Grammatical Intricacy And Lexical Density In Scientific And Narrative Texts
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.1. Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL)
In daily life, we use language to many functions, for instance talking to other
people, reading a book, and speaking in the front of the audience. To do those
activities, we need a language and should know its context of situation where we use
the language. An understanding about language that we are used either spoken or
written is analyzed by Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). Its main concern is the
function of language in the society.
Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) is an approach to linguistics that
considers language as a social semiotic system. It was developed by Michael
Halliday, who took the notion of system from his teacher, J. R. Firth. SFL places the
function of a language as central (what language does, and how it does). SFL is
successfully applied for analysis of texts of different genres and with different
purposes. It provides some universal tools for analyzing texts in order to identify
what makes a text and the kind of text it is, one of them is grammatical intricacy and
lexical density.
The word text is used in linguistics to refer to any passage, spoken or written.
A text both spoken and written has a context of situation and it concluded in SFL
perspective. A context of situation can be specified through use of the register
variables: field, tenor and mode. (Gerrot and Peter, 1994:11).
1.
Field refers to what is going on, including activity focus (nature of social
activity) and object focus (subject matter). So field specifies what’s going on
with reference to what.
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2.
Tenor refers to the social relationships between those taking part. These are
specifiable in terms of status or power (agent roles, peer or hierarchic
relations), affect (degree of like, dislike or neutrality) and contact (frequency,
duration and intimacy of social contact).
3.
Mode refers to how language is being used, whether the channel of
communication is spoken or written and language is being used as a mode of
action or reflection.
Knapp and Megan (2005:18) give examples about context of situation, they
are:
Table 1. Context of situation: casual, brief encounter between two friends in the
street
What (field/ideational meaning)
Who (tenor/interpersonal meaning)
How (mode/textual meaning)
Shared experiences/ inconsequential subject
matter
Roughly equal
Spoken, informal
Table 2. Context of situation: teacher job interview
What (field/ideational meaning)
Who (tenor/interpersonal meaning)
How (mode/textual meaning)
Educational (technical), questions preplanned
Unequal, interviews have more power
Spoken, formal
A situation where we use spoken language are typically interaction situation,
do not usually deliver monologues to ourselves, although we do often interact with
ourselves by imagining a respondent our markers. In most spoken situation is faceto-face contact with the interactant, and very typically using language to achieve
some ongoing social action.
Contrast this with a typical situation where we are using written language, for
example, writing an essay for university, it is not face to face, aural or visual contact
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with audience. SLF claims is much more than that: it is that this analysis of the
situation tells something significant about how language will be used.
There are some very obvious implications of the contrast between spoken and
written modes. Certain linguistic patterns correspond to different positions on the
mode continua. (Eggins, 2004:92).
Table 3. Mode: characteristics of spoken and written language situations
MODE: TYPICAL SITUATIONS OF LANGUAGE USE
SPOKEN DISCOURSE
WRITTEN TEXT
+ interactive
non-interactive
2 or more participants
one participant
+ face-to-face
not face-to-face
in the same place at the same time
on her own
+ language as action
not language as action
using language to accomplish some task
using language to reflect
+ spontaneous
not spontaneous
without rehearsing what is going to be said Planning, drafting and rewriting
+ casual
not casual
informal and everyday
formal and special occasions
Source: An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics 2nd Edition
(Eggins:2004)
Table 4. Characteristic features of spoken and written language
SPOKEN and WRITTEN LANGUAGE
the linguistics implication of MODE
SPOKEN LANGUAGE
WRITTEN LANGUAGE
turn-taking organization
monologic organization
context-dependent
context independent
dynamic structure
synoptic structure
-interactive staging
-rhetorical staging
-open-ended
-closed, finite
spontaneity phenomena
‘final draft’ (polished) indications of
(false starts, hesitations, interruptions, earlier drafts removed
overlap, incomplete clauses)
everyday lexis
‘prestige’ lexis
non-standard grammar
standard grammar
grammatical complexity
grammatical simplicity
lexically sparse
lexically dense
Source: An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics 2nd Edition
(Eggins:2004)
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From the tables above can be understand the difference mode of spoken and
written language and the grammatical intricacy and the lexical density refer to both
spoken and written language use. Eggins (2004:20) states that systematic functional
linguistic described as a functional-semantic approach to language which explores
both how people use language in different contexts, and how language is structured
for use as a semiotic system.
2.2. Grammatical Intricacy
Grammatical intricacy refers to the complexity of language in a text.
