Interpersonal Metafunction Research Articles

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

British Relations with China delves into the political and commercial interactions between Britain and China in the mid-19th century, addressing issues such as the Arrow Incident, British colony at Hong Kong and the Second Opium War. The study analyzes the English-to-Chinese translation of British Relations with China from the perspective of the Explicitation of Interpersonal Metafunction. Restitution, Substitution, addition and conversion are employed to clarify the information of interpersonal metafunction implicitly conveyed in the source text.

Systemic Functional Linguistics: Mood Analysis on Risk and Vulnerability to COVID-19

Purpose: This study examines Risk and Vulnerability to COVID-19 using Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) mood analysis to understand health messages and their functional meaning. Methodology: Hallidyan (1994) SFL Mood analysis framework, Tabular orientation. The sample was selected health messages. Analysis of 50 clauses Findings: 29 clauses were imperative (58%), 21 clauses were declarative (42%), No interrogative or exclamatory clauses found. Health messages primarily contained instructions or directions related to COVID-19 risk and vulnerability Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The study provides a foundation for understanding interpersonal metafunction of language in health communication. It serves as a starting point for learners and beginners in SFL mood analysis. Tabulated data presentation facilitates easy understanding and analysis.

The place of feelings

Abstract This article describes the semiotic resources deployed during the creation, in 2021, of the Alphabet Workers Union (AWU): the trade union that represents the workforce of the tech giant Alphabet Inc. The focus is on how the union shapes and develops its identity as one of “empathetic workers who believe in social justice” (Alphabet Workers Union 2021). The analysis of the homepage of AWU’s website through the prism of the textual metafunction in the visual mode (Kress and van Leeuwen 2001, 2006, 2020) together with the analysis of the interpersonal metafunction in the verbal mode according to the “appraisal” paradigm (Martin and White 2005), shows how the union assigns a central position to positive feelings of togetherness.

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.

Patterns of interaction between experiential and interpersonal meanings in student texts in Spanish: grounds for system-based applications in an academic writing context

Abstract This paper presents a systemic functional analysis of process types in academic texts in Spanish from the Appraisal Theory perspective in order to establish connections and observe the interaction of the experiential and interpersonal metafunctions and the systems of Transitivity and Attitude. Our purpose is to explore how student writers use process types to construe their specific disciplinary experience, how they inscribe attitudinal meanings in their texts, and how the Transitivity and Attitude systems interact in student choices in academic writing. We used student texts from the CLAE corpus (Ignatieva, Natalia & M. Cecilia Colombi (eds.). 2014. CLAE: El lenguaje académico en México y los Estados Unidos, un análisis sistémico funcional. Mexico: UNAM). The texts belong to two disciplines (literature and history) and to three text types, or genres, labeled in the university setting as essays, reviews, and question-answers. The methodology included a quantitative and qualitative analysis of 1) process type realizations, 2) expressions of Attitude, classified according to type (Affect, Judgment, Appreciation) and 3) interaction between the process types and Attitude types. This was followed by a comparative analysis between the disciplines and genres, detecting both the similarities and the differences. In addition, some patterns that combine process types and Attitude expressions were found. Such patterns could represent an important tool in the teaching of academic writing in Spanish.

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

A Systemic Functional Linguistic Analysis of Mood and Modality in One of Metcalfe’s Novels

The study examined Gemma Metcalfe's novel A Gripping Psychological Thriller: A Mother's Sacrifice from a systemic functional linguistic approach. The interpersonal metafunction, used in this study, can aid in drawing a picture of the mother's sacrifice experience and revealing the appropriate lexicogrammatical choices to spotlight that experience. It is accomplished by detecting Mood and Modality systems in extracts from the novel representing that experience. It aims to show how mother's sacrifice is realised linguistically through the interpersonal metafunction according to Halliday and Matthiessen's framework. The study adopts a mixed qualitative and quantitative approach for analysis. The researchers discovered that the interpersonal metafunction through Mood and Modality systems divulges the experience of the mother's sacrifice as an experience of choice, and the most appropriate representative of this experience is the systemic functional linguistic approach. Moreover, the empolyment of the Mood system shows that all kinds of Mood give the full portrait of mother's sacrifice. However, not all Moods are equally effective. Further, the Modality system mirrors how the characters in the novel use various kinds of Modality with different scales, degrees, and modal orientations in order to express their attitudes, (dis) beliefs, fears, doubts, obligations, probabilities, necessities, possibilities, (un)certainties, willing, abilities, and even usualities.

