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Table 2.1 Transitivity: Process Types and Participants
Process types Participants
Example processes, participants
Material Actor A, Goal G,
Recipient R, Client C
Daniel A moved the table G
Joanna A gave me R a present G
They A threw Sean C a birthday party G
Mental Senser Se,
Phenomenon P
John Se saw the accident P
Behavioural Behaver B, Range Ra,
Phenomenon P
Peter B smiled
Jonathan B heaved a great sigh Ra
He B sniffed the glue P
Verbal Sayer S, Verbiage V,
Receiver R, Target T
Linda S said this wasn’t true V
Jim S told Mark R a rude joke V
Harry S complimented Anna T
Relational: 1 Attributive
2 Identifying Carrier C, Attribute A
Token T, Value V
Helen C is smart A
Catherine T is the smartest student V
Existential Existent E
There were many changes E
Meteorological - It is hot
Beside the types of process and the participants, the other semantic category in the system of transitivity is the circumstances. Circumstances answer questions such
as: when, where, why, how, how many and as what. They realise meanings about Time, Place, Manner, Cause, Accompaniment, Matter, and Role Gerot and Wignell,
1994:52-53. These circumstances are shown in the following example:
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Three semantic categories, which are Processes, participants, and circumstances in the system of transitivity have been described. The analysis on the system of
transitivity can be conducted on text which is the realisation of discourse.
2.5 Discourse
Discourse refers to the process of interaction. Thus, discourse is language use in the society. Fairclough 1995:7 states that discourse is use of language seen as a
form of social practice. As a language use in social practice, discourse has meanings and because it has meanings, that is what makes people able to communicate to each
other about a particular topic. So, it can be said that in the act of communication, there is always a process of interaction.
As a means of a process of interaction, discourse has purpose and function in society, that is to mean something and to do something. Hence, discourse constructs
the topic and governs the way that a topic can be meaningfully talked about. As Richardson 2007: 24 states, language is used to mean something and to do
something and that this ‘meaning and doing’ is linked to the context of its usage. Two weeks ago Circ:time the seventh-grade students held a
Halloween costume party for fun Circ:cause in the school hall Circ:place. The school principal, who came with his wife
Circ:accompaniment, was dressed as Dracula Circ:role. He walked up to the stage Circ:place rigidly Circ:manner, and
then sang a song about ghosts Circ:matter.
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Thus, a text can be interpreted as what the speaker or writer is doing through discourse.
What the speaker or writer is doing through discourse is influenced by social power exercised by a dominant group over the actions and minds of another group.
Such power limits their freedom, and influences their knowledge, attitudes, ideologies and speech Van Dijk, 1996:86. Therefore, it is necessary to refer to
Critical Discourse Analysis which focuses on relations between discourse, power, dominance and social inequality.
2.6 Critical Discourse Analysis
Critical Discourse Analysis CDA is a theory and method analysing the way that individuals and institutions use language. It focuses on relations between
discorse, power, dominance and social inequality and how discourse reproduces and maintains these relations of dominance and inequality van Dijk, 1993:249. Hence,
CDA does not only focus on linguistic aspects of the text but also focuses more on social issues which construct the text. As Fairclough 2001:26 puts it:
“CDA analyses texts and interactions, but it does not start from texts and interactions. It starts rather from social issues and problems, problems which
face people in their social lives, issues which are taken up within sociology, political science andor cultural studies.”
Due to its focus on sociocultural aspects of the text, Fairclough and Wodak
1997:271-280 summarize the main tenets of CDA as follows: First, CDA addresses social problems by examining the linguistic character of social and cultural processes
