a study on the meaning and structure of a geography text a systemic functional analysis = nghiên cứu về nghĩa và cấu trúc của một văn bản địa lý phân tích trên cơ sở lý thuyết chức năng hệ thống

Circumstance Actor Process: material Goal Mood Subject Finite Predicator Complement Theme Textual theme Theme Rheme... Actor Circumstance Process: material Goal Circumstance Mood S

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION ………

ABSTRACT ………

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………

TABLE OF CONTENTS ………

PART I: INTRODUCTION ………

1 Rationale of the Study ………

2 Aims of the Study ………

3 Scope of the Study ………

4 Methods of the Study ………

5 Data Collection ………

6 Design of the Study ………

PART II: DEVELOPMENT ………

Chapter 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUNDS ………

1.1 Introduction ………

1.2 Systemic Functional Theory ………

1.3 Metafunctions ………

1.3.1 Ideational Metafunction ………

1.3.2 Interpersonal Metafunction ………

1.3.3 Textual Metafunction ………

1.4 Cohesion Analysis ………

1.4.1 Grammatical cohesion ………

1.4.1.1 Reference ………

1.4.1.2 Substitution ………

1.4.1.3 Ellipsis ………

1.4.1.4 Conjunction ………

1.4.2 Lexical cohesion ………

1.4.2.1 Reiteration ………

1.4.2.2 Collocation ………

1.5 Summary ………

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Chapter 2: THE MEANING AND STRUCTURE OF THE TEXT

“ACID PRECIPITATION – A HUMAN IMPACT ON THE EARTH SYSTEM”

2.1 Introduction ………

2.2 The Text ………

2.3 The Context of the Chosen Text ………

2.4 Clause and Clause Complex Analysis ………

2.5 The Analysis of the Text in Terms of Transitivity, Mood and Theme 2.5.1 The Transitivity Pattern ………

2.5.2 The Mood Pattern ………

2.5.3 The Thematic Pattern ………

2.6 Cohesion Analysis of the Text ………

2.6.1 Grammatical Cohesion ………

2.6.1.1 Conjunctive Devices ………

2.6.1.2 Reference ………

2.6.2 Lexical Cohesion ………

2.7 Context Configuration of the Text ………

PART III: CONCLUSION ………

1 Recapitulations ……… ………

2 Implications for Teaching and Learning ………

3 Suggestions for Further Study ………

REFERENCES ………

APPENDICES ………

Appendix 1 Clause and Clause Complex Analysis ………

Appendix 2 Transitivity Pattern of the Text ………

Appendix 3 Mood Pattern of the Text ………

Appendix 4 Thematic Pattern of the Text ………

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PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the Study

Linguists have approached the study of English from different points of view Some have tried to account for formal aspects of the grammar of language largely divorced from meanings Others have started out by looking at words and sentences and then asking how the forms of the language

For M.A.K Halliday, language is a “system of meanings” That means when people use language, their language acts express meanings From this point of view, the grammar becomes a study on how meanings are built up through the use of words and other linguistic forms such as tone and emphasis This may seem fairly obvious to most people since it accords with a commonsense view of language, but not all linguists have been concerned with meaning in such a direct way as Halliday He developed a theory called systemic functional theory, which sees a text as a linguistic consequence of the interaction

of the aspects of context which are called "field, tenor and mode"

Based on Halliday‟s systemic functional theory, in this MA thesis I would like to

analyze the geography text “Acid Precipitation – A Human Impact on the Earth System”

to explore its meaning and structure

The analysis will try to encompass as many aspects of text analysis as possible in order to arrive at a valid and accurate interpretation of the text This text is taken from a

textbook for students learning ESP

I hope that this study will contribute to some extent to the analysis of a text in terms

of systemic functional grammar and to the teaching of English to students of science and technology in Vietnam

2 Aims of the Study

The aim of this study is to analyze a geography text in terms of transitivity, mood, theme, and cohesion to see how it is organized lexically, grammatically and semantically using systemic functional grammar as the theoretical framework

3 Scope of the Study

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Given the aim of study set above, in this thesis I would only focus on the analysis

of a text in terms of transitivity, mood, theme and cohesion Also, at first I intended to analyze some texts, but due to the limit of a minor thesis, now I would only focus on the

meaning and structure of one text in the book Egeo – An Advanved Course for Students of

