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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES VŨ THỊ THẢO EXPANSION AND ITS REALIZATION IN THE SHORT STORY “RUNAWAY” BY ALICE MUNRO: FROM SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR PERSPECTIVE (Bành trướng và sự thể hiện của nó trong truyện ngắn ―Trốn chạy‖ của Alice Munro: Nghiên cứu theo quan điểm ngữ pháp chức năng hệ thống) M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60220201 HANOI – 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES VŨ THỊ THẢO EXPANSION AND ITS REALIZATION IN THE SHORT STORY “RUNAWAY” BY ALICE MUNRO: FROM SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR PERSPECTIVE (Bành trướng và sự thể hiện của nó trong truyện ngắn ―Trốn chạy‖ của Alice Munro: Nghiên cứu theo quan điểm ngữ pháp chức năng hệ thống) M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60220201 Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Hoàng Văn Vân HANOI – 2014 DECLARATION I, Vũ Thị Thảo, hereby declare that the work contained in this thesis is the result of my own research. It is recognized that, should this declaration be found to be false, disciplinary action could be taken and penalties imposed in accordance with the University policy and rules. Signature Vũ Thị Thảo i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deep and sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Prof. Dr. Hoàng Văn Vân, Dean of the School of Graduates, Vietnam National University Hanoi, for his continuous support, guidance, patience and inspiration to me in researching and writing this thesis. I could not have imagined having a better supervisor for my M.A. thesis. I also wish to extend particular thanks to lecturers at the Faculty of Postgraduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, for their positive and encouraging impacts on my work in one way or another. Finally, my special thanks and blessings go to my parents and my friends for their love and support in any respect during the completion of the thesis. Their wellbeing is of great inspiration to me all the time. ii ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to examine how expansion relations between clauses are realized in the short story ―Runaway‖ by Alice Munro, using systemic functional grammar as the theoretical framework. The research findings show that of 252 clause complexes collected from the story, the highest frequency use of expansion is enhancement, aiming to provide necessary circumstantial information to the clauses. Extension is the second dominant type and elaboration is the least popular type. Besides using explicit conjunctive signals to link the clauses, implicit ones are also used, which sometimes cause challenges to identify the type of relations. The results help to confirm the application of SFG in text analysis to understand lexico-semantic relations between clauses. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale for the study ............................................................................................ 1 2. Aim of the study and research questions ................................................................ 2 3. Scope of the study ................................................................................................... 2 4. Significance of the study ......................................................................................... 2 5. Methodology ........................................................................................................... 3 6. Organization of the study ........................................................................................ 3 PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND FOR THE STUDY 1.1. An overview of systemic functional approach to grammar ................................. 4 1.2. Meta-function of the language ............................................................................. 5 1.1.1. Ideational meta-function ................................................................................... 5 1.1.2. Interpersonal meta-function .............................................................................. 6 1.1.3. Textual meta-function ....................................................................................... 6 1.3. Ranks .................................................................................................................... 7 1.4. The clause............................................................................................................. 8 1.4.1. Clause simplex and clause complex.................................................................. 8 1.4.2. Types of relationship between clauses in clause complexes ............................ 8 1.4.2.1. Taxis ............................................................................................................... 8 1.4.2.2. Logico-sematic relations ................................................................................ 9 1.4.3. Summary ......................................................................................................... 10 iv CHAPTER 2: EXPANSION AND EXPANSION RELATION BETWEEN CLAUSES IN CLAUSE COMPLEXES 2.1. Expansion ...........................................................................................................11 2.2. Types of expansion ........................................................................................... .11 2.2.1. Elaboration .................................................................................................... .11 2.2.1.1. Paratactic elaboration ................................................................................. .12 2.2.1.2. Hypotactic elaboration ............................................................................... .12 2.2.2. Extension ........................................................................................................ .14 2.2.2.1. Paratactic extension..................................................................................... .14 2.2.2.2. Hypotactic extension ................................................................................... .15 2.2.3. Enhancement .................................................................................................. .16 2.2.3.1. Paractactic enhancement ............................................................................. .16 2.2.3.2. Hypotactic enhancement ............................................................................. .18 2.3. Summary ........................................................................................................... .20 CHAPTER 3: EXPANSION RELATIONS BETWEEN CLAUSES IN CLAUSE COMPLEXES IN THE SHORT STORY “RUNAWAY” BY ALICE MUNRO 3.1. The chosen story ―Runaway‖ by Alice Munro .................................................. 