Ideational Metafunction Research Articles

People, Objects and Actions: A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of the Ideational Metafunction in Internet Memes

People, Objects and Actions: A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of the Ideational Metafunction in Internet Memes

Conveying the Meaning through Experiential Metafunction on Song Lyrics: A Case on Ideational Metafunction

This research explores the song "Better Man" by Westlife to uncover its experiential meaning and how it impacts the audience. Using the Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) framework, the study analyzes the song's meaning by examining the processes, participants, and circumstances in the lyrics. Qualitative content analysis is employed to identify various emotional experiences expressed through language. The study involves deconstructing each sentence to understand how participants, processes, and circumstances are used in the song. The primary data source is the authentic lyrics from reliable sources like official songbooks and verified lyric websites to ensure accuracy. The SFL theory helps examine experiential meta function and its components in the lyrics, considering the entire complexity of language in social contexts. The analysis reveals that "Better Man" predominantly employs mental processes, reflecting the singer's personal thoughts and perspectives. The use of verbs like "love," "say," and "hidden" effectively conveys emotions and interactions between individuals. The song's participants, such as "better man" and "her," create emotional connections with listeners. The findings emphasize the importance of language as an expressive tool in art and music, guiding songwriters in effectively communicating deeper messages and meanings. Song lyrics, with their emotional storytelling, establish powerful connections with the audience. While this study offers valuable insights into "Better Man," there is potential for further research. Analyzing more songs and genres can deepen the understanding of how language conveys experiences and emotions in music's broader context.
 Keywords: Experiential Metafunction, Systemic Functional Linguistics, Ideational Metafunction

Translation of British Relations with China from an Explicitation Perspective (I)

British Relations with China is a political commentary taken from the Edinburgh Review(1802-1929). It delves into the political and commercial interactions between Britain and China in the mid-19th century and is marked by overt political bias and personal nuances. The study analyzes the English-to-Chinese translation of British Relations with China from the perspective of the Explicitation of Ideational Metafunction. Interpretation, addition, extension, conversion and substitution are employed to make metaphors, euphemistic expressions or omitted information explicit.

Use of Language By generative AI Tools in Mathematical Problem Solving: The Case of ChatGPT

Texts generated by artificial intelligence agents have been suggested as tools supporting students’ learning. The present research analyses the language of texts generated by ChatGPT when solving mathematical problems related to the quadratic equation. We use the functional grammar theoretical framework that includes three meta-functions: the ideational meta-function, the interpersonal meta-function and the textual meta-function. The results indicated that in at least one of six problem-solving tasks ChatGPT provided a mathematically incorrect answer. The processes appearing in ChatGPT texts, aiming at developing students’ understanding of mathematical concepts, included verbal, mental, existential, relational and behavioural processes but no material processes. Specifically, ChatGPT performed a mathematically incorrect existential process. ChatGPT generally used the first plural pronoun ‘we’ when describing the processes of solving mathematical problems, while it generally used the first-person singular pronoun when taking responsibility for a specific mistake or when expressing happiness for the actions of the user. Moreover, generally the text of the solution did not include direct imperatives but used ‘let us do’. The advancement of the ChatGPT textual solution was made usually through steps like ‘first’, ‘second’, etc. The research results indicated that the way ChatGPT responded to the mathematical problems would be useful in supporting learners’ understanding of ways to solve quadratic equations, but only if the teacher critically accompanies the student in the problem-solving process. Self-study with ChatGPT could lead to or confirm students’ mathematical misconceptions.

Systemic Functional Grammar Analysis on Igor’s Utterances Portraying His Ideology in Coelho’s The Winner Stands Alone

Someone’s ideology can be manifested through one’s language. The language one uses to talk about himself or other can give the picture on how one sees oneself and one’s surrounding. There might be an argument that the use of language is the unconscious product. However, based on systemic functional grammar (SFG) theory, that unconscious language can be analysed from the structure to figure out the ideology of the user. This study took the novel written by Paulo Coelho entitled The Winner Stands Alone to analyse how the language used by the main character, Igor Malev, to show his ideology. There are 660 data taken from Igor’s dialogues and monologues to be analysed using SFG theory proposed by Halliday. From the analysis, this study found out that Igor shows and perceives himself as a doer, carrier, senser, existent, sayer, and behaver. It means he truly manifested his ideology as a winner and resistant in this materialistic world and he means it. He puts every thought into an action. To put simply he is a man of his word. Keyword: choice of word, ideational metafunction, ideology, interpersonal metafunction, textual metafunction