Francesconi (2014:55) states that grammatical intricacy regards the complexity of
language in terms of how many clauses are joined in a clause complex and intricacy
arises as a result of the ways in which clauses are strung together. According to
Eggins (2004:97) grammatical intricacy relates to the number of clauses per
sentence, and can be calculated by expressing the number of clauses in a text as a
proportion of the number of sentences in the text. To identify grammatical intricacy
used formula is:
Grammatical intricacy =
total number of clauses
(Eggins, 2004:97)
The grammatical intricacy shows how many clauses in a clause complex. The
clause complex, of course, is not limited to two clauses. In natural spoken discourse
clause complexes can extend to a dozen or so clauses and the relationship among the
clauses can be very complex mixtures of all. In a written language tend to use
relatively few clauses per sentence. A text is easy to understand if it has a low level
of grammatical intricacy because few clauses per sentence. On the contrary, if the
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text has high grammatical intricacy, it means the text is difficult to understand
because many clauses per sentence.
2.3. Lexical Density
In a writing language, the term of lexical density influence a text, it helps to
identify the level of words complexity. The term of lexical density is used in a text
analysis for describing the proportion of lexical items or content words (nouns,
verbs, adjectives, and adverbs) to the total number of words. (Johansson, 2008:65). It
also is necessary to distinguish grammatical words or function words (pronouns,
prepositions, conjunctions, auxiliary verbs, and some adverbs) from lexical items and
the differences between them. (Cindy and James, 2007; Halliday, 1985b in To,
2013:62). Halliday (1993:76) state that lexical density is a measure of the density of
information in any passage of a text, according to how tightly the lexical items
(content words) have been packed into the grammatical structure and the content
words are most important for explaining information. Bellow are examples of lexical
density. The lexical words are in bold type; lexical density count is given at the right:
(a) My father used to tell me about a singer in his village.
4
(b) A parallelogram is a four-sided figure with its opposite sides parallel.
6
(Halliday, 1993:76)
To identify lexical density used Ure’s formula is:
Lexical density =
number of lexical items x
%
(Ure in To, 2013:37)
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Regarding this measurement, if the number surpasses forty per cent, it
accounts for higher lexical density, otherwise of reading difficulty. Ure’s study
showed that the lexical density for the spoken texts was under 40% and for the
written texts 40% and over. In a text if the number of grammatical words are higher
than the number of lexical items, it makes the level of lexical density is low, so the
text is difficult to read and influence the understanding of the text.
A text in English with high lexical density is easy to understand. On the
contrary a text with low density is difficult to understand. According to Halliday
(2002:328) the written language version has a much higher lexical density; at the
same time, it has a much simpler sentential structure.
Table 5. Spoken and written language (Eggins, 2004:98)
Spoken Language
Written Language
Low lexical density
High lexical density
Few content carrying words as a
Many content carrying words as a
proportion of all words
proportion of all words
High grammatical intricacy
Low grammatical intricacy
Many clauses per sentence
Few clauses per sentence
Spoken
low lexical density
high grammatical intricacy
Written
high lexical density
low grammatical intricacy
To summarize, spoken discourse carry less or few content words than written
discourse whereas written discourse carries many content words or lexical items.
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2.4. Clause
In a grammar, a clause is the smallest grammatical unit that can express a
complete preposition. Clause is a group of words which forms a part of a sentence
and contains a subject and a predicate where the predicate is typically a verb phrase –
a verb together with any objects and other modifiers, for example “My sister plays
the oboe.” According to Knapp and Watkins (2005:45) the clause is the basic
grammatical unit in a sentence and a main clause is a clause that can stand alone as a
complete sentence. The number of clauses and the relationship between them in a
sentence is the basis for distinguishing types of sentences (simple, compound and
complex sentence).
2.4.1. Independent Clause
An independent clause is a clause that can stand on itself. It does not need to
be joined to any other clauses, because it contains all the information necessary to be
a complete sentence. The independent clause contains a subject and a predicate; it
makes sense by itself and therefore expresses a complete thought. For example, Jims
reads. “Jims” is the subject and “reads” is the action or verb.
a. Independent Clause: Non-Elliptical vs Elliptical
Ellipsis is the omission of a word or structural part of a sentence or clause.
The ellipted element is understood by the reader from textual context. Grammatical
ellipsis enables writers to achieve economy by avoiding having to repeat lexical and
structural elements than can be retrieved or understood by the reader by what has
preceded or what follows the ellipted element. For example:
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Non-Elliptical
Elliptical
Who is the best man?
Michael Jones (is the best man)
Are they having a reception?
Yes (they are having a reception)
Joanne’s mother began to cry
and (she) was handed a hanky
In the elliptical examples above, known that Michael Jones is the best man,
not the captain of the local cricket team, because ‘is the best man’ is recoverable
from the accompanying text.
2.4.2. Dependent Clause
A dependent clause is a clause cannot stand alone in that particular
environment, it does not express a complete thought. A dependent clause or a
subordinate clause is a clause that provides an independent clause with additional
information, but which cannot stand alone as a sentence. Some grammarians use the
term subordinate clause as a synonym for dependent clause. A dependent clause will
begin with a subordinate conjunction or a relative pronoun and will contain both a
subject and a verb. This combination of words will not form a complete sentence. It
will instead make a reader want additional information to finish the thought. Below
is a list of subordinate conjunctions and relative pronouns.
