, D et al. 2000. Using Functional grammar: An explorer‟s Guide Second Edition.
Sydney ‖National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research Maguire University.
Cahyono. (2016). Using Register in Student Conversations: a Way to Build a Context of Situation.
In Doman and Bidal, Departing from Tradition: Innovation in English Language Teaching
and Learning (pp.161-181). United Kingdom: Cambridge Scholar Publishing.
Derewianka, Beverly. 1995. Exploring How Text Work. Newtown: Primary English Teaching
Association.
Eggins, S. 1994. An Introduction to systemic Functional Linguistics. London: Pinter Publisher.
Fontaine, L. 2013. Analyzing English Grammar: a Systemic Functional Introduction. New York:
Cambridge University Press.
Gerot, L and Wignell, P. 1992. Making Sense of Functional Grammar. Australia: Gerd Stabler.
Halliday, M.A.K. 2014. An Introduction to functional Grammar: Fourth Edition. London:
Edward Arnold.
Halliday, M.A.K. and C.M.I.M. Matthiessen. 1999. Construing Experience Through Meaning: A
Language-based Approach to Cognition. London: Continuum.
Martin, J.R., C.M.I.M. Matthiessen, C. Painter. 1997. Working with Functional Grammar.
London:. Arnold.
Martin, J.R. 1992. English Text: System and Structure. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Matthiessen, C.M.I.M. 1995. Lexicogrammatical Cartography: English System. Tokyo:
International Language Science Series.
Thompson, G. 1996. Introducing Functional Grammar. London: JW Arrowsmith Ltd.
Walsh. S. 2006. Investigating Classroom Discourse. New York: Routledge.

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 A Probe into the Axiology of Attitudinal Evaluation in Metaphorical Language

Song Jiannan
Shanghai International Studies University
West Dalian Road No.550 Hongkou District Shanghai China
sjn06@sina.com

Abstract
Based on ―meta-evaluation‖ mechanism, the individual, according to his/her demands,
purposefully sifts and chooses concept to be mapped into Target Domain and then highlights or
plays down the inherit value of the concept in Source Domain before mapping it into the target
evaluative concept as the subjective appraisal. Metaphorical evaluation is individual-oriented
appraisal resource and it can integrate interpersonal meaning and institutionalized culture into
cognitive processing and thus become a harmonious whole. Also, as a strategy for unifying
hears/readers and thereby preaching subject‘s attitudinal evaluation, metaphorical evaluation has
such advantages as subject-hiding and implicit appraisal manipulation.

Introduction

Appraisal Theory (hereafter AT) expands what Halliday‘s systemic functional grammar has found
on how interpersonal meaning is encoded by mood and modality in clauses to discourse level
where attitudinal meanings can be negotiated. J.R. Martin defines AT as all possible means by
which people exchange, intensify and engage attitude and prompt alignment. Therefore, AT
enlarges Hallidayan interpersonal exchange of goods-service to encompass people‘s private,
inherit exchange of emotion and opinion. Although Martin (2005) establishes a lexical framework
for subjective appraisals, he (2007) further clarifies the necessity of incorporating some discourse
resources that may be negligible and lexical metaphor is of course one of them. 4 years later,
Steen (2011) makes a definite claim from a cognitive perspective by saying that ―metaphorical
models in language, thought, and communication can be classified as official, contested, implicit,
and emerging, which may offer new perspectives on the interaction between social, psychological,
and linguistic properties and functions of metaphor in discourse.‖ His insight justifies
metaphorical studies are veering focus to social application and being included into interpersonal
studies realm. Hu (2014) contends that systemic functional linguistics (hereafter SFL) and
cognitive linguistics are ―fellows‖ in pursuit of language meaning, thus dialogues between them
are demanded.

According to my literature review, I find research interests are largely rested either on appraisal
patterns in certain genres or on appraisal functions in constructing interpersonal discourse. As far
as attitude is concerned, either features of attitudinal allocation in text or cross-language
comparison are much concerned. Sun Ya (2014) puts forwards ―register prosody‖ by analyzing
implied attitudinal metaphors with the help corpus, which can be seen as a preliminary insight into
metaphorical attitude of AT, but he attaches more importance to technical methods of items
labeling. I regard that the comprehensive studies on metaphorical attitude of AT still need to be
accomplished from a cognitive approach. As Zhu Yongsheng(2001) puts it, ―for an overall picture
of SFL studies, it is unlikely to overlook language cognition in seeking of a complementary
perspective. Therefore, this paper proposes a cognitive metaphor approach to take a glimpse of
why people construct lexical metaphor in attitudinal appraisal. Observations and findings are
based on actual example in communication and deduced from the individual axiological
framework. This paper aims to (1) classify metaphorical appraisal values for attitude, (2)
investigate the motivation of metaphor in appraisal.

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Metaphor in Appraisal

Converged Values of Intersubjectivity

Appraisal is always made out of axiological relations across individuals. People use appraisal to
present their value judgment to the world around them. Individualized demands, during the
process, play a crucial part in distinguishing the good from the bad. Appraisal language
constitutes an indispensible element in constructing such a value and in interchanging the value
for the sake of interpersonal solidarity. Martin (2005) and his AT generalize three sub-categories
for language appraisal, i.e. attitude, engagement and graduation, but our research focus is attitude
in particular. Attitude ―involves three semantic regions covering what is traditionally referred to
as emotion, ethics and aesthetics...Affect is concerned with registering positive and negative
feelings; Judgment deals with attitudes towards behavior, which we admire or criticize, praise or
condemn; Appreciation involves evaluations of semiotic and natural phenomena, according to the
ways in which they are valued or not in a given field. (Martin 2005: 42-43)‖ Within attitude
category, affect encodes emotions as parameter of un/happiness, in/security, dis/satisfaction,
dis/inclination; judgement codes opinions in terms of normality, capacity, tenacity of social
esteem or veracity, propriety of social sanction. When it comes to appreciation, reaction,
composition and valuation for the appraisal target are concerned. It is quite obvious that all the
parameters framing or coding attitude are tainted with strong sense of subjective awareness.
However, Li Lianke (2003:123) from axiological perspective, insists that ―appraisals are indeed
subjective, but their values themselves are stable‖. Any deviation from a real world in subjective
appraisal will be restricted and gravitated back again by objective values inherited in appraisal
target itself. As a result, converging different appraisal is possible.

Meta-appraisal and Subject-hiding

Metaphorical expression is inevitable in communication. Our metaphorical conceptualization of

the world totally relies on our perception, our physical environment，common knowledge and
experiences. If mappings come from personal experience, personal image schemas thus will cause
completed or distorted relations between people and the appraisal target for each person has
distinct value system. Thanks to our cognitive ability of ―meta-appraisal‖, we are able to control
and monitor what and how we are appraising because ―appraisal behavior‖ and ―appraisal
relations as such ―can be appraised consciously. Li Deshun(2013:211) notices that ―subject-
awareness is the defining feature for appraisal, because the value relations of appraisal can be the
target to be appraised. Each item in real world has stable value by nature but appraising them may
vary according to personalized demands. So appraisal is subjective process whereas value is
objective by nature. This special difference can be made use of by metaphorical mappings. Values
of the item in source domain are purposefully chosen for mapping into appraisal target in target
domain, people manipulate what item to be compared and values bonding to this item are
unconsciously mapped as well.

Values Identification

Value is generated according to individual demands as Hu (2010) points out ―based on personal
demands, we can identify value and its nature. Metaphorical appraisal for attitude is able to satisfy
five major values: knowledge, inducing, aesthetic, moral as well as pragmatic value.

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Knowledge

Inherited values of specific concrete items in source domain are mapped into target appraised
which is more abstract and difficult to understand. By doing this, appraising abstractness is
transferred to concrete things, so implied attitude is much easier to evoke an understandable
solidarity. As in:

Our democracy must be not only the envy of the world but the engine of our own renewal.
(Clinton‘s speech in 1992)

What this clause thinks of democracy comes from the conceptual mapping from the value of
engine in source domain. Abstract concept of democracy is compared to an ordinary item that
people can see every day. Incidentally, the value of engine is mapped into democracy.

Inducing

Due to perceptual similarity of metaphor, experiences in source domain can be projected into
target domain and induce people to have a similar reaction to appraisal target. This value leads
people to share same feelings and cause strong sense of identity. As in

This story is right, this story is true. I would not tell lies to you like the promises they did
not keep and how they fenced us in like sheep.