Geography, Book 2

4 Methods of the Study

This study attempts to analyze the meaning and structure of a geography text Therefore, description and analysis are the main methods of the study The descriptive method is used in the description of main aspects of functional grammar and the analytic method is used to analyze the text

5 Data Collection

The text is a scientific text on geography taken from Earth – An Introduction to

Physical Geology, 8th edition, Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005 by Edward J Tarbuck, Federic

K Lutgens, and was published in the book Egeo – An Advanved Course for Students of

Geography, Book 2, University of Education Publishing House, 2009

6 Design of the Study

This minor thesis is divided into three parts as follows:

 Part I: Introduction – presents the rationale of the study, the aims, the scope, the

methods, data collection and the research design

 Part II: Development

o Chapter 1: Theoretical Backgrounds – provides some fundamental and theoretical concepts including systemic functional theory, metafunctions,

and cohesion

o Chapter 2: The Meaning and Structure of the Text “Acid Precipitation – a

Human Impact on the Earth System” – analyzes the text in terms of

transitivity, mood, theme, and cohesion to explore the meaning and

structure of the text

 Part III: Conclusion – summarizes the results of the study and suggests some

implications for English teaching and learning and provides some suggestions for further studies

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PART II: DEVELOPMENT

1.1 Introduction

In this chapter I will present some fundamental concepts of systemic functional

linguistics to establish a theoretical framework for the analysis of the text “Acid

Precipitation – A Human Impact on the Earth System” in the next chapter The concepts

chosen to be examined are metafunctions, process types, mood, theme and cohesion

1.2 Systemic Functional Theory

Systemic functional grammar (SFG) or systemic functional linguistics (SFL) is a model of grammar which was developed by Michael Halliday in the 1960s It is part of a broad social semiotic approach to language called systemic linguistics The term

“systemic” refers to the view of language as “a network of systems, or interrelated sets of options for making meaning”; the term “functional” indicates that the approach is concerned with meaning, as opposed to formal grammar, which focuses on word classes such as nouns and verbs, typically without reference beyond the individual clause

Systemic functional theory views language as a resource people use to accomplish their purposes by expressing meaning in context Halliday (1994) describes the fundamental concepts of this theory, saying that language exists and must be studied in various contexts, those being professional settings, classrooms, etc Particular aspects of a given context define the meanings likely to be expressed and the language likely to be used

to express those meanings In addition, particular aspects of context comprise elements such as topics being discussed, the language users and the medium of communication All

of them are used to describe the linguistic variation in a given text, more widely known as register (Halliday 1994) It is seen as a linguistic consequence of the interaction of the already mentioned aspects of context which are called by Halliday “field, tenor and mode”

Field refers to the topics and actions which language expresses, tenor denotes language

users, their relationships and their purposes, and mode describes the channel in which

communication takes place, be it speaking, writing or any combination of these two Each analyzed text can be viewed as having three important facets: textual, interpersonal and ideational The first one refers to the type/token ratio, vocabulary use and register, the

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second one relies on concepts like exchange structure, involvement and detachment, personal reference and use of pronouns and discourse markers, whereas the third one describes propositional content and modality

1.3 Metafunctions

Systemic Functional Grammar divides the social purpose of language into three semantic prongs which the grammar interweaves Language is seen as a representation of

reality (ideational metafunction), transmitted for a specific purpose (interpersonal

metafunction), and structured as a message (textual metafunction) Halliday calls these

three aspects metafunctions, and uses them to explain the logic behind wording choices

1.3.1 Ideational Metafunction

According to Halliday (1994), the ideational metafunction is concerned with how

we present reality in language It is divided into two: experiential and logical metafunctions The experiential metafunction organizes our experience and understanding

of the world It is the potential of the language to construe figures with elements and its potential to differentiate these elements into processes, the participants in these processes, and the circumstances in which the processes occur The logical metafunction works above the experiential It specializes our reasoning on the basis of our experience It is the potential of the language to construe logical links between figures; for example, “this happened after that happened” or, with more experience, “this happens every time that happens”