Representation of Racial Disparity in Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give

Racism has become the biggest social issue in the world because of its constant unjust treatment that affects people from minority races, ethnicities, and religions. Related to this issue, The Hate U Give conveys the social condition where racial disparity towards black people is profoundly represented in the narrative. This study focuses on identifying the ideational metafunction elements, including transitivity and ergativity patterns found in the narrative. It reveals how the racial disparity is performed by the use of the meta function. Mixed method research was employed to collect and analyze the data to yield more insightful information that complements both methodologies’ findings. The theory of Systemic Functional Grammar was used to identify and classify the ideational metafunction elements from the collected narrative, and the Discourse Analysis approach was applied as a theoretical approach to support the observation. The result concluded that in the analysis of transitivity patterns, material and relational processes dominate the narrative by approximately 25% to 33% of the entire collected narrative. The findings show that racial disparity in analyzing black people that was performed by law enforcement in the collected narrative is manifested in three forms: police brutality, racial profiling, and sentencing policy.

REVEALING RIDDLER'S IDEOLOGY IN THE BATMAN MOVIE: A TRANSITIVITY ANALYSIS

This study aims to describe the transitivity system in the text. The transitivity system is used to explain ideational metafunctions in the theory of Systemic Functional Linguistics proposed by Halliday (2014). The analysis in this study focuses on Riddler's utterances in the film The Batman in 2022. This study analyzes the processes and participants contained in the clauses in these utterances. Then, the results of these findings will be linked with power hierarchy theory to reveal Riddler's Ideology. This study uses a qualitative descriptive method to show the analysis results. This research data is obtained from the transitivity process from Riddler utterances, which consists of the process and participants. The results show that Riddler used all kind of transitivity process. He used mostly material, relational, and followed by other processes. By using the transitivity process, Riddler can decide which character has more power through participant in the process. He used it on himself and his friend such as Batman and his follower more frequently than the government or higher up he discussed or talked to. Therefore, it can be concluded the ideologies that Riddler inherits is anarchist which influenced by narcissism.

The Use of Particles in Ngapak Bumiayu Language: A Study of Systemic Functional Linguistics

This study explores the use of particles in Ngapak Bumiayu, a Javanese dialect spoken in Bumiayu, Brebes, Central Java, using Michael A.K. Halliday's Systemic Functional Linguistics theory. Data was collected from everyday conversations of native speakers using a descriptive analysis method. The identified particles—kok, lho, kok ya, toh, wis, and bar—each have unique roles in sentence structure and meaning. The ideational metafunction shows that these particles enrich the information in sentences. Without particles, sentences present straightforward facts, but with particles, they carry additional nuances that enhance the message. For the interpersonal metafunction, particle placement affects meaning. Kok can be in any sentence position, conveying surprise or emphasis. Lho emphasizes attention. Kok ya, typically at the beginning or middle, shows wonder and affirmation. Toh, usually at the end, indicates finality. Wis, in the middle or end, signifies completion or agreement. Bar indicates ongoing or recent actions. The textual metafunction highlights particles' role in maintaining text coherence and cohesion. They ensure consistency and continuity in discourse through repetition, serving as connectors (referential cohesion), and maintaining consistent meanings across contexts (lexical cohesion). These particles are essential for structuring and organizing information in sentences and conversations. These findings illustrate the significant role of particles in enhancing communication, structuring information, and providing nuanced meanings in the Ngapak Bumiayu language.

An Ideational Metafunction Analysis of Indonesian Presidential Candidate Speeches

The problem in this research is what the discourse context and inferences are about the speeches of the Indonesian presidential candidates in 2024. The focus is on discussing Prabowo-Gibran's expressions in their orations. The aim of the research is to describe the context and inference of discourse Prabowo Subianto's speech on electronic media TEMPO.CO and CNBC Indonesia. The type of research is qualitative research using a descriptive approach. The data sources in this research were taken from electronic media Tempo.CO and CNBC Indonesia.The data analysis technique uses content analysis. The results of context research and discourse inference in Prabowo Subianto's speech are that Prabowo Subianto's speech as a whole contains the context and inference of campaigning, enthusiasm, readiness and optimism of the presidential candidate pair. and representatives, the winning team, supporters, and especially the entire Gerindra Party family, with persuasive speeches for get more support so you can achieve victory. Prabowo's expressions regarding his work program are still being monitored and are being questioned by the public.