(Roach, Anthem for the Stolen Generation)

―fence… in like sheep‖ describes the disadvantageous situation those children were facing.
Metaphorical emotion induces people‘s sympathetic, supportive feeling via their experiences such
as poor sheep is deprived of freedom and live without dignity. People may be evoked to reach to a
coordinative emotional reaction.

Aesthetic

Aesthetic value is characterized by attitudinal prosody and metaphorical iconicity. Attitudinal

meaning extends all over the discourse in a way that Martin (2005) calls ―saturating prosody‖ by
which attitude is implied and conceptualized. People enjoy metaphorical appraisal for its aesthetic
value. As in

I have walked that long road to freedom….I have made missteps along the way. But I have
discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many
more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista
that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come…

(Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom)

Mandela‘s whole lifespan has been devoted to freedom and liberty for the black people. The
author‘s emotional appraisal totally resides in the conceptual metaphor ―STRUGGLE IS A
JOURNEY‖ from which scattered emotion throughout the discourse is derived. Attitude from
metaphorical chain altogether consolidate and reinforce implied iconic relation between a holy
journey and his career.

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Moral

People use metaphorical appraisal for evaluating, judging or preaching good behaviors. The
delicate, purposeful selection of item in source domain has an influential impact on people‘s
personal emotion in distinguish evil, condemnation from goodness. As in

The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of
fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then sat down and collected
the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away.

(Bible, Matthew)

God in Bible is metaphorized as fishermen, kind person as good fish, and evil person as bad fish.
How fishermen react to bad fish evokes how we should treat bad guys.

Pragmatic

In order to show well-nurtured or self-cultivation in subjective appraisal, people hedge appraisal.

Thompson (2014:52) puts forwards ―token of judgment‖ for evoke an attitude which means author
presents attributes of appraisal target beforehand without showing obvious attitude, As in :

The surgeon is a butcher.

Attributes of a butcher are integrated with those of a doctor in integration domain. The
mismatching occurs when concepts are being mapped. Attitude such as ―incompetent, brutal,
detestable‖ is naturally implied in an implicit way.

Value Features of Metaphor in Appraisal

Perception and Experience

When source domain concept is being projected into appraisal target, its inherited value is also
projected; therefore subjective attitude whatever it is positive or negative might be transferred to
the attributes of items in source domain. Emotion or opinions become parasites on values of
source domain items. Items or concepts in source domain enable an author to hide subjective
attitude by consciously selecting their inherited values in accordance to his/her purposes. The
subjective emotions or opinions that a metaphor contains are expressed persuasively by taking
advantage of perception and experiences. Living in the same world and having the similar
cognitive environment, people are more likely to come up with an identical attitude. Common
knowledge and schemas of experience play a very important role to extract the implied attitude.
Intersubjective exchanges on implicit attitude largely rely on common ground.

Social and Cultural Influence

Li Lianke(2003) establishes three axiological perspectives from which an overall appraisal

essence can be deciphered, i.e. from objective, from subjective and from social practices. Sun Yi
(2012) also points out in addition to cognitive experiences, social and cultural factors are also
impetus for constructing metaphors. As far as SFL is considered, metaphor can be regarded as an
appraisal semiotic which is chosen for discursive function and motivated by interpersonal
meaning.

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Metaphorical appraisal dynamically reflects interpersonal meaning in discourse by adjusting
tenor. Kinship will affect the usage or even density of metaphors in appraisal, in other words,
implied attitude by metaphor requires more common ground and experiences to understand. As a
result, a closer relation will be able to promote and fill the blanks in shared schemas as well as
value standards to the items in source domain. Moreover, knowledge value enables a discourse
with complicated contents simpler to understand. Inducing and aesthetic value promote
interpersonal solidarity when both sides have the same experience. Pragmatic value makes
exchange more polite. As Sun Ya (2013) says, people do not use metaphor automatically or
unconsciously, instead, they use it out of purpose and strategy.

Metaphorical appraisal is closely related to cultural background. People growing up in different

cultures will be framed by various cultural models and unable to reach a similar viewpoint
towards the institutionalized values in source domain. Therefore, we should be aware that
metaphor used in attitudinal appraisal represents an underlying value system, a way of thinking
for people from different groups. Identical culture model will lead to similar concept selection in
source domain. There is no denying that metaphorical appraisal has its special values in usage and
those values are connected with the experiences people have as well as the culture with which
they group up. Therefore, this paper regards that when researchers study metaphorical appraisal,
cognitive, cultural as social factors should be considered.

Conclusion

Metaphorical attitude can be understood as a representation of evaluative semantics in discourse.

Knowledge value turns strict, authoritative interpersonal relation into an equal dialogical
communication. Inducing value and aesthetic value enhance the implicit appraisal so that the
demands for venting emotion and enjoying reading can be satisfied, which is also pretty favorable
to interpersonal solidarity. Pragmatic value, taking others‘ acceptance for emotional evaluation
into consideration, makes subjective appraisal more mild and polite. It is very obvious to see that
metaphorical attitude in language evaluation is not always automatic, unconscious. Instead it is
strategic and purposeful. Metaphorical attitude is individual-oriented appraisal resource and it can
integrate interpersonal meaning and institutionalized culture into cognitive processing and thus
become a harmonious whole Also, as a strategy for unifying hearers/readers and thereby
preaching subjective attitudinal evaluation, metaphorical evaluation has such advantages as
subject-hiding and implicit appraisal manipulation.

References
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Grammar (4th edition). London: Routledge Press .
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31(3), 44-54.
Hu,Wenhui.(2010). Axiological studies on language appraisal theory, Ph.D. dissertation, Shanghai
International Studies University.
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Li, Lianke.(2003). Introduction to Axiology. Beijing: The Commercial Press.
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153
 An Investigation of Women‘s Identity in Malay Society from A Systemic Functional
Perspective

Swee Mee Tan, Gerard Sagaya Raj, Joanna Tan Tjin Ai

Universiti Tunku Abdul Rhaman
Department of Languages and Linguistics
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
smtan@utar.edu.my

Abstract
Using a systemic functional analysis of two selected stories written by different Malay women
writers, namely Dina Zaman and Karina Bahrin, this paper explores the identity of Malay women
from two contrasting settings, an urban Kuala Lumpur metropolitan one and a Kelantanian
kampong, respectively. The study interprets the social cultural identity of Malay women within a
linguistic context based on an analysis of thematic choice, meaning an intensive investigation of
the semantic structure and lexical grammar features of the short stories. In A Subtle Degree of
Restraint (Karina Bahrin), Elena and Badariah, two representations of urban Malay women living
in Kuala Lumpur, experience a subtle deprivation of liberty in the contrasting life condition of
either marriage or barrenness. As in And she became an angel (Dina Zaman), suggesting a
subordinated female identity in a Malay kampong context, Mandak transposes a victimized role, a
barren woman as a representation of typical kampong women. She eventually has become an
angel in a fire to fulfil the only one thing she wished for in her life. Employing a Hallidayan
framework that looks at thematic choice in the system of Theme and Rheme, this paper justifies
its findings from the distribution and the experiential elements of thematic choices in the two short
stories.

Keywords: Malay women, Identity, Deprivation, Thematic Choice

Introduction

It is said that Muslim women in Malaysia are more fortunate when compared to their Muslim
counterparts in other part of the world as they could enjoy a significant degree of freedom and
equality (Nor Faridah, 2007, p.113). With a colonial heritage and unique historical background,
they relatively face less oppression and are able to maintain their legacy of being part of the
Muslim community while simultaneously celebrating the virtues of diversity in a dynamic ethnic
melting pot in Malaysia. However, to sustain their identity as Malay Muslim women in a
globalizing and fast changing setting could be very challenging. This paper argues that given the
same social-cultural background, there are contrasting experiences between Malay Muslim
women in different parts of Malaysia and perception of women‘s identity could be varied even
though these women seem to be facing the same experience of barrenness in their marriage life.
By employing a Hallidayan framework, analyzing thematic choice and structure in the clausal
level of the two selected short stories, namely, A Subtle Degree of Restraint and And She Became
an Angel, these Malay Muslim women define Malaysian women‘s identity incomparably across a
linguistic spectrum.