The ideational metafunction relates to the field aspects of a text, or its subject

matter and context of use Field is divided into three areas: semantic domain, specialization, and angle of representation

The experiential aspect of meaning is expressed through the system of TRANSITIVITY The TRANSITIVITY system is the principal system for the ideational metafunction in the clause network For Halliday (1994), this system construes the world

of experience into a manageable set of processes In the transitivity system of English,

there are 6 process types They are material, mental, verbal, behavioral, relational, and

existential process

Material process

According to Geoff Thompson (1996), one of the most salient types of processes is the one involving physical actions: playing, cooking, and planting, and so on It is called

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material process Graham Lock (2005) calls this process Action process Material process

or Action process is the process of „doing‟ It expresses the notion that some entity does

„something‟ – which may be done „to‟ some other entity The „doer‟ of this type of action

is called the Actor Any material process has an Actor, even though the actor may not

actually be mentioned in the clause In many cases, the action may be represented as

affecting or „being done to‟ a second participant; this participant is called the Goal, since

the action is, in a sense, directed at this participant In some material processes there exists

a third participant This participant is called the Beneficiary The Beneficiary is either

Recipient or Client The Recipient is one that goods are given to; the Client is one that

services are done for The following examples illustrate the existence of the three

participants in the clauses

The lion caught the tourist

Actor Process: material Goal

Mental process

“This is the process of sensing such as thinking, loving, wanting, hoping It consists

of four main subtypes: cognitive (thinking, knowing, realizing), perceptive (hearing,

sensing, feeling), affective (loving, hating, adoring) and desiderative (wanting, desiring, wishing)” (Hoang Van Van, 2006) In a mental process, there are usually two participants

referred to as Senser and Phenomenon The Senser is the conscious being that is feeling,

The mayor resigned

Actor Process: material

Actor Process: material Beneficiary:

Recipient

Goal

Actor Process: material Beneficiary:

Client

Goal

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thinking or seeing The Phenomenon is that which is „sensed‟ – felt, thought or seen) The

clauses in the following examples are of mental process

Actor Process: mental

(affection)

Phenomenon

Actor Process: mental

(perception)

Phenomenon

Relational process

This is the process of being, having and being at It comes under three main types:

intensive (x is a), circumstantial (x is at a) and possessive (x has a) Each of these comes in

two distinct modes: attributive (a is an attributive of x) and identifying (a is the identity of

x) When a relational process is in the attributive mode, it has one participant referred to as Carrier and the quality or the thing showing that the Carrier belongs to a class of things,

which is usually realized by an adjective or an indefinite nominal group

Carrier Process: relational Attribute

In contrast, when a relational clause is in the identifying mode, it has two equating

participants, one identifying the other They are referred to as Identified/ Identifier and

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Circumstantial process expresses being in terms of circumstantial elements such as time, place, distance, reason The relationship between the participant and its

circumstantial element is that of Carrier and Attribute

Carrier Process: relational Attribute

Behavioural process

This is the process of (typically human) physiological and psychological behaviour like breathing, coughing, laughing, dreaming and staring The participant who is

„behaving‟, labeled Behaver, is typically a conscious being, not a lifeless thing

Actor Process: behavioural Circumstance

Verbal process

Verbal process is the process of saying and is expressed by verbs such as say, tell,

ask, speak, talk Unlike behavioural and mental process, a verbal process does not require a

conscious participant and it can contain one participant referred to as Sayer, two

participants referred to respectively, depending on particular subtype of verbal process, as

Sayer and Target, and Sayer and Verbiage, and even three participants referred to

respectively as Sayer, Target, and Recipient Sayer is one that puts out a signal, Target is one that the verbalization is directed to, Recipient if one that benefits from the verbal process, and Verbiage is the name of the verbalization itself

Sayer Process: verbal Circumstance

Sayer Process: verbal Target Circumstance

Sayer Process: verbal Target Recipient

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He ordered two beers

Sayer Process: verbal Verbiage

Existential process

This is the process of existing, indicating that something or some natural force

exists In this type of process, there is generally a participant, the Existent and one or two

circumstantial elements

Circumstance Process: existential Existent

1.3.2 Interpersonal Metafunction

One of the main purposes of communication is to interact with other people: to establish and maintain appropriate social links with them Interaction is an inherent part of language use Speakers and writers of language have to structure clauses in order to

interact with one another This is the interpersonal metafunction of language It is concerned with Clause as Exchange Halliday (1994: 69) quotes a table by Thompson

(1996) to characterize the primary speech roles which can be represented below

commodity

exchange

role in exchange

(a) goods-&-services (b) information

Would you like this teapot?

