A suggested model for experiential analysis in english and vietnamese texts and an application in news and editorials

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
UNIVERSITY OF DANANG

PHAN THI THUY TIEN

A SUGGESTED MODEL FOR EXPERIENTIAL ANALYSIS
IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE TEXTS
AND AN APPLICATION IN NEWS AND EDITORIALS

Subject area
Code

: THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

: 60.22.15

M.A. THESIS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
(A SUMMARY)

DANANG, 2010


The study has been completed at
the College of Foreign Languages, University of Danang

Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Phan Văn Hòa
Examiner 1: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ngô Đình Phương
Examiner 2: Dr. Trần Quang Hải

The thesis was orally defended at the Examining Committee
Time: January 15th, 2011

Venue: University of Danang

The origin of the thesis is accessible for the purpose of reference at:
- The College of Foreign Languages Library, University of Danang
- Information Resources Centre, University of Danang


CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. RATIONALE
Newspapers have become popular and necessary in our society. Along with the higher need
to read and understand what pieces of news and editorials on newspapers mean, people endeavor to
understand how and why they mean what they do. Many people even want to know how to evaluate
these articles: whether they are effective for their purposes or not, and to what extent they success.
“Whatever the ultimate goal that is envisaged, the actual analysis of a text in grammatical term is the
first step.” [15, xvi] “A discourse analysis that is not based on grammar is not an analysis at all, but
simply a running commentary on a text: either an appeal has to be made to some set of non-linguistic
conventions, or to some linguistic features that are trivial enough to be accessible without a grammar,
like the number of words per sentence (and even the objectivity of these is often illusory); or else the
exercise remains a private one in which one explanation is as good or as bad as another.” [15, xvi-xvii]
Thus, a news or editorial analysis should have a grammar at the base. The analysis may include
cohesion, theme, mood, information, etc. interpretation. In reality, people tend to approach pieces of
news and editorials to gain knowledge or experience of goings-on. Therefore, a news or editorial
analysis based on grammar first needs to interpret the organization of patterns of experience. This can
only be done on the background of an applied model of experiential text analysis.
Up to now, there have been some studies on the issue of experiential grammar in English
and Vietnamese such as [1], [2], [7], [8], [9], [14], [15], [19], [20], [23], [25], [26], [27], [31], [32],
[33], [34], [36], [38], [41], etc. The arising problem is that there has been no research on the
comparison and contrast between two languages at text level and a detailed experiential analysis in
news and editorials. Such a research may help understand the function of the journalism language in
expressing experience about the world: possible choices in semantics to represent patterns of

experience and the nature of their realization by available configurations. In addition, it can become
the background to the application in reading and writing pieces of news and editorials in English
and Vietnamese as well as translating the articles from English into Vietnamese and vice versa. As
a result, the research “A suggested model for experiential analysis in English and Vietnamese texts
and an application in news and editorials” is expected to carry out.
1.2. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
With an attempt to build a model of experiential analysis in texts and make an investigation
into experience in news and editorials, the fulfillment of the study brings a great significance.
- It provides a suggested theoretical frame to be applied in experiential text analysis and may
serve as the base for more researches into experiential grammar in English and Vietnamese at text
level.


- It contributes some suggestions to reading, writing, and translating pieces of news and
editorials.
1.3. SCOPE OF THE STUDY
To our acknowledgement, the 3 metafunctions are mapped on each other in a text. A perfect
text analysis should cover the 3 perspectives - ideational, interpersonal, and textual. However,
within the limited scope of this research, we focus only on a component of the ideational
metafunction, the experiential. The study will suggest a model for experiential analysis in English
and Vietnamese written texts and then apply this model in news and editorials. For convenience,
news and editorials are also taken for illustration in building the theoretical frame for experiential
analysis in texts. In addition, the sources of news and editorials come from some certain electronic
newspapers. The selected articles focus on social and political events-the most popular and
concerned issues.
1.4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The study tries to answer the following questions:
1.

How can the experience in English and Vietnamese texts be analyzed from FG’s

view?
2.

What are the differences and similarities of the experience world in English and

Vietnamese news and editorials?
3.

What implications does the study have for dealing with news and editorials?

1.6. ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY
The study is made well-organized with a framework including 6 chapters: Introduction,
Literature Review, Methods and Procedures, A suggested model for experiential analysis in English
and Vietnamese texts, Experiential analysis in English and Vietnamese news and editorials, and
Conclusion.


CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. REVIEW OF PRIOR RESEARCH
2.2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
2.2.1. Language, context, text, and metafunctional resonance
2.2.2. Modelling experience

HAVING
IDENTITY

HAVING

SYMBOLIZING

ATTRIBUTE

WORLD OF

EXISTING

SAYING

ABSTRACT RELATIONS

BEING
HAPPENING

THINKING

(BEING CREATED) PHYSICAL

WORLD OF

WORLD

DOING

CONSCIOUSNESS

SENSING

CREATING,

FEELING

CHANGING

DOING (TO) ,
SEEING

ACTING
BEHAVING

Figure 2.1: The grammar of experience: types of process in English [15, 108]

Doing
Types of process

Projecting
Being

Material
Behavioural
Mental
Verbal
Relational
Existential

Figure 2.2: The system of process types in Vietnamese

[41, 200]

2.2.3. Experiential elements: Process, Participant, and Circumstance

2.2.4. Types of process and associated kinds of Participant
2.2.5. Circumstantial elements
2.2.6. Summary of experiential elements in English and Vietnamese clauses
A summary of experiential elements in English and Vietnamese clauses is shown in Table
2.23 and Table 2.24. Note: mid.: middle, eff.: effective.