And She Became an Angel & A Subtle Degree of Restraint

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Dina Zaman presented the readers a very protective Malay kampong setting in And She Became
an Angel11, Mandak the protagonist is a Malay kampong woman who impulsively wants to
become an angel one day when she is garnishing chili and cooking dinner. It is totally
unpremeditated for a humble and ordinary Malay kampong woman becoming very decisive and
tough pursuing her new passion of becoming an angel. In A Subtle Degree of Restraint12, Elena
and Badariah, the two protagonists in the story, demonstrate different extremes albeit with their
similar background as school buddies and girl friends. Elena‘s focuses reveal her concern over
weight loss, restaurant‘s setting, babies and marriage life, subsequently. Unlike Elena, Badariah
enjoys food and a carefree style of living even she has no issue with her pre-marital pregnancy in
a Muslim community though she is named distinctively a Malay Muslim.

Textual Metafunction- the Theme-Rheme System

The Theme-Rheme system forms one part of systemic-functional linguistics (SFL, here forth),
which centers on the notion of language function. According to Halliday, language is ―a resource
for making meaning‖ which ―resides in systemic patterns of choice‖ (Halliday & Matthiessen,
2004, p. 23). A text is a system network in which there is an ―ongoing selection of language to
make meanings‖ (Ibid) and the process of making meanings is much decided by the writer or the
speaker who organizes the structure of the sentences and the utterances.
The examples in Table 1 are derived from one of the clauses from And She Became an Angel
demonstrating how Theme/Rheme in a message is organized into different interpretations of
meanings (See Appendix 1):

Experiential Metafunction- the Transitivity System

The Experiential Metafunction captivates the human experience, which explains the happenings
around and inside us through the transitivity system (Thompson, 2004, p.88). Such experiences
are construed as processes, or ―goings on‖ (expressed as a verb group), the attendant participants
(typically noun groups), and circumstances (typically adverb groups or preposition phrases), if
any (Halliday and Metthesien, 2004, p.170). The framework identifies six processes, each with its
own unique set of participants. Circumstances, on the other hand, are not tied to any one process
but are generalizable across different processes. They serve to enhance, extend, or elaborate the
experiential processes, and so do not exist on their own but as an expansion of something else
(Halliday & Metthesien, 2004, p.261). The transitivity system is summarized in Table 2
(Halliday, 1994, p.143) with the examples adapted clauses from A Subtle Degree of Restraint (See
Appendix 1).

Thematic choice & structure of the two selected stories

A Topical Theme either Marked or Unmarked is very experiential and it has a dominant status to
represent human‘s actions and behaviours. All the Marked/Unmarked Topical Themes either
accompanied by Textual or Interpersonal elements in the thematic position have been investigated
and categorised. To discuss findings pertaining to types of thematic choice found in the selected
short stories, a summary of the specification of findings and the distribution of each category is
shown in Table 4 (Appendix 1):

11
And She Became an Angel was collected in one of the short stories in her recent publication, King of the Sea in
2012 by Silverfish Books, Kuala Lumpur.
12
A Subtle Degree of Restraint was collected in a book with the same name as ―A Subtle Degree of Restraint and
other stories” edited by Karina Bahrin.

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Experiential Interpretation of the stories
In keeping with Halliday‘s notion, a text can never be separated from the context when it comes to
the interpretation of meanings (Banks, p.3). Within the suggested framework, the text is first
interpreted by looking into the ranking of the writers‘ concern from the dominant distribution of
participants in thematic choice. The measure of meaning potential is not merely a presentation of
strings or clusters of words (Ibid, p.3) in the text. After summarizing the distribution of thematic
choice in the texts, the participants of the thematic choices were categorized into two main groups
from the stories: first, the protagonists and second, the social-cultural elements such as an
anonymous kampong folk, a waiter in the restaurant and other inanimate objects such as the vase,
elements of nature, the wind, in the short stories. The examples taken from the analysis are shown
in Table 5 and Table 6 (Appendix 1). Types of participants and processes they carry realize
another sphere of meanings in the experiential domain of human activities.

Ranking of Protagonists by distribution of clauses

In As She Became an Angel, it is obvious that Mandak dominates the largest distribution of
Unmarked Topical Themes, with 199 clauses upon 499 investigated or 40% of the story is about
Mandak and her processes as acting, sensing, being and uttering. Ipeng, her husband, with 147
clauses or 29% of the clauses, a seemingly important character in the story, follows it (Appendix
1-Table 7). Surprisingly, the most dominant protagonist in A Subtle Degree of Restraint is neither
Elena nor Badariah, but the Social-cultural & natural elements that are a combination of the
surroundings of the restaurant and the decoration or the incidences, such as the slimming
programme. The ranking of distribution followed by Elena, the protagonist or the heroine, who
ironically plays a passive role when it is further investigated from the processes she carries
(Appendix 1-Table 8).

Types of Processes by Protagonists

Identity is construed through the understanding of oneself and the environment around (Correa,
1983). To enhance the interpretation of women‘s identity from the two short stories, the process
types and the experiential elements that disclose the identity of these participants are detailed as in
Table 9 (Appendix 1):

According to Eggins, transitivity patterns represent the experiential world, encoding ―meanings
about the world, about experiences, about how we perceive and experience what is going on‖
(2004, p.249). The system construes the inner and outer experiences into different types of
processes and participants. As shown in the table, when Mandak carries a material process, she is
labeled as an actor, while she experiences a mental process; she takes the role as a senser in the
particular moment of the story. The role as participants of Mandak realizes the quality of her
personality in the story and manifests her identity as a Malay woman. As can be traced from Table
9 (Appendix 1), Mandak and Ipeng both demonstrate a quite similar pattern or types of processes.
Nevertheless, the core processes for Mandak are conditional and will be presented in the
discussion later. Ipeng remains the protagonist who has more essential processes that show more
dynamism to portrait a more dominant role in an Islamic world.

Referring to Table 10 (Appendix 1), in A Subtle Degree of Restraint, it is easily seen that Elena,
being an elected main protagonist, involves more mental processes as Sensers in the story when
compared to the normal pattern to her other counterparts. Despite the normal trend occurred for
most leading protagonists, Elena looks inactive dominating 43% material process that is merely
10% more than her mental processes (33%). She is presented as a quiet and reserved Malay
woman in an international metropolis, confining herself in her own judgments towards the

156
surroundings. Unlike Elena, Badariah is more vigorous with material processes (45%) and verbal
(18%) processes that make up a modern and outspoken Malay woman. Ironically, things like a
Vietnamese vase, a mochi and unagi, the carpet and waiter in the restaurant, a willow at the
entrance, things that have been assumed trivial and unimportant, have contributed to the major
portion of the Unmarked Topical themes and actively carrying material processes (57%).

Discussion

Viewing the two selected short stories from a Systemic Funcitonal perspective, Marked and
Unmarked Topical themes can be very experience-based as Marked Topical Themes are mostly
representations of environmental features such as time and locations, while Unmarked Topical
Themes are made up by the participants of the stories as actors, carriers, sensers, behavers or
sayers.

Freedom Vs Deprivation—And She Became an Angel

Mandak, Elena and Badariah dominate most of the topical themes in the two selected short stories.
They are the heroines in Malay society from two contrasting backgrounds, and they yearn for
freedom in different forms. Mandak fights against life with routines and boredom from the
beginning of the story:

Extract 1. Sample taken from As She Became an Angel

One day, Mandak looks up from the mashed chilli, onions and garlic mix she is pounding in the
old batu lesong that she had inherited from her mother, and [she] decides that she wants to like in
the movies on television she watched when she was young; exactly like those in foreign books
of devotion she had seen when while [she was] attending primary school run by missionaries –
all white-robed, with white feathered wings spreading serenely; that kind of angel.

