Nghiên cứu về các đặc điểm ngữ nghĩa và ngữ pháp từ vựng trong truyện ngắn Ông biết tuốt của nhà văn Somerset Maugham. Phân tích theo quan điểm chức năng hệ thống.

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ************ NGUYỄN THI ̣ BÍCH LIÊN A STUDY ON THE SEMANTIC

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

************

NGUYỄN THI ̣ BÍCH LIÊN

A STUDY ON THE SEMANTIC AND LEXICOGRAMMATICAL

FEATURES OF THE SHORT STORY MR KNOW ALL BY W

SOMERSET MAUGHAM: A SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS

NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ CÁC ĐẶC ĐIỂM NGỮ NGHĨA VÀ NGỮ PHÁP TỪ VỰNG

TRONG TRUYỆN NGẮN ÔNG BIẾT TUỐT CỦA NHÀ VĂN W.SOMERSET

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Linguistics Code: 60220201

HANOI – 2016

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

************

NGUYỄN THI ̣ BÍCH LIÊN

A STUDY ON THE SEMANTIC AND LEXICOGRAMMATICAL

FEATURES OF THE SHORT STORY MR KNOW ALL BY W

SOMERSET MAUGHAM: A SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS

NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ CÁC ĐẶC ĐIỂM NGỮ NGHĨA VÀ NGỮ PHÁP TỪ VỰNG

TRONG TRUYỆN NGẮN ÔNG BIẾT TUỐT CỦA NHÀ VĂN W.SOMERSET

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Linguistics Code: 60220201

Supervisor: Prof Dr Hoàng Văn Vân

HANOI - 2016

i

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CANDIDATE’STATEMENT i

CKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

PART I: INTRODUCTION CHAPTER1:GENER LINTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale of the study 1

1.2 Aims of the study and research questions 2

1.3 Scope of the study 3

1.4 Methods of the study 3

1.5 Design of the study 3

PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 5

2.1 Introduction 5

2.2 Systemic Functional Linguistics 6

2.2.1 Strata of the systemic functional model 7

2.2.2 Metafunctions 8

2.3 The ideational meaning 9

2.3.1 Process types 10

2.3.1.1 Material process 10

2.3.1.2 Mental processes 10

2.3.1.3 Relational processes 11

2.3.1.4 Behavioral processes 12

2.3.1.5 Verbal processes 12

2.3.1.6 Existential processes 13

2.3.2 Circumstances 13

2.4 The interpersonal meaning 14

2.4.1 Constituents of the Mood 15

2.4.2 Residue 16

2.4.3 Mood types 16

ii

2.4.3.1 Indicative mood 17

2.4.3.2 Imperative mood 18

2.5 The textual meaning 18

2.5.1 Types of theme 19

2.5.1.1 Ideational or Topical theme 19

2.5.1.2 Textual theme 20

2.5.1.3 Interpersonal theme 20

2.5.2 Theme and mood 20

2.5.2.1 Theme in interrogatives 21

2.5.2.2 Theme in imperatives 21

2.5.2.3 Theme in declaratives 21

2.5.2.4 Theme in exclaimatives 22

2.6 Summary 22

CHAPTER 3: THE SEMANTIC AND LEXICOGRAMMATICAL FEATURES OF THE SHORT STORY MR KNOW ALL 23

3.1 W Somerset Maugham and the story Mr Know All 23

3.2 The analysis of the story in terms of clause and clause complex 24

3.3 The analysis of the story in terms of transitivity 25

3.4 The analysis of the story in terms of mood 39

3.5 The analysis of the story in terms of theme 41

3.6 Summary 43

PART III: CONCLUSION CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION 44

4.1 Recapitulation 44

4.2 Implications of the study 45

4.3 Suggestions for further study 45

REFERENCES 46 APPENDIX 1: Clause and clause complex I APPENDIX 2: The transitivity pattern IX APPENDIX 3: The mood pattern .XC APPENDIX 4: The theme pattern C

I

PART I: INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1: GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study

Since its birth in early 18th century, linguistics has witnessed a great change

in the development of various approaches to grammar study such as Chomsky’s transformational generative grammar, Bloomfield’s immediate constituent grammar Systemic functional grammar, among those, which was developed by celebrities in linguistics such as Halliday, Hassan, Morley, Bloor, can be seen as the most useful tool to satisfy human’s desire to explore the language’s nature As Thompson (1996:6) states functional grammar is “a full analysis of sentence in both form and meaning as well as their relationship”

