TRANSITIVITY IN BARRACK OBAMAS SPEECHES.
TRANSITIVITY IN BARRACK OBAMA’S SPEECHES
A THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
By
HENNY FAUZIAH HARAHAP
Register Number: 208222028
ENGLISH AND LITERATURE DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS
STATE UNIVERSITY OF MEDAN
2012
DECLARATION
Except where appropriately acknowledged, this thesis is my own work, has been expressed
in my own words and has not previously been submitted for assessment.
I understand that this paper may be screened electronically or otherwise for plagiarism.
Medan,
September 2012
Henny Fauziah Harahap
208222028
CURRICULUM VITAE
Henny Fauziah Harahap was born in Medan, on October 26th 1989, as the
third child. After she finished her study in SD Negeri 101769 (2002), SMP Negeri
12 Medan (2005), and SMA Negeri 3 Medan (2008), she continued her study in
State University of Medan, Faculty of Languages and Arts, majoring English and
Literature.
By hard work and prayers, finally in 2012, he finished her study in State
University of Medan with the satisfying result.
ABSTRACT
Harahap, Henny Fauziah. 208222028. Transitivity in Barrack Obama’s
Speeches. A Thesis. Faculty of Languange and Arts, State University of
Medan. 2012.
The objectives of this research were to find out the types of processes,
participants, and circumstances, the dominant types of processes, participants and
circumstances, and the implication of the dominant process, participant and
circumstance in Barrack Obama’s speeches. It was a descriptive quantitative
design. The analysis was based on two speeches of Barrack Obama, they were
Election Night Victory Speech (November 4th, 2008) in Grant Park, Chicago,
Illionis and Obama Inaugural Address (January 20th, 2009) in Washington DC and
there were 525 processes, 618 participants, and 204 circumstances in 525 clauses.
The result showed the most dominant process was Material process (54,6%), the
most dominant of participant was Actor (31,1%), and the most dominant of
circumstance was Location (46,1%). Material Process is the most dominant
process because it indicates activities that happen in the outside world of human
beings. Furthermore, the speeches of Barrack Obama told about many activities
that can be done to make America better. So, the physical or action verbs are
mostly used as the representation of the physical experience of human beings. As
the process controls the participant so the most dominant participant which
appeared in the analysis was Actor. And the last, the most dominant circumstance
appeared in this analysis was Location. It was caused Obama mentioned more
both place and time in his speeches as the implication of the most dominant
process, participant, and circumstance.
i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,
Alhamdulillah, first and foremost the writer would like to express her
praises to Allah SWT for the strengths, blessings, and guidance which have been
given to her in completing this thesis. This thesis is aimed to fulfill one of the
requirements for the degree of Sarjana Sastra (S-1) at the English Department,
Faculty of Languages and Arts, State University of Medan.
This thesis would not have been possible without the guidance and the
help of several individuals who always contributed and extended their valuable
assistances in the preparation and completion of this thesis. The writer’s special
appreciation goes to:
Prof. Dr. Ibnu Hajar Damanik, M.Si. as the Head of State University of
Medan.
Dr. Isda Pramuniati, M.Hum. as the Dean of Faculty of Languages and
Arts State University of Medan and to all her staffs.
Prof. Dr. Hj. Sumarsih, M.Pd. as the Head of English Department and as
the writer’s Thesis Supervisor who always gave the encouragement,
constant support, constructive comments, and suggestions to the writer in
finishing this thesis, Dra. Rahmah, M.Hum. as the Secretary of English
Department, Dra. Meisuri, MA. as the Head of Non-Educational English
Program and Dra. Masitowarni Siregar, M.Ed. as the Head of
Educational English Program thanks for their administrative help during
the writer’s study in English Department State University of Medan.
Dra. Nurhayati as the writer’s Academic Counselor who has given her
support to the writer’s thesis topic.
Mam Endah and Mam Indri who have helped the writer in providing the
academic administration.
