Discourse-organizational patterns in English and Spanish

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-117
Author(s):  
María de los Ángeles Gómez González ◽  
Ana Patricia García Varela
Keyword(s):  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Thematic Structure ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
News Reports ◽  
Thematic Progression ◽  
Organizational Patterns

Cast within the framework of Systemic Functional Linguistics, this paper sheds new light on the ‘thematic management’ of discourse and its interaction with ‘rhetorical management’ in particular, by exploring how the interplay between thematic structure and thematic progression is instantiated in a specific genre, news reports, in English and Spanish. The study shows that, even though there exist a number of differences that are language-determined, genre constraints seem to exert a greater influence because, generally speaking, English and Spanish news reports show greater similarities than differences.

scholarly journals Analysis of the Thematic Structure and Thematic Progression Patterns of the Queen’s 2020 National Speech

2020 ◽  
pp. 147-152
Author(s):  
Lan Ningyi
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Research Methods ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Qualitative Research Methods ◽  
Thematic Structure ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽  
Thematic Progression ◽  
The World ◽  
Progression Patterns

Under the guidance of the theory of theme and rheme as well as thematic progression patterns, two significant components in Systemic Functional Linguistics, this paper discusses the thematic structure and thematic progression patterns of the Queen’s national speech “We will meet again!” which was delivered on April 5, 2020, when both England and the rest of the world were in the throes of the growing pandemic. With the use of quantitative and qualitative research methods, their distributions and the reasons are explored to figure out the thematic features, the effects, or the functions that have been achieved in Queen’s speech.

scholarly journals Teaching L2 writing through the use of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL)

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-72
Author(s):  
Setyo Prasiyanto Cahyono
Keyword(s):  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Thinking Skill ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Critical Response ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
Thematic Progression ◽  
Cohesive Devices ◽  
Editing Activity ◽  
Teaching Of Writing ◽  
Textual Meaning

This study aims to describe the implementation of systemic functional linguistics (SFL) of the textual grammar of message (or textual meaning) to enhance students’ critical response to the text they created. For EFL learners, transferring their ideas into writing is already a difficult task and that to give a response to the text they read or write critically is even more challenging. This study intends to approach the teaching of writing by adopting Halliday’s idea of textual meaning and Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). The students were introduced to samples of hortatory texts and trained to analyze the thematic patterns and grammatical cohesive devices. It is hoped that by training them to understand textual grammar (including thematic progression and cohesion), students (as readers and writers) are able to build their critical thinking skill and evaluate their own works. After the training, students were assigned to produce a hortatory text and to do self-editing activity. The data of this study were the twenty students’ hortatory texts which was analyzed using a framework of textual meaning proposed by Butt (2000). The analysis of the students texts show that most students were able to self-edit their own writings and edit their peer’s writing using thematic progression and cohesive devices. Students adopted skills of using both strategies in creating cohesiveness in their writing. In addition, students also produced critical response to the topic given through its theme and thematic displayed in the text analysis.

scholarly journals The Status of Theme in Research Article Abstracts in Seven Dentistry Subdisciplines: A Text-Based Study of Intradisciplinary Variations and Similarities in Thematic Choices and Thematic Progression Patterns

2021 ◽  
pp. 28-45
Author(s):  
Hesham Suleiman Alyousef
Keyword(s):  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Maxillofacial Surgery ◽  
P Value ◽  
Oral And Maxillofacial Surgery ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Operative Dentistry ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
Research Article ◽  
Thematic Progression ◽  
The Status

A research article (RA) abstract provides an overview or summary of the whole research. It is one of the most important sections in an RA since it is the first section researchers read to decide if the article is relevant to their research or not. Researchers need to know the intradisciplinary (within the same discipline) variations and similarities in the choice of Theme and thematic progression (TP) patterns in RA abstracts in their discipline. Several studies have investigated variations and similarities in the use of Theme across disciplines. To the best of our knowledge, there is a lack of studies investigating intradisciplinary variations in the use of Theme in RA abstracts of dentistry subdisciplines. As epistemological differences exist between the various dentistry subdisciplines, it is pertinent to examine if there are intradisciplinary variations in the construction of Theme in the subfields of dentistry. The present study aims to investigate if there are any intradisciplinary variations and similarities in the use of Theme and TP patterns across seven dentistry subdisciplines: oral sciences, periodontics, endodontics, operative dentistry, prosthodontics, oral and maxillofacial surgery, and orthodontics. The study is framed by Halliday’s systemic functional linguistics’ approach to language and Daneš’s model for TP patterns. The findings revealed intradisciplinary significant differences between the subfields of dentistry in terms of the use of Theme types at p < .05 (p-value=0.0294), while there were no significant differences in the use of TP patterns and thematic markedness. Various interesting linguistic features characterizing the subdisciplines were found, although no significant interdisciplinary differences were found between dentistry RA abstracts and the findings reported in the literature of other disciplines. Finally, implications for novice dental researchers attempting to write an RA abstract are presented.