Compared with traditional grammar, which considered grammar as “a set of rules which specify all the possible grammatical structures of the language where grammatical and ungrammatical sentences are distinguished clearly” (Lock, 1996:1), functional grammar “is a way of looking at language in terms of how grammar is used” (Martin et al, 1997) In more details, functional grammar concerns with the grammatical patterns and lexical items used in text, as well as choices of those items, focusing on “the development of grammatical systems as a means for people to interact with each other” (Martin et al., 1997:1) In Vietnam, there also have valuable studies of grammarians relating to functional grammar,

among which there are Cao Xuân Hạo (1991) with Tiếng Việt: Sơ thảo ngữ pháp

chức năng, Hoàng Văn Vân (2005) with Ngữ pháp kinh nghiệm của cú tiếng Việt:

Mô tả theo quan điểm chức năng hệ thống Thanks to all these scholars, language is

seen to be “closer to life”

According to Halliday, a functional grammar was designed to study the wording and interpret the wording by reference to what it means in order to “make

it possible to say sensible and useful things about any text” (Halliday, 1994)

In detail, it is particularly helpful for explaining how language is selected and organized in particular ways for particular socio-cultural purposes

II

Yet, “traditional approaches to the study of literary texts model text analysis

as an interpretive activity”, where “students learn to read a text and try to argue about what meanings they think the writer was making in the text” (Eggins, 2000: 309) “From a systemic perspective”, text analysis is, however, “not an interpretive but an explanatory activity” (Eggins, 2000: 309) In fact, “the linguistic analysis of text is not an interpretation of that text; it is an explanation” – an explanation of both “WHAT” and “HOW” “a text means” (Eggins, 2000: 309; Halliday & Hasan, 1985: 327) In this way, students will become “effective readers”, who can “see the constructedness of the text and of the reading position” imposed upon them by the writer (Kress, 1990: 40)

As a teacher of English, I am deeply interested in developing both language proficiency and structural accuracy for my students That is the reason why I have been deeply concerned with systemic functional grammar and my absorption in it, I believe, will help me to apply the theory teaching English to my students more effectively

As shown in the title A study on the semantic and lexicogrammatical

features of the short story Mr Know All by W Somerset Maugham: A systemic

functional analysis, there are some main reasons for my choice of the topic Firstly, as

a language teacher, what I am supposed to do is to use and teach English correctly and appropriately In order to achieve this goal, analyzing texts to understand their meaning

is quite necessary Secondly, understanding what a text is through analyzing, it will certainly help us a great deal in our teaching as stated by Halliday and Hasan (1985)

That is reason why I choose to explore the semantic and lexicogrammatical

features of Mr Know All by Somerset Maugham

1.2 Aim of the study and research questions

The overarching aim of the study is to investigate how transitivity, mood and

theme are employed in the story Mr Know All by W Somerset Maugham to convey

experiential, interpersonal and textual meanings

To achieve this aim, the following research question are raised for exploration:

III

How are transitivity, mood and theme employed in the story Mr Know All

by Somerset Maugham to reveal the experiential, interpersonal and textual meaning ?

1.3 Scope of the study

Within the framework of a minor thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts in English Linguistics, the primary focus of this study will be on investigating semantic and lexicogrammatical features

of the story; they are the transitivity pattern, the mood and modality patterns, and

the thematic pattern The text used as data for the study is a short story entitled Mr

Know All by W Somerset Maugham

1.4 Methods of the study

To achieve the aim as stated above, the study will use two main methods: qualitative and quantitative methods Quantitative method is used for literature review, re-examining the systemic functional grammar framework, analysing the data for results, and discussing research results Quantitative method is concerned with calculating the data and concerting it into percentages for discussion and cocnclusion The analyses of the clauses in terms of transitivity, mood and theme are based on Halliday’s systemic functional grammar framework

1.5 Design of the study

The study is designed in three main parts:

Part I – Introduction

Chapter 1 – General introduction presents rationale for the study, aim of the

study, scope of the study, method of the study and design of the study

Part II – Development – is the main part of the study which is organized around

two chapters:

Chapter 2: Theoretical backgrounds – provides the theoretical framework

of the study Its focus is on introducing important concepts of systemic functional linguistics relevant to the topic of the study and a brief introduction to the author

and the story Mr Know All

IV

Chapter 3: Data analysis – analyses the semantic and lexicogrammatical

features of the story Mr Know All to see how transitivity, mood & modality, and

theme are patterned in the story and provides comments based on these findings

Part III – Chapter 4 - Conclusion – summarizes what has been studied; provides

some implications for teaching and learning English; and makes some suggestions

for further research

V

PART II: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL BACKGOUND 2.1 Introduction