3. Agent

4. Beneficiary

5. Range

6. Extent

by

to, for

at, on

for, over,
across
in, at, on,
from
with, by,
like
through, for
in case of
with, beside

as, into
about
according to

12. Role
13. Matter
14. Angle

11.Accompaniment

9. Cause
10. Contingency

8. Manner

7. Location

2.Medium

1.Process

Ergative function

_

PROCESS

Typical preposition

Behaviour

Phenomenon

Behaver

Behavioural

duration (temporal),
distance (spatial)
time (temporal),
place (spatial)
means, quality,
comparison
reason, purpose, behalf
condition, concession, default
comitation, addition
guise, product

Range

Recipient,
Client

Actor (eff.)
Initiator

Actor (mid.)
Goal (eff.)

Material

Phenomenon
(‘like’)

Phenomenon
(‘please’)

Senser

Mental

Attribute

Beneficiary

Attributor

Carrier

Attributive

Identifier/
Value

Identifier/
Token
Assigner

Identified

Identifying

Existent

Existential

(adapted from [15, 166])

why? what for? who for?
under what conditions?
who/what with? who/ what else?
what as? what into?
what about?
who says?

how? what with? in what way? like what?

when? where?

how long? how far? how often?

Verbiage

Receiver

Sayer (eff.)

Sayer (mid.)
Target (eff.)

Verbal

Transitive function

Table 2.23: Summary of experiential elements in English


1. Quá trình

2. Dung môi

3. Tác nhân

4. Lợi thể

5. Cương vực

6. Phạm vi
7. Định vị
8. Phong cách
9. Nguyên nhân

10. Đồng hành

11. Vai diễn
12. Vấn ñề
13. Quan ñiểm

_

bởi

cho

qua

trong, suốt
ở, tại, lúc, từ
bằng, với, giống
vì, ñể, cho, trong
trường hợp, dù
với, cùng

như, thành
về
theo

Chức năng khiến tác

QUÁ TRÌNH

Giới từ ñiển hình

Ứng xử
Hiện tượng

Ứng thể

Hành vi

Hiện tượng

(‘like’)

Hiện tượng
(‘please’)

Cảm thể

Tinh thần

khoảng thời gian, khoảng cách, tần số
thời gian, ñịa ñiểm
phương tiện, phẩm chất, so sánh
lý do, mục ñích, thay mặt, ñiều kiện,
nhượng bộ
hướng tới tham thể, không hướng tới
tham thể, hướng tới quá trình
ñội lốt, sản phẩm

Cương vực

Tiếp thể
Khách thể

Hành thể
(tác ñộng)
Khởi thể

Hành thể
(trung tính)
Đích thể

(tác ñộng)

Vật chất

Thuộc tính

Tạo thuộc
tính thể

Đương thể

Định tính

Đồng nhất thể
/ Giá trị

Đồng nhất thể
/ Biểu hiện
Chỉ ñịnh thể

Bị ñồng nhất
thể

Đồng nhất

Hiện hữu
thể

Hiện hữu

như là cái gì? thành cái gì?
về cái gì?
theo quan ñiểm của ai?

bao lâu? bao xa? thường xuyên như thế nào?
khi nào? ỏ ñâu?
như thế nào? với cái gì? theo cách nào? giống cái gì?
tại sao? ñể làm gì? ñể cho ai?
trong/với ñiều kiện gì?
với ai/cái gì? còn ai/cái gì nữa

Ngôn thể

Tiếp ngôn thể

Phát ngôn thể
(tác ñộng)

Phát ngôn thể
(trung tính)
Đích ngôn thể
(tác ñộng)

Phát ngôn

Chức năng chuyển tác

Table 2.24: Summary of experiential elements in Vietnamese

CHAPTER 3: METHODS AND PROCEDURES

3.1. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
3.1.1. Aims
Within the scope of an M.A. thesis, the study is aimed at
•

establishing a model to be applied for experiential analysis in English and

Vietnamese texts
•

analyzing the realization of patterns of experience in English and Vietnamese news

and editorials
•

offering some suggestions for dealing with news and editorials upon a functional

grammatical view
3.1.2. Objectives
The study is expected to
•

identify and solve the issues relating to experiential analysis in texts

•

find out the differences and similarities of the experience world reflected in two

languages and in the two kinds of journalism texts
•

interpret the linguistic choices to represent experience in the two languages

3.2. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
In order to reach the aims and objectives discussed above, the study is designed in the
qualitative and quantitative approaches in contrastive analysis between the two languages and
between two kinds of texts.
One of the main duties of the research is to set up an applied model in experiential test
analysis. To fulfill this, the descriptive method is mainly used to summarize the experiential
grammar studied at clause level and then build a theoretical frame for experiential analysis in texts.
Specifically, the analytic description interprets the strong and unsuitable aspects of the
functionalists’ views. This serves as the base for the synthetic description to take the most
appropriate view for application.
After the establishment of the model, the study continues to make an experiential analysis
into English and Vietnamese news and editorials. The qualitative and quantitative text analysis
needs carrying out to explore the realization and frequency of experiential patterns. The qualitative
method is applied in specifying the features of experiential elements including Participants,
Processes and Circumstances as well as the characteristics of the experience world in the two kinds
of texts in the two languages. The quantitative method is used to calculate the proportion of the
experiential elements appeared in the collected data.