Mashed chili, onions and garlic mix captivate Mandak‘s life, ―She is fed up with cooking. She has
done nothing but take care of her husband her entire married life‖ (p. 38). The daily house chores
and the impulsive thought of being a western angel with feathered wings is ridiculous and absurd
to anyone in a conservative Malay society, especially to her husband Ipeng, a representation of
family and religion. Deprivation is in disguise for And She Became an Angel, as Ipeng, Mandak‘s
husband is a good gentle man with his humble background as a carpenter. ― Looking further, she
is nevertheless the Actor of the clauses where she is given material processes as shown in the
examples below:

Extract 2. Examples of processes taken from As She Became an Angel

C32. she ‗rips‘ the feathers,…

C60. ‗She grunts
C61. as she creeps all over the room to retrieve feathers…‘,
C253. she ventures only a few yards out of their compound.
C254. She hunches over, using the trees for cover,

All these processes are a realisation of her wish. The material processes whereby she is realized as
Actors is vigorous when compared with her other roles of participants in the clauses where she
takes as carriers to the adjectives describing her ―I am a pretty angel;‖ behavers ―she sees…‖ ―she
hears…‖ or sayers ―she blesses…‖ as verbiages.
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Freedom Vs Deprivation— A Subtle Degree of Restraint

From a close investigation of thematic choices dominated in A Subtle Degree of Restraint,

ironically, neither Elena (28.0%) nor Badariah (20.8%) is ranked as the most dominated
participant of the story. Instead, the highest domination of thematic choices in the text is cultural
and natural elements or inanimate objects (45.0%) such as a vase, a mochi, unagi, carpeted floor,
the willow, etc.

Elena is a slim, modern young wife whereas Badariah is a hybrid of new Malays, the latter who
have come back from abroad with an open perspective about various topics. They are two
representations of the modern Malay in a globalized metropolis, where they can enjoy eating
Japanese dessert while criticizing the design of a Vietnamese vase. Elena seems to be independent
in her thinking, while enjoying luxurious lifestyle with her sentiments about the vase, the food and
Badariah‘s body shape; amusingly, all these take up all of Elena‘s focus and dominate topical
themes of the clauses that intertwine each others as text. Elena experiences a subtle degree of
deprivation that is invisible from the scene. The invisible oppression is from within, when she
‗imagined‘, ‗forgot‘, ‗wanted‘, ‗didn‘t expect‘, ‗watched‘, ‗thought‘, ‗assumed‘, and so forth
in the clauses she leads. The processes accompanied by Elena as participant are mostly passive;
they are behavioural, mental, relational, verbal and existential processes that are passive and
motionless. Elena is intensely confined in her own thoughts, the terrible experience of getting
herself married through a torturing slimming programme, the ravenous hunger started from her
marriage life to keep herself in shape and helplessness for being barren with a very gentle and
good husband. Apparently, she is a lady of leisure who had little to do with her days, a new
modern Malay lady with freedom of time and good taste of life that many envy; however, the
invisible prison surrounding her resonates from below:

Extract 3. Examples of processes taken from A Subtle Degree of Restraint

C155. Elena watched her friend chew, [she was] imagining the soft elasticity of the white ball
in her
own mouth,
C156. its pliant dough [is] sticking to the teeth.
C157. The crunch of finely ground peanuts [is] bursting salty amidst the sweetness.
C158. She wanted that last mochi.

As for Badariah, she is free from food, sex and all the good things of life. She finishes the unagi,
mochi and enjoys laughter while discovering her friend‘s intolerance with the round- shaped vase
placed at the centre of the restaurant. She shows her victory when Elena is startled by ―I‘m
pregnant‖ and asked her ―But when—who married you?‖ Badariah with a ‗wry smile‘ and says,
―Not everyone has to starve themselves to get a man.‖ Badariah a Malay lady with a distinctive
Malay name does something appear ridiculous and contradicts Muslim culture. Allegedly, she
claims success in fighting for freedom with her ‗wry smile‘; however, there is a subtle degree of
restraint after all she mockingly comments on herself:

Extract 4. A Subtle Degree of Restraint

C124. "I'm a skinny girl in a bodacious body.

C125. [I am] Just like that vase.
C 126. Inside, I'm thin.

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Conclusion

Unlike other Muslim sisters in different parts of the world, in a Malaysian context, women enjoy a
great degree of freedom; however, the description of freedom is sophisticated. Their oppression is
not obviously from their male counterparts, as Malaysians are peace-loving people who enjoy
universal values of good life. In a Kelantanian kampong, Mandak does not suffer poverty or harsh
experiences though her husband, Ipeng, detains her. Her sacrifice in the kampong fire is literally
an accident; neither she nor her husband is accused. It is a divine sacrifice when an angel is set on
fire before a great audience, the kampong folk. Elena and Badariah the two icons of Metropolitan
young Muslim ladies, enjoy an immensely material life style, one that many new hybrid Malay
envy. Nonetheless, there is an unseen bondage that both are unlikely to break through. The
investigation in the clausal level suggests that the framework is a dynamic resource for
interpreting meanings of a text. The Given/New or Theme/Rheme flows where the female
protagonists serve as points of departure in each clause construe the identity of women
experiencing different degree of deprivation in Malay society from the roles and processes they
accompany with.

Acknowledgment

This paper is sponsored by Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman and part of the study is based on the
research conducted in the ASEAN Graduate Fellowships by ARI, NUS.

References
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edition).London: Arnold.
Correa, Charles. (1983). "Quest for Identity." In Architecture and Identity, ed. Robert Powell.
Singapore: Concept Media. The Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
Dina, Z. (2012). King of the Sea. Kuala Lumpur: Silverfish Books. pp.154.
Eggins, S. (2004) An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics: (2nd Edition). New York:
Continuum.
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edition). Arnold.
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Vol. 6, No. 2, December 2012. Retrieved at
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Karina, B et al.(2011). A Subtle Degree of Restraint and other short stories. Kuala Lumpur: MPH
Publishing Group. pp 138.
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Nor Faridah, A.M. (2007). On Becoming Good Women: A Study on the ‗Fragmented Self‘ in
Malaysian Muslim Women‘s Writing in English. Feminist Studies in English Literature
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Thompson, Geoff. (2004). Introducing Functional Grammar. London: Arnold.

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 A Text Analysis on The Phenomenal Discovery in Science News For Kids Magazine

Wulan Rahmatunisa
The Department of English Education, Universitas Kuningan
West Java, Indonesia
wrahmatunisa@gmail.com

Abstract
This paper aims to explore how the text is constructed and represented by language use on
phenomenal discovery topic of Science News for Kids magazine. Systemic Functional
Linguistics (SFL) is concerned primarily with the choices the grammar makes available to
speakers and writers (Halliday, 1994; Gerot and Wignell, 1995; Eggins, 2004). These choices
relate to speakers‘ and writers‘ intentions to the concrete forms of a language. The issue
revealed includes ideational metafunction in analysis i.e Transitivity. The results of the
investigation on the system of transitivity of texts show that there are 80 process identified. The
occurrences of the process types are as follow: relational process occurs 30 times (37.5%),
material process 28 times (35%), mental process 11 times (13.75%), verbal process 4 times
(5%), behavioural process 4 times (5%), and existential process only occur 3 times (3.75%).
The investigation on the metafunction and its realization in the text show that the descriptive
report is highly justified. This gives rise to an assumption that the writer of the text
successfully demonstrated his knowledge on discourse and genre in appropriate and acceptable
manner.

Keywords: metafunction, transitivity, discourse.

Introduction

Scientific discovery can give more influential effect than a political issue in this world. People
believe that the effect will exist longer, for example Darwin‘s book ―On the Origin of Species‖,
which unexpectedly, its appearance in the beginning of the 19th century had caused a great change
on people conception about their existence. There were religion and political conflicts which were
pioneered by Darwin‘s theory (Browne, 2002). In this study, the analysis of article related to
scientific discovery is primarily focused because factual writing is an interesting topic and is
designed not to amuse us but to explore the world around us. It focuses on how things get done
and what things are alike (Martin, 1985).

Precisely, analysing text means analysing clause, since clause is part of the text. There are at least
three lines of meaning in the clause namely clause as message, clause as exchange and clause as
representation (Halliday, 1994). Transitivity analysis which is used in this study is a system which
explains clause as representation. It permits the analysis of experiential function of people‘s
perception about the world through the way they use language. Transitivity is one of studies of
Systemic Functional Linguistic. It is one of theories about language as resource for making
meaning relates to context of situation. More importantly, the context of situation in SFL
(Systemic Functional Linguistic) can be specified into three categories; Field (refers to what is
going on), Tenor (refers to who is taking part, their statues and role), and Mode (refers to how
language being used (Halliday and Hasan, 1985; Gerot and Wignell, 1995). These three categories
correspond to Metafunction. There are three functional of Metafunction in language; they are
ideational, interpersonal and textual (Gerot and Wignell, 1995; Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004;
Eggins, 2004). Regarding transitivity, ideational metafunction is the layer of analysis which is
used in this study.

