Tài liệu Mother image in english and vietnamese songs – a literary analysis using transitivity system in systemic functional linguistics perspective

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES TẠ THỊ THU HẰNG MOTHER IMAGE IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE SONGS – A LITERARY ANALYSIS USING TRANSITIVITY SYSTEM IN SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL LINGUISTICS PERSPECTIVE (Hình tượng người mẹ trong các bài hát tiếng Anh và tiếng Việt – một phân tích văn học theo hệ thống chuyển tác trong ngôn ngữ chức năng hệ thống) M.A. COMBINED PROGRAMME THESIS Major: English Linguistics Code: 60220201 Hanoi - 2016 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES TẠ THỊ THU HẰNG MOTHER IMAGE IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE SONGS – A LITERARY ANALYSIS USING TRANSITIVITY SYSTEM IN SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL LINGUISTICS PERSPECTIVE (Hình tượng người mẹ trong các bài hát tiếng Anh và tiếng Việt – một phân tích văn học theo hệ thống chuyển tác trong ngôn ngữ chức năng hệ thống) M.A. COMBINED PROGRAMME THESIS Major: English Linguistics Code: 60220201 Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lâm Quang Đông Hanoi – 2016 DECLARATION I declare that this MA thesis, entitled Mother image in English and Vietnamese songs – A literary analysis using transitivity system in Systemic Functional Linguistics perspective, is entirely the result of my own work. The thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or tertiary institution, and to the best of my knowledge, neither does it contain material previously published or written by another person, except where due acknowledgement is made in the text. Hanoi, 2016 Tạ Thị Thu Hằng 1 ACKNOWLEGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc.Prof.Dr Lâm Quang Đông for transferring me his specialized knowledge, his inspiring me the love in linguistics as well as his valuable suggestions, advice and correction throughout my study. I also take this opportunity to thank all my lecturers in the Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their interesting lectures, which have surely contributed to the foundation of my thesis. Finally, I would like to show my deep gratitude to my family for their support, encouragement and understanding, without which my theis would not have been accomplished. Hanoi, January, 2016 Ta Thi Thu Hang 2 ABSTRACT Song lyrics and rhymes serve as an important part of English teaching curricula in a variety of countries. Of all topics, songs about mother have drawn attraction of listeners and learners as they not only entertain people but also educate them in terms of linguistic knowledge and moral values. Until now, there has not been much research on mother image under the light of linguistics. These provide me with the motivation to carry out the research “Mother image in English and Vietnamese songs – A literary analysis using transitivity system in Systemic Functional Linguistics perspective”. The study is conducted to figure out the similarities and differences in the way mother image is represented in English and Vietnamese in view of systemic linguistic perspective. In other words, the study aims to give readers a brief description and analysis of mother image in English and Vietnamese songs. Within the framework of an M.A. thesis, the research cannot cover all aspects of mother image in English and Vietnamese; we therefore limit it to a manageable scope: analyzing mother image in songs in terms of transitivity system. Two principal methods employed in the study are descriptive and comparative analysis. Through descriptive method, six types of transitivity process in each language were identified. In fulfilling the focuses of the study, comparative method is applied to the identification of prominent features of mother image in English and Vietnamese songs. The paper also provides conclusions on the images to which mother is compared, and these images are closely associated with cultural and historical factors. Insights gained through this study lend themselves to suggestions for designing exercises based on songs for teaching English as well as linguistic theory. 3 CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1. SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL LINGUISTICS 1.1.1. Development of Systemic Functional Linguistics Systemic Functional Linguistics or Grammar, a grammar model developed by Michael Halliday in the 1960s, refers to a new approach to the study of grammar. Systemic linguistics deals with the way spoken and written language operating in different social situations. In particular, it is very useful in illustrating three points: the operation of text beyond the level of the sentence, the difference in structuring the text and the variable changes of the language to meet the purpose of the users. It takes on descriptive approach and focuses on groups of words that function to make meanings. In his book, An Introduction to Functional Grammar, Halliday (1994) points out that functional grammar is so-called because its conceptual framework is a functional one rather than a formal one. Such functions are identified in three distinct senses, in its interpretation of texts, of the system, and of the elements of linguistic structures. In the relation to the first aspect, functional grammar is involved in how the language is used. In other words, each text unfolds in a different usage of context. Regarding the second point, the fundamental components of meaning in language are functional components. Based on the analysis of Halliday, all languages possess two main types of meanings, the “ideational” (to understand the environment), and the “interpersonal” (to act on the others in it). The third meaning is formed by the combination of these two above, the “textual”. Three components are called metafunctions in the terminology of FG theory. In the third sense, each element in a language is 4 explained by reference to its function in the total linguistic system. Accordingly, “a functional grammar is one that construes all the units of a language– its clauses, phrases and so on. Specifically, each part is interpreted as functional with respect to the whole” (Halliday, 1994). Following the pioneering model initiated by Halliday, some of other linguists developed and gave informal explanation of functional grammar. Thompson (1996) describes the three metafunctions of functional grammar as follows. Firstly, we use language to talk about our experience of the world, including the world in our minds, to describe events, states and the entities involved in them. Secondly, we also use the language to interact with other people, to establish and maintain relation with them, to influence their behavior, to express our own viewpoint on things in the world, and to elicit or change theirs. Finally, in using language, we organize our messages in ways which indicate how they fit in with the other messages around them and with the wider context in which we are talking or writing. Similarly, Martin, Matthiessen and Painter (1997) define functional grammar as a way of looking at grammar in terms of how grammar is used. In the field of linguistics, formal grammar, which is an alternative to functional grammar, is concerned with the way our genes constrain the shape of our grammar, and thus constrain what a person can and cannot say. 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