It is not the aim of this chapter to present a comprehensive account of systemic functional linguistics; such an account is now widely available: Halliday (1992, 1996); Matthiessen (1995); Halliday & Martin (1981, 1993); Halliday & Hasan (1985); Berry (1975, 1977), Hasan, Cloran & Butt (1996); Hoang Van Van (2012) and many others In this chapter, I will draw attention to only those features

of the model which appear directly relevant to a grammatical study of this kind To make the task manageable, the review will follow Hoang Van Van (2012) by organizing it around two major headings: semantics (the stratum of meaning) and lexicogrammar (the stratum of wording): metafunctional resonance

Semantics is the highest stratum within language; it refers to the systems of meaning in a language, for example, how sentences relate to the real world of people, actions, places and so on

Lexicogrammar is a term used in systemic functional linguistics to emphasize the interdependence of and continuity between vocabulary (lexis) and syntax (grammar) According to systemic functional theory, lexicogrammar is diversified into a metafunctional spectrum, extended in delicacy from grammar to lexis, and ordered into a series of ranked units" (Halliday, 2014)

As the upper of the two content strata within language, semantics is the interface between context and lexicogrammar as presented in the diagram below

Semantics

Ideational meaning

Interpersonal meaning

Textual meaning

Lexico-grammatical

VI

From the point of view of analysis, the mapping is interpreted as decoding lexicogrammatical structure to recover the speaker’s meaning Semantics transforms experience and interpersonal relationships into linguistic meaning, and lexicogrammar transforms this meaning into words, adopting the speaker’s perspective In other words,

a hearer recovers the speaker’s meanings by interpreting the choices of lexical items, and the ways in which these are put together (the grammatical structure)

Within the scope of my study, this chapter will explore some basic concepts

that are relevant to the thesis’s topic: there are transitivity, mood and theme But

before looking at them in some detail, it is necessary to provide a brief introduction

to systemic functional linguistics

2.2 Systemic functional linguistics

Systemic functional linguistics is a theory about language as a resource for making meaning based on a context of culture It is developed by Michael Halliday,

a professor of linguistics at the University of Sydney, Australia The theory is based

on Firth’s system- structure theory (Halliday, 1985; Hoang Van Van, 2012)

Beginning in 1950s, formal grammar, which was developed by Noam Chomsky and his followers, is concerned with the description of the structure of individual sentences These linguists intend to explain the language structure in the way it is At the same time, a set of rules for grammatically correct or incorrect usage are established as the guide for language users In other words, whether a sentence or an utterance is said to be wrong or right is due to its obedience to the laws of grammar Unlike formal linguists, functional linguists have generally dedicated themselves to addressing practical concerns of the application of grammar

as well as relating grammar to its function within society Specifically, Halliday (1994) views language not as a system of rules but as “a system of meaning”

Halliday approaches language not from within the internal working of the linguistic system, but primarily from outside He begins with the question: Why is language structured in the way it is and not in some other way? And his answer is: because it reflects the functions which language is required to serve as a mean of

VII

social communication In other words, it shows how people use language to make meaning in order to navigate their social interactions on their lives That is, the reason why systemic functional linguistics takes language to its functions through meaning, not just formation (cf Eggins, 1994; Martin, 1985; Lock, 1996)

Systemic functional linguistics has two characteristics: systemic and functional It is systemic because it is based on systemic theory, which emphasizes meaning as the fundamental element in analyzing language Halliday (1994) states

“systemic theory is theory of meaning as a choice, by which a language or any other semiotic system is interpreted as networks of interlocking options” (Halliday, 1985) Functionally, systemic functional linguistics is designed to explore how language is formed “It is functional in the sense that it is designed to account for how language is used” (Halliday, 1985) which is represented in three metafunctions: experiential- textual – interpersonal

2.2.1 Strata of the systemic functional model

The model below is based on Halliday (1978 and elsewhere), Hasan (1993,

1995, 1996; Hasan & Perrett (1994); Teich (1999) and Hoang Van Van (2012) in interpreting language as consisting of four strata, which are termed: context – semantics – lexicogrammar and phonology

Figure 1 - Four strata of systemic functional model

According to the model, phonology refers to the system of sounding; lexicogrammar refers to the system of wording; semantics refers to the system of meaning in a language and context refers to the social system