A Systemic-Functional Analysis of English Language Learners' Writing

OLIVEIRA, Luciana C. DE

doi:10.1590/0102-4450364601799092306

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Articles • DELTA 31 (1) • Jan-Apr 2015 • https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-4450364601799092306 copy

A Systemic-Functional Analysis of English Language Learners' Writing

Uma Análise Sistêmico-Funcional de Redações de Aprendizes da Língua Inglesa

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

This article presents a systemic-functional linguistic analysis of two writing samples of the University of California Analytical Writing Placement (AWP) Examination written by English language learners (ELLs). The analysis shows the linguistic features utilized in the two writing samples, one that received a passing score and one that received a failing score. The article describes some of the grammatical resources which are functional for expository writing, which are divided under three main categories: textual, interpersonal, and ideational resources. Following this brief description is the analysis of both essays in terms of these resources.. The configuration of grammatical features used in the essays make up the detached style of essay 1 and the more personal style of essay 2. These grammatical features include the textual resources of thematic choices and development, clause-combining strategies (connectors), and lexical cohesion; interpersonal resources of interpersonal metaphors of modality; and ideational resources of nominalization and abstractions as ideational metaphors. Implications for educational practice and recommendations for educators based on the analysis are provided.

systemic-functional linguistic analysis; English language learners; expository writing

Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo - PUC-SP PUC-SP - LAEL, Rua Monte Alegre 984, 4B-02, São Paulo, SP 05014-001, Brasil, Tel.: +55 11 3670-8374 - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
E-mail: delta@pucsp.br

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Essay 1 Unmarked Themes	Essay 2 Unmarked Themes
It	Kluckhohn
One	these questions
Both	they
It	he
Children	he
The Americans	Kluckhohn
One	I
One	people
They	the way people feel
Such indiscreet action	they
The Vietnamese people	they
The women	they
The Vietnamese people	they
They	I
The differences between Vietnam and the United States in such areas as education, dress styles, and marriage	the school systems
Their different behaviors	I
They	I
A Vietnamese person	Chinese parents
He	They
	People
	Their attitudes toward things

THEME	RHEME
a. In a world where everyone has experienced "the same poignant life experiences, such as birth, helplessness, illness, old age, and death,"	it is incredible to think of the number of ways that peoples can go through these events in life.
b. It is most common	that their attitudes and responses are infl uenced by their environment and society.
c. As Clyde Kluckhohn had explained in "Mirror for Man",	the best explanation for any human action is the "concept of culture."
d. One	cannot clearly define ... of culture.
e. By comparing Vietnam and the United States, two very contrasting nations,	one can see ... in shaping people's lives.

THEME	RHEME
a'. Kluckhohn	explained ... different lifestyle.
b'. At first, he	brought up ... certain things.
c'.These questions	were served ... to the examples.
d'. They	also served as attraction ... another culture.
e'. Then he	went on ... in his examples.
f'. He	compared an American woman ... or tuna fish to that of a rattlesnake.
g'. Kluckhohn	has a strong ... human's culture.

Essay 1
Clause Complex	Clause Type
a. As Clyde Kluckhohn had explained in "Mirror for Man", the best explanation for any human action is the "concept of culture."	Hypotactic enhancement, primary clause Connector "as" - comparison (similarity)
b. One cannot clearly define this idea, but through the comparison of two different groups of people hopefully one can better understand the meaning of culture.	Primary clause, paratactic enhancement (causal-conditional clause - concession ^ consequence) Connector "but" - concessive
Essay 2
Clause Complex	Clause Type
a'. Kluckhohn explained the differences and similarities among the world's peoples by taking different life examples of different cultured people and campared them to another person who was raised up in a different lifestyle.	Primary clause with paratactic projection and embedding Connector "and" - addition
b'. At first, he brought up several questions, asking why certain people do or don't do certain things.	Primary clause with hypotactic enhancement (non-finite clause)
c'. These questions were served as guides, which led on to the examples.	Primary clause with hypotactic elaboration
d'. They also served as attraction to the readers who are curious about different people from another culture.	Primary clause with embedding
e'. People reacts to things differently because they were raised up in different environments with different cultures.	Primary clause with hypotactic enhancement (causal-conditional clause - cause: reason) Connector "because" - cause

1st paragraph
Lexical item and paragraph placement	Repeated lexical item and paragraph placement
...explanation for any human action is the "concept of culture." (3rd sentence)	understand the meaning of culture (4th sentence)
...explanation for any human action is the "concept of culture." (3rd sentence)	one can see the force behind the concept of culture in shaping people's lives. (5th sentence)
3rd paragraph
of different education methods (last sentence of 2nd paragraph)	people to be different in their dress styles. (1st sentence of 3rd paragraph)
One has to dress properly (4th sentence)	Americans have to dress so well to go to sleep (5th sentence)
Their two ways of thinking differ as a result of different education methods. (last sentence of 2nd paragraph)	The way that the Vietnamese and American people dress is very much determined by their ways of thinking. (last sentence of 3rd paragraph)