The writer’s greatest family, her Dad, the lovable, Mr. H. Salasa
Harahap, S.H, and her Mom, the greatest woman and the truly inspiring,
Mrs. Hj. Rahimah Pohan, S.Ag, and also to her older sisters Helmi
Wardani Harahap with her husband Syafirudin Lubis S.E, Nur
Kholilah Harahap, S.Hut, and the her nieces Zalfa Fadilah Lubis and
Rafif Al Farizi Lubis their endless love, prayers, advises, and
encouragement. Without them, the writer may never have overcome this
long journey, because when she felt down, their love will always give her
strength in facing all complications happened in her life.
ii
The writer’s best friends Wardah Al Munawaroh Daulay, S.S. Eulistia
Kharismayanti and Nova Susanti who always support and motivates me
in finishimg and completing this script and thak you so much for the
friendship, hospitality, moral support, and for all the fun and happy
memories they shared. She treasures them and will never forget.
The writer’s special colleagues: Unie, Atiqah, Giel, Judolz, Fina, and
All of the writer’s friends in Applied Linguistics A and B 2008, for
studying together in classroom, gossiping around and having delicious
lunch under the ladder have motivated the writer to finish her study.
The people who direct or indirectly contributed in this research, your
kindness means a lot to her. Thank you very much. May Allah bless us.
Amin.
Medan, August 2012
The Writer,
Henny Fauziah Harahap
208222028
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................... ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................... iv
LIST OF TABLES................................................................................................vi
LIST OF APPENDICES.....................................................................................vii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................... 1
A. The Background of the Study ............................................................. 1
B. The Problems of the Study .................................................................. 5
C. The Scope of the Study ....................................................................... 5
D. The Objectives of the Study ................................................................ 6
E. The Significances of the Study ........................................................... 6
CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ................................................... 7
A. Theoretical Framework............................................................................7
B. Metafunction ......................................................................................... 7
C. Meanings: The clause as representation ................................................ 8
D. Transitivity ............................................................................................ 9
1. Process ........................................................................................... 10
a. Material Process........................................................................ 11
b. Mental Process ......................................................................... 12
1) Perception .......................................................................... 13
2) Affection ........................................................................... 13
3) Cognition ........................................................................... 14
4) Desirability ........................................................................ 14
c. Relational Process .................................................................... 14
d. Verbal Process ........................................................................... 15
e. Behavioral Process ................................................................... 16
f. Existential Process ..................................................................... 17
g. Meteorological Process ............................................................ 17
2. Participants .................................................................................... 18
3. Circumstances ................................................................................ 19
a. Extent ........................................................................................ 20
b. Location .................................................................................... 21
c. Manner ...................................................................................... 21
1) Means .................................................................................... 22
2) Quality ................................................................................... 22
3) Comparison ............................................................................ 22
d. Clause ........................................................................................ 23
1) Reason .................................................................................. 23
2) Purpose ................................................................................ 23
3) Behalf ................................................................................... 24
e. Contingency .............................................................................. 24
iv
1) Condition .............................................................................. 24
2) Concession ........................................................................... 24
3) Default .................................................................................. 24
f. Accompaniment ......................................................................... 25
g. Role .......................................................................................... 25
h. Matter ....................................................................................... 25
i. Angle ......................................................................................... 26
E. Barrack Obama’s Biography ............................................................... 26
F. Speech ................................................................................................. 29
CHAPTER III. METHOD OF RESEARCH .................................................. 31
A. Research Design .................................................................................. 31
B. Source of Data ..................................................................................... 32
C. The Technique of Collecting Data ...................................................... 32
D. The Technique of Analyzing Data ...................................................... 32
CHAPTER IV. DATA AND DATA ANALYSIS ............................................. 34
A. The Data ............................................................................................... 34
B. Data Analysis ....................................................................................... 34
1.Election Night Victory ...................................................................... 34
2.Obama Inaugural Address ................................................................. 38
C. Research Findings ................................................................................ 41
CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS................................. 45
A. Conclusions .......................................................................................... 45
B. Suggestions ........................................................................................... 46
REFERENCES ................................................................................................... 47
v
LIST OF TABLES
TABLES
Page
2.1. The Principal Types of Relational process......................................... 15
2.2. Types of Participants and Process....................................................... 19
2.3. Types of Circumstances...................................................................... 20
2.4. The Circumstance of Extent................................................................ 21
4.1. The numbers of processes in Election Night Victory.......................... 35
4.2. The numbers of participants in Election Night Victory ..................... 36
4.3. The numbers of circumstances in Election Night Victory................... 37
4.4. The numbers of processes in Obama Inaugural Address.................... 38
4.5. The numbers of participants in Obama Inaugural Address................. 39
4.6. The numbers of circumstances in Obama Inaugural Address............. 40
4.7. The Total numbers of processes in Barrack Obama’s Speeches.......... 41
4.8. The Total numbers of participants in Barrack Obama’s Speeches...... 41
4.9. TheTotal Numbers of circumstances in Barrack Obama’s Speeches... 42
vi
LIST OF APPENDICES
APPENDICES
Page
1. An Analysis Transitivity in Election Night Victory Speech ........................... 50
2. An Analysis Transitivity in Obama Inaugural Address .................................. 80
3. Barrack Obama’s Speeches ........................................................................... 121
vii
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. The Background of the Study
Language is inseparable in human‟s life since no way to replace its role and
function to express what people think and feel. It conveys meaning from
someone‟s intention, emotion as well as feeling as stated by Bloor and Bloor
(1995: 1) language is a „system of meanings‟. When people communicate by
using language, their language acts are the expression of meaning. Of course
every single word we utter has meaning that can be understood and caught by the
listener, then there will be such interaction that we call as communication.