161
The ideational function relates to someone‘s experience relating to process that happened at that
time (Gerot and Wignell, 1995). It is meaning about phenomena, about things (both living and
non-living or concrete and abstract), about goings on (what the things are or do) and the
circumstance surrounding these happenings and doings. These meaning are realized in wording
through participant, process and circumstance. The ideational function has two meanings, they are
experiential and logical meaning. Halliday and Matthiessen (2004) state that ideational meaning
involves two components; those are the experiential meaning in the clause and the logical
meaning between clause and clause complexes.

The experiential meaning relates to what happened between oneself with was going on ‗out there‘,
in the world around us. This meaning construes the outer experience of someone and the form of
the outer experience that of action and events: things happen, people do things, or make them
happened. On the other hand, the logical meaning relates to our experience as going on inside
ourselves, including our consciousness (perception, emotion and imagination). The most powerful
influence of experience is it consists of flow of events, or ‗going on‘ (Halliday and Matthiessen,
2004). The flow of events is changed as a figure by the grammar of the clause, a figure of sensing,
happening, doing, saying, being or having. And all figures consist of process through time and
participant which directly involved in the process, and maybe there are circumstances. The
experiential meaning is one of component of ideational meaning which relates to construing a
model of experience in clause, or clause as representation. Clause of experience means that one
function of language in clause as representation both outer and inside experience and it is realized
by transitivity system.

Furthermore, transitivity construes the world experience into manageable set of process type
(Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004). In fact, there are three semantic categories which explain in a
general way how phenomena of the real world are represented as linguistic structure: participant,
process and circumstance. The participant is the doer that does an action in a clause. Then,
processes are action that done by doer or participant in a clause. Processes play substantial role in
Transitivity and become striking in the analysis as well as the participant followed. Halliday and
Matthiessen (2004) then state participant are inherent in the process because experiential clause
has at least one participant. There are six different process types for different participant as
theorized by Systemic Linguist. These are material process (process of doing and happening),
mental process (process of sensing), behavioural process (process of physiological and
psychological behaviour), verbal process (process of saying), relational process (process of
being), and existential process (represent that something exist or happens) (Gerot and Wignell,
1995; Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004; Eggins, 2004).

An Analytical Look at the Text

Before getting entirely involved with the reading of other related text, we need first to know the
genre realized in the analyzed text in this paper. A genre can be defined as a culturally specific
text-type which results from using language (written or spoken) to (help) accomplish something
(Gerot & Wignell, 1995). The notion ‗genre‘ and ‗grammar‘ are closely linked. As Eggins (2004)
states:

Technically, we can see that it is through language that genres get realized. It is through the
discourse-semantic, lexico-grammatical and phonological patterns of the language code that
the contextual level of genre is realized through, or expressed in, language.

In the materials being produced about genres and their teaching, at least those written by systemic
linguists, characteristic lexicogrammatical features of genres are provided. These are neither

162
incidental or accidental, nor optional extras. Lexicogrammatical features of various genres are
integral to those genres, for it is through the lexicogrammatical choices that meaning is built up in
a text (Gerot and Wignell, 1995; Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004; Eggins, 2004).

The genre of the text analyzed and presented in this paper is descriptive report which belongs to
factual writing. The function of descriptive report, according to Derewianka (1990), is to
document, organize and store factual information on a topic. Descriptive reports classify and
describe the phenomena of our world. We use them when we talk about one specific thing, e.g.
―My Bikes‖. Descriptive reports are written about living things like plants and animals, and non-
living things like phones, bikes or oceans.

The data were taken from ―Science News for Kids” magazine containing 9 participants and 80
clauses. The analysis focused on the transitivity system as lexicogrammar on how meaning was
represented in the clauses. The result of the investigation on the system of transitivity of text
shows that there are 80 process identified. The occurrences of the process types are as follow:
relational process occurs 30 times (37.5%), material process 28 times (35%), mental process 11
times (13.75%), verbal process 4 times (5%), behavioural process 4 times (5%), and existential
process only occur 3 times (3.75%). Here are some findings of transitivity analysis:

#1a

The fish in the picture is alive

Carrier Circ:place Attrib:intens. Attribute

The example of clause above is relational process which belongs to attributive. The participant in
attributive process called carrier, and attribute describe the situation of participant itself (Gerot
and Wignell, 1995). From the example above, ‗The fish‟ positioned as carrier, ‗in the picture‟
positioned as circumstance of place, ‗is‘ positioned as process, and ‗alive‘ positioned as attribute.
The carrier of the clause shows that ―Science News for Kids” magazine wants to tell specific
information about the picture.

#1b

and you ‟re looking inside its head.

Behaver Behavioural Circ:place Range

The clause above is an example of behavioural process. Behavioural process is process of

psychological and physiological behaviour like breathing, snoring, and dreaming (Gerot and
Wignell, 1995; Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004; Eggins, 2004). From the clause above, ―Science
News for Kids” magazine represents ‗you‘ as behaver, ‗are looking at‟ as the process, ‗inside‘ as a
circumstance of time and ‗its head‘ as range.

#11a

But 70 years ago scientists didn‟t say a word about it

Circ:time Sayer Pro: Verbiage Circ:matt

Verbal er

#11b

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when they gave the fish its official scientific name (Macropinna microstoma).

Acto Pro: Goal Recipient

r Material

There are two clauses in the example above; those are verbal process clause and material process
clause. The clause #11a is an example of verbal process. It is known as the process of saying,
including symbolic meanings of exchange. The participant of verbal process above named
‗scientists‘ as a sayer, ‗didn‟t say‘ positioned as process, ‗but 70 years ago‘ positioned as
circumstance of time, ‗a word‘ positioned as verbiage and ‗about it‘ positioned as circumstance of
matter. While the other participant realized in material process are ‗they‘ as the actor and ‗the fish‘
as the goal. ―Science News for Kids” magazine uses pronoun ‗they‘ to represent scientists. It
seems to ensure the readers about the news that the magazine conveys. ‗Scientists‘ is put as an
expert to deliver information about the fish which is given the official scientific name. It is
consistent with the nature of verbal process which allows the reporter to attribute information to
sources (Gerot and Wignell, 1995; Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004).

#20a

Now researchers see

Circ:time Senser Process:

Mental

The clause above is an example of mental process. It construes with the processes of feeling,
thinking, and perceiving. As can be seen in clause above, ‗researchers‘ realized as senser and
‗now‘ as circumstance of time. The process ‗see‘ is included into process of material affective.

#30b

there would be lots of balls.

Existential Existent

The clause above is an example of existential process which represents something existing or
happening. The identification of this type of process uses the word ‗there‘. The process is called
existential. In this clause, it is realized by ‗be‘.

Last but not least, the percentage of the findings clearly indicates that the text, which holds the
genre of descriptive report, is dominated by relational process. Relational processes involve states
of being (including having) (Gerot and Wignell, 1995; Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004; Eggins,
2004). They can be classified according to whether they are being used to identify something or to
assign a quality to something –here is barreleyes fish (Macropinna microstoma)– . Therefore, the
domination of the relational process in the text analyzed here justifies the nature of the genre of
descriptive report.

Conclusion

The genre of the text analyzed and presented here is descriptive report which belongs to factual
writing. Factual writing is designed not to amuse us, but to explore the world around us (Martin,
1985). It describes and informs us what barreleyes is and what the fish is like. Moreover, the main
purpose of the authors is also to declare that barreleyes is not the new species – a new fish –. It

164
has been known since 70 years ago but at that time scientists didn‘t have an available technology
which allowed them to see the amazing forehead of barreleyes. The investigation on the
metafunctions and their realizations in the text show that the descriptive report is highly justified.
This gives rise to an assumption that the writer of the text successfully demonstrated his
knowledge on discourse and genre in appropriate and acceptable manner. Indeed, the site of
science news for kids – online magazine – is a representative media of scientific works not only
for children but also for all age categories.