Since the study deals with the two languages and two kinds of journalism texts, news and
editorials, the comparative and contrastive analysis is chosen as the general method of the study. At
the very beginning, the theoretical background is supposed to be set in a parallel presentation in the
two languages. Then, the suggested model is built with an attempt to bring into possible application
in both English and Vietnamese. The method of comparative and contrastive analysis is also dealt
with in finding out the similarities and differences of the experience world reflected in English and

Vietnamese news and editorials.
3.3. DATA COLLECTION
The study is expected to make an exploration into another kind of texts – journalism texts
while previous studies on experiential grammar take interest in literature works. The sources of
news and editorials come from some certain famous electronic newspapers. This is due to the fact
that printed newspapers in native English are practically not available in Vietnam; moreover, more
and more people nowadays prefer to read newspapers on line. The selected articles focus on social
and political events-the most popular and concerned issues. To avoid the limitation of linguistic
comparison by means of translation, the articles, especially in Vietnamese, focus on the internal
events.
All of the examples and investigation data are in written texts and mostly taken from
collected articles in source of data. Besides, for a full theoretical description, in Chapter 2 some
examples are also cited from [14], [15], and [41]. News and editorials are chosen to analyze because
they both belong to journalism texts but have their own styles and forms. In Chapter 4, they serve as
a model kind of text for establishing the theoretical frame for experiential text analysis.
3.4. DATA ANALYSIS
An experiential analysis, which specifies the Participant, Process and Circumstance
elements, proves to be a hard task because it is necessary to always consider the background
criteria. Sometimes the delicate cases may require the view referring and taking. The analysis deals
with the overall text; i.e. it is carried out from the beginning to the end of the text. Moreover, an
analysis unit may consist of more than one level, and the hierarchic analysis continues to be done on
the next levels. Therefore, to guarantee the qualitative and quantitative reliability, 20 pieces of news
and 12 editorials in English and Vietnamese are chosen to analyze. The analysis undergoes through
3 stages as follows:
Stage 1: Experiential analysis. The news and editorials are first broken into units of
analysis following the suggested model in Chapter 4. Within each unit, the experiential elements
will be identified on the basis of the theoretical background and the theoretical frame set up in the
research. The complete analysis deals with the first to the last level.

Stage 2: Quantitative investigation. The frequency of each kind of the experiential
elements including 6 types of process, Participants associated with 6 processes, and 9 kinds of
Circumstances will be calculated. The results reflect the actual appearance of the experiential
elements; that is, the ellipsis or implication cases will not be counted.
Stage 3: Interpretation and comparison. The investigation results will give information
about 4 models of experience: in English news, in English editorials, in Vietnamese news, and in
Vietnamese editorials. The reasons for the realization of these experience models are expected to
explain. Then, the four models will be compared with one another and with the general model
suggested by Halliday to point out some features of the experience world.
3.5. RESEARCH PROCEDURES
In summary, the steps involved are
•

Summarizing the experiential grammar explored at clause level in English and

Vietnamese
•

Establishing a suggested model for experiential analysis at text level

•

Collecting and experientially analyzing the news and editorial following the

suggested model
•

Calculating the frequency of experiential elements in the collected data

•

Describing and analyzing the realization of experience in English and Vietnamese

news and editorials
•

Making a comparison to find out the similarities and differences of linguistic choices

to represent experience world


CHAPTER 4: A SUGGESTED MODEL FOR EXPERIENTIAL ANALYSIS IN ENGLISH
AND VIETNAMESE TEXTS
4.1. CIRCUMSTANCES IN TEXTS
As its name suggests, FG puts as center the function of language, on which the text analysis
based on FG needs to focus. When making an exproration into circumstantial elements in English
clause, Halliday [15] concludes that a Circumstance is typically realized by a prepositional phrase.
Concentrating on the language function, H.V.Vân [41] indicates that a Circumstance in Vietnamese
clause can place without a preposition, as shown in Examples (2.171), (2.174) and (2.179). On FG’s
disposition, in Transitivity analysis in texts, all what adds the circumstantial information should be
considered as Circumstance.
When carrying out the Transitivity analysis, many functionalists treat different clauses
separately, as shown in Table 4.1.
Table 4.1: Example of separate analysis with different clauses

(4.1)
Because

technology
Actor

is
advancing
Pro:
material

people
Actor

are able to

business

write

program

Pro:
material

Goal

faster
Manner:
Quality
[14, 329]

However, the dependent clauses should also be concerned in relation to the dominant
clauses, in which, as Thompson [31, 108-109] suggests, the subordinate clauses function as
Circumstances realized by Adjuncts. This way of analysis emphasizes the functional similarities

rather than the formal differences. Thus, the clause because technology is advancing in the example
above first needs to be analyzed as a Circumstance of Cause: Reason.
Up to this point, we can expand the theory of Circumstance in clauses (Section 2.2.5) to be
applied in text analysis that dependent clauses can function as circumstantial elements. Through a
deep investigation into this matter, we have found that in accordance with Hallidayan terms [14, 15,
& 16]; Circumstances can be realized by clause complex of hypotactic expansion, more specifically,
extension or enhancement in English.
With respect to D.Q.Ban’s terms [38, 39, & 40], Circumstances can be an Adjunct or
sentence complex of hypotaxis in Vietnamese. The term sentence or simple sentence in Vietnamese
by D.Q.Ban is corresponding to clause by H.V.Vân [41]; thus, the term sentence complex is similar
to clause complex in [41]. Actually, the boundary between a simple sentence with an Adjunct and a
sentence complex is not clear-cut in Vietnamese, as in Example 4.3, and has aroused a lot of
controversies among the linguists. D.Q.Ban has set up some rules to discriminate a component of a
sentence complex from an Adjunct [see 38, 299-300]. What should be noticed in this