Learning the Meaning of Song Lyrics through the Elements of Ideational Metafunction: A Case on Systemic Functional Linguistics

The focus of the analysis is to identify and describe the various types of processes within the Experiential Function in the song's lyrics. Data source for this study is the song's lyrics, obtained from reliable sources such as the artist's official YouTube channel, Google, and various music applications. The lyrics are transcribed and used for identifying and categorizing the experiential processes found in the song. The data analysis method used in this research is qualitative analysis. It involves analyzing each clause in the lyrics and classifying them based on the Experiential Function's categories. The Experiential Function analysis helps to understand how the songwriter expresses their experiences, emotions, and perceptions through language in the song. This analysis of the Experiential Function in the song "A Year Ago" provides a comprehensive understanding of the songwriter's expressions of experiences and emotions, contributing to a deeper appreciation and interpretation of the song's lyrics. Keywords: Ideational Metafunction, Lyrics Songs, Systemic Functional Linguistics

The Building Blocks of Language and Creativity: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis of Toy Advertisements

This research aims to explore the verbal and visual resources and cultural aspects used in online toy advertisements. The data comprises 142 advertisements sourced from the official international Lego Facebook page. Three analytical frameworks were employed in the study. First, Halliday’s (1994) systemic functional linguistics was used to analyze verbal resources. Second, Kress and van Leeuwen’s (2006) social semiotics was used to examine visual resources. Third, Hofstede et al.’s (2010) cultural dimensions were applied to the aspects of culture. The investigation of verbal resources reveals three main ideational metafunctions: material, relational, and mental. Also, declarative mood and unmarked topical themes dominantly occurred in the clauses. For the visual analysis, the advertisements tend to use conceptual symbolic images with vibrant and contrasting colors to make the brand memorable and convey positive values. The positions of participants (RP) also reveal the significance of the brand. There is interconnectedness between visual resources and verbal resources for the advertisements to be cohesive. Remarkably, all six cultural dimensions were found aligned with the American cultural aspects, except for masculinity and long-term orientation. This suggests Lego's commitment to promoting equality, unity, and the attempt to construct more effective worldwide marketing.

An Ideational Metafunction Analysis of President Joko Widodo’s Speech on Crude Palm Oil (CPO) Policies

The purpose of this research is explaining the ideational function of the two speeches by President Jokowi about Crude Palm Oil (CPO) Policies. The design of this research was descriptive qualitative research. The data for this study constituted two speeches President Joko Widodo about crude palm oil (CPO) exports on two different occasions at State Secretariat website (https://www.setneg.go.id) that was obtained by copying and pasting. The speeches were analysed by using systemic functional linguistics methods that is focused to ideational metafunction (experiential meaning and logical meaning). The result of the analysis was both of speech Joko Widodo revealing the similarity. Speech A showed mental process dominant in experiential meaning and speech B also showed mental process dominant. Beside the similarity both of speech, Jokowi speech revealed the differential using participant (senser), speech A used word of pemerintah, and on speech B using word of saya. Using word of pemerintah was a form of Jokowi as President not wanting to be blamed when bad things happen in made crude palm oil’s policy. Therefore, using word of saya was imaging form of Jokowi, because his clause gave profit for his electability. Jokowi was very careful in publishing speech, word of very careful reflected as self-righteousness.

A Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) Analysis on Short story Cindelaras by Cerita Rakyat from East Java

The purpose of this study was to analyze practical literature with a systemic functional linguistics approach. The ideal, textual, and interpersonal meanings will be analyzed using the short story “Cinderaras” by Cerita Rakyat from East Java. The researchers used descriptive qualitative methods. The stories were divided into sections and analyzed into tables using Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). The result of ideational metafunction analysis showed that most of the text used material and verbal processes which reached the value of 33,33%, behavioral processes reached the value of 22,22% and the last was 11,11% of behavioral processes. The result of textual metafunction analysis showed that 83,33% were topical unmarked themes and 16,66% were topical marked themes. In other words, it can be said that the “Cinderaras” was simple and concise and focused on actions and events and how the characters communicate, speak, or interact with each other.
 Keywords: systemic functional linguistics; short story

Study of Discourse Analysis Based on Systemic Functional Linguistics: A Case Study of "The Middle Eastern Bazaar"

