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. COMBINED PROGRAMME THESIS Major: English Linguistics Code: 60220201 Hanoi - 2016 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 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. COMBINED PROGRAMME THESIS Major: English Linguistics Code: 60220201 Supervisor: Assoc. Lâm Quang Đông Hanoi – 2016 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 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 i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc.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 ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 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. 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. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. iii LIST OF TABLES AND PICTURES. Aims and research questions.
Scope and significance of the study. Methodology and procedures. Procedures: data collection and analysis. 5 CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW.
SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL LINGUISTICS. APPLICATION OF TRANSITIVITY SYSTEM IN LITERARY ANALYSIS. DEFINITION OF “IMAGE”. 20 CHAPTER II: DATA ANALYSIS - TRANSITIVITY PATTERNS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE SONGS.
TRANSITIVITY PATTERNS IN ENGLISH SONGS. TRANSITIVITY PATTERNS IN VIETNAMESE SONGS. 25 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER III: DISCUSSION - A COMPARISON BETWEEN MOTHER IMAGES IN ENGLISH SONGS AND IN VIETNAMESE SONGS. SUGGESTIONS FOR DESIGNING EXERCISES.
LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES. V v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES AND PICTURES Page Table 1: Three lines of a meaning in a clause 10 Table 2: Process types, their meanings and characteristic 12 participants Table 3: Material process type 13 Table 4: Mental process type 14 Table 5: The principal types of relational process 15 Table 6: Behavioural process type 15 Table 7: Verbal process type 16 Table 8: Existential process type 17 Table 9: Participants functions 18 Table 10: Range functions 18 Table 11: Circumstantial elements 19 Table 12: Transitivity patterns in English songs 21 Table 13: Transitivity patterns in Vietnamese songs 25 Table 14: Comparison examples between English and 60 Vietnamese songs Picture 1: Difference in feeling expression between 64 Westerners and Easterners Picture 2: Difference in thought expression between 65 Westerners and Easterners Picture 3: Cultural thought patterns in inter-cultural education 65 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Rationale “Music gives you happiness and sadness But it also, also heals your soul” (From the song “Let the music heal your soul”) Music is a very colorful thread woven into the entire fabric of our life. Singing songs with melodic rhythm is a subtle way for people to share their happiness and sadness.
Moreover, music lyrics and rhymes serve as an important part of English teaching curricula in a variety of countries. As an obvious example, in Taiwan, songs and rhymes are expected to fulfill different purposes in elementary education, especially in English teaching (Teng, 2013). In a lot of well-known English textbooks such as Headway, New English File and Solutions which are in use in Vietnam, songs are used as a part of exercises. Another example is in the famous English teaching program ESL Podcast, music is often played at the beginning and the end of each audio.
For instance, to teach the vowel /i:/, instead of saying ““Today we are going to discuss about the way to pronounce /i:/”, a piece of music introduced: We are three Shall have some tea She will come 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com And so will he If by chance We see a bee We’ll say buzz off Don’t bother me (two – three – four – five – six – seven – eight) (Chorus) Fiddle de fiddle de Fiddle dee dee Fiddle de fiddle de Fiddle dee dee (Bee Movie script, 2007) According to Gardner (1983: 20), a Harvard psychologist, “music intelligence is equal in importance to logical mathematical intelligence, linguistic intelligence, spatial intelligence, bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, interpersonal intelligence and intrapersonal intelligence”. In linguistic area in Vietnam, the effectiveness of music in enhancing listening skill is also studied at Phuong Dong University by Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen, 2006 or by Nguyen Thi Quyet 2005 supplied learners with language knowledge of structures and meanings in English and Vietnamese nursery rhymes. 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 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 language knowledge and moral values. Until now, there has not been much research on mother image under the light of linguistics.
All reasons mentioned above motivate me to carry out the research “Mother image in English and Vietnamese songs – A literary analysis using transitivity system in Systemic Functional Linguistics perspective”. What should be carried out in the thesis will be an inquiry of both of the structure and meaning of mother image in order to find out the similarities and differences between them. We are hopeful that the study will make a humble contribution to providing an insight into the similarities and differences of English and Vietnamese mother image in the issues investigated. Aims and research questions 2.
Aims The study aims to: - Describe and analyze mother image in songs from systemic functional linguistics perspective. - Identify similarities and differences in linguistic means to depict mother image in English and Vietnamese songs. - Offer some suggestions for teaching and learning English through songs. Research questions In order to achieve these aims and objectives of the study, the following questions will be addressed: 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
How are mothers depicted in English and Vietnamese songs from the perspective of systemic functional linguistics? 2. What are the linguistic means to express such meanings? 3. Scope and significance of the study 3. Scope Within the framework of an M.
thesis, the research cannot cover all aspects of mother image in English and Vietnamese songs; therefore, we limit it to manageable scope: analyzing mother image in terms of transitivity system, and at the same time mentioning some figures of meanings or stylistic devices in depicting mother image. Significance By investigating representational meaning of mother image in English and Vietnamese, this study, to some extent, could provide an aspect of linguistic features of mother image in English and Vietnamese under the light of systemic functional linguistics (SFL). In addition, it could be a valuable source for foreign language learners to enhance knowledge of language and music. To some extent, the results of the study can reveal the cultural similarities and differences between English-speaking countries of the inner circle (in the book English as an international language: perspectives and pedagogical issues, 2009, inner circle refers to countries in which English is primary language) and Vietnam.
4 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Methodology and procedures 4. Methodology The study is conducted as an attempt to understand more about mother image from SFL perspective. At the same time, the thesis illustrates similarities and differences of mother image in English and Vietnamese song.
Therefore, the descriptive and comparative analysis is used as principal method in the study. The descriptive method aims at describing mother through transitivity system, and then synthesizes the result to find out the similarities and differences in the depiction of mother images in the two languages. In fulfilling the focuses of the study, the comparative method is applied to present prominent features of mother images in English and Vietnamese. Procedures: data collection and analysis The study deals with mother image in English and Vietnamese, so we have collected one hundred songs (50 songs for each type, 50 written in English and 50 in Vietnamese).
Then, we identify clauses and select one thousand clauses (500 clauses for songs in each language). Based on theory of transitivity system set by Halliday, we analyze clauses into six types of process: material, mental, relational, behavioral, verbal and existential process. In the paper, processes, participants and circumstances are analyzed to illustrate activities and emotions of the mother in each song. It applies three steps developed by Burton (1982) which are isolating the processes, determining which participants (who or what) is doing each process, determining what sort of processes they are, and which participants is engaged in which type of process, and verifying who or what is affected or 5 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.