The Mood Types Analysis in Script of Nelson Mandela’s Speech at the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid

Nelson Mandela's impactful speeches at the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid have drawn considerable attention due to his global influence and eloquence in English. This study examines the mood types present in Mandela's speeches, focusing on their role within the interpersonal metafunction. Utilising a qualitative descriptive method, the researcher analysed a speech delivered by Mandela, sourcing data from a public address archived on the American Rhetoric website. The analysis involved labelling clause elements, segmenting clauses into mood and residue, and classifying mood types. The findings revealed that the distribution of mood types in Mandela's speech was as follows: Declarative accounted for 62%, Imperative for 19%, and Interrogative for 19%. Results showed a predominance of Declarative mood, indicating Mandela's emphasis on providing information and asserting historical events. Imperative mood was utilised for calls to action, while Interrogative mood prompted audience engagement. This research sheds light on Mandela's rhetorical strategies and the significance of mood types in his speeches.

A Study of Appraisal System and Its Texture/Textuality Mechanisms

Language, as a social symbol, functions to express world experiences, construct social role relationships, and choose words and sentences to organize discourse. The interaction between language meta-functions is a problem deserved studying. From the perspective of textual meta-function, this paper tries to discuss the mechanisms of organizing Appraisal system as a texture, and construct a rather comprehensive analysis framework of the textual devices for evaluation meaning as a whole text. The framework built consists of three strata (contextual, discourse-semantic, and lexico-grammatical), two dimensions (micro and macro), and an intermediary variable (rhetorical strategies). At the contextual stratum, the generic structure of genre and mode of register, through rhetorical strategies, determine the distribution and combination patterns of evaluative meaning at the discourse-semantic stratum. In micro dimension, cohesion, information distribution pattern, and evaluative prosody, together with theme, new information and logical semantic relations in macro dimension, are combined to organize evaluation meaning at the discourse-semantic stratum. At the lexico-grammatical stratum, Appraisal meaning is thus embodied and realized by the evaluative lexical chains, thematic structures, new information structures, connectives and meta-discourse markers at the discourse-semantic level of a text. This framework reflects the interactions between the interpersonal meta-function and textual meta-function of Appraisal system and provides insights for the development of Appraisal Theory.

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.

Using interpersonal meaning making resources to build relationships and improve engagement in online teacher professional learning

AbstractAs professional learning and development (PLD) for teachers moves online, it is increasingly important to consider what constitutes effective provision. While models of effective PLD abound, online PLD faces challenges to participant engagement. In particular, the critical need to build and maintain relationships in professional learning is complicated by the geographic and temporal distribution of online participants as well as the nuances of the technology in use. We argue that online PLD occurs in collaborative text-spaces within learning management systems, social media spaces and their attendant learning objects such as forums. As such, persistent challenges to engagement in online PLD may be met by considering the language-based interpersonal affordances of these text-spaces. We employ a small-scale corpus study and appraisal analysis to demonstrate the value of Systemic Functional Linguistics in addressing the challenges of online learning, particularly how the meaning making resources of the interpersonal metafunction can be used to improve participant engagement.