21 3.2. A register analysis of the story ........................................................................... 21 3.2.1. Genre ............................................................................................................... 22 3.2.2. Field................................................................................................................. 23 3.2.3. Tenor ............................................................................................................... 23 3.2.4. Mode ............................................................................................................... 24 3.3. The expansion relation between clauses in the story ......................................... 24 3.3.1. Data collection ................................................................................................ 24 v 3.3.2. Data analysis and discussion ........................................................................... 25 3.3.3. Summary ......................................................................................................... 33 PART C: CONCLUSION 1. Summary of the study ........................................................................................... 36 2. Limitations and suggestions for further studies .................................................... 38 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................ 39 APPENDICES ........................................................................................................... I vi PART 1. INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale of the study It is apparent that people have been fascinated with language and communication for thousands of years. Linguistics, therefore, becomes a growing and exciting area of study with an increasing number of theories and research conducted aiming to explain the complex nature of language and communication. Along with many branches of linguistics, grammar has been received great attention by linguists in attempts to understand how language works. Systemic functional grammar (SFG), a theory developed by M. A. K. Halliday and his associates, provides a comprehensive account of how language is used in specific contexts for communication purposes. It looks at how language works, how it is organized and what social functions are represented. SFG differs from other previous models of grammar in that it views language ―as a social semiotic a resource people use to accomplish their purposes by expressing meanings in context‖ (Chapelle, 1998) and seeks to provide a clear relationship between functions and grammatical systems (Halliday, 1994). SFG can also be an effective grammatical tool for text analysis as it is designed to ―make it possible to say sensible and useful things about any text, spoken or written‖ (Halliday, 1994: xv). In Vietnam, there have been an increasing number of significant studies on different aspects of SFG, which not only makes important contributions to the study of this field in Vietnam, but also becomes great source of reference as well as motivation for me to choose SFG as the theoretical framework for my MA thesis. Amongst many interesting aspects of SFG, I decided to carry out a study on a specific phenomenon – expansion relation between clauses in clauses complexes. There are two key justifications for my study titled “Expansion and its realization in the short story “Runaway” by Alice Munro: from systemic functional perspective”. Foremost, the reason for choosing expansion is that I would like to explore how the writer constructs the text, particularly the way clauses in clause 1 complexes are expanded and developed in the text. Expansion, therefore, could help to understand the interdependency and logico-semantic relation between clauses. In addition, I am fascinated by the short story ―Runaway‖ written by the 2013 Nobel Laureate, Alice Munro, whose multi-layered writing styles and the characters portrayed in her story gave me a deep impression and inspired me to choose the story for text analysis. In light of the above mentioned, I decided to select this story for analysis to explore how expansion is realized in the text and how the findings can help to understand the way the author constructs the story. 2. Aim of the study and research questions The main aim of the study is to investigate the realization of expansion relations between clauses in clause complexes in the story ―Runaway‖ by Alice Munro. In order to fulfill the above mentioned aim, two research questions are raised for exploration:  What is expansion in systemic functional grammar?  How are expansion relations between clauses in clause complexes realized in the short story ―Runaway‖ by Alice Munro? 3. Scope of the study Within the framework of a minor MA thesis, the study cannot cover all types of relationship between clauses. Only expansion relation between clauses in clause complexes is taken into consideration. Projection and other aspects of SFG such as transitivity, mood and modality, theme and rhyme are, therefore, not examined. The focus of the study does not lie in the theoretical findings but on the basis of these it is to enlighten the analysis of the chosen story to understand the way the author constructs the text in terms of expansion relation between clauses. 