Table 6. Subordinate conjunctions
after
although
as
because
before
even if
even though
Subordinate Conjunctions
if
than
in order that
that
once
though
provided that
unless
rather than
until
since
when
so that
whenever
where
whereas
wherever
whether
while
why
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Table 7. Relative pronouns
Relative Pronouns
who
whose
whoever
whosever
whom
whomever
that
which
whichever
There are some different types of dependent clauses include noun clauses,
relative (adjectival) clauses, and adverbial clauses. (Knapp and Megan, 26:2005).
1. Noun clause
A noun clause consists of a subject and predicate that functions as a noun.
One of its most common functions is as the object of a verb, especially of a verb
asserting or mental activity. If such a verb is the in past tense, the verb in the
noun clause object takes past form also.
Example: That coffee grows in Brazil is well known to all.
2. Relative (adjectival) clauses
A clause that gives additional information about a noun or noun group is
known as an adjectival or relative clause, and is said to be ‘embedded’ as the
information it provides is embedded or located within the subject or object of
another clause. The generally begin with a relative pronoun such as who, which
or that.
Example: Subject: He paid the money to the man who had done the work.
Object: All playgrounds need rules that people should obey.
3. Adverbial clause
An adverbial clause is a subordinate or dependent clause that provides
optional information about time, place, condition, concession, reason, purpose
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and result to what is happening in the main clause. Adverbial clause consist of a
subject and predicate introduced by a subordinate conjunction like when,
although, because, if.
Example: Time: When children first arrive at school they need to know what to
do.
Concession: Although there are other parks nearby there are none
close to the shopping centre.
Reason: New traffic lights have been installed near the school because
of the heavy traffic flow.
a. Dependent Clauses: Embedded vs Non-Embedded
Embedding is a functional term used to describe ways of attaching additional
information to the subject or object of clauses. In formal terms, most embedded
clauses are adjectival or relative clauses. Another feature of embedded clauses is that
the clause is part of the structure of another clause and therefore does not have a
coordinating or subordinating relationship with the main clause. For example, in the
following sentence there is a main clause (in bold) that has a n embedded adjectival
clause post-modifying in the object (italics), followed by a dependent clause
(underlained).
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Remember not to disturb any flora or fauna that you may see as they are
protected by law.
The following provides a diagrammatical representation:
SENTENCE
MAIN CLAUSE
S
V
O
(You) Remember not to disturb any flora or fauna
EMBEDDED CLAUSE
S
V
that you may see
DEPENDENT CLAUSE
S
V
A
as they are protected by law
Figure 1. An example of embedding clause (Knapp and Watkins: 2005)
Embedding is also a mechanism whereby an element (in our case, a clause)
comes to function within the structure of a group, which itself is a constitution of a
clause.
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Non-embedded : It’s my own invention-to keep sandwiches in
Embedded :
I needed something ((to keep sandwiches in))
In the first example-to keep sandwiches in is not embedded. Instead, it is a
dependent clause, one which adds a kind of afterthought. In the second, ((to keep
sandwiches in)) is embedded, and therefore, does not function as a dependent clause
in its own right, but rather acts more like a word qualifying the meaning of
‘something’.
Non-embedded : The prisoner, who hid in the ticket, escaped.
Embedded :
The prisoner who hid in the ticket escaped, but his accomplice was
recaptured.
The first who hid in the ticket is not embedded; it is a dependent clause which
adds more information about the event under discussion. There are two pieces of
information in this clause complex: ‘The prisoner escaped’ and ‘said prisoner hid in
the ticket’. In the second clause complex who hid in the ticket is embedded. This
embedded bit serve to define which prisoner it was who hid in the ticket to
distinguish this prisoner from some other. In this example there are again two pieces
of information, but they are as follows: ‘The prisoner who hid in the ticket escaped,’
and ‘his accomplice was recaptures.’
2.4.3. Clause Complex
A sentence can be interpreted as a clause complex: a head clause together
with other clauses that modify it. A clause complex is two or more clauses logically
connected, or put another way, a clause complex is a sequence of processes which
are logically connected. According to Eggins (2004:255) clause complex is the term
systemicists use for the grammatical and semantic unit formed when two or more
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clauses are linked together in certain systematic and meaningful ways. When we
write clause complexes down, either from speech or composed in written language,
we generally show clause complex boundaries with full stops. More complex
sentences may contain multiple clauses. Gerot and Peter (1994:82) give an example
of a clause and a clause complex, as following:
“John invited the Wilsons to the party but they did not come which made John rather
indignant as he had thought he was doing them a favour.”
This text comprises one sentence, but five clauses:
John invited the Wilsons to the party
but they did not come
which made John rather indignant
as he had thought
he was doing them a favour.
These five clauses together comprise a clause complex.