„statement‟

He‟s giving her the teapot

Give me that teapot!

„question‟

What is he giving her?

(Source: Thompson 1996:40)

As an exchange or interactive event, a clause consists of two components: the

Mood and the Residue Mood plays a vital role in carrying out the interpersonal function of

the clause as exchange in English In English, the Mood consists of two elements: Subject and Finite

 The Subject is the nominal component of the Mood

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 The Finite is the verbal element in the Mood which has the function of making the proposition finite Subject and Mood are closely linked together

The remainder of the clause is the Residue It consists of functional elements of

three kinds:

 Predicator: present in all major clauses; realized by a verbal group and temporal or modal operator

 Complement: potential of being Subject; realized by a nominal group

 Adjunct: not potential of being subject; realized by an adverbial group or a prepositional phrase

The interpersonal metafunction relates to a text's aspects of tenor or interactivity

The following clauses are analyzed in terms of interpersonal meaning:

Sister Susie „s sewing shirts for soldiers

Subject Finite Predicator Complement Adjunct

1.3.3 Textual Metafunction

The textual metafunction relates to mode; the internal organisation and

communicative nature of a text It is concerned with creating relevance between parts of what is being said and between the text and the context Lexicogrammatically, it is expressed through the systems of theme and information focus Relevant to the realization

of the system of theme are two elements: Theme and Rheme

According to Halliday (1994), the Theme is the element which „serves as the point

of departure of the message‟ The Theme may be realized by a nominal group, a

prepositional phrase, an adverbial group or even a clause in the case of predicated theme

The Theme may be single or multiple, marked or unmarked For Halliday (1994:40), “Any

group complex or phrase complex constitutes a single element within the clause, …, and therefore constitutes a simple theme” Whereas, multiple theme has a further internal structure of its own When, in a declarative clause, a theme is “something that other than

the Subject” (Halliday; 1994:44), it is referred to as marked theme The most usual form of

marked theme is an adverbial group functioning as Adjunct Unmarked theme is referred to

as “the mapping of Theme on to Subject of a declarative clause” (Halliday; 1994:43)

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It should also be born in mind that there exist Topical, Textual, and Interpersonal

Theme due to the function to express experiential, textual and interpersonal meanings of

the clause Topical Theme is the one that is conflated with an experiential element of the clause It can be Actor/ Agent, Goal/ Medium or Circumstance A Textual Theme

represents the meaning that is relevant to the context: both the preceding and the following

text and the context of situation A Textual Theme is any combination of continuative (yes,

no, well…), structural (and, but …), and conjunctive (therefore, also …) An Interpersonal Theme represents the interpersonal element with which the speaker or writer acts on the

listener or reader It is any combination of vocative, model and mood-marking The typical

ordering is Textual ^ Interpersonal ^ Topical

The following clauses are analyzed to illustrate their thematic structure:

Please doctor don‟t give me any more of that

nasty medicine

Modal Vocative Finite Topical

Rheme Interpersonal Experiential

Theme

1.4 Cohesion

Cohesion is the grammatical and lexical relationship within a text or sentence Cohesion can be defined as the links that hold a text together and give it meaning It is related to the broader concept of coherence

There are two main types of cohesion: grammatical, referring to the structural content, and lexical, referring to the language content of the piece A cohesive text is

created in many different ways In Cohesion in English, M.A.K Halliday and Ruqaiya

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Hasan (1997) identify five general categories of cohesive devices that create coherence in

texts: reference, ellipsis, substitution, lexical cohesion, and conjunction

1.4.1 Grammatical Cohesion

1.4.1.1 Reference

For Halliday (1994) “a particular or circumstantial element introduced at one place

in the text can be taken as a reference point for something that follows” In other words, reference expresses the relationship of identity which exists between units in a text

