Posted: April 13th, 2015

Analysis and interpretation of two related texts for interpersonal or textual meanings [systemic functional Linguistics]

Analysis and interpretation of two related texts for interpersonal or textual meanings [systemic functional Linguistics]

Order Description

Systemic Functional Linguistics
Assignment Two
Analysis and interpretation of two related texts for interpersonal or textual meanings Due 13 April 2015 (35% of the course grade)

This individual assignment is intended to help you to apply Halliday’s systemic functional linguistics (textual metafunction or interpersonal metafunction; ONE metafunction only) to two related texts, identify patterns in linguistic choices across the texts, compare and contrast the texts, and relate these linguistic patterns to their social contexts.

1. You will select two related texts that are each about 200 words in length. Related texts refer to texts that are similar to each other in some ways but different from each other in ONE major aspect. Employing Halliday’s discussion of the contextual variables of field, tenor and mode, two texts can be about the same topic (e.g., ‘the ozone layer’), are both written, but are addressed to two different kinds of audience. This pair of texts will count as related texts; they share field and mode but differ in tenor. Another kind of related texts is that two texts share field and tenor but differ in mode, e.g. an event is described in a letter to a friend, or spoken about in a telephone conversation with the same friend. Yet another kind is the different reports produced by different news agencies around the world on similar event(s). You may decide to analyze the texts that you worked on for the 1st assignment.

2. After you have selected the texts, you should then try to break them up into ranking clauses.
You should mark embedded clauses with [[ ]].

3. Analyse each ranking clause for its textual meanings or interpersonal meanings. Analysis of the interpersonal meaning should include MOOD types, Mood structure and Modality (if any). You may also want to analyse the texts for Appraisal. Analysis of the textual meaning should include Theme-Rheme, Marked Theme and Unmarked Theme, and specific types of multiple Themes (if any). The clause-by-clause analysis of the texts should be included as an appendix.

4. Once you are done with the analysis, you should collate and make sense of the findings.
Comment on the significant patterns you notice, compare and contrast the texts, and relate these linguistic patterns to the contexts in which the texts were produced and received. Butt et
al (2012), Francis & Kramer-Dahl (2004, in Applying English grammar: Functional and corpus approaches, edited by C. Coffin, A. Hewings & K. O’Halloran, London: Arnold),
Thompson (2014), Goatly (1999), or Eggins (2004) can be consulted for some sample analyses.

The written submission should have the following sections:

1. Introduction. This outlines the focus and justification of your study. (10%)

2. Review. Here you briefly review the concepts that you will use, such as Theme, Rheme, Mood structure, etc. (10%)

3. Your texts. Briefly describe your texts: their types and why you selected them. (10%)

4. Analysis and interpretation. What patterns can you identify in the texts and how do the texts compare with each other? And how do the linguistic features relate to the contexts of situation and contexts of culture surrounding the texts? You may want to present the findings in tables. (30%)

5. Conclusion. Here you summarize your findings and suggest implications for teaching or research. You may also list the limitations of your study and suggest areas for further research. (10%)

6. References. (5%)

7. Appendix. Attach your analysed texts and photocopy of the original texts (if applicable) here.
The accuracy of the analyses is assessed. (25%)
The paper, excluding the cover page, references, and appendix, should not exceed 2,500 words. Your write-up should be submitted to SafeAssignment. A hard copy should be submitted to the
lecturer. No late submission is permitted.

GROUP PROJECT GUIDELINES

A.    Project overview

Project work is to be done in groups based on the number of students in this class. The team is expected to work together and each member is expected to make a significant contribution to the project. This project is an important requirement in this course and is worth 30% of the total grade.

More specifically, the purpose of this project is to allow students to develop a deeper understanding on the balanced scorecard benefits and challenges in this region in today’s ever changing and turbulent business environment. This project will enrich students’ knowledge and experience on this very important topic by tackling various theoretical and empirical assumptions, ideas, and facts.

Each team will pick a real company or more of their choice where accessibility to data and to research is a must. These companies could be local or multinational. List of background information about the company and the target sample should be provided using the questionnaire shown below at the end of the project guidelines.

Each team should use the provided questionnaire to survey at least 50 staff (managers or non-managers) at different levels. The hard copy of these interviews/survey transcripts along with the contact details of these managers should be provided to the instructor in the submission day.

B.    Consider the following guidelines:

Formatting and Structuring
1.    The project report should contain the following sections: A clear introduction about the practical importance of the topic to managers and organizations in the UAE in general and your company in particular.
2.    A very recent and well cited literature review about the main components of your topic (The balanced Scorecard)
3.    As for the third section of your report, it includes the methodology part that in turn includes (Sampling, Data collection, Analysis techniques)
4.    Fourth section contains the results and the discussion of your findings
5.    Fifth section is all about your recommendations for the participated companies.
6.    Finally, the list of references (APA Style) and any other appendices.

While doing the project, you are kindly requested to care about the following criteria.
I.    Clarity of purpose. Is the topic/problem/issue clearly laid out? Why is the topic/problem/issue relevant for study?
II.    Thoroughness of research. Have the relevant sources of information been collected?
III.    Have the relevant sources of information been researched and referenced?
IV.    Style of presentation. Is the paper well written and persuasive? Does it effectively communicate its ideas to the reader?
V.    Grasp of the subject. Is the paper a mere rephrasing of the material from other sources or, does it demonstrate the team’s grasp of the subject?
VI.    References styling. The references should be in APA style. In addition, it is expected that the student uses the rule of (90:10:0) 90% research papers, 10% relevant text or references books, and 0% websites.

Length
The project should be typed (double-space), font size 12 times new roman and maximum of 2500 -5000 words. The project report should be clear and must provide an accurate reflection of the efforts put into the report.

Ethical Consideration
Each and every project must be plagiarism free. A proper citation must be in the body of the report and at the references list too. Therefore, the instructor will use the Turn-it-in software to trace any plagiarism.