Systemic functional linguistics holds that language has three metafunctions: ideational metafunction, interpersonal metafunction, and textual metafunction. This paper studies discourse “The Middle Eastern Bazaar” and analyzes it from ideational metafunction and textual metafunction. Ideational function refers to the use of language to express the objective external world in language users’ minds and their subjective judgments of the objective external world, reflecting the experiential and logical functions of language. Ideational metafunction analysis consists of the analysis of six types of processes as well as the analysis of voice. Textual function of language refers to the actual use of language as a discourse that expresses relatively complete ideas, rather than grammatical units such as words or sentences. Textual metafunction analysis is carried out from the aspects of macro discourse structure, theme-rheme structure and discourse cohesion. Discourse “The Middle Eastern Bazaar” describes a bazaar in the Middle East with very typical local characteristics. The analysis finds that more material process and verbal process are applied than mental, behavioral, relational and existing processes. More non-middle voice is applied than middle voice in the discourse. The theme-rheme structure and different cohesive devices make the thematic information flow naturally and smoothly.

The Morphosemantics of Complex Numbers

Gender-based violence, which includes domestic abuse, sexual assault, and femicide, persists as a pervasive issue in Nigeria. This study aims to investigate the transitivity system and the embedded ideology in news headlines reporting instances of gender-based violence in the country. Grounded in Halliday and Matthiessen’s (2014) Ideational Metafunction of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), the research employs a content analysis method, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative approaches to analyze data. A purposive selection of 20 news headlines from each of two prominent mainstream Nigerian media outlets, The Punch and Nigerian Tribune, published between May and August 2022, constitutes the dataset, totalling 40 news headlines. The analysis of the transitivity system in The Punch online news reveals the utilization of thirty (30) processes in the selected twenty (20) news headlines portraying crimes against women in Nigeria. Notably, twenty-nine (96.7%) of these processes are material, with the remaining one (3.3%) being behavioural. The prevalence of material processes is similarly reflected in the news headlines from the Nigerian Tribune, where twenty-five (25) processes are observed across the selected twenty (20) headlines. Here, material processes constitute twenty-four instances (96%), while verbal processes appear only once (4%). The consistent use of material processes allows both media houses – The Punch and Nigerian Tribune – to articulate various physical and violent actions perpetrated against Nigerian women, as well as actions taken by law enforcement agencies to seek justice for the victims. The analysis further uncovers a representation of gender roles and power dynamics, highlighting that all material processes related to violence, such as ‘rape’, ‘shot’, ‘abducts’, ‘kills’, and ‘punches’, are associated with males. Consequently, men are portrayed as the perpetrators of violent crimes, while women are depicted as the victims—vulnerable, subject to gang rape, rape, shooting, killing, and stabbing. Additionally, the study reveals that women, along with related entities, are frequently assigned the participant role of the goal in news headlines, implying an ideological representation that positions women as susceptible targets of violent crimes. In conclusion, this study asserts that Nigerian media outlets predominantly utilize material processes and assign goal participant roles within the transitivity system to present an amplified and sensational portrayal of various physical and aggressive actions inflicted upon women and young girls in Nigeria.

Transitivity System and Ideological Framing in News Headlines Reporting Gender-based Violence in Nigeria

Gender-based violence, encompassing domestic abuse, sexual assault, and femicide, remains an enduring and widespread issue in Nigeria. This study aims to examine the transitivity system and ideology present in news headlines reporting gender-based violence in Nigeria. While adopting Halliday and Matthiessen’s (2014) Ideational Metafunction of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) as the theoretical framework, the study uses content analysis method which includes both qualitative and quantitative approaches in the analysis of the data. 20 news headlines each published between May and August, 2022 on the official websites of two prominent mainstream media in Nigeria – The Punch and Nigerian Tribune – are purposively selected for this study, making a total of 40 news headlines. The analysis of transitivity system in The Punch online news revealed that thirty (30) processes are employed in the twenty (20) news headlines depicting crime committed against women in Nigeria selected from the newspaper. Twenty-nine (96.7%) of these processes are material process, while one (3.3%) is behavioural process. The prevailing occurrence of material process is also evident in the news headlines selected from Nigerian Tribune. In Nigerian Tribune, twenty-five (25) processes are deployed across the twenty (20) selected news headlines; material process appears twenty-four times (96%), while verbal process appears only once (4%). The dominant use of material process in the selected news headlines permits both media houses – The Punch and Nigerian Tribune – to identify and describe various physical and violent actions that were taken against Nigerian women, and also to identify actions taken by the law enforcement agencies to ensure justice for the victims of crime. The analysis further highlighted a representation of gender roles and power dynamics by revealing that all the material processes which are related to violence, such as ‘rape’, ‘shot’, ‘abducts’, ‘kills’, and ‘punches’, are linked with the male. Hence, men are portrayed as perpetrators of violent crimes while women are represented as the victims; women are portrayed as vulnerable, gang-raped, raped, shot, killed and stabbed. It was also discovered that women, along with related entities, are often used in news headlines to perform the participant role of goal, thereby implying an ideological representation that positions women as susceptible targets of violent crimes. This study therefore concludes that Nigerian media outlets primarily deploy material processes and goal participant roles of the transitivity system to present an amplified and sensational portrayal of various physical and aggressive actions inflicted upon women and young girls in Nigeria.