Reference may be used to show anaphoric, cataphoric or exophoric relations

Anaphoric reference can be defined as item(s) which points the reader or listener

backwards to a previously mentioned entity, process or state of affairs E.g:

The girls stared at their father

Cataphoric reference can be defined as a cohesive device which points the reader or

listener forwards It draws us further into the text in order to identify the elements to which the reference items refer E.g.:

The girls stared at their father

Exophoric reference is “means of liking „outwards‟ to some person or object in the

environment” (Halliday; 1994:312) E.g.:

The spaceship flew around the new planet several times

In Cohesion in English, Halliday and Hasan (1997) divide reference into three main types: personal, demonstrative, and comparative

Personal reference is “reference by means of function in the speech situation through the

category of person” (Halliday and Hasan; 1997) E.g.:

Catherine seemed to be unconscious, and Mr Edgar was so worried about her that

he forgot about Heathcliff for the moment She recovered a little, but did not recognize any of us, and was clearly very ill

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Demonstrative reference is “reference by means of location, on a scale of proximity”

(Halliday and Hasan; 1997) In other words, it is a form of verbal pointing by the speaker who identifies the referent by locating it on the scale of proximity in terms of time and

space It is expressed through determiners this/ that, these/ those and adverbs here/ there E.g.:

Be careful of wasps, bees and hornets These are dangerous pests

Comparative reference is “reference by means of identity or similarity” (Halliday and

Hasan; 1997) It sets up a relation of contrast It is expressed through adjectives and adverbs E.g.:

A: Would you like these seats?

B: No, as a matter of fact, I’d like the other seats

1.4.1.2 Substitution

Substitution is a relation between linguistic items, such as words and phrases It refers to the process or result of replacing one item by another at a particular place in a text Substitution should be distinguished from reference According to Halliday and Hasan (1997:89), “the distinction between substitution and reference is that substitution is a relation in the wording rather than in the meaning … Substitution is a relation between linguistic items, such as words or phrases; whereas reference is a relation between

meanings” There are three types of substitution: nominal, verbal and clausal substitution

Nominal substitution is the substitution of Head of a nominal group by one/ ones The

noun functioning as the Head is always countable E.g.:

These biscuits are stale Get me some fresh ones

Verbal substitution is the substitution of do for verbs or verb groups Do operates has

Head of a verbal group and its position is always final in the group E.g.:

Did anybody feed the cat? - Somebody did

Clausal substitution is the substitution in which what is presupposed is not an element

within the clause but an entire clause The words used as substitutes in English are so and

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text According to Halliday (1994), there are three main contexts for ellipsis: the noun

group, verb group and clause They are called nominal ellipsis, verbal ellipsis or clausal

ellipsis E.g.:

I don’t see any wine - There isn’t any (wine) (nominal ellipsis)

Have you ever been to China? - Yes, I have (been to China) (verbal ellipsis)

I think you ought to tell me who you are, first - Why (ought I to tell you who I

am)? (clausal ellipsis)

1.4.1.4 Conjunction

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 „liking‟ or „joining‟ is achieved by the use of conjunctive adjuncts The nature of the

relationships that can be expressed by the use of conjunctive adjuncts are many and

Halliday and Hasan (1997) name them as additive, adversative, causal and temporal

Additive: adds more information to what is already there

The study used a small sample only and was strongly criticized for this reason Furthermore, the initial premise of the research was considered questionable in

the light of previous evidence

Adversative: shows what is contrary to expectation

I’m afraid I won’t be home late tonight However, I won’t have to do in until late

tomorrow

Causal: expresses cause and effect

There is a severe shortage of mathematics teachers in Britain and America As a consequence of this, far too many people leave school without an interest in

pursuing the study of subjects like engineering that rely on mathematical concepts

Temporal: reflects sequence of time

Brick tea is a blend that has been compressed into a cake It is taken mainly by the

minority groups in China First, it is ground to a dust Then it is usually cooked in milk

1.4.2 Lexical cohesion

For Thomas Bloor and Meriel Bloor (1995), “Lexical cohesion refers to the

cohesive effect of the use of lexical items in text where the choice of an item relates to the

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choices that have gone before.”.Halliday and Hasan (1997) classify lexical cohesion into two main categories: reiteration and collocation

