Analysis of interpersonal metafunction in text messages: A case study of group text messages among teachers of English at Viet Anh School

Abstract

This paper analyzes the interpersonal metafunction in text messages of teachers of English at Viet Anh School. The paper uses Systemic Functional Grammar as the theoretical framework which aims to investigate into a language from a qualitative approach. The aim of this paper is to discover how interpersonal metafunction is being served in text messages of teachers of English in terms of mood, speech function, modality, and personal pronouns. The analysis indicates that the teachers of English often use text messages for providing more information and demanding services by the dominant use of declarative clauses in their interaction. These teachers of English also perform their plans or desires about their future intention through the frequent use of modalities such as ‘will’, ‘can’ or ‘could’. Through the analysis of personal pronouns, it can be clear that the teachers of English tend to interact with each other by sharing their points of view rather than mentioning about other things or persons. Their social relation is shortened through the popular use of pronouns ‘I’, ‘we’ and ‘you’. Thus, it can be concluded that the social relationship among teachers of English is established and maintained through the use of interpersonal metafunction.