Ideational Meta-Functional Analysis of Letters to the Editor of The Times

Objectives: Letters to the editor are linguistic texts in which the letter writer expresses a specific type of discourse related to a previously addressed issue, requiring clear interpretation by both the editor and the third-party reader. The study aims to investigate the discourse function of verb nominalizations used in letters to the editor throughout the research. 
 Methods: The study sheds light on the function of transitivity and its variants in the act of communication. To convey the communicative value of transitivity utilised in letters to the editor, which represent a kind of written discourse, of The Times, the study adopts Halliday and Matthiessen’s model (2014) to present a statistic of transitivity processes which reflect the ideational meta-function. 
 Results: The study presents variant percentages of transitivity processes utilized which reveal the communicative value of transitivity in the selected letters-to-the-editor. Material process occurs with 35% which is the highest percentage while other processes; relational, mental, behavioral, verbal and existential with 25%, 19%, 14%, 3% and 1% respectively. 
 Conclusions: The discourse functions of transitivity processes realised in the selected samples of letters to the editor are variant, depending on the ideological significance, social power and text type.

SANDUK-SANDUK PAPALAKU IN DAILY LIFE OF AKUR SUNDA WIWITAN COMMUNITY

This article concerns the ideational metafunction in sanduk-sanduk papalaku of AKUR Sunda Wiwitan’ daily life. A qualitative research design was used in this study. Texts from sanduk-sanduk papalaku's daily served as the data. The data was gathered through participant observation and interviews. The gathered data was analyzed by the transitivity system includes process, participant and circumstances (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014). The result shows that there are five types of processes, nine types of participants and seven types of circumstances. The dominant process is verbal (31%), the dominant participants are carrier and attribute (17%), and the dominant circumstance is place (29%). The ideational metafunction in sanduk-sanduk papalaku of AKUR Sunda Wiwitan daily life portrays verbal expressions of gratitude, request, and submission to God. It also shows the thanking expression to the natural elements and the description of the AKUR Sunda Wiwitan community life goal.

Studying Transfer of Ideational Meta-Functions in English to Arabic Translation: Reading Prophet based on Halliday’s Functional Linguistics

Studying Transfer of Ideational Meta-Functions in English to Arabic Translation: Reading Prophet based on Halliday’s Functional Linguistics

Multimodal Discourse Analysis on Representation of Black Hero in Malcolm Spellman the Falcon and the Winter Soldier Series (2021)

Multimodal discourse analysis is an interdisciplinary approach that studies how different modes of communication work together to create meaning in social interactions. The author analyzes verbal and visual elements in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier in this study. This research used the descriptive qualitative method. The aim of this study is to determine the verbal and visual elements that represent black people and to find out the relationship between verbal and visual elements in this movie. To achieve these objectives, the researcher applied the theoretical framework from Halliday & Matthiessen (2014) on the language of metafunctions, Kress & van Leeuwen (2006) on visual grammar analysis, and the analysis of inter-mode relations from Leeuwen (2005) to obtain a detailed description of the relationship between verbal and visual elements. The results of the study show that in verbal language, the ideational metafunction is dominated by the material process. Interpersonal metafunction is dominated by statement speech acts which show that the text is mostly in the form of a declarative mood. The textual metafunction contains topical unmarked and multiple themes in this movie. In the visual image, ideational metafunction is realized mostly through the reactional process. Interactive metafunction is realized through the offer gaze and the medium shot. The medium size dominates the compositional metafunction. Visual and verbal elements have elaboration and extension relations. Through the elaboration of visual grammar analysis, some visuals are used to make the verbal elements more specific, and others are used to add information not included in the verbal elements. The verbal and visual modes clarify each other's meanings and display connected and not contradictory concepts so the audience can easily understand.