2.5. Sentence
A sentence is a group of words which make a statement clearly (it may a
request, question, command, wishes or imperative) and it can be followed by a
period, question mark and imperative mark. It is marked in writing by beginning with
a capital letter and ending with a full stop. The sentence contains the subject,
predicate, object and complement. The subject of the sentence includes the noun or
pronoun that does the thing as shown by the verb. Manurung, 2007 (in Ramadani
2011) states that a sentence is a group of words that make sense to the reader or
hearer, contains both subject and predicate (verb) that expressed clearly or implied.
Sentences can also be classified based on their structure by Frank (1972):
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1. Simple sentence
A simple sentence, also called an independent clause, contains a subject and a
verb, and it expresses a complete thought. Takes form of:
a. A statement. Example: He lives in New York.
b. A question. Example: How old are you?
c. A request. Example: Please close the door.
d. An exclamation. Example: What a terrible temper she has!
2. Compound sentence
A compound sentence contains two or more sentences joined into one by:
a. Punctuation alone. Example: The weather was very bad; all classes were
canceled.
b. Punctuation and a conjunctive verb. Example: The weather was very bad;
therefore all classes were canceled.
c. A coordinate conjunction (and, or, but, yet, so, for). Example: The weather
was very bad, so all classes were canceled.
3. Complex sentence
A complex sentence contains one or more dependent (or subordinate)
clauses. A dependent clause contains a full subject and predicate beginning with
a word that attaches the clause to an independent clause (called the main clause).
A complex sentence always has a subordinator such as because, since, after ,
although, or when (and many others) or a relative pronoun such as that, who, or
which.
a. Adverbial clause. Example: I can see you when I finish my work.
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b. Adjective clause. Example: Here is a book which describes animals.
c. Noun clause. Example: That coffee grows in Brazil is well known to all.
Knapp and Watkins (2005:65) state that in a sentence there can be levels of
complexity within complex sentences. Within a dependent clause, for instance, there
can be another dependent clause. For example, in the following complex sentence
there is a main clause (in bold), a dependent clause in an adverbial relationship with
the main clause (in italics), and a dependent clause (underlined italics) in an
adverbial relationship with the first dependent clause.
If you want to survive the elements when you go hiking, you should
remember to bring along a drink, pocket knife, whistle, map, torch,
compass, blanket and food.
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This complex structure with the diagram below:
SENTENCE
MAIN CLAUSE
A
S
V
C
you should remember to bring along a drink, pocket knife etc.
DEPENDENT CLAUSE
S
V
O
A
If you want to survive the elements
DEPENDENT CLAUSE
S V
when you go hiking
Figure 2. An example of complex structure. (Knapp and Watkins: 2005)
4. Compound-complex sentence (complex-compound sentence)
A Compound-complex sentence contains two or more independent clauses and
one or more dependent clauses.
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Example: All classes were canceled because the weather was bad, and students
were told to listen to the radio to find out when classes would begin again.
2.6. Related Studies
Vinh To (2013) in his journal article entitled Lexical Density and Readability:
A Case Study of English Textbooks examines the lexical density and readability of
four texts from English text books known as Active Skill for Reading at elementary,
pre-intermediate, intermediate and upper-intermediate levels. Vinh To applies three
methods in determining lexical density and readability as proposed by Halliday, Ure,
and Flesch. Halliday’s method and Ure’s method used to measure lexical density
exploration in texts, while Flesch’s method is reading ease scale. The analysis
revealed that three of the four reading texts were of a high lexical density, apart from
the text for upper-intermediate level. There was little evidence of an increase of
lexical density and readability in accordance with the increase of text levels as well
as little indication relating to the connections between text levels, readability and
lexical density. This journal provides general understanding about lexical density and
its relationship to readability so it helps the writer in understanding method of
Halliday and Ure in lexical density and readability.
Liliek Soepriatmadji (2011) in his paper entitled Lexical Density dan
Grammatical Intricacy Materi Bacaan pada Buku Bahasa Inggris Kelas 6 SD
examines the lexical density (LD) and grammatical intricacy (GI) index of English
textbooks for sixth graders. The data of this study are all the texts of the text books
presumably being used by Semarang sixth graders. Pedagogically, the results imply
that the texts may easily be comprehended by Semarang sixth graders, although,
some of the reading texts are written in complex sentences. His paper can be
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understood that although a text is written in complex sentences but sometime the text
can be understood by the reader. Thus, from his paper the writer knows how to make
a conclusion about grammatical intricacy and lexical density in a text.
Victoria Johansson (2008) in his article entitled Lexical diversity and lexical
density in speech and writing: a development perspective compares two measures
that have been used to describe lexical development: lexical diversity and lexical
density. Lexical diversity is a measure of how many different words that are used in a
text, while lexical density provides a measure of the proportion of lexical items in the
text. This study focuses on developmental patterns in terms of the measures lexical
diversity and lexical density. He explains that he perceive a more noticeable
developmental trend for lexical diversity than for density. This suggests that lexical
diversity is a better measure to use for detecting differences between age groups and
there is an age factor involved in the increase of lexicon. This article helps the writer
in understanding between lexical diversity and lexical density in speech and writing.
