VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES TRẦN HỒNG VÂN A STUDY ON PROJECTION AND ITS REALIZATION IN PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S SPEECH AT A CAMPAIGN EVENT IN LAS VEGAS NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ PHÓNG CHIẾU VÀ SỰ THỂ HIỆN CỦA NÓ TRONG BÀI PHÁT BIỂU CỦA TỔNG THỐNG BARACK OBAMA TẠI CUỘC VẬN ĐỘNG TRANH CỬ Ở LAS VEGAS M. Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Linguistics Code: 60 22 15 Hanoi – 2013 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES TRẦN HỒNG VÂN A STUDY ON PROJECTION AND ITS REALIZATION IN PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S SPEECH AT A CAMPAIGN EVENT IN LAS VEGAS NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ PHÓNG CHIẾU VÀ SỰ THỂ HIỆN CỦA NÓ TRONG BÀI PHÁT BIỂU CỦA TỔNG THỐNG BARACK OBAMA TẠI CUỘC VẬN ĐỘNG TRANH CỬ Ở LAS VEGAS M.Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Linguistics Code: 60 22 15 Supervisor: Prof. Hoàng Văn Vân Hanoi - 2013 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION .iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv NOTATIONAL CONVENTIONS.
vi LIST OF TABLES. vii PART A: INTRODUCTION. Rationale of the study. Aim of the study.
Scope of the study. Methods of the study. Design of the study. An overview of systemic functional grammar.
Review of related studies. Three metafunctions of a language. The notion of clause complex and projection in SFG. The notion of clause complex in SFG.
Logico-semantic relation. The notion of projection in SFG. Level of projection. Mode of projection .15 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Speech function of projection. The chosen text. A register analysis of the text. The realization of projection in President Obama‟s Speech.
Suggestion for further study. IX v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com NOTATIONAL CONVENTIONS Boundary markers ||| : clause complex boundary || : clause boundary Types of dependency 1, 2, 3, …: Parataxis α, β, γ, …: Hypotaxis Logico-semantic relations Expansion: = : Elaboration + : Extension x : Enhancement Projection: “ : Locution „ : Idea Others 1st, 2nd, 3rd, …: number of clause complex in the text (1), (2), (3), …: number of clause in the text vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1 : Relation between clauses in clause complexes 13 Table 2 : Projection of propositions and proposals 16 Table 3 : Positions of projecting clauses 17 Table 4 : Verbs used in projecting clauses 17 Table 5 : Quoting and paratactic reporting 18 Table 6 : Paired verbs of the like type and the please type 20 Table 7 : Verbs serving in hypotactic projection 21 Table 8 : Projection nouns and fact nouns 22 Table 9 : The realization of projection in President Obama‟s Speech 29 Table 10 : Meaning of the reported statements in the projection of idea 30 Table 11 : Meaning of the reported statements in the projection of 35 locution vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale of the study Language is the central study of linguistics. It is a system of communication that is made of speech or writing.
It emphasizes the “arrangement of sounds or written representation into larger units, e. morphemes, words, sentences, utterances” (Richards et al. This arrangement is known as grammar. Crystal (2004) emphasizes the importance of grammar in a language.
It is as important as the skeleton, the heartbeat, the nervous system and the intelligence of a language, because without grammar, there can be no meaningful or effective communication (Crystal, 2004). Grammar is the foundation for people to express themselves. If people can understand the way grammar works, they are sure to be able to use a language effectively. Hence, grammar is not only important for teachers or students, but it has a particular significance for anyone who wants to master a language (Crystal, 2004).
Knowing the importance of grammar, many scholars are engrossed in studying it. The linguistics history has seen many trends of grammar with their advantages and disadvantages such as traditional grammar, universal grammar and generative grammar by Noam Chomsky and his followers. However, the most popular trend of grammar is functional grammar that is developed by Halliday and some other linguists such as Hassan, Morley, Bloor, etc. While other trends of grammar focuses on the rules of wordings, functional grammar is concerned with the meaning and functions of a language.
In Vietnam, functional grammar is studied by such grammarians as Cao Xuân Hạo (1991) with Tiếng Việt: Sơ thảo Ngữ pháp chức năng and Hoàng Văn Vân (2005) with Ngữ pháp kinh nghiệm của cú tiếng Việt: Mô tả theo quan điểm chức năng hệ thống. In Faculty of Postgraduate Studies, students have a chance to take an approach to functional grammar to discover new features of this innovative trend of grammar. For the author, what attracts her the most is projection. That is the reason why she chooses to analyze the realization of projection in a speech by President 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
It is expected that the analysis of projection will reveal the underlying meaning of the President‟s speech. Aim of the study The aim of the study is to explore how different types of projection are realized in President Obama‟s speech at a Campaign Event in Las Vegas. In order to achieve this aim, an overview of the key concepts of functional grammar relevant to the study is in need of exploration to provide the theoretical framework for the analysis. Research question With such an aim as mentioned, the following question is raised for exploration: How are projections realized in President Obama’s speech at a Campaign Event in Las Vegas? 4.