However the use of language doesn‟t direct from one person to another person
individually, but also to the public in globally.
Expressing language is influenced by the complex elements of situations. We
have to know where we are, whom we are talking to, how to say it in good order
and etc. It means that in doing communication using language we need to concern
to the situation and condition involved to convey what speaker‟s intention and
purpose in proper order precisely without having been misunderstood by the
listener. However it is related to the ethics of communication; no wonder that
language can change human‟s mood because its influence has been part of
human‟s life. People can be in bad temper, sorrow, as well as in happiness by
someone‟s language just because of the meaning caught is different from one
person to other persons; that‟s why we have perception in understanding human‟s
utterances or intention through language used since language can‟t be touched
1
2
even be seen by human‟s part of body, but indeed it can be felt. Searle emphasizes
that Language is not seen as continuous with, nor as an extension of, the rest of
our specifically human biological inheritance. (Serle, 2006: 1)
Communication can be expressed and conveyed by two ways; they are written
and spoken. However language has interconnection with society that The key
connecting link between language and society is the notion of deontology, a
notion involving commitments of various kinds, about which I will say more later.
(Serle, 2006: 3). Through written the communication done by using the symbols
of letters combined together and produce meanings. The use of written language
recently has been booming and widespread; it can be seen through newspapers,
magazines, books and many other writings which are the collection of human
beings‟ inspiration. It is such a miracle that the information worldwide can be
informed and told through the media available. It is important to keep in mind that
written language is the representative or the replacement of human‟s intention, so
it is more easily to be analyzed and corrected. The term „written language‟ does
not only refer to language which is written down, likewise the term „spoken
language‟ does not only refer to language which is said aloud, Gerot and Wignel
(1994: 159) explains that „what is at issue here is not just the medium through
which language is transmitted but, more importantly, the way meanings are
encoded.‟
Spoken language is a communication done directly between a speaker and a
listener; it is a requirement that in spoken language there are two participants
involved. Spoken language done in two ways which we call as one direction and
3
two direction communications. Besides in language there are two kinds of
language which are called verbal and non-verbal language (body language) as
Pease says that the fascinating thing is that the human animal is rarely aware of
his postures, movements and gestures that can tell one story while his voice may
be telling another. (Pease, 1981: 10). This script focuses on the communication of
one direction in Barrack Obama‟s Speech. Both written language and spoken
language basically have the same purpose or goal, but they are served in different
ways; spoken language served through mouth, meanwhile written language served
through writing. Gerot & Wignel (1994: 158) say that spoken language is
typically more dependent on its context than written language is. And also they
are different from the language structure; usually written language is more formal
and grammatical than spoken language is. When we use written language there are
some criteria or requirements like structure, style, or kinds of writing to be
considered before being published for the sake of avoiding misunderstanding or
misperception; otherwise in the spoken language the speaker doesn‟t concern too
much on the criteria. Besides it is easy to capture the meaning of a text by finding
out the central meaning of a clause since as Trask (1997: 42) says that „clause is a
grammatical unit containing a subject and a predicate, every sentence at least has
one clause.‟
Human beings use language in order to fulfill three functions called
metafunction. Sinar (2002: 39) states “metafunction of language are inherent in
every language use in social contexts. Metafunction divided into three functions.