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REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.1. Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL)
In daily life, we use language to many functions, for instance talking to other
people, reading a book, and speaking in the front of the audience. To do those
activities, we need a language and should know its context of situation where we use
the language. An understanding about language that we are used either spoken or
written is analyzed by Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). Its main concern is the
function of language in the society.
Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) is an approach to linguistics that
considers language as a social semiotic system. It was developed by Michael
Halliday, who took the notion of system from his teacher, J. R. Firth. SFL places the
function of a language as central (what language does, and how it does). SFL is
successfully applied for analysis of texts of different genres and with different
purposes. It provides some universal tools for analyzing texts in order to identify
what makes a text and the kind of text it is, one of them is grammatical intricacy and
lexical density.
The word text is used in linguistics to refer to any passage, spoken or written.
A text both spoken and written has a context of situation and it concluded in SFL
perspective. A context of situation can be specified through use of the register
variables: field, tenor and mode. (Gerrot and Peter, 1994:11).
1.
Field refers to what is going on, including activity focus (nature of social
activity) and object focus (subject matter). So field specifies what’s going on
with reference to what.
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2.
Tenor refers to the social relationships between those taking part. These are
specifiable in terms of status or power (agent roles, peer or hierarchic
relations), affect (degree of like, dislike or neutrality) and contact (frequency,
duration and intimacy of social contact).
3.
Mode refers to how language is being used, whether the channel of
communication is spoken or written and language is being used as a mode of
action or reflection.
Knapp and Megan (2005:18) give examples about context of situation, they
are:
Table 1. Context of situation: casual, brief encounter between two friends in the
street
What (field/ideational meaning)
Who (tenor/interpersonal meaning)
How (mode/textual meaning)
Shared experiences/ inconsequential subject
matter
Roughly equal
Spoken, informal
Table 2. Context of situation: teacher job interview
What (field/ideational meaning)
Who (tenor/interpersonal meaning)
How (mode/textual meaning)
Educational (technical), questions preplanned
Unequal, interviews have more power
Spoken, formal
A situation where we use spoken language are typically interaction situation,
do not usually deliver monologues to ourselves, although we do often interact with
ourselves by imagining a respondent our markers. In most spoken situation is faceto-face contact with the interactant, and very typically using language to achieve
some ongoing social action.
Contrast this with a typical situation where we are using written language, for
example, writing an essay for university, it is not face to face, aural or visual contact
10
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with audience. SLF claims is much more than that: it is that this analysis of the
situation tells something significant about how language will be used.
There are some very obvious implications of the contrast between spoken and
written modes. Certain linguistic patterns correspond to different positions on the
mode continua. (Eggins, 2004:92).
Table 3. Mode: characteristics of spoken and written language situations
MODE: TYPICAL SITUATIONS OF LANGUAGE USE
SPOKEN DISCOURSE
WRITTEN TEXT
+ interactive
non-interactive
2 or more participants
one participant
+ face-to-face
not face-to-face
in the same place at the same time
on her own
+ language as action
not language as action
using language to accomplish some task
using language to reflect
+ spontaneous
not spontaneous
without rehearsing what is going to be said Planning, drafting and rewriting
+ casual
not casual
informal and everyday
formal and special occasions
Source: An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics 2nd Edition
(Eggins:2004)
Table 4. Characteristic features of spoken and written language
SPOKEN and WRITTEN LANGUAGE
the linguistics implication of MODE
SPOKEN LANGUAGE
WRITTEN LANGUAGE
turn-taking organization
monologic organization
context-dependent
context independent
dynamic structure
synoptic structure
-interactive staging
-rhetorical staging
-open-ended
-closed, finite
spontaneity phenomena
‘final draft’ (polished) indications of
(false starts, hesitations, interruptions, earlier drafts removed
overlap, incomplete clauses)
everyday lexis
‘prestige’ lexis
non-standard grammar
standard grammar
grammatical complexity
grammatical simplicity
lexically sparse
lexically dense
Source: An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics 2nd Edition
(Eggins:2004)
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From the tables above can be understand the difference mode of spoken and
written language and the grammatical intricacy and the lexical density refer to both
spoken and written language use. Eggins (2004:20) states that systematic functional
linguistic described as a functional-semantic approach to language which explores
both how people use language in different contexts, and how language is structured
for use as a semiotic system.
2.2. Grammatical Intricacy
Grammatical intricacy refers to the complexity of language in a text.
Francesconi (2014:55) states that grammatical intricacy regards the complexity of
language in terms of how many clauses are joined in a clause complex and intricacy
arises as a result of the ways in which clauses are strung together. According to
Eggins (2004:97) grammatical intricacy relates to the number of clauses per
sentence, and can be calculated by expressing the number of clauses in a text as a
proportion of the number of sentences in the text. To identify grammatical intricacy
used formula is:
Grammatical intricacy =
total number of clauses
(Eggins, 2004:97)
The grammatical intricacy shows how many clauses in a clause complex. The
clause complex, of course, is not limited to two clauses. In natural spoken discourse
clause complexes can extend to a dozen or so clauses and the relationship among the
clauses can be very complex mixtures of all. In a written language tend to use
relatively few clauses per sentence. A text is easy to understand if it has a low level
of grammatical intricacy because few clauses per sentence. On the contrary, if the
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text has high grammatical intricacy, it means the text is difficult to understand
because many clauses per sentence.