References
Browne, E. Janet. (2002). Charles Darwin: Vol. 2 The Power of Place. London: Jonathan Cape.
Derewianka, B. (1990). Exploring how text work. Sydney: Primary English Teaching Association.
Eggins, S. (2004). An introduction to systemic functional linguistics (2nd ed.). London:
Continuum International publishing group.
Gerot, L. & Wignell, P. (1995). Making sense of functional grammar. Sydney: Antipodean
Educational Practices.
Halliday , M. A. K., and Hasan, R. (1985). Language, Context, and Text: Aspects of Language in
a Social-Semiotic Perspective. Victoria: Deakin University.
Halliday, M.A.K. (1994). An introduction to functional grammar (2nd ed). London: Edward
Arnold.
Halliday, M.A.K., & Matthiessen, C. (2004). An introduction to functional grammar (3rd ed.).
London: Hodder Arnold.
Martin, J.R. (1985). Factual writing: Exploring and challenging social reality. Melbourne:
Deakin University Press.

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Transitivity Analysis on Tidung‘s Narrative Text Entitled ―Legend of King Bagei: The Four
Eyes King‖

Woro Kusmaryani and Syarifa Rafiqa

Borneo University Tarakan, Indonesia
lunasaski@gmail.com

Abstract
Tidung narrative text is a narrative text from Tidung, a goup of Dayak people who live in
northeastern part of Borneo and surrounding Small Islands. The purpose of the research is to
analyze Tidung‘s narrative text by using transitivity system (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004),
(Halliday & Webster, 2009), and (Emilia, 2014). The text was analyzed in three parts;
participants, processes, and circumstances, the purpose, the text structures, and the language
features. The result shows that Tidung‘s narrative text is the same as English narrative text in
genre (Martin, 1992) where the purpose is entertain the readers by seeking to teach or to
inform, the text structures consists of orientation, complication, and resolution, and the
language features which focus on participants, processes, and circumstances. Result shows the
participants consist of actor, goal, behaver, possession, attribute, sayer, receiver, phenomenon,
existence, sense participant, and saying participant. The processes in the text shows that
material, mental, verbal, relational, behavior, and existential appear in the text. The
circumstances in the text are extent, location, manner, cause, role, matter, and adjunct
conjunction. It can be concluded that Tidung‘s narrative text is more complex than English
narrative text especially in complication structure of the text.

Keywords: Transitivity, Tidung, Narrative text

Introduction

Tidung narrative text is a narrative text from Tidung. Tidung is a group of Dayak people who live
in northeastern part of Borneo and surrounding small islands. Majority of Tidung people job is
fisherman. Local wisdom of Tidung is caring to nature ecosystem, cooperative, simple,
independence, honest, and religious.

The purpose of this paper is to present the result of Tidung‘s narrative text analysis by using
transitivity system which the main function is to construe the world of experience into a
manageable set of participants, processes, and circumstances (Halliday, 1994). It also refers to
how speakers represent meaning in the clause rank through the transmission of their experiences
of the world and their mental views of reality (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004). Transitivity is
reflextive meaning (Eggins, 2004) The actual process refers to the event or state that is described
and is realized as a verbal group. The process is the core element of the system of transitivity and
determines the kind and number of participants that may be associated with it. The participants
refer to the people or things involved in the process. These are usually realized as nominal groups.
The participants are next in terms of importance after processes and each clause must contain at
least one participant. The circumstances provide contextual information for the events or states;
these are usually realized as some kind of adverbial constituent. The circumstance elements are
more peripheral than the process and participant elements in the system of transitivity, and are
very often optional. There are six different types of processes: Material is the process of doing
something done by a person or thing. Its participants are Actor and Goal. Mental is the process of
thinking and feeling. Its participants are Senser and Phenomenon. Behavioral is the half-way
process between mental and material (dream, smile). Its main participant is Behaver. Verbal is the
process of saying something. Its participants is typically Sayer, Receiver, and Verbiage.

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Relational is the process of being. There are Attributive and Identifying processes. Participants of
Attributive are Carrier and Attribute. Participants of Identifying are Token and Value. Existential
is the process of existence usually positing there was/is something. Its participant is Existent.
Participant is the one who affects and is affected by the process. Circumstance is where or when
the process takes place or additional information of what is going on.

(Derewianka, 1990) explains that the basic purpose of narratives is to entertain, but may also seek
to teach or inform, to embody the writer‘s reflections on experience, and perhaps most important-
to nourish and extend the reader‘s imagination. There are many types. They are typically
imaginary but can be factual. Language features: (1) Specific often individual participants with
defined identities. (2) Mainly action verbs (material processes), but also what the human
participants said, or felt or thought (verbal and mental processes). (3) Normally past tense. (4)
Many linking words to do with time. (5) Dialogue often included, during which the tense may
change to the present or future. (6) Descriptive language chosen to enhance and develop the story
by creating images in the reader‘s mind. (6) Can be written in the first person (I, we) or third
person (he, she, they).

Findings and Discussion

Tidung‘s narrative text was analyzed in Indonesian language It is difficult to be analyzed if it

translated into English since there were some words which could not be translated into English
because the meaning changed. The followings are the result from processes, participants, and
circumstances with some examples for each type.

PROCESSES
Material
5% 27%
22% Mental
Verbal
18% 14%
14% Relational
Behavior
Existential

Figure 1. Processes found in the text

The examples of sentences found in the text: Material: ―memelihara keselamatan rakyat‖, Mental:
―raja tidak memikirkan kehidupan rakyat‖, Verbal: ―adiknya selalu manasehati kakaknya‖,
Relational: ―dia adalah turunan raja dari gunung‖, Behavior: ―dia tidak pernah tidur‖, and
Existential: ―tidak ada rasa belas kasihan‖

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 PARTICIPANTS
Actor
Goal
Behaver
4% 6% 7%
4% 15% Possession
9%
4% Attribute
12%
9% Sayer
19% 11%
Reciever
Phenomenon
Existance
Sense participant
Saying participant

Figure 2. Participants found in the text

The examples of sentences found in the text: Actor: ―penduduk masing-masing‖, Goal: ―tempat
yang aman‖, Behaver: ―raja bagei ini tidak seorang pun‖, Possession: ―kekuatannya yang‖,
Attribute: ―keputusan bersama‖, Sayer: ―raja bagei‖, Receiver: ―kepada adiknya‖ Phenomenon:
―apa yang di samping orang tua-tua kampung‖, Existence: ―yang diterima‖, Sense participant:
―Adiknya‖, and Saying participant: ―Baiklah‖

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 CIRCUMSTANCES
Extent
Location
17% Manner
33%
Cause
12%
Contingency
0% Accompaniment
8% 0% 20%
2% Role
8%
Matter
Angle
Adjunct conjunction

Figure 3. Circumstances found in the text

The examples of sentences found in the text: Extent: ―nanti kalau sudah‖, Location: ―pada suatu
hari‖, Manner: ―secara diam-diam‖, Cause: ―untuk berkumpul‖, Contingency: -, Accompaniment:
-, Role: ―Sebagai‖, Matter: ―boleh saja‖, Angle: -, and Adjunct conjunction: ―hanyalah sekedar‖.

From the result it can be said that transitivity can make clear how the action is performed, by
whom and on what. Different processes are distinguished according to whether they represent
actions, speech, states of mind or states of being. (Bock & Duncan, 2006) explains that in a
narrative, the protagonists who may be powerful or powerless, acting alone or with others face a
series of problematic experiences which culminate in a crisis which is explicitely resolved by the
actions of the protagonists. Thus the narratives moves through a series of complicating actions
towards an end point or resolution of that crisis. It is relevant to what happens in Tidung‘s
narrative text entitled legend of king Bagei, the four eyes king. Orientation: Tidung kingdom, the
king and the queen had 4 children, one of them was born with four eyes. His name was Limba or
ghost child. He grew up as a naughty boy because he had incredible power. Complication: The
king died then Limba became king and people called him king Bagei or the four eyes king. The
king was so cruel, the people suffered. His brother and sisters already complained to his behavior
but he did not listen. No one could beat him because of his power. Resolution: His brother named
minister Guppan made Lungun, coffins on maritime era, made of hardwood, made it as strong as
possible. He asked his brother king Bagei to try it. After the lungun is closed, it tied as strong as
possible so it was not easy to open. The heat in lungun made king Bagei asked his brother to open
it. He felt cheated and angry. He slam rocking himself, his power rolled up the lungun. The
lungun fell into the water that washed into the sea and washed ashore on an island that is now in
Sebatik island near tawaw Malaysia. Minister Guppan became the king after his brother.