Scope of the study In order to make the most convenience for the author, the study only focuses on exploring one of the two subtypes of logico-semantic relations between clauses: projection. The text chosen for analysis is President Obama‟s speech at a Campaign Event in Las Vegas on October 24th, 2011. Methods of the study This study uses two main methods: descriptive method and analytical method. The descriptive method is used to re-examine the basic notions of systemic functional grammar and, in particular, the notion of projection in the clause complex.
The analytical method, on the other hand, is employed to analyze President Obama‟s speech to reveal the different logico-semantic meanings of the text. Design of the study The study is divided into 3 parts: Part A – Introduction – presents the rationale, the aim, the research questions, the scope, the methods and the design of the study. 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Part B – Development – consists of 2 chapters. Chapter 1 – Theoretical background presents the overview of systemic functional grammar and the notions of clause complex and projection.
Chapter 2, the main chapter of the thesis, explores the realization of projections in President Barack Obama‟s speech at a Campaign Event in Las Vegas. Part C – Conclusion – recapitulates the results of the study. In this part, the author reviews such concepts as systemic functional grammar, metafunctions of language, clause complex and two logico-semantic relations in clause complex. More importantly, the analysis of President Obama‟s speech in terms of projection is summarized in part C.
This last part also makes some implications for teaching and learning English and some suggestions for further study. 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1. Introduction In the first chapter of the study, the author attempts to present some concepts of systemic functional grammar including three metafunctions of a language and to review some related studies. The main content of this chapter is the notion of clause complex and projection.
In the clause complex, the logico-semantic relations between clauses are focused because one of the two logico-semantic relations, projection, is the main interest of the study. An overview of systemic functional grammar Language is an important tool in our life. We use it not only to make ourselves understood but also to maintain a relationship with other people in our society. Grammar is part of a language.
According to Matthiessen & Halliday (1997), grammar is “the system of wordings of a language”. However, the interpretation of how a language is worded depends on different theories of grammar. In linguistics history, there have been many trends of grammar, most of which began with European languages such as Greeks, Romans or Latin. These grammar trends are mainly based on the two theoretical perspectives.
Those who are in favor of the first viewpoint consider language “a set of rules” and grammar is a structure to specify those rules. From this perspective, it is important to define which parts of a sentence function as Subject, Predicate, Object or Adverbial. This kind of grammar is often taught at school because it is suitable for young students to study a language. Despite its comprehensibility, it is isolated from its meaning.
Besides that, it does not convey the whole “grammatical system of language” but just “a fragment of grammar”. On the other hand, because it is originated from European languages, it focuses on describing these languages. Hence, it is difficult to apply this grammar to non-European languages such as Chinese, Japanese or Vietnamese (Matthiessen & Halliday, 1997). In that context, it is required that there 4 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com should be another kind of language that is more meaningful and can be applicable in a wider range.
Systemic functional grammar (SFG) has found the answer to this demand. This kind of grammar is an outstanding representative for the second perspective of grammar and was originally developed by Halliday. In this concept, it is necessary to understand what it means by “systemic” and “functional”. “Systemic theory gets its name from the fact that the grammar of language is represented in the form of system networks, not as an inventor of structures” (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 23).
This means that systemic grammar does not merely describe the structure of a language, but it is also a set of choices to make meaning. The term “functional” refers to Halliday's view that language is as it is because of what it has evolved to do. In a functional grammar, “a language is interpreted as a system of meanings, accompanied by forms through which the meanings can be realized” (Halliday, 1994). Functional grammar is not the ultimate goal of grammarians like what is expressed in traditional perspective; whereas, it is just a means to convey the meaning of a language.
All in all, Halliday (1994) defines SFG as “a network of systems, or interrelated sets of options for making meaning”. In his book, SFG is called “natural grammar in the sense that everything in it can be explained, ultimately, by reference to how language is used” (Halliday, 1994). Functional grammar can be considered one of the most successful trends of grammar as it is closer to people‟s communicative language. It not only mentions form and meaning of a language but also the relationship between them (Thompson, 1996: 6).
In functional grammar, there is no “right” or “wrong” in terms of structure like in traditional grammar, but functional grammarians only consider something “appropriate” or “inappropriate” to achieve high effectiveness in language (Eggins, 1994: 22). Review of related studies The founder of SFG is M.K Halliday (1994) with a famous book An Introduction to Functional Grammar. In this book, he explores the clause as 5 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com message, the clause as exchange and the clause as representation, which correspond to textual metafunction, interpersonal metafunction and ideational metafunction.