characterization is the case of a dependent member with an elliptical Subject. In English, it is
similar to a non-finite clause which can also belong to a clause complex. Meanwhile, applied to
D.Q.Ban’s rules, it is an Adjunct, rather than a member of a sentence complex in Vietnamese.
However, within this thesis, the distinction is unnecessary because both can perform the same
function, Circumstance.
4.2. LEVELS OF ANALYSIS
An effective Transitivity interpretation needs to cover an analysis of all clauses, from the
beginning to the end, so it cannot be simply horizontally presented clause by clause. It should also
include the vertical or hierarchic analysis; that is, it should cover several levels of analysis. The
embedded or dependent clauses are considered at the first level as elements in the Transitivity
structure of the clause in which they are embedded, and at the later levels in their own Transitivity
structure.
We can take the following clause complex as an example:
(4.9)

“Whatever occurs, I think it is imperative that you do not overreact,” he said.

[55]

This example includes 3 process types: mental, verbal, and attributive relational. The third
process, at the first level, consists of a Circumstance of Concession and an intensive attributive
relational process. The next level analysis is the own Transitivity of the clause whatever occurs and
the Carrier that you do not overreact in which we have two more material processes. A detailed
analysis is shown in Table 4.4.
Table 4.4: Example of multi-level analysis in English
“Whatever

occurs,/

Cir:Concesstion
Actor
imperative

I

think

Senser

Pro:mental

/ it

is

Ca-

Pro:relational:attributive

Pro:material
that

you

Attribute

do not overreact,”//
-rrier

Actor

he

said.//

Sayer

Pro:verbal

Pro:material

Let us consider another multi-level analysis in Vietnamese.
(4.10)

Tuần qua, dư luận giật mình khi Bộ Tư pháp công bố hẳn một "danh sách” bao gồm 86

văn bản của 33 tỉnh thành bị Bộ Tư pháp khẳng ñịnh là trái luật.

[72]

This example includes 4 levels of experiential analysis shown in Figure 4.1. At the second
level, the adverbial clause of Time Location is interpreted into a verbal process. The analysis
continues going to the third level in the Transitivity of the Participant Verbiage composing of an
attributive relational. At the last level, the Carrier is analyzed into an identifying relational process.


Level
1
Level
2

Tuần qua,

dư
luận

giật mình

Cir:Location:Time

Senser

Pro:mental

một "danh
sách"

bao gồm

Level
3
Level
4

khi

86 văn bản của
33 tỉnh thành

Carrier
Identified/
Token

Pro:relational:
identifying:
intensive

một "danh sách” bao gồm
86 văn bản của 33 tỉnh
thành bị Bộ Tư pháp
khẳng ñịnh là trái luật.//
Cir:Location:Time

Bộ Tư

pháp

công bố
hẳn

Sayer

Pro:verbal

bị

Bộ Tư
pháp

Pro:-

Attributor

Verbiage

khẳng ñịnh
là
- relational:
attributive:
intensive

trái luật
Attribute

Identifier/

Value

Figure 4.1: Example of multi-level analysis in Vietnamese
4.3. UNIT OF ANALYSIS
When we get started with text experiential analysis, we will face the question how to divide
the text into pieces to which the analysis can be applied. With the opinion of dependent clauses as
Circumstances, the unit of analysis is then one above the clause. As suggested by Martin,
Matthiessen, and Painter, the possible analysis unit in a written text can be sentence, “beginning
with a capital letter and ending with a full stop” [23, 4]. In Hallidayan term, it is ‘clause complex’, a
complex of clauses with certain functional-semantic relations [14, 192-193]. However, with a deep
insight into the Transitivity in texts, we have found that the actual unit can be below the clause
complex. A unit of experiential analysis in texts is a segment of linguistic elements which together
form a Transitivity structure, at least at the first level. In accordance with Halliday’s definitions
[16], the possible unit of text experiential analysis is corresponding to a clause or a clause complex
of hypotactic expansion.
As specified, only this kind of clause complex is considered as a unit of experiential
analysis; therefore, other kinds will be divided into separate units.
With regards to clause complex of paratactic expansion, each clause forms a separate unit.
With respect to projection, quoting and reporting, in both English and Vietnamese, the projected
will be divided into units apart from the projecting clause, similarly to H.V.Vân’s view [41, 287304].
In comparison with the Vietnamese terms established by D.Q.Ban [38, 39 and 40], this unit
of analysis can be a sentence, a complex sentence or sentence complex of hypotaxis. The concept of
complex sentence here is in some way similar to the clause complex of hypotactic elaboration in
English. In regards to sentence complex of parataxis in Vietnamese, each of its member forms a unit
of analysis.