Transitivity allows us to reveal who plays an important role in a particular clause and who
receives the consequences of the action. (Machin & Mayr 2012 in Emilia 2014). Experiential
grammar leads us explicitly and systematically to the array of choices available for making
meanings about human experience. It reveals how meaning, function, and structure are

169
interrelated. It also reveals the purpose the writer wants to achieve in using the text and the field
of the immediate situation. (Butt et al. 2000 in Emilia 2014). Tidung‘s narrative text structures
also consists of orientation, complication, and resolution. The text‘s purpose is not only to
entertain, seek to teach or inform but also to nourish and extend the reader‘s imagination. The
language features are pronouns, adverbial phrases, and material verbs, dialogues in the text,
descriptive language, and temporal conjunctions.

The findings of this research confirm results from similar researches by (Megheirbi, 2010), (Azar
& Yazdchi, 2012), (Meliha, 2012), and (Nguyen, 2012). Linguistic analysis of narrative text
reveals grammatical aspects which can be found in the text which influence the characteristic and
ideology in giving perspective and interpretation to meaning.

Conclusion

The transitivity analysis result is in line with the theory, a great variety of process types in
narrative text. The analysis result represent not only the places, the characters, but also the events.
See a text as representing participants and processes in language. The analysis results also provide
linguistic evidence to support the interpretation of narrative text which focus on what or who does
what to whom or what in the main character‘s world, are better equipped to decide the meaning of
the narrative text.

References
Azar, A. S. & Yazdchi, N. S. (2012). A stylistic analysis of “Maria” in “Clay”; the character in
James Joyce‟s short story. Journal of Basic and Applied Scientific Research, 2(2) 1050-
1055.
Bock, Z., & Duncan, Paul. (2006). Transitivity and the narrator‟s role in selected TRC
testimonies. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics PLUS, Vol. 34, 35-54.
Derewianka, B. (1990). Exploring how texts work. Australia: Primary English Teaching
Association.
Eggins, S. (2004). An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics 2nd Edition. New York and
London: Continuum International Publishing Group.
Emilia, E. (2014). Introducing Functional Grammar. Bandung, Indonesia: PT. Dunia Pustaka
Jaya.
Halliday, M. A. K. (1994). An Introduction to Functional Grammar. 2nd edition. London: Edward
Arnold
Halliday, M. A. K., & Matthiessen, C. (2004). An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London:
Hodder Arnold.
Halliday, M. A. ., & Webster, J. J. (2009). Continuum Companion to Systemic Functional
Linguistics. London: Continuum International Publishing Group.
Martin, J. R. (1992). English Text; System and Structure. Philadelpia/Amsterdam: John Benjamins
Publishing Company.
Megheirbi, A. (2010). Transitivity and the construction of characters in the narrative discourse of
the English patient. International journal of Arabic-English studies (IJAES) Vol. 11.
Meliha. (2012). A systemic-functional analysis of two short stories. Dicle Universitesi Sosyal
Bilimler Enstitusu Dergisi.

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Nguyen, T. (2012). Transitivity analysis of Heroic Mother by Hoa Pham. International journal of
English linguistics, 2 (4), 85-100.

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 An Argumentative Text Analysis: A Systemic Functional Perspective

Zakir Hussain, Panusak Meekaeo, Lukman Arif Rachman

Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
lukmanarifrachman@gmail.com

Abstract
Though, writing is an important skill for students to master and among genre of texts,
discussion text is taught to senior high school students because they need an academic
language skill to further their higher education and it enables them to express their opinion
toward a particular topic critically. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate how genre-based
pedagogy supports the student in writing a discussion text, and to reveal the student writing
development compare with an expert text based on Systemic Functional analysis. Two
discussion texts from an expert and a student were used as sources of data. The expert text
derived from IELTS writing task 2 sample. Likewise, the student text on the same topic was
obtained from one of low-achieving students in eleventh grade at a senior high school in
Bandung. The SFL analysis was implemented to the texts and then the student text was
compared with the expert text to see the student‘s writing development following genre-based
pedagogy, also gaps and weaknesses. At genre level, the student followed the discussion genre
structure but he was confused and could not write smoothly. Regarding the register aspects, the
student could exploit linguistic resources to achieve the goal of writings.

1. Introduction

Though, writing is an important skill for students to master and among genre of texts, discussion
text is taught to senior high school students because they need an academic language skill to
further their higher education and it enables them to express their opinion toward a particular topic
critically. Genre in teaching writing should be taken into account since it will help teachers and
students in teaching and learning process of writing. Genre represents the norm of different kinds
of writing. It assists teachers when they teaching different kinds of writing such as a business
letter, an advertisement, etc. Teachers can have the students look at typical models of such letters
before starting writing of their own. Tribble (1996) stated that writing with context can make
students be able to develop analysis when they write a reasonable paragraph and make the
readers give their expectation easier.

Furthermore, teaching writing in systemic functional linguistics is not only dealing with genre but
also with some features such as social context: field (the activity going on), tenor (the relationship
between the participants), and mode (the channel of communication). These three elements
together determine the register of language (Halliday, 1978). Therefore, studying the genres of
written texts also means understanding the context of situation and discovering the context of
culture, in which the text is created, used, and addressed to.

The discussion text is the text which tells the positive and negative things of one issue. In teaching
discussion text, students are forced to think and give their ideas clearly as the reasoning about the
issue discussed. Unfortunately, according to the data obtained from PISA, Programme for
International Student Assessment in 2009 (Kemendikbud, 2013), it indicates that Indonesian
students lacked of the ability of giving idea, opinion and reasoning. Moreover, based on the
researcher‘s experience, the students commonly face difficulties in deliver their opinion and
reasoning in writing text since they do not know how to do so. Therefore, this study aimed to
investigate how genre-based pedagogy supports the student in writing a discussion text, and to
reveal the student writing development compare with an expert text based on Systemic Functional

172
analysis. The result of the study was expected that the teacher would reflect the weaknesses of the
student in writing discussion text resulting in teaching improvement and the student‘s betterment.

2. Conceptual Framework

A. Genre

The term ‗genre‘ refers to particular text-types i.e. recounts, instructions, narratives, information
reports, explanations, and arguments (Derewianka 2004), which includes the more general idea of
what the interactants are doing through language, and how they organize the language event,
typically in recognizable stages, in order to achieve that purpose (Emilia, 2014).

Argumentative Text

The argument is a genre of writing that requires the student to investigate a topic; collect,
generate, and evaluate evidence; and establish a position on the topic in a concise manner (Purdue
Online Writing Lab, 2013). According to Derewianka (2004), argument texts belong to
‗Exposition‘ genre. It concerns with the analysis, interpretation and evaluation of the world
around us. It consists of statement of position [thesis statement], Argument and Summing up the
position.

B. Register:

The way in which these factors are accounted for in Functional Grammar is primarily by invoking
the concepts of register and genre. Register is ‗variation according to use‘. Within specific social
situations and contexts, language‘s three metafunctions are realized as register (Schulze, 2011).
There are three main dimensions of variation that characterize any register: field (the
experiential): what is being talked about and the role of language in the activity that is going on
(the subject-matter of the text)(Derewianka 2004).Tenor(the interpersonal): the relationships
between the people involved in the communication, both in general and moment-by-moment. For
example, how well they know each other, their ages, their relative status, how they feel towards
each other (Derewianka 2004). And mode (the textual): how the language is functioning in the
interaction –whether it is written or spoken.

C. The three metafunctions

According to the lexicogrammar (Thompson, 2004), the many different sets of choices that are
available to language users fall into three main groups that each group consists of three
components, each component has its own systems of choices, and the result of a series of choices
from any system is a structure .

D. Interpersonal Metafunction: includes 1. Semantics of Interaction 2. Interpersonal meaning

(Mood or Tenor System) 3. Modality

E. Ideational Metafunction (Transitivity System): includes 1) material; 2) mental; 3) verbal; 4)

relational; 5) behavioral; and 6) existential. Each process consists three components: Process,
participants and circumstance.