INTERPERSONAL FUNCTIONS OF THE ENGLISH QUOTES OF MOTIVATION AND THEIR INDONESIAN TRANSLATIONS

This study aims to identify and analyze the mood and modality as the parts of interpersonal metafunction in translation of the English quotes of motivation into Indonesian. The documentation method was applied to collect the source and target language quotes in the forms of clauses, simple or complex sentences. Close reading technique is applied while collecting the quotes to understand the context of the motivational expressions. The collected data were qualitatively analyzed. In order to identify the translation of English quotes of motivation into Indonesian, the parts of sentence structures in the source and target languages were compared. Contrastive linguistics is relevant for this study in order to identify the difference between both languages. The mood and modality as the interpersonal function of the Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) developed by Halliday were applied in analyzing the quotes of motivation. The quotes of motivation in English show the indicative mood, and so do their translations. There are 27 quotes of motivations found. All the quotes belong to the indicative mood, but there is only one quote that has the combination between indicative mood and imperative mood. Indicative mood consists of two sub-categories, they are declarative and interrogative. There is one quote started by a declarative statement, and then followed by the interrogative form, and the rest are declarative sentences. From the modality macro-function, there are eleven quotes in the forms of modal verbs. The quotes of motivation as the modality type show probability since it is given for a specific situation, and it is not used regularly. As the modulation type, it shows the obligation. In terms of the modality values, the high value is used more often than the median value. Most of the translations show similar modality types and modality values, however, there are only two quotes that show different modality types but the same modality values. The change is from the modalization type of probability ‘should’ to the modulation type of obligation ‘must’. The modality type shift does impact the reader’s understanding.

Joko Widodo’s speeches at the 42nd ASEAN Summit: A critical discourse analysis

The 42nd ASEAN Summit was held in Indonesia, making Indonesia the chairman of the Summit. Joko Widodo, as the president, represented the country to welcome the ASEAN members and open the summit and the meetings by giving remarks and statements. This study attempted to examine how interpersonal metafunction is used in the opening remarks and press statements as well as to reveal the power strategy and ideology depicted in the opening remarks and press statements. Eight opening remarks and two press statements were analyzed utilizing Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics. Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis was employed to reveal the power relations and the ideology. The study found declarative, interrogative, and imperative were the mood types in which it utilized probability, obligation, and inclination modality. It showed that Joko Widodo acted as the initiator to promote collaboration to achieve ASEAN’s goals.

The Battle of Domination between Adults and Children in Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid

This research examines the issue of adults’ domination of children, and also children empowerment in Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2007). The study framework is developed using Nodelman’s orientalism in children’s literature (1992), Anshori’s children empowerment (2016), and Kurnia et al. (2021) power relations in children’s literature. The research data were in the form of multimodal data related to adults’ domination of children. Analysis is done with the basis of Halliday’s (1978) interpersonal metafunction, in particular the system of Attitude. Analysis of visual interactive meaning by Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006) is also employed. The research found out that while adults exercise domination over children by controlling, ignoring, oppressing, and threatening, children show refusal to adults’ domination and show empowerment through their bravery, knowledge and idea, unselfishness, and empathy. This research also highlights that these issues might not be apparent while being a pervasive issue in children’s literature. Therefore, more egalitarian children literary works are needed to make children literature a safe space for its readers and not a ground to exercise power and instill ideology by adults. Keywords: Domination, Children’s empowerment, Children’s literature, Graphic novel, Power relations

Interpersonal Metafunctional Analysis of Marital Conflictual Discourse in Sofola’s the Sweet Trap and Soyinka’s Trials of Brother Jero

This research examines language choices employed by the spouses during their conflictual interactivity as depicted in the select Nigerian plays. The analysis is anchored on Modality aspect of Interpersonal Metafunction theoretical Framework of Michael Halliday, 1960. Its modality specificity is because it is a grammatical resource for making interpersonal meaning. The analysis focuses on the provocative language usages of the spouses during their dialogical interactivity in the plays. The analysis is of qualitative research design, and thesampling technique for data collection is purposive. Twenty-five (25) data excerpts are used for the analysis. The result shows dominance of Modulation Obligation modals, followed by Modulation Inclination, and a minor detect of high Probability Modalization. The prevalence of the Modulation modality is as a result that the spouses’ relations revolves around proposal, a form of speech function that expresses either offer or command. Command aspects of it is found prevalent within the conflictual discourse of the male spouse, who expects obeisance of the commands from his female counterpart.The research reveals to the reader the use of variants modals and gives clue to understanding the negative implication of inappropriate application of high sounding types in cordial relationship like marriage.