4.4. TROUBLESHOOTING
4.4.1. Circumstance or Participant
4.4.2. One or two processes

More than one lexical verb can be found in a single clause, as in tried to accept (cố gắng
chấp thuận), happened to assist (tình cờ giúp ñỡ) [14, 262-263], were forced to leave (bị buộc rời
khỏi), began asking (bắt ñầu hỏi) [23, 116]. Halliday, Martin, Matthiessen, and Painter consider
these verbal group complexes as single Process. According to Martin, Matthiessen, and Painter [23,
117], “the second verbal group is the relevant one for Process type”. Thus, tried to accept,
happened to assist, were forced to leave are material Processes, and began asking is verbal Process.
These simple clauses differ from cases where there are 2 clauses and therefore 2 distinct
processes and 2 analysis units such as he got up// and ( )turned on the light (anh ta thức dậy// và ()
bật ñèn) [23, 117] in which there is an ellipsis of the Actor. In the data of this study, the elliptical
Participant like this will not be counted. This case can also be interpreted as 2 processes and 2
analysis units in Vietnamese, as in:
(4.25)

Năm năm qua, bằng nhiều biện pháp nghiệp vụ, Phòng PC15 ñã lập nhiều chuyên án,//
phát hiện xử lý 147 vụ, 252 ñối tượng.//

[74]

A problem arouses when the first lexical verb has a mental or verbal meaning; for example,
she wanted to do it (cô ta muốn làm ñiều ñó). Halliday [14, 268] points out two different attitudes to
this verbal group complex. In the first camp, it is considered as a verbal group functioning as a
material Process, and the other treats it as a clause complex including 2 Processes: mental and
material. We have chosen to follow the second opinion, which is also supported by Martin,
Matthiessen, and Painter [23]. It is due to the fact that the choice of participant is restricted by the
lexical verb in the first verbal group; only a conscious entity can be construed as the major
participant [23, 117]. Here the relation between want and to do is one of projection. A projection of
do it, as in wants to do it, is a meaning, and thus does not imply ‘does it’. This case is different from
the verbal group of expansion as a single Process above, such as tries to do it or starts to do it,
which does imply ‘does it’. Besides, the wanting and the doing have distinct time references. We
can even say yesterday I wanted to do it tomorrow, but not yesterday I started to do it tomorrow.

[14, 266-267]
All such projections can be treated as clause complexes and divided into separate units. For
example,
(4.26)

he threatened (verbal)// to blow up the city (material)// = “I’ll blow up the city!”// he
threatened //

(4.27)

he promised (verbal)// to make her happy (relational)// = he promised//he would make her
happy//


(4.28)

he told them (verbal)// to help themselves (material)//

(4.29)

she wanted (mental)// him to go (material)//
[16, 460-463]
Here it should be noted that in Halliday’s interpretation, the object following a verbal

Process belongs to the projecting clause or the first analysis unit and functions as a Receiver
(Example 4.28). Meanwhile, the object after a mental Process is of the projected clause or the
second analysis unit (Example 4.29).
4.4.3. Material or relational
4.5. A MODEL ANALYSIS
The experiential analysis in a text starts with the division of analysis units following the

interpretation in Section 4.3. To ease the identification, we can first divide the text into the potential
analysis unit “beginning with a capital letter and ending with a full stop” [23, 4]. We call this as
‘potential’ unit because it can become an analysis unit itself or may be divided into some analysis
units. Then the categorization of this unit is carried out. If it is an English clause or clause complex
of hypotactic expansion in Halliday’s terms or else a Vietnamese sentence or complex sentence or
sentence complex of hypotaxis in D.Q.Ban’s terms, it forms an actual analysis unit. In case this unit
is an English clause complex of paratactic expansion or Vietnamese sentence complex of parataxis,
each of its member forms a separate unit. And if it has a projection, quoting and reporting, in both
English and Vietnamese, the projected will be divided into units apart from the projecting clause.
Here the special cases of projection noted in Section 4.4.2 should be also concerned. The next step
is the labeling of experiential elements based on the features and criteria set up by Halliday and
H.V.Vân summarized in Section 2.2.4 and 2.2.5 and the expanding theory of Circumstances in
Section 4.1. In the labeling, the Process is the obligatory and nuclear element attached with other
elements of Circumstances and Participants. At the first level, the embedded or dependent clauses
are labeled as elements in the Transitivity structure of the analysis unit. At the second level, they
then become the potential sub-units of analysis and we can deal with them as we handle the
potential analysis unit. The analysis continues in the same way to level n when there is no more
embedded or dependent clause within the sub-unit of analysis. An illustration for the general
procedures of experiential analysis in texts is presented in Figure 4.2.


Potential analysis unit
Analysis unit

Level 1

Circumstance

Participant

Process
Participant/Cir containing
embedded/dependent clause

Potential sub-unit of analysis
Sub-unit of analysis

Level 2/3/
…/n

Participant

Circumstance
Process

Participant/Cir containing
embedded/dependent clause

Figure 4.2: The general procedures of experiential analysis
Following the illustration in Figure 4.2, we have a detailed analysis of an English potential
unit showed in Figure 4.3 and another analysis of a Vietnamese one in Figure 4.4.


Potential analysis unit: The United States reiterated its refusal to deal with
Hamas despite the militant group's participation in the Palestinian election,
in which an early projection said it would win 30 per cent of the vote.
Analysis unit: The United States reiterated its refusal to deal with Hamas
despite the militant group's participation in the Palestinian election, in
which an early projection said it would win 30 per cent of the vote.//

Sayer: The United States

Level
Verbal Pro: reiterated

1
Verbiage: its refusal
to deal with Hamas

Potential sub-unit of analysis

Concession Cir: despite the
militant group's participation in
the Palestinian election, in which
an early projection said it would
win 30 per cent of the vote