F. Textual Metafunction (Theme System) includes: 1. Theme System 2. Types of Theme,

3.Theme in different Mood Types and 4.Thematic Progression: Based on Theme choices in a text,
Theme progressions can be classified into three:

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a. The zig-zag pattern

b. The reiteration pattern:

c. The multiple Theme pattern:

3. Methodology

This study is a case study of an eleventh grade student at a senior high school in Bandung.
Therefore, the result of the study cannot be generalized since there was only one participant the in
study.

A. Data Sources

1) Expert Text

The text was taken from a sample of IELTS academic writing task 2 entitled ―The Impact of
Social Media on both Individuals and Society‖. Therefore it is a model text and this text is band 9
(the highest score). This task assesses the test takers‘ ability to present a clear, relevant, well-
organized argument, giving evidence or examples to support their ideas, and to use language
accurately (IELTS, 2016a). There is no age limit for IELTS; however it is not recommended for
candidates under the age of 16 (IELTS, 2016b). Thus, this text is suitable for high school students.
As a result, the text was selected as an expert text in this study since the text, based on discussion
genre structure, consists of a) preview the issue, b) argument for, c) argument against, and d)
conclusion.

2) Student Text

The students in the class were asked to write a discussion text minimum 100 words within a
period of 50 minutes on the topic entitled ―the impact of social media on both individuals and
society‖. They were not allowed to use dictionary. After that one paper from low-achieving
students was randomly selected. He was picked because his GPA in English subject in the past 3
semesters was lower than 2.75 and more importantly; this group of students needs more attention
to their learning performance than the better groups of proficiency.

3) Classroom Observation

Classroom observation was used during the students writing their essays. One of the researchers
(the teacher) took part as an observer. In the other words, the researcher taught, assigned,
monitored the class and observed behavior of the students simultaneously. One of the benefits of
this technique is unusual aspects can be noticed during observation (Malik and Hamied, 2014).

B. Analysis Procedures

After the papers were collected, the register variable of field, tenor, and mode analysis was used to
evaluate the student development. Therefore, the SFL analysis was implemented to the texts and
then the student text was compared with the expert text to see the student‘s writing development
following genre-based pedagogy, also gaps and weaknesses.

4. Finding and Discussion

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The explanation in finding and discussion will be divided into two parts. The first part is genre
based pedagogy in writing discussion text in order to answer the first research question. The
second part is systemic functional analysis in comparing expert text and student text which is
aimed to answer the second research question.

4.1. Genre Based Pedagogy in Writing Discussion Text.

Research question 1. How does genre-based pedagogy support the student in writing a
discussion text?

At this level, the genre-based pedagogy provides the student the structure of the discussion text
since the student did not know how to write a good discussion text at the first place. Therefore,
when he knows a whole picture of the text, he could be able to create a better text. The text deals
with the effects of social media. The purpose of the text is to discuss the effects of social media.
The text itself aimed ―to persuade the reader to accept a particular position on an issue‖
(Unsworth, cited in Emilia (2014), 2000, p. 250).

The findings show that the expert text consisted of every element that should be contained in
discussion text. Moreover, the text also shows the writer opinion and point of view with the
reason or supportive idea. It can be seen while the writer mentioned the positive impact of social
media in argumentative for with the following explanation and also the negative impact in
argumentative against. Differently, student text missed some important aspects that should be
existed in discussion text i.e. conclusion and the supportive idea as the reason of the argument for
and argument against.

4.2. Systemic Functional Analysis in Comparing Expert Text and Student‘ Text

Research questions 2. What does Systemic Functional analysis of the student text reveal
about the student writing development compare with an expert text?

4.2.1. Interpersonal Mood System

In the process of analysis, the expert and student text were analyzed firstly by seeing the mood
types used in both of the texts. Normally, discussion text contained a lot declarative for the mood
type. It is because in discussion text, the writer explains two different sides of positive and
negative things about the topic discussed. Therefore, declarative is more commonly used in
discussion text than the other mood types. Likewise, the expert text only contained declarative
mood type. Otherwise, declarative mood type is the majority in the student text. It is because
student also mentioned one minor clause in the beginning of the text. Besides, expert text shows
more interpersonal adjunct comparing to student text. In conclusion the writer shows his opinion
and point of view to the topic discussed.

4.2.2 Transitivity System

It can be seen in the expert text that relational processes dominated the whole text while the
mental and material process were used in small amount, respectively. On the other hand, in the
student text, the relational, mental and material process was used in the similar amount.
Interestingly, in both texts, there was no use of verbal process, behavioral and existential
processes.

As a result, the findings show that the student tried to explain and elaborate the relationship
between each point in the text. The difference between student text and expert text is that the

175
student used possessive attributive process which shows the possession of devices to access social
media but the expert used all different kinds of relational process.

Mental process can be used to express the writer believes, ambition, hope, their expectation and
feelings as the writer has declared. It shows that student mentioned the advantages and
disadvantages of social media according to his feeling and thinking about social media. Though,
he repeated some words like ―help‖ for two times in order to influence the reader about the benefit
of social media. In contrast, in expert text, he emphasized his own thinking and feeling using
words believe, agree or thought which shows the emphasis of his own thought.

4.2.3 Theme System

Theme Selection

In terms of Theme selection in the student‘s text, similarly to the expert text, Topical Themes
dominated the text. They help readers to draw attention to the writer‘s attitude towards the topic.
However, Interpersonal Theme was not used in the text. As a result, the text was successful in
writing academic styles as the Interpersonal Theme should be used as less as possible. Besides,
the text focus provides more than one point of view on an issue.

Thematic Progression

The expert used the Multiple Theme pattern in the text to maintain the connectedness between
clauses. ―The Theme of one clause introduces a number of different pieces of information, each of
which is then picked up and made Theme in subsequent clauses‖ (Emilia, 2014). This pattern is
commonly used in expository texts. Besides, the Theme Reiteration also was used. Whilst in the
student text, pronouns were used and repeated many times. In the other words, the Theme
Reiteration was only used through the text. The student used the Theme re-iteration pattern to
maintain the connectedness in the text. To use this pattern Eggins (1994, p.303, in Emilia, 2014)
argues that ―it provides the text with a clear focus. It helps maintain a strong topical focus‖.

However, the student did not draw a conclusion. It could indicate that the student can think about
good and bad effects on some particular issues, but he cannot provide a reasonable judgment at
the end of a discussion or an argument.

5. Conclusion and recommendation

According to genre-based pedagogy, the student needs more improvement in writing, especially,
the concept of the structure of the text. Moreover, the teacher should give more opportunities for
students to practice giving reasoning and their opinion.

In interpersonal mood system, both of the texts used declarative mood type, as normally used in
discussion text, and only one minor clause come from the student text. Moreover, the student text
only mentioned a few interpersonal adjuncts and expressions in delivering the idea while the
expert text shows many interpersonal adjuncts.

Besides, the transitivity analysis of both texts makes clarity that student used possessive
attributive process in case of relational process just to expose the use of social media of people. In
contrast to expert text, he used different relational process. He used mental process to indicate his
life experience, especially, the advantages and disadvantages of social media in society. But
expert text used to deliver his own idea by using words such as think, believe and agree to discuss
about pros and cons of social media.

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 Moreover, based on the Textual Metafunction, the student text was successful in using Textual
and Topical Themes so that the reader can follow and clearly see the points in the text. However,
interestingly, Interpersonal Theme was not used many in the text. This indicates that the student
tried to express thoughts in general instead of using, for example, I think, I believe, or in my
opinion which make a text more personal. Besides, when we consider the Theme pattern, the text
was constructed by using only the Theme reiteration. It indicates that the student used some same
words repeatedly. Even though, it made the text has clear focus and maintain a strong topical
focus, but it was redundant and it made the text not interesting.

As a recommendation, the further study can be more specific metafunction and cover more
participants. Additionally, a side from word choice in mood and transitivity system, the
instruction should focus on Theme pattern choices: zig-zag pattern, them reiteration, and multiple
pattern. Since such pattern brings coherence to texts, especially, the multiple patterns is regarded
as ‗a characteristic of a well-written and well-planned text‘ (Emilia, 2014). Therefore, it should be
exposed to students so that they can be successful in writing texts. Besides, vocabulary is also
important as students can select and use them together with the Theme patterns effectively,
especially, adverb such as on the one hand, on the other hand, firstly, secondly, finally, and so on.

References
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