2.3. Lexical Density
In a writing language, the term of lexical density influence a text, it helps to
identify the level of words complexity. The term of lexical density is used in a text
analysis for describing the proportion of lexical items or content words (nouns,
verbs, adjectives, and adverbs) to the total number of words. (Johansson, 2008:65). It
also is necessary to distinguish grammatical words or function words (pronouns,
prepositions, conjunctions, auxiliary verbs, and some adverbs) from lexical items and
the differences between them. (Cindy and James, 2007; Halliday, 1985b in To,
2013:62). Halliday (1993:76) state that lexical density is a measure of the density of
information in any passage of a text, according to how tightly the lexical items
(content words) have been packed into the grammatical structure and the content
words are most important for explaining information. Bellow are examples of lexical
density. The lexical words are in bold type; lexical density count is given at the right:
(a) My father used to tell me about a singer in his village.
4
(b) A parallelogram is a four-sided figure with its opposite sides parallel.
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(Halliday, 1993:76)
To identify lexical density used Ure’s formula is:
Lexical density =
number of lexical items x
%
(Ure in To, 2013:37)
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Regarding this measurement, if the number surpasses forty per cent, it
accounts for higher lexical density, otherwise of reading difficulty. Ure’s study
showed that the lexical density for the spoken texts was under 40% and for the
written texts 40% and over. In a text if the number of grammatical words are higher
than the number of lexical items, it makes the level of lexical density is low, so the
text is difficult to read and influence the understanding of the text.
A text in English with high lexical density is easy to understand. On the
contrary a text with low density is difficult to understand. According to Halliday
(2002:328) the written language version has a much higher lexical density; at the
same time, it has a much simpler sentential structure.
Table 5. Spoken and written language (Eggins, 2004:98)
Spoken Language
Written Language
Low lexical density
High lexical density
Few content carrying words as a
Many content carrying words as a
proportion of all words
proportion of all words
High grammatical intricacy
Low grammatical intricacy
Many clauses per sentence
Few clauses per sentence
Spoken
low lexical density
high grammatical intricacy
Written
high lexical density
low grammatical intricacy
To summarize, spoken discourse carry less or few content words than written
discourse whereas written discourse carries many content words or lexical items.
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2.4. Clause
In a grammar, a clause is the smallest grammatical unit that can express a
complete preposition. Clause is a group of words which forms a part of a sentence
and contains a subject and a predicate where the predicate is typically a verb phrase –
a verb together with any objects and other modifiers, for example “My sister plays
the oboe.” According to Knapp and Watkins (2005:45) the clause is the basic
grammatical unit in a sentence and a main clause is a clause that can stand alone as a
complete sentence. The number of clauses and the relationship between them in a
sentence is the basis for distinguishing types of sentences (simple, compound and
complex sentence).
2.4.1. Independent Clause
An independent clause is a clause that can stand on itself. It does not need to
be joined to any other clauses, because it contains all the information necessary to be
a complete sentence. The independent clause contains a subject and a predicate; it
makes sense by itself and therefore expresses a complete thought. For example, Jims
reads. “Jims” is the subject and “reads” is the action or verb.
a. Independent Clause: Non-Elliptical vs Elliptical
Ellipsis is the omission of a word or structural part of a sentence or clause.
The ellipted element is understood by the reader from textual context. Grammatical
ellipsis enables writers to achieve economy by avoiding having to repeat lexical and
structural elements than can be retrieved or understood by the reader by what has
preceded or what follows the ellipted element. For example:
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Non-Elliptical
Elliptical
Who is the best man?
Michael Jones (is the best man)
Are they having a reception?
Yes (they are having a reception)
Joanne’s mother began to cry
and (she) was handed a hanky
In the elliptical examples above, known that Michael Jones is the best man,
not the captain of the local cricket team, because ‘is the best man’ is recoverable
from the accompanying text.
2.4.2. Dependent Clause
A dependent clause is a clause cannot stand alone in that particular
environment, it does not express a complete thought. A dependent clause or a
subordinate clause is a clause that provides an independent clause with additional
information, but which cannot stand alone as a sentence. Some grammarians use the
term subordinate clause as a synonym for dependent clause. A dependent clause will
begin with a subordinate conjunction or a relative pronoun and will contain both a
subject and a verb. This combination of words will not form a complete sentence. It
will instead make a reader want additional information to finish the thought. Below
is a list of subordinate conjunctions and relative pronouns.