Potential sub-unit of analysis

Sub-unit of analysis: to
deal with Hamas

Sub-unit of analysis: an
early projection said/

Relational Pro:
to deal with

Sayer: an early
projection

Level
2

Identifier:
Hamas

Verbal Pro:
said

Sub-unit of analysis: it would
win 30 per cent of the vote/

Actor: it

Material Pro:
would win
Goal: 30 per cent
of the vote

Figure 4.3: A detailed analysis of a potential analysis unit in English


Potential analysis unit: Tại các cơ sở thờ tự mà ñoàn ñến thăm, sau khi ân cần thăm hỏi tình hình ñời
sống và việc chuẩn bị Tết của Phật tử ñịa phương, ông Lê Hữu Lộc chúc các chức sắc và tín ñồ Phật
giáo bước vào năm mới gặt hái ñược nhiều thành tựu mới trên con ñường tu học, hoạt ñộng Phật sự.
Analysis unit: Tại các cơ sở thờ tự mà ñoàn ñến thăm,
sau khi ân cần thăm hỏi tình hình ñời sống và việc chuẩn
bị Tết của Phật tử ñịa phương, ông Lê Hữu Lộc chúc các
chức sắc và tín ñồ Phật giáo//

Receiver: các chức sắc
và tín ñồ Phật giáo

Level
1

Sayer: ông
Lê Hữu Lộc

Time Cir: bước vào
năm mới

Verbal Pro:
chúc

Place Cir: Tại
các cơ sở thờ
tự mà ñoàn
ñến thăm

Analysis unit: bước vào năm mới gặt
hái ñược nhiều thành tựu mới trên con
ñường tu học, hoạt ñộng Phật sự.//

Time Cir: sau khi
ân cần thăm hỏi
tình hình ñời sống
và việc chuẩn bị Tết
của Phật tử ñịa

phương

Material Pro:
gặt hái ñược
chúc
Goal: nhiều
thành tựu mới

Time Cir: trên
con ñường tu
học, hoạt ñộng
Phật sự

Potential sub-unit of analysis

Potential sub-unit of analysis

Sub-unit of analysis: các cơ
sở thờ tự mà ñoàn ñến thăm

Sub-unit of analysis: ân cần thăm hỏi tình hình ñời
sống và việc chuẩn bị Tết của Phật tử ñịa phương

Level

Actor: ñoàn

2

Material Pro: ñến

Purpose Cir:
thăm các cơ sở thờ tự

Quality Cir: ân cần
Verbal Pro: thăm hỏi
Verbiage: tình hình ñời sống và việc
chuẩn bị Tết của Phật tử ñịa phương

Potential sub-unit of analysis
Sub-unit of analysis: thăm các cơ sở thờ tự

Level
3

Material Pro: thăm
Range: các cơ sở thờ tự
Figure 4.4: A detailed analysis of a potential analysis unit in Vietnamese


CHAPTER 5: EXPERIENTIAL ANALYSIS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE NEWS
AND EDITORIALS
5.1. RESULTS OF THE EXPERIENTIAL ANALYSIS
5.1.1. Results of the investigation into processes
5.1.2. Results of the investigation into Participants
5.1.3. Results of the investigation into Circumstances
5.1.4. Conclusion
From the result, we easily find out that in English and Vietnamese news and editorials, the
material process is most used to express experience. The second most frequent configuration for
conveying experience is relational process, and the next rank belongs to the verbal and the mental.
Meanwhile, the existential and the behavioural rarely appear. Unlike those in English, some

Vietnamese relational processes may come without the corresponding Process elements. Logically,
the Participants in material and relational processes are the most popular kinds of Participants, and
the least frequent are those in existential and behavioural processes. As regards Circumstances, the
most frequent are the Location then the Manner and the Cause. Meanwhile, the Role and the Angle
are seldom found.
5.2. THE WORLD OF EXPERIENCE IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE NEWS AND
EDITORIALS
5.2.1. Diagrams of experience world
5.2.2. Summary of the results of the experiential analysis
Table 5.32: Summary of the results of the surveys on processes
process

Vietnamese

English

Vietnamese

news

editorials

editorials

English news

1

material

43.54

59.92

44.56

55.58

2

behavioural

1.59

0.81

0.82

1.59

3

mental

8.45

5.26

5.43

5.18

4

verbal

19.62

14.58

10.87

4.98

5

relational

25.52

18.22

36.96

29.28

6

existential

1.28

1.21

1.36

3.39

100

100

100

100

Total (%)


Table 5.33: Summary of the results of the surveys on Circumstances
Circumstance

Vietnamese

English

Vietnamese

news

editorials

editorials

English news

1 Extent

5.41

10.28

6.73

7.41

2 Location

45.67

38.28

37.00

29.91

3 Manner

14.50

20.57

19.26

25.64

4 Cause

13.64

14.86

19.88

15.38

5 Contingency

6.06

2.29

6.73

5.41

6 Accompaniment

5.84

6.29

3.98

6.84

7 Role

1.95

0.57

1.22

0.29

8 Matter

5.63

4.00

3.98

6.84

9 Angle

1.30

2.86

1.22

2.28

100

100

100

100

Total (%)

5.2.3. Features of experience world in English and Vietnamese news and editorials
5.2.3.1. Common features
The experience world in English and Vietnamese news and editorials is the physical world
and the world of abstract relations. It is mainly constructed by the material processes with the
actions of doing, creating, and changing as well as the happenings. The relational processes have
the second greatest potential to express experience with the effect of connecting the relationships
among the entities or between a thing and its attribute. Moreover, patterns of experience obviously
have certain relations, so perfect news reports or editorials need to reveal these relations.
According to Halliday [15], the mental process is one of the main processes together with
the material and the relational. The other 3 including the verbal, the behavioural, and the existential
are the intermediate processes and less often appear. His opinion is completely right to the cases of
material, relational, behavioural, and existential processes in the data. In case of the mental, the
results of the surveys seem to be contrary to his view. Actually, the mental process is a main
configuration to represent experience, like what Halliday describes. However, within this study, we

have chosen to analyze news and editorials only, so the findings just reflect the features of
journalism texts. In these texts, what is concerned is the external world rather than the internal
world of people, in which the other kinds of texts appreciating the ego, literary ones for example,
may take interest. It is necessary to keep the journalism texts objective and reliable. Meanwhile, the
mental process appears to express the writer’s comment or evaluation although in the texts it is
maybe pointed out as the thinking or feeling of someone else, except for the projected mental.