1.4.2.1 Reiteration

Reiteration is a form of lexical cohesion which involves the repetition of a lexical item, the use of a general word to refer back to a lexical item, and a number of things in between the use of a synonym, near-synonym, or superordinate E.g.:

What we lack in a newspaper is what we should get In a word, a ‘popular’

newspaper may be the winning ticket (repetition)

You could try reversing the car up the slope The incline isn’t all that steep

(synonym)

Pneumonia had arrived with the cold and wet conditions The illness is striking

everyone from infants to the elderly (superordinate)

Did you try the steamed buns? - Yes, I didn’t like the things much (general word)

1.4.2.2 Collocation

Collocation refers to lexical cohesion that is achieved through the association of lexical items that regularly co-occur Under collocation there are three subtypes:

resultative, modificational, and contextual

Resultative collocation refers to the relation of one item leading to the outcome of

another item such as chair – sit, wind – blow …

Modificational collocation refers to the relation holding between an item and one of

its inherent qualities such as run – fast, rain – heavy …

Contextual collocation refers to the co-occurrence of words in one context but not

related in other contexts E.g.: mother – housework

1.5 Summary

In this chapter, some fundamental and theoretical concepts have been briefly presented which includes systemic functional grammar, the three metafunctions of clauses, and cohesion These fundamentals of background knowledge will be of great help to

analyze the geographical text “Acid Precipitation – A Human Impact on the Earth

System” based on systemic functional grammar in the following chapter

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Chapter 2: THE MEANING AND STRUCTURE OF THE TEXT

“ACID PRECIPITATION – A HUMAN IMPACT ON THE EARTH SYSTEM”

2.1 Introduction

In this chapter, an attempt is made to analyze a geographical text using systemic functional grammar as the theoretical framework To do this I will first present the whole text, then I will state the reasons for choosing the text for analysis This will be followed

by the sections in which I will analyze the text in terms of clauses and clause complexes, transitivity, mood, theme, cohesion and the contextual configuration of the text After each analytical section I will provide some discussions on how the text is organized lexically, grammatically and semantically

2.2 The Text

ACID PRECIPITATION – A HUMAN IMPACT ON THE EARTH SYSTEM

Human are part of the complex interacting whole we call the Earth system As such, our actions cause changes to all the other parts of the system For example, by going about our normal routine, we humans modify the composition of the atmosphere These atmospheric modifications in turn cause unintended and unwanted changes to occur in the hydrosphere, biosphere, and solid Earth Acid precipitation is one small but significant example

Decomposed stone monuments and structures are common sights in many cities Although we expect rock to gradually decompose, many of these monuments have succumbed permanently An important cause for this accelerated chemical weathering is acid precipitation

Rain is naturally somewhat acidic When carbon dioxide from the atmosphere dissolves in water, the product is weak carbonic acid However, the term acid precipitation refers to precipitation that is much more acidic than natural, unpolluted rain and snow

As a consequence of burning large quantities of fossil fuels, like coal and petroleum products, about 40 million tons of sulfur and nitrogen oxides are released into the atmosphere each year in the United States The major sources of these emissions include power-generating plants, industrial processes, such as ore smelting and petroleum refining, and vehicles of all kinds Through a series of complex chemical reactions, some of these pollutants are converted into acids that then fall to Earth surface as rain or snow Another

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portion is deposited in dry form and subsequently converted into acid after coming in contact with precipitation, dew or fog

Northern Europe and eastern North America have experienced widespread acid rain for some time Studies have also shown that acid rain occurs in many other regions, including western North America, Japan, China, Russia, and South America In addition to local pollution sources, a portion of the acidity found in the northeastern United States and eastern Canada originates hundreds of kilometers away in industrialized regions to the south and southwest This situation occurs because many pollutants remain in the atmosphere as long as five days, during which time they may be transported great distances

The damaging environmental effects of acid rain are thought to be considerable in some areas and imminent in others The best-known effect is an increased acidity in thousands of lakes in Scandinavia and eastern North America Accompanying this have been substantial increases in dissolved aluminum leached from the soil by the acidic water, which is toxic to fish Consequently, some lakes are virtually devoid of fish, and others are approaching this condition Ecosystems are characterized by many interactions at many levels of organization, which means that evaluating the effects of acid precipitation on these complex systems is difficult and expensive and far from complete