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.

Marital Philosophy and Home Value among the Annang of Nigeria: An Exploration of Selected Proverbs

Marital philosophies and home values are essential components of all living and progressive societies. They are potentiality used to create an enabling, sustainable and conducive environment and otherwise depending on their constituents and how they are applied on day-to-day interactions. A society devoid of the right marital philosophies may tend towards adopting negative home values that may ruin families, homes and the society at large. There are various factors that are responsible for one’s choices of ideal marital philosophies and home values for sustainable family life and the society. This study therefore examines marital philosophies and home values encapsulated in the linguistically rich Annang proverbs from Akwa-Ibom, Nigeria. MAK Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar (and specifically the interpersonal metafunction) is adopted as our theoretical framework for the data analysis. Data were randomly selected from current Annang proverbs used in daily communicative purposes. This work adopts a qualitative (exploratory) research design; eleven (11) proverbs were randomly selected, presented and analysed. We posit that proverbs are capsules of knowledge that marital philosophies and family values are enveloped. They can, and actually do serve as regulators of behaviours and moral templates upon which marital philosophes and home values are built. With the data of proverbs drawn from Annang cultures and their corresponding English translations, we attempt to demonstrate the relevance of these cultural-linguistic tools in the reformation of character, value re-orientation and social redemption of man and his environment. Keywords: Cultural linguistic tools, Corresponding English translation, marital philosophies, home values, interpersonal functions

Impact of marketization on the interpersonal relation between the university and students in modern university prospectuses

ABSTRACT To survive amid fierce competition and reduced government funding, educational institutions struggle at various levels, from launching programs to publicizing them. Consequently, the promotional content they produce has changed over the years in many countries. This study investigated whether these neo-liberal trends have impacted the discourse of Pakistani universities’ promotional content, especially the interpersonal relationship between the prospective students and the university. Incorporating Halliday's Functional Grammar with a Critical Discourse Analytical perspective, the textual analysis of the interpersonal meta-function of language reveals that the universities predominantly employ declarative to realize the speech function of a statement; thus, conveying information without generating an imagined dialogue with the students. Following this, imperatives are used to perform the illocutionary function of offer and in rare cases conditional, optative and question statements. The results also established that the universities employ modalities and modulations sparingly which accounts for the text producers’ preference for conveying their propositions in the form of facts, hence leaving no scope for the reader to form his/her opinion. The infrequent use of pronouns in Pakistani universities leads to a lack of liveliness and affinity in writing. The textual analysis reveals that the universities uphold a manifest distance from potential students.

When Actors Take Over the Products: Showcasing Hallyu-Influenced Indonesian Beauty Product Advertising Through Multimodal Analysis

The research attempted to address the research gaps in the semiotics of Korean-related media, considering that there were only a few studies on advertisements that had been influenced by the Korean craze. Capitalizing on the Hallyu Wave, an Indonesian cosmetics company, Scarlett Whitening, changed its Instagram marketing strategy to focus on its South Korean brand ambassador, Song Joong Ki. The data were two Instagram advertisements of Scarlett Whitening that represented their change of strategy in September 2021. The data were analyzed using multimodal analysis to find out the three metafunctions of the advertisements, referring to Kress and Leeuwen’s social semiotics theory. Results show that the representational meaning of both advertisements contains a solid narrative to invite readers to buy the product so that they can be closer to the South Korean actor. The interpersonal metafunction influences consumers to believe that the human model is very familiar with the product, and the compositional metafunction highlights the association between Song Joong Ki’s white skin, white clothes, and white product with the brand’s name. However, the analysis also indicates an extreme spotlight on the South Korean actor and a stark neglect of the product across the linguistic, visual, and spatial semiotic systems. The research is significant in revealing a potentially concerning upcoming business marketing strategy that capitalizes on the popularity of Korean culture at the cost of neglecting the authenticity of their products.

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.