4th paragraph
Lexical item and paragraph placement	Repeated lexical item and paragraph placement
One can also see how culture causes people to be different in their dress styles (1st sentence of 3rd paragraph)	A very important factor which is infl uenced by culture is marriage (first sentence of 4th paragraph)
A very important factor which is infl uenced by culture is marriage (1st sentence of 4th paragraph)	play an important role in their children's marriage. (4th sentence of 4th paragraph)
The Vietnamese people place an emphasis on parents' approval (4th sentence of 4th paragraph)	and therefore the parents play an important role in their children's marriage (4thsentence of 4th paragraph)
Sometimes they go through this process without consulting their parents (8th sentence of 4th paragraph)	Very often, they would go to places like Reno to marry quickly and have no second thoughts about what their parents (9thsentence of 4th paragraph)
Their two ways of thinking differ as a result of different education methods. (last sentence of 2nd paragraph)	Again, the differences are results of different ways of thinking. (last sentence of 4th paragraph)

5th paragraph (Conclusion)
Lexical item and paragraph placement	Repeated lexical item and paragraph placement
Again, the differences are results of different ways of thinking. (last sentence of 4th paragraph)	The differences between Vietnam and the United States in such areas as education, dress styles, and marriage are results of the way they were raised. (1st sentence of 5th paragraph: conclusion)
By comparing Vietnam and the United States, two very contrasting nations (last sentence of 1st paragraph)	The differences between Vietnam and the United States in such areas as education, dress styles, and marriage are results of the way they were raised. (1st sentence of 5th paragraph: conclusion)
In terms of education, the similarities between the two countries are few. (1st sentence of 2nd paragraph)	The differences between Vietnam and the United States in such areas as education, dress styles, and marriage are results of the way they were raised. (1st sentence of 5th paragraph: conclusion)
One can also see how culture causes people to be different in their dress styles. (1st sentence of 3rd paragraph)	The differences between Vietnam and the United States in such areas as education, dress styles, and marriage are results of the way they were raised. (1st sentence of 5th paragraph: conclusion)
A very important factor which is infl uenced by culture is marriage. (1st sentence of 4th paragraph)	The differences between Vietnam and the United States in such areas as education, dress styles, and marriage are results of the way they were raised. (1st sentence of 5th paragraph: conclusion)
Their different behaviors can be traced back as early as their first education (3rd sentence of 5th paragraph: conclusion)	They are all born being the same, but because they are taught different sets of rules, their attitudes and responses to things in life are different. (4th sentence of 5th paragraph: conclusion) A Vietnamese person would not be so unless he behaves in certain ways. (5th sentence of 5th paragraph: conclusion)
He can become as American (last sentence of 5th paragraph: conclusion)	as an American by birth as long as he is educated like an American. (last sentence of 5th paragraph: conclusion)

Synonymy: Identity (of reference)	Lexical Item	Synonymous lexical item (identity - of reference)
... "the same poignant life experiences, such as birth, helplessness, illness, old age, and death,"	these events
the best explanation for any human action is the "concept of culture"	This idea
By comparing Vietnam and the United States, two very contrasting nations	In terms of education, the similarities between the two countries are few
Their two ways of thinking differ as a result of different education methods.	(These lexical items refer to the whole paragraph, which is describing these two ways of thinking.)
pyjamas is worn at night and to bed only	have to dress so well to go to sleep
some Americans go to the opposite extreme and not wear anything at all.	Such indiscreet action
They meet someone they like, fall in love, and get married	Sometimes they go through this process
Hyponymy (specificgeneral)	Lexical item	Cases of hyponymy (specific-general)
two very contrasting nations	By comparing Vietnam and the United States,
it is acceptable to wear clothes	similar to pyjamas out in the street
Meronymy (partwhole)	Lexical item	Cases of meronymy (part-whole)
By comparing Vietnam and the United States, two very contrasting nations	the comparison of two different groups of people hopefully one can better understand the meaning of culture.
with the lack of technology	use of machines

Repetition	Lexical item and paragraph placement	Repeated lexical item and paragraph placement
Kluckhohn explained the differences and similarities among the world's peoples (1st sentence of 1st paragraph)	Kluckhohn has a strong point in viewing human's culture (1st sentence of 2nd paragraph)
Kluckhohn explained the differences and similarities among the world's peoples by (1st sentence of 1st paragraph)	taking different life examples of different cultured people and campared them (1st sentence of 1st paragraph)
he brought up several questions	These questions were served as guides,
They also served as attraction to the readers who are curious about different people from another culture. (4th sentence of 1st paragraph)	Then he went on to compare people from different cultures in his examples. (5thsentence of 1st paragraph)
These questions were served as guides, which led on to the examples. (3rdsentence of 1st paragraph)	Then he went on to compare people from different cultures in his examples. (5th sentence of 1st paragraph)
Over in Hong Kong, students go to school for seven hours and then they would go home (2ndsentence of 3rd paragraph)	But yet, the students would accept the homeworks assignments (4th sentence of 3rd paragraph)
spend another seven or eight hours on homeworks. (2ndsentence of 3rd paragraph)	The school systems really forces you to study and do your homework to stay up with the rest of the class. (3rd sentence of 3rd paragraph) But yet, the students would accept the homeworks assignments without complaining because they are use to doing so much homeworks and taking the pressure (4th sentence of 3rd paragraph) But as for the United States, if the teacher would give a little more homework or even a quiz, the students would complain so much that you wouldn't believe. (5th sentence of 3rd paragraph)
Synonymy	Hyponymy (specific-general)
They feel different emotions because	they have felt this emotional happiness or sadness before.

1. Textual Resources	Thematic choices and development Clause-combining strategies (connectors) Lexical cohesion
2. Interpersonal resources	Interpersonal metaphors of modality
3. Ideational resources	Nominalization and abstractions as ideational metaphors