In addition to the many lakes that can no longer support fish, research indicates that acid precipitation may also reduce agricultural crop yields and impair the productivity of forests Acid rain not only harms the foliage but also damages roots and leaches nutrient minerals from soil Finally acid precipitation promotes the corrosion of metals and contributes to the destruction of stone structures

2.3 The Context of the Chosen Text

The chosen text is taken from Earth – An Introduction to Physical Geology by

Edward J Tarbuck, Federic K Lutgens published in 2005 by Pearson Prentice Hall The text was printed in the textbook Egeo – English for geography students published by University of Education Publishing House This is a description on acid precipitation

which is a human impact on the Earth system The title of the text is “Acid Precipitation –

A Human Impact on the Earth System” On the side of the text there are two pictures, one

showing the cause of acid rain, the other showing the damaging environmental effects of acid rain

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This text is chosen for analysis because it is typical of a scientific text with

academic language and a logical layout Most of the subjects in the clauses are inanimate, which is also one of the main features of geographical texts Moreover, it is taken from a reliable source so there‟ll be no doubt about its authenticity

2.4 Clause and Clause Complex Analysis

ACID PRECIPITATION – A HUMAN IMPACT ON THE EARTH SYSTEM

1 Human are part of the complex interacting whole we call the Earth system

2 As such, our actions cause changes to all the other parts of the system

3 For example, by going about our normal routine, we humans modify the composition of the atmosphere

4 These atmospheric modifications in turn cause unintended and unwanted changes to occur in the hydrosphere, biosphere, and solid Earth

5 Acid precipitation is one small but significant example

6 Decomposed stone monuments and structures are common sights in many cities

7 Although we expect rock to gradually decompose,

8 many of these monuments have succumbed permanently

9 An important cause for this accelerated chemical weathering is acid precipitation

10 Rain is naturally somewhat acidic

11 When carbon dioxide from the atmosphere dissolves in water,

12 the product is weak carbonic acid

13 However, the term acid precipitation refers to precipitation that is much more acidic than natural, unpolluted rain and snow

14 As a consequence of burning large quantities of fossil fuels, like coal and petroleum products, about 40 million tons of sulfur and nitrogen oxides are released into the atmosphere each year in the United States

15 The major sources of these emissions include power-generating plants, industrial processes, such as ore smelting and petroleum refining, and vehicles of all kinds

16 Through a series of complex chemical reactions, some of these pollutants

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are converted into acids that then fall to Earth surface as rain or snow

17 Another portion is deposited in dry form

18 and subsequently converted into acid after coming in contact with precipitation, dew or fog

19 Northern Europe and eastern North America have experienced widespread acid rain for some time

20 Studies have also shown

21 that acid rain occurs in many other regions, including western North America, Japan, China, Russia, and South America

22 In addition to local pollution sources, a portion of the acidity found in the northeastern United States and eastern Canada originates hundreds of kilometers away in industrialized regions to the south and southwest

23 This situation occurs

24 because many pollutants remain in the atmosphere as long as five days, during which time they may be transported great distances

25 The damaging environmental effects of acid rain are thought to be considerable in some areas and imminent in others

26 The best-known effect is an increased acidity in thousands of lakes in Scandinavia and eastern North America

27 Accompanying this have been substantial increases in dissolved aluminum leached from the soil by the acidic water, which is toxic to fish

28 Consequently, some lakes are virtually devoid of fish,

29 and others are approaching this condition

30 Ecosystems are characterized by many interactions at many levels of organization, which means that evaluating the effects of acid precipitation on these complex systems is difficult and expensive and far from complete