Table 6. Subordinate conjunctions
after
although
as
because
before
even if
even though
Subordinate Conjunctions
if
than
in order that
that
once
though
provided that
unless
rather than
until
since
when
so that
whenever
where
whereas
wherever
whether
while
why
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Table 7. Relative pronouns
Relative Pronouns
who
whose
whoever
whosever
whom
whomever
that
which
whichever
There are some different types of dependent clauses include noun clauses,
relative (adjectival) clauses, and adverbial clauses. (Knapp and Megan, 26:2005).
1. Noun clause
A noun clause consists of a subject and predicate that functions as a noun.
One of its most common functions is as the object of a verb, especially of a verb
asserting or mental activity. If such a verb is the in past tense, the verb in the
noun clause object takes past form also.
Example: That coffee grows in Brazil is well known to all.
2. Relative (adjectival) clauses
A clause that gives additional information about a noun or noun group is
known as an adjectival or relative clause, and is said to be ‘embedded’ as the
information it provides is embedded or located within the subject or object of
another clause. The generally begin with a relative pronoun such as who, which
or that.
Example: Subject: He paid the money to the man who had done the work.
Object: All playgrounds need rules that people should obey.
3. Adverbial clause
An adverbial clause is a subordinate or dependent clause that provides
optional information about time, place, condition, concession, reason, purpose
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and result to what is happening in the main clause. Adverbial clause consist of a
subject and predicate introduced by a subordinate conjunction like when,
although, because, if.
Example: Time: When children first arrive at school they need to know what to
do.
Concession: Although there are other parks nearby there are none
close to the shopping centre.
Reason: New traffic lights have been installed near the school because
of the heavy traffic flow.
a. Dependent Clauses: Embedded vs Non-Embedded
Embedding is a functional term used to describe ways of attaching additional
information to the subject or object of clauses. In formal terms, most embedded
clauses are adjectival or relative clauses. Another feature of embedded clauses is that
the clause is part of the structure of another clause and therefore does not have a
coordinating or subordinating relationship with the main clause. For example, in the
following sentence there is a main clause (in bold) that has a n embedded adjectival
clause post-modifying in the object (italics), followed by a dependent clause
(underlained).
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Remember not to disturb any flora or fauna that you may see as they are
protected by law.
The following provides a diagrammatical representation:
SENTENCE
MAIN CLAUSE
S
V
O
(You) Remember not to disturb any flora or fauna
EMBEDDED CLAUSE
S
V
that you may see
DEPENDENT CLAUSE
S
V
A
as they are protected by law
Figure 1. An example of embedding clause (Knapp and Watkins: 2005)
Embedding is also a mechanism whereby an element (in our case, a clause)
comes to function within the structure of a group, which itself is a constitution of a
clause.
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Non-embedded : It’s my own invention-to keep sandwiches in
Embedded :
I needed something ((to keep sandwiches in))
In the first example-to keep sandwiches in is not embedded. Instead, it is a
dependent clause, one which adds a kind of afterthought. In the second, ((to keep
sandwiches in)) is embedded, and therefore, does not function as a dependent clause
in its own right, but rather acts more like a word qualifying the meaning of
‘something’.
Non-embedded : The prisoner, who hid in the ticket, escaped.
Embedded :
The prisoner who hid in the ticket escaped, but his accomplice was
recaptured.
The first who hid in the ticket is not embedded; it is a dependent clause which
adds more information about the event under discussion. There are two pieces of
information in this clause complex: ‘The prisoner escaped’ and ‘said prisoner hid in
the ticket’. In the second clause complex who hid in the ticket is embedded. This
embedded bit serve to define which prisoner it was who hid in the ticket to
distinguish this prisoner from some other. In this example there are again two pieces
of information, but they are as follows: ‘The prisoner who hid in the ticket escaped,’
and ‘his accomplice was recaptures.’
2.4.3. Clause Complex
A sentence can be interpreted as a clause complex: a head clause together
with other clauses that modify it. A clause complex is two or more clauses logically
connected, or put another way, a clause complex is a sequence of processes which
are logically connected. According to Eggins (2004:255) clause complex is the term
systemicists use for the grammatical and semantic unit formed when two or more
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clauses are linked together in certain systematic and meaningful ways. When we
write clause complexes down, either from speech or composed in written language,
we generally show clause complex boundaries with full stops. More complex
sentences may contain multiple clauses. Gerot and Peter (1994:82) give an example
of a clause and a clause complex, as following:
“John invited the Wilsons to the party but they did not come which made John rather
indignant as he had thought he was doing them a favour.”
This text comprises one sentence, but five clauses:
John invited the Wilsons to the party
but they did not come
which made John rather indignant
as he had thought
he was doing them a favour.
These five clauses together comprise a clause complex.