4. Significance of the study The study is hoped to serve as a useful source of reference for those interested in this story by Alice Munro to further understand the content as well as the way clauses are built in the story and the interrelations between them. This thesis may 2 be of significance for those who are fascinated in text analysis using SFG as the theoretical framework, especially the expansion relation between clauses in clause complexes and how it is realized in a specific text. Through the theoretical background and text analysis in the study, the study is expected to play a complementary role in research on the field of SFG in Vietnam. 5. Methods of the study This study uses the theory of expansion in SFG as the theoretical framework to examine expansion relations between clauses and investigate how different types of expansion are realized in the short story ―Runaway‖ by Alice Munro. In this study, descriptive and analytical methods will be employed as the principal methods. The descriptive method is concerned with the description of concepts relating to the expansion relation, and the analytical method is used to analyze the text. Some statistics are calculated to show the frequency of use of different types of expansion realized in the text. 6. Organization of the study The study is organized into three major parts. Part A, Introduction, provides the reasons for choosing the topic, the aim, the research questions and the scope of the study, the methods of study, the significance of the study, and the organization of the study. Part B, Development, consists of three chapters. Chapter 1 is concerned with the theoretical background of the study in which some basic concepts of SFG are reexamined. Chapter 2 gives a presentation of expansion relation between clauses in clause complexes. In this chapter, types of expansion are discussed in some details to provide the framework for the analysis of the story. Chapter 3 analyzes the story so as to see how different types of expansion are realized in the text. Finally, Part C, Conclusion, summarizes the results of the study, points out limitations and makes some suggestions for further research. References and Appendices are presented in the last pages of the study. 3 PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND FOR THE STUDY This chapter presents some of fundamental concepts of SFG, namely the metafunctions, rank scales, clauses and clause complexes. 1.1. An overview of systemic functional approach to grammar Systemic functional grammar (SFG) is an approach to language description which aims to provide a comprehensive account of how language is used in context for communication. It was originated with M. A. K. Halliday, building especially on the ideas of his teacher J. R. Firth, in publications from the 1960s on, with major contributions by other scholars such as Ruqaiya Hasan and, in more recent years, Jim Martin and Christian Matthiessen among many others (Chapman, 2009: 225). From early in its development, SFG has had two main distinguishing features, which are reflected in the name. It is ―systemic‖ in that grammar consists of a series of choices that can be made in order to express ideas. The grammatical structures are then seen as the outcome of choices from those available. Sets of choices between options can most economically be shown in the form of systems (Chapman, 2009: 226). Secondly, SFG is ―functional‖ in that the systems achieve certain functions realized in the lexico-grammar of the language. In other words, the model is oriented primarily towards meaning rather than form: that is, its aim is to describe how wordings are used in expressing meanings. What a linguistic form consists of is seen as less important than the function that it performs in the clause. Therefore, language is not just a part of ―cognitive mechanism‖ but how people use it in social functions in certain culture (Reuter, 2000). SFG is a useful tool for text analysis as it provides insightful approach into the language choices that underlie text production and comprehension. It can be also said that systemic linguistics provides a useful theoretical and analytical framework for exploring and explaining how texts mean (Eggins, 1994: 307). 4 1.2. Metafunctions of the language In SFG, functional bases of grammatical phenomena are divided into three broad areas, called metafunctions: the ideational, the interpersonal and the textual. Each of the three metafunctions is about a different aspect of the world, and concerned with a different mode of meaning of clauses. The ideational metafunction is about the natural world in the broadest sense, including our own consciousness, and concerned with clauses as representation. The interpersonal metafunction is about the social world, especially the relationship between speaker and hearer, and concerned with clauses as exchange. The textual metafunction is about the verbal world, especially the flow of information in a text, concerned with clauses as messages. 1.2.1. Ideational metafunction The ideational metafunction is the ―content function of language‖ (Halliday, 2007: 183). It is realized by the transitivity system which construes the world of experience into a manageable set of process types. Processes can be divided into six main types, which reflect the cognitive categories that we use to make sense of the events around us. Material process, the process of external world involving physical actions, reflects our ―outer‖ experiences. The process of sending and consciousness, mental process, reflects our ―inner‖ experience, the things that go on our internal world of the mind. The third type of process is relational process, which is the process of being and having. On the borderline between material and mental processes is behavioral process, reflecting human physiological and psychological behavior. On the borderline between mental and relational is the category of verbal processes, the processes of conveying messages by saying. On the borderline between material and relational are the processes concerned with existence, the existential process. For example: The man drove the car fast. Actor Process: Material Goal Circumstance 5 1.2.2. Interpersonal metafunction The interpersonal metafunction comprises the function to enact social relations between addressers and addressees and to express the speaker‘s viewpoint on actions and events in the world. According to Halliday (1994: 69), the clause is organized as an interactive event involving the speaker, or