31 In addition to the many lakes that can no longer support fish, research indicates

32 that acid precipitation may also reduce agricultural crop yields

33 and impair the productivity of forests

34 Acid rain not only harms the foliage

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XXVII

35 but also damages roots

36 and leaches nutrient minerals from soil

37 Finally acid precipitation promotes the corrosion of metals

38 and contributes to the destruction of stone structures

From the clause and clause complex analysis above, we can see that the text consists

of 38 clauses, 9 of which are clause complexes Four of the clauses in the clause complexes are in hypotactic relation and the rest 5 in paratactic relation Their semantic relations are

mainly of enhancement and extension The clause complexes that have hypotactic relation

are VII, X, XVII, XIX The interdependency of the clause and clause complexes in the text

can be shown in Table 1 See Appendix 1

2.5 The Analysis of the Text in Terms of Transitivity, Mood and Theme

1 Human are part of the complex interacting whole we call the

Earth system

Trans Identified Process: relational Identifier

Mood Subject Finite Predicate Complement

Theme Theme Rheme

2 As such, our actions cause changes to all the other parts of the

system

Trans Actor Process: material Goal Circumstance

Mood Subject Finite Predicator Complement Adjunct

atmosphere

Trans Circumstance Actor Process: material Goal

Mood Subject Finite Predicator Complement

Theme Textual theme Theme Rheme

Trang 22

in the hydrosphere, biosphere, and solid Earth

Trans Actor Circumstance Process: material Goal Circumstance

Mood Subject Adjunct Finite Predicator Complement Adjunct

Theme Theme Texttual theme Rheme

5 Acid precipitation is one small but significant example

Trans Identified/ Value Process: relational identifier/ Token

Mood Subject Finite Predicator Adjunct

6 Decomposed stone monuments

Trans Identified/ Value Process: relational identifier/ Token Circumstance

Mood Subject Finite Predicator Adjunct Adjunct

7 Although we expect rock to gradually decompose,

Trans Senser Process: mental phenomenon

Theme Textual theme Theme Rheme

8 many of these monuments have succumbed permanently.

Trans Actor Process: material Circumstance

9 An important cause

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10 Rain is naturally somewhat acidic

Trans Carrier Process: relational Attribute

11 When carbon dioxide from the

atmosphere

Trans Actor Process: material Circumstance

Theme Theme Theme Rheme

12 the product is weak carbonic acid

13 However, the term acid

precipitation

refers to precipitation that is much more acidic than

natural, unpolluted rain and snow

Theme Textual

Theme

14 As a consequence of

burning large quantities

of fossil fuels, like coal

and petroleum products,

about 40 million tons of sulfur and nitrogen oxides

atmosphere each year in the United

States

Trans Circumstance Goal Process: material Circumstance Circumstance

Mood Adjunct Subject Finite Predicator Adjunct Complement

Trang 24

15 The major sources

of these emissions

such as ore smelting and petroleum refining, and vehicles of all kinds

Trans Carrier Process: relational Attribute

Trans Circumstance Identified Process: relational Identifier

Mood Adjunct Subject Finite Predicator Complement

17 Another portion is deposited in dry form

Trans Goal Process: material Circumstance

18 and subsequently converted into Acid after coming in contact with

precipitation, dew or fog

Trans Circumstance Process: material Attribute Circumstance

Mood Adjunct Finite Predicator Complement Adjunct

Theme Textual

theme

Rheme

19 Northern Europe and eastern North

Trans Actor Process: material Goal Circumstance

Trang 25

20 Studies have also shown

Trans Identifier Process: relational Circumstance Process: relational

Mood Subject Finite Predicator Adjunct Finite

21 that acid rain occurs in many other regions, including western

North America, Japan, China, Russia, and South America

Trans Existent Process: existential Circumstance

kilometers away

in industrialized regions to the

southwest

Trans Circumstance Actor Process: material Circumstance Circumstance

Mood Subject Finite Predicator Adjunct Adjunct

23 This situation occurs

Trans Existent Process: existential

Mood Subject Finite Predicator

24 because many pollutants remain in the

Trans Carrier Process: relational Circumstance Circumstance

Trang 26

25 The damaging environmental

effects of acid rain are thought to be considerable and imminent in some areas in others

Trans Phenomenon Process: mental Attribute Circumstance

Trans Identified Process: relational Identifier Circumstance

27 Accompanying this have been substantial

increases in dissolved aluminum leached from the soil by the acidic water,

which is toxic to fish

Trans Attribute Process: Relational Carrier Circumstance

28 Consequently, some lakes are virtually devoid of fish,

Trans Circumstance Carrier Process: relational Attribute

29 and others are approaching this condition

Trans Actor Process: material Range

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