2.5. Sentence
A sentence is a group of words which make a statement clearly (it may a
request, question, command, wishes or imperative) and it can be followed by a
period, question mark and imperative mark. It is marked in writing by beginning with
a capital letter and ending with a full stop. The sentence contains the subject,
predicate, object and complement. The subject of the sentence includes the noun or
pronoun that does the thing as shown by the verb. Manurung, 2007 (in Ramadani
2011) states that a sentence is a group of words that make sense to the reader or
hearer, contains both subject and predicate (verb) that expressed clearly or implied.
Sentences can also be classified based on their structure by Frank (1972):
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1. Simple sentence
A simple sentence, also called an independent clause, contains a subject and a
verb, and it expresses a complete thought. Takes form of:
a. A statement. Example: He lives in New York.
b. A question. Example: How old are you?
c. A request. Example: Please close the door.
d. An exclamation. Example: What a terrible temper she has!
2. Compound sentence
A compound sentence contains two or more sentences joined into one by:
a. Punctuation alone. Example: The weather was very bad; all classes were
canceled.
b. Punctuation and a conjunctive verb. Example: The weather was very bad;
therefore all classes were canceled.
c. A coordinate conjunction (and, or, but, yet, so, for). Example: The weather
was very bad, so all classes were canceled.
3. Complex sentence
A complex sentence contains one or more dependent (or subordinate)
clauses. A dependent clause contains a full subject and predicate beginning with
a word that attaches the clause to an independent clause (called the main clause).
A complex sentence always has a subordinator such as because, since, after ,
although, or when (and many others) or a relative pronoun such as that, who, or
which.
a. Adverbial clause. Example: I can see you when I finish my work.
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b. Adjective clause. Example: Here is a book which describes animals.
c. Noun clause. Example: That coffee grows in Brazil is well known to all.
Knapp and Watkins (2005:65) state that in a sentence there can be levels of
complexity within complex sentences. Within a dependent clause, for instance, there
can be another dependent clause. For example, in the following complex sentence
there is a main clause (in bold), a dependent clause in an adverbial relationship with
the main clause (in italics), and a dependent clause (underlined italics) in an
adverbial relationship with the first dependent clause.
If you want to survive the elements when you go hiking, you should
remember to bring along a drink, pocket knife, whistle, map, torch,
compass, blanket and food.
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This complex structure with the diagram below:
SENTENCE
MAIN CLAUSE
A
S
V
C
you should remember to bring along a drink, pocket knife etc.
DEPENDENT CLAUSE
S
V
O
A
If you want to survive the elements
DEPENDENT CLAUSE
S V
when you go hiking
Figure 2. An example of complex structure. (Knapp and Watkins: 2005)
4. Compound-complex sentence (complex-compound sentence)
A Compound-complex sentence contains two or more independent clauses and
one or more dependent clauses.
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Example: All classes were canceled because the weather was bad, and students
were told to listen to the radio to find out when classes would begin again.
2.6. Related Studies
Vinh To (2013) in his journal article entitled Lexical Density and Readability:
A Case Study of English Textbooks examines the lexical density and readability of
four texts from English text books known as Active Skill for Reading at elementary,
pre-intermediate, intermediate and upper-intermediate levels. Vinh To applies three
methods in determining lexical density and readability as proposed by Halliday, Ure,
and Flesch. Halliday’s method and Ure’s method used to measure lexical density
exploration in texts, while Flesch’s method is reading ease scale. The analysis
revealed that three of the four reading texts were of a high lexical density, apart from
the text for upper-intermediate level. There was little evidence of an increase of
lexical density and readability in accordance with the increase of text levels as well
as little indication relating to the connections between text levels, readability and
lexical density. This journal provides general understanding about lexical density and
its relationship to readability so it helps the writer in understanding method of
Halliday and Ure in lexical density and readability.
Liliek Soepriatmadji (2011) in his paper entitled Lexical Density dan
Grammatical Intricacy Materi Bacaan pada Buku Bahasa Inggris Kelas 6 SD
examines the lexical density (LD) and grammatical intricacy (GI) index of English
textbooks for sixth graders. The data of this study are all the texts of the text books
presumably being used by Semarang sixth graders. Pedagogically, the results imply
that the texts may easily be comprehended by Semarang sixth graders, although,
some of the reading texts are written in complex sentences. His paper can be
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understood that although a text is written in complex sentences but sometime the text
can be understood by the reader. Thus, from his paper the writer knows how to make
a conclusion about grammatical intricacy and lexical density in a text.
Victoria Johansson (2008) in his article entitled Lexical diversity and lexical
density in speech and writing: a development perspective compares two measures
that have been used to describe lexical development: lexical diversity and lexical
density. Lexical diversity is a measure of how many different words that are used in a
text, while lexical density provides a measure of the proportion of lexical items in the
text. This study focuses on developmental patterns in terms of the measures lexical
diversity and lexical density. He explains that he perceive a more noticeable
developmental trend for lexical diversity than for density. This suggests that lexical
diversity is a better measure to use for detecting differences between age groups and
there is an age factor involved in the increase of lexicon. This article helps the writer
in understanding between lexical diversity and lexical density in speech and writing.
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