writer, and the audience (listener or reader). The most fundamental speech roles in any exchange are the roles of giving and demanding. Cutting across the basic distinction between giving and demanding is another distinction, equally fundamental, that relates to the nature of the commodity being exchanged. This may be either goods-and-services or information. The usual labels for these functions are statement, question, offer and command. There are two components of a clause as exchange, namely the Mood and the Residue. The Mood is the component carrying the syntactic burden of the exchange. It consists of two parts: the Subject, which is a nominal group, and the Finite operator, which is part of a verbal group. The Residue consists of functional elements of three kinds: Predicator, Complement and Adjunct. For example: Mary is doing her homework at the moment. Subject Finite Predicator Complement Adjunct MOOD RESIDUE According to Halliday (1994: 88), a clause can be positive or negative which is called Polarity and expressed in the Finite element. The intermediate degrees between the positive and negative poles are known collectively as Modality. The interpersonal meaning of a clause is realized through the system of Mood and Modality. 1.2.3. Textual metafunction Looking at the clause in its context and the rest of the language around it, we can understand the textual meaning of the clause. As a message structure, a clause 6 consists of a theme accompanied by a rheme. The theme of a clause is the initial experiential constituent, which has a special role in signaling how the current clause relates to clauses around it. The Rheme is the part in which the theme is developed. Broadly, there is a choice between unmarked themes (where theme and subject are the same), which typically signal continuity of some kind in the topic, and marked themes (where something other than subject, such as an adverbial adjunct, is theme), often associated with a change of textual frame. She went to the library yesterday. Theme (unmarked) Rheme To sum up, each of these three kinds of meaning, according to Halliday (1994: 34) ―forms part of a different functional configuration, making up a separate strand in the overall meaning of the clause‖. Therefore, the three functions do not exist separately or operate independently and discretely but they ―operate simultaneously in the expression of meaning‖ (Bloor, 1995: 9). 1.3. Ranks According to Martin et al (1997), while metafunction refers to the different models of meaning construed by the grammar, rank refers to the different ―size‖ of the grammatical units (layers of constituency). Rank orders units into a hierarchy according to their constituency relation: the highest-ranking units consist of units of the rank immediately below; these units consist of units at the next rank, and so on, until we arrive at the units of the lowest rank, which have no internal constituent structure. Rank is thus a theory of the global distribution of the units of the grammar. The English grammatical rank scale is clause, group/ phrase, word and morpheme. To be more specific, a clause consists of groups, a group of words, and a word of morphemes. Every word has a function as part of a group and every group has a function as part of a clause (Thompson, 1996). It is noted that there is no ―sentence‖ 7 rank above clause for the reason that we can adequately account for sentences by introducing the concept of clause and clause complex. 1.4. The clause 1.4.1. Clause simplex and clause complex In functional grammar, the clause is divided into two smaller categories: clause simplex and clause complex. As defined by Halliday, a clause simplex contains only one clause, whereas a clause complex contains more than one clause. It may consist of a Head clause together with other clauses that modify it. The notion of clause complex as Halliday (1994: 216) stated, ―enables us to account in full for the functional organization of sentences‖. Halliday used the concept ―clause‖ instead of ―sentence‖ because a sentence, in fact, can be defined as a clause simplex or complex. A simple sentence is like a clause simplex, and a compound or complex sentence is basically a clause complex. Hence, in SFG there will be no need to bring in the term ―sentence‖ as a distinct grammatical category. 1.4.2. Types of relationship between clauses in clause complexes As stated by Halliday (1994: 218), there are two types of relationships between clauses: taxis (or interdependency) and logico-semantic relations. In this part, these two dimensions are discussed in details. 1.4.2.1. Taxis Taxis, or interdependency, indicate the logical interdependency between clauses in a clause complex. It shows whether one clause is dependent on or dominates another, or whether they are of equal status. There are two types of taxis: hypotaxis and parataxis. Parataxis is the logical interdependency between clauses where the clauses in the nexus are of equal status. As defined by Halliday (1994: 218), it is ―the relation between two like elements of equal status, one initiating and the other continuing‖. Because of being equal in status, paratactic relation is logically symmetrical and 8 transitive. For instance, “Peter is watching TV, and Nancy is reading a book”. The position of the two clauses in this clause complex can be interchanged without any change in the meaning. The paratactic structure is represented by numeral notation. The second kind of logical interdependency is called hypotaxis. According to Halliday (1994: 218), hypotaxis is the relation between a dependent element and its dominant – the element on which it is dependent. The hypotactic relation is logically non-symmetrical and non-transitivity. It is signaled by the Greek letter notation, using alpha (α) for the dominant, beta (β) for a clause dependent on it, and a gamma (χ) for one dependent on that, and so on. It is noted that a typical clause complex is a mixture of paratactic and hypotactic sequences, either of which may be nested inside the other, an example of which can be seen below: |||He could not stand it || when she cried || and she could not help crying || 1α 1β 2α because he was so mad||| 2β (Source: ―Runaway‖ by