scholarly journals Textual and interpersonal differences between a news report and an editorial

2007 ◽  
pp. 139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne McCabe ◽  
Karl Heilman
Keyword(s):  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
News Report ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
News Reports ◽  
Experiential Content

While news reports and editorials may center on very similar experiential content, obviously, their purposes are very different: to inform in the case of the report, and to argue for a particular line of thought on a given situation in the editorial. This paper demonstrates how systemic functional linguistics (SFL) can highlight just how these different ends are achieved linguistically, focusing on the textual meta-function through Theme choice and through the use of textual adjuncts, and on the interpersonal meta-function, through choices in the system of APPRAISAL, especially through the sub-systems of ATTITUDE and ENGAGEMENT. Results from analysis of a news report and an editorial show that the editorial indeed does make recourse to more overtly present interpersonal devices; this is not to say that the news report disguises the authorial presence entirely, as textual devices, such as conjuncts like however, indicate what a writer’s expectations of his/her readers are.

The thematic structure of homepages: An exploratory systemic-functional account

Semiotica ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 (210) ◽  
pp. 105-127
Author(s):  
Leong Ping Alvin
Keyword(s):  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Social Semiotics ◽  
Thematic Structure ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Multimodal Texts ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
Semiotic Approach ◽  
Point Of Departure

AbstractThe visual social semiotic approach, based on Halliday’s systemic functional linguistics (SFL), is widely used in studies on multimodal texts. As SFL is a framework focusing on the functions of language, several SFL categories are re-conceptualized in visual social semiotics to handle the analysis and interplay of extra-linguistic features; other categories, however, are excluded. A consequence is that any insights offered by these excluded categories in multimodal texts remain obscured. This paper focused on one such category, theme, as a generator of expectations. It analyzed the thematic structure of twenty homepages to show that the different SFL themes are applicable and evident in such multimodal texts. It underscores the importance of theme as a point of departure of any discourse, textual or otherwise, allowing us to form expectations about how the rest of the discourse may be acceptably developed.

scholarly journals THEMATIC PROGRESSION PATTERNS OF SHORT STORY THE BLACK CAT

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-73
Author(s):  
Dewi Fatmawati ◽  
Tengku Silvana Sinar ◽  
Rohani Ganie ◽  
Muhammad Yusuf
Keyword(s):  
Short Story ◽  
Edgar Allan Poe ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Qualitative Design ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
Thematic Progression ◽  
Dominant Pattern ◽  
Progression Patterns ◽  
Descriptive Qualitative

This study attempts to investigate thematic progression deployed in The Black Cat short story. The objectives of study are 1) To indicate the types of Thematic Progression in “The Black Cat” short story and 2) to describe the realization of Thematic Progression in “The Black Cat” short story. This study was conducted in descriptive qualitative design. The data were taken from the text of “The Black Cat” short story. The source of the data in this study was The Black Cat and Other Stories book written by Edgar Allan Poe. Systemic Functional Linguistics theory proposed by Halliday (1994) was used to analyzed thematic progression in “The Black Cat” short story regarded with Textual Function. In analyzing the thematic progression, there are three kinds of thematic progression: theme reiteration, the zig-zag pattern and the multiple- rheme pattern. The findings showed that the multiple- rheme pattern is the most dominant realized in 32 times (74%), theme reiteration is the second realized in 7 times (16,3%), and the zig-zag pattern is realized in 4 times (9,3%) and the least dominant pattern in “The Black Cat” short story.

scholarly journals Reporting Conflict: Appraising Journalists’ Voice in Pakistani Newspaper Discourse

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tazanfal Tehseem ◽  
Sarwat Jabeen ◽  
Abdul Rashid
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Print Media ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Media Discourse ◽  
News Reporting ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
News Reports ◽  
Subjective Evaluations ◽  
Primary Focus ◽  
Media Discourses

This paper aims at evaluating journalist voice in the Pakistani print media discourse. Journalists are supposed to make valuefree reporting, but the analysis of  newspaper texts shows that the journalists appraise and the news reports voice newspapers’ stance  (Bednarek, 2006). Therefore, media discourses always present a particular left or rightwing stance loaded with subjective evaluations (White and Thompson, 2008). While previous studies have focused on reportage phenomena of different news genres and perspective comparisons with a primary focus on language in the context of politics for an ideology, this paper explores evaluative patterns - based on the appraisal framework (Martin and White, 2005) of discourse analysis developed within Systemic Functional Linguistics (Halliday and Matthiessen, 2014) with a focus on appraisal domains of attitude, engagement and graduation - in Pakistani news reporting to find a reporter voice. The analysis shows that the said news reporting is not value free.

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