Whereas a mental process is subjective, a verbal one proves to be objective and useful in
news and editorials. It serves to specify the journalist’ sources as comments or sayings by famous
people. Furthermore, it brings the readers the feeling that the writer is an eye-witness who by some
way masters all the sequence of the events. This helps increase the reliance of the given experience.
The circumstantial elements also play an important role in constituting the experience
world in English and Vietnamese news. In the surveys, the number of Circumstances is not much
smaller than that of Processes. Actually, the Circumstances are optional but very useful and
important in making a representation of experience. They can sometimes make the texts less
monotonous. Among the Circumstances, the Location representing the Time or the Place of the
events is the most active constituent. It is possible to say that this element can not lack in journalism
texts. A possible explanation is that the Location contributes to provide the readers with the
complete picture of experience. Besides, obviously the information about an affair with the specific
Location may indicate the context of the affair and is more trustful.
While the Location can not be ignored, the Angle and the Role seem to be unnoticeable
elements. This may be interpreted that English and Vietnamese people prefer to use a verbal process
to infer a circumstantial Angle and a relational process to replace a Role. The choice of a Process
over a Circumstance seems create positive effects in emphasizing the background information of an
affair. Since a Process is compulsory, people may pay more attention to it.
5.2.3.2. Distinctive features
The experience world in news and editorials has a difference in the proportion of the
components. Clearly the percentage of the relational process in editorials surpasses that in news. It
is due to the effect of this kind of process; the relational is productive to connect parts of experience

to come to an evaluation or comment. In respect of the circumstantial elements, the rate of the
Location in news is higher than that in editorials. Often the events in editorials are well-known, so
their Location can be sometimes not mentioned. The Manner and the Cause appear more in
editorials than in news. These circumstantial elements also help give the writer’s judgement and
assessment. All these differences are due to the features of each kind of journalism texts. While
news only puts the real reflection of the affairs as center, editorials also cover the bias of the writers
on the events.
Another gap due to the difference in the 2 languages can be specified that a process
configuration of Vietnamese may sometimes go without a Process, but in English we have never
found such a case.
Moreover, the unbalance in the choices of material process over other process types in
Vietnamese is much bigger than that in English while the rate of relational and verbal in
Vietnamese is less than that in English. It is possibly explained that to Vietnamese people, the


information about actions is the most noteworthy and reliable. Seemingly the Vietnamese are so
simple; they prefer a quick and easy understanding. The readers do not often expect to interpet
certain relations or some locution of a famous gentleman to master the information. Meanwhile,
English peope also share their most concern to sayings and relationships. Due to the readers’
anticipation, the writer often drops some relational or verbal hints to be pored over. In addition, in
Vietnamese editorials, the proportion of verbal processes is a bit less than that of mental ones. A
possible interpretation can be specified that Vietnamese editorials tend to be developed in a close
direction. They often give clear judgements of the writers on the actions, behaviours, or sayings,
etc. On the contrary, verbal processes are chosen much more frequently than mental ones in English
editorials because English people seem to prefer an open direction. They may sometimes put
forward some actions or locutions and let the readers think in their own ways. These differences
result from the distinction between English and Vietnamese styles.
5.2.4. Summary
In sum, the experience world in English and Vietnamese news and editorials much differs
from the general model of experience figured by the functionalists. It is the external world, the

physical and relational world, rather than the spiritual one. The four models of experience world in
English news, Vietnamese news, English editorials, and Vietnamese editorials are all constituted by
six process types, among which the material and relational are the two most important components.
Attached with these six processes are the circumstantial elements with the most energetic operation
of the Location. The differences among the four experience models or the linguistic choices to
represent experience depend on each language, the styles of different peoples, and the kinds of
texts.


CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION
6.1. CONCLUSIONS
•

The experiential analysis emphasizes the functional similarities rather than the formal

differences, so dependent clauses can function as circumstantial elements in texts. In accordance
with Hallidayan terms, clause complex of hypotactic expansion, more specifically, extension or
enhancement in English can play the role of Circumstance. With respect to D.Q.Ban’s terms,
Circumstance in Vietnamese can be an Adjunct or sentence complex of hypotaxis.
•

A perfect experiential text analysis should cover several levels. The embedded or

dependent clauses are considered at the first level as elements in the Transitivity structure of the
clause in which they are embedded, and at the later levels in their own Transitivity structure.
•

The unit of experiential analysis in texts is one above the clause. It is a segment of

linguistic elements which together form a Transitivity structure, at least at the first level. This unit

is corresponding to a clause or a clause complex of hypotactic expansion in English. In Vietnamese
terms established by D.Q.Ban, this unit of analysis can be a sentence, a complex sentence or
sentence complex of hypotaxis. Other kinds will be divided into separate units. With regards to
clause complex of paratactic expansion in English and sentence complex of parataxis in
Vietnamese, each member forms a separate unit. With respect to projection, quoting and reporting,
in both English and Vietnamese, the projected will be divided into units apart from the projecting
clause.
•