Alice Munro) 1.4.2.2. Logico-semantic relation The second type of relation between clauses in clause complexes is logico-semantic. It is further divided into two fundamental relationships: expansion and projection. It is also noted that in all clause complexes, the paratactic and hypotactic distinction applies together with logico-semantic relation. When a clause nexus is related by expansion, it means that the secondary clause expands the primary clause, by one of three ways: elaborating, extending or enhancing it. An elaborating clause does not add any essentially new element to the message, but may restate it in other words, or specify it in greater details, or exemplify, or include speaker‘s comments. Extension means adding some new information to the clause, giving an exception, or offering an alternative. One clause can also expand another by enhancing it: qualifying it with some circumstantial feature of time, place, cause or condition. 9 The relationship of projection is very different from that of expansion. In a nexus related by projection, the secondary clause is instated by the primary clause as what somebody said (locution) or thought (idea). Locution means that the clause is projected by being reused the wording of the language event. Idea, on the other hand, is projected the meaning of the original language event. While locution is considered a construction of wording, idea is a construction of meaning. The following table summarizes the basic types of relations between clauses in clause complexes: Paratactic Expansion Elaboration Extension Enhancement Projection Locution Idea Hypotactic John didn‘t wait; he ran away. 1 = 2 John ran away, which surprised everyone. α = β John ran away, and Fred stayed. 1 + 2 John ran away, whereas Fred stayed. α + β John was scared, so he ran away. John ran away because he was scared. 1 x 2 α x β John said: ―I‘m running away‖ John said he was running away. 1 ― 2 α ― β John thought to himself: 1 ―I‘ll run away‖ ‗2 John thought he would run away. α ‗ β (Source: Halliday, 1994: 220) 1.4.3. Summary In short, clauses in a clause complex are interrelated in terms of two dimensions: taxis (or interdependency) and logico-semantic relations. Taxis, which show the interdependency relationship between the clauses in the nexus, can be either parataxis (the linking of elements of equal status) or hypotactic (the binding of elements of unequal status). Logico-semantic relations are divided into two subtypes: expansion and projection. Both these two sub-types can be construed between equal or unequal clauses. The expansion relation will be discussed in details in the next chapter. 10 CHAPTER 2: EXPANSION AND EXPANSION RELATIONS BETWEEN CLAUSES IN CLAUSE COMPLEXES This chapter re-examines the theory of expansion between clauses in clause complexes in SFG. The three sub-types of expansion, i.e. elaboration, extension and enhancement are presented. The findings serve as the theoretical framework for the analysis of the chosen text in the following chapter. 2.1. Expansion As already discussed in previous section, expansion is one of two sub-types of logico-semantic relations. According to Chapman (2009: 200), in expansion, one clause expands on the meaning of another in various ways: by elaborating it, or extending it, or enhancing it. In the following example, the second clause provides some comparison to enhance the meaning of the first, dominant, clause. ―He acted as if he hated her”. (Source: ―Runaway‖ by Alice Munro) 2.2. Types of expansion Within the relationship by which one clause expands another, Halliday identified three broad semantic groupings: elaboration, extension and enhancement. To be more specific, the secondary clause expands the primary by elaborating its existing structure, extending it by addition or replacement, or enhancing its environment. 2.2.1. Elaboration In elaboration, one clause elaborates on the meaning of another by further specifying or describing or clarifying it in some way. The secondary clause, as stated by Halliday (1994: 225), ―does not introduce a new element into the picture but rather provides a further characterization of one that is already there, restating it, clarifying it, or adding a descriptive attribute or comment‖. The equal sign (=) is used to denote this relation, which involves both parataxis and hypotaxis. 11 2.2.1.1. Paratactic elaboration (1 = 2) In a paratactic elaborating clause complex, an initial clause is restated, exemplified, or further specified by another. The combination of elaboration with parataxis consists of three subtypes: exposition, exemplification and exemplification. In exposition, the secondary clause restates the thesis of the primary one in different words, to present it from another point of view or perhaps just to reinforce the message (Halliday, 1994: 226). The relationship may be made explicitly by conjunctive expressions such as or (rather), in other words, that is to say, or in writing, i.e. In the following example, “That clock doesn‟t go; it‟s not working‖, the second clause restates the meaning of the first one in other way. In exemplification, the secondary clause develops the thesis of the primary clause by specifying it, or citing an actual example. Typical conjunctive expressions used in this relation are for example, for instance, in particular and in writing e.g. In the following illustration, “Peter‟s an excellent student – his GPA is 3,70”, the second clause exemplifies the first one. The last sub-type of elaboration is clarification. The secondary clause clarifies the thesis of the primary clause, backing it up with some form of explanation or explanatory comment. Expressions such as in fact, indeed, actually, at least are common in this type. The nearest written abbreviation is i.e., or sometimes, viz. This relation can also be implicitly expressed by juxtaposing, and in writing, by a colon (:) or a semicolon (;) or dash between the linked clauses (Lock, 1996: 256). In the following example, the second clause elaborates the meaning of the primary by clarifying it: ―It wasn‟t so sharp anymore; in fact, it no longer surprised her.” (Source: ―Runaway‖ by Alice Munro) 12
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