The discrimination between Circumstance versus Participant and material versus

relational is sometimes vague or difficult to identify. The possible choice of Theme can function as
a criterion to discriminate the borderline between Circumstance and Participant. Some verbs can
serve in material and relational processes, so the identification needs to be based on the tenses (only
in English) and/or meaning.
•

The case of verbal groups such as tried to accept (cố gắng chấp thuận), were forced to

leave (bị buộc rời khỏi), began asking (bắt ñầu hỏi) is considered as a single Process. When the
first lexical verb has a mental or verbal meaning such as wanted to do, the group is then a clause
complex including 2 Processes: mental and material.
•

The experiential analysis first needs to divide the text into the potential analysis unit

“beginning with a capital letter and ending with a full stop”. Then is the categorization and division
of this unit into analysis units. The next step is the labeling of experiential elements. At the second
level, Participants and Circumstances containing the embedded or dependent clause then become
the potential sub-units of analysis and we can deal with them as we handle the potential analysis

unit. The analysis continues in the same way to level n when there is no more embedded or
dependent clause within the sub-unit of analysis.


•

The three experiential elements, Process, Participant, and Circumstance all appear in

English and Vietnamese news and editorials. The six process types and nine circumstantial kinds
are more or less found. Of the Participants, those in material process appear most frequently, and a
Behaviour in behavioural process as well as a Beneficiary in relational attributive process is entirely
not put into practice.
•

The four models of experience world in English news, Vietnamese news, English

editorials, and Vietnamese editorials are all constituted by six process types, among which the
material and relational are the two most decisive components. In comparison with the mental
process, a main process in theory, the verbal proves to be more prominent in the collected data. The
behavioural and the existential are the intermediate processes and take a small proportion.
•

In the surveys, the number of Circumstances is not much smaller than that of Processes.

The Circumstances actually play an important role in constructing the experiential world in English
and Vietnamese news and editorials. Among these, the Location is the most active constituent while
the Angle and the Role seem to be unnoticeable.
•

The experience world in English and Vietnamese news and editorials is not towards the

spiritual world but towards actions and locutions. It is the physical world and the world of abstract
relations, which is different from the general model of experience figured by the functionalsists.
•

Vietnamese language has a process configuration without a Process element, but

English does not have this feature. To Vietnamese people, the information about actions is the most
noteworthy and reliable while English peope also share their most concern to sayings and
relationships. As a result, the unbalance in the choices of material process over other process types
in Vietnamese is much bigger than that in English while the rate of relational and verbal in
Vietnamese is less than that in English. Besides, due to the differences in text type, the percentage
of the relational process in editorials surpasses that in news, and the Manner and the Cause appear
more in editorials than in news. In sum, the linguistic choices to represent experience depend on
each language, the styles of different peoples, and the kinds of texts.
6.2. IMPLICATIONS
This section aims to contribute a functional grammatical view from the experiential
metafunction on the tasks of reading, writing, and translating news and editorials.
Reading news and editorials is a quicker way to get knowledge about goings-on compared
with observing and interpreting oneself. However, because the reader only perceives and breaks the
linguistic codes instead of witnessing the experience picture, he may sometimes go in the wrong
way. To avoid this, the reader must consider the cultural and situational context in which the affair
happens. Then he does an analysis into experiential elements to perceive the encoded experiential
meaning. This process can be carried out with the reader’s explicit consciousness of functional roles


maybe under certain functional labels (Actor, for example) or without these labels (for example, he
just understands it is an entity that does something). The knowledge of functional labels helps
systematize the analysis process.
Writing news or editorials is in nature the process of representing experience by language. In

other words, it is the process of encoding the experiential meaning. This starts at the context in
which the writer forms the experience about an affair perhaps by observing, hearing, or watching,
etc. Then, he realizes its meaning through the suitable choice of a configuration in language: a
certain process. The important point of an effective piece of news is that it can genuinely reflect the
whole picture of an affair. This basically includes the things or people involved, their actions,
behaviours, sayings, sometimes ideas, and the relations among these with certain spatial and
temporal proximity. Therefore, a Location can not be ignored, and the material process with the
largest potential to express experience can be used most popularly. No matter what process occurs,
what should be concerned is the experiential meaning is clear enough. However, the choices of
different processes can create various effects and depend on the writer’s purposes.
Writing an editorial is a harder task in comparison with writing a piece of news because the
writer must represent the experience not only about the real world but also inside his mind through
an analysis, evaluation into the affair in the reality. Often the events in editorials are well-known, so
their Location can be sometimes not mentioned. Now that it is necessary to represent the opinion or
the bias of the writer, the relational process, the Cause, and the Manner are productive in editorials.
Translating news and editorials is not a direct work from a language to another; this process
has a transitive stage. Language is only the codes of the meaning, so the relation between two
languages is created through the real world of the goings-on. The process of translating goes from
the codes of a language to the reader’s mind in which they are referred to the world to become the
reader’s experience then to the target language under a different set of codes; simply translating is
the combination of reading and writing. Thus, to translate pieces of news and editorials in English
to Vietnamese and vice versa, the translator should first know the experiential meaning encoded in
the original language. From the experience formed in his mind, the translator represents it in the
target language. An effective translation in this case needs to remain the experiential meaning
maybe with or without the corresponding configurations.
In conclusion, FG makes text-dealers explicitly aware of the available choices in language to
have an informed decision about the options. It gives them the background to interpret all the
linguistic choices for experience representation in various contexts.
6.3. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
The study tries to build a suggested model for experiential analysis in written texts and

apply this only in English and Vietnamese news and editorials which have been collected in