They are ideational, interpersonal, and textual function. When the language is
4
used to relate what it is said (or written) to the real world and to other linguistics
events. This involves the use of language to organize the text itself. This is known
as the textual function.
Transitivity represents the encoding of experiential meaning. A meaning is
about the world, about experience, about how we perceive and experience what is
going on. All these goings on are sorted out in the grammar of clause. Saragih
(2004: 5) says that realization of language as experience is seen in clause. A
clause is considered as unit of experience, which is constituted by three elements:
process, participants, circumstance.
Bloor (1995: 110) elaborates that the process centers on that part of that clause
is realized by the verbal group, but it can also be regarded as what “what goings
on” are represented in the whole clause. The participants are entities involved in
the process. Saragih (2004: 5) states that circumstances indicate situation or
surroundings in which the process occurs.
Actually the analysis of the research focuses on two aspects; they are process
and circumstance; since the participant is inseparable part in a context. Downing
(2002:111) says that the participant roles involved in the situation. So in this study
only two aspects will be discussed, there are process and circumstance in the
Barrack Obama‟s speech”.
Speech is an activity of speaking aloud to the audiences or listeners to give
information on purpose. It came long before written language, and writing is a
transcript of speech, not vice versa. (Turk, 1985:9). The message to be transmitted
in the case of speech is carried mainly by the time-varying shape of the vocal
5
tract, which in turn is a representation of the thoughts the speaker wishes to
convey to the listener. (Benesty, Mohan, & Huang, 2008: 1). Usually it happens in
formal situation where the listeners or the audiences are not allowed to speak but
the speaker who is as the source. As a president in United States, Barrack Obama
often delivers his speech to his people as well as to other countries. A speech is
usually done by a leader or a head of an organization to manage and orate to his
men or to public.
B. The Problems of the Study
The problems in this study are formulated as follows:
1. What types of processes, participants, and circumstances are found in
Barrack Obama‟s speeches?
2. Which types of processes, participants, and circumstances which are the
most dominant used in the Barrack Obama‟s speeches?
3. What is the implication of the most dominant process, participant, and
circumstance in Barrack Obama‟s Speeches?
C. The Scope of the Study
A clause considered as a unit of experience is constituted by three elements
namely process, participant, and circumstance. In this study it will be restricted to
analyze the type of the process, participants, and circumstances used in Barrack
Obama‟s speeches.
6
D. The Objective of the Study
The objectives of the study are:
1. To find out the types of processes, participants, and circumstances which
are used in the Barrack Obama‟s speeches.
2. To find out the most dominant of process, participants and circumstances
which are used in Barrack Obama‟s speeches.
3. Determined the most dominant of process, participant and circumstances
which are used in Barrack Obama‟s speeches.
E. The Significances of the Study
The finding of the study is expected to be useful for the researcher about the
use of transitivity and give some contribution to the students of English
Department and those who are interested in metafunction of using language in
terms of process, participant and circumstance. The finding also will give the
readers the ideas of the function of the three aspects of language in this case,
metalanguage, namely ideational, interpersonal, and textual function both in
written and spoken form. From this finding the students can improve his/her
ideas in which the language can be analyzed in term of process, participant, and
circumstance in written text; while in spoken one might use the language to
communicate his/her ideas to convey the meaning of the language being
expressed. The last, it is also expected to be beneficial for the teachers or lecturers
of functional grammar to apply transitivity in teaching process, participant and
circumstance.
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
A. Conclusion
After analyzing the transitivity involving process, participant, and
circumstance in Barack Obama’s Speeches which were representative by two
speeches namely “Election Night Victory Speech” and “Obama Inaugural
Address”, the research can be concluded as follows:
1) The six types of process were found in the speechess of Barrack Obama, they
are Material Process, Mental Process, Relational Process, Behavioral Process,
Verbal Process, and Existential Process. The nine types of participants that
were used in Barrack Obama’s speeches were Actor, Goal, Senser,
Phenomenon, Token, Value, Carrier, Attribute, Possessor, Possessed,
Behavior, Sayer, Verbiage, and Existent. The types of circumstances that
were found in Barrack Obama’s speeches were Extent, Location, Manner,
Cause, Contingency, Accompanimen, Role, and Matter
2) The most dominant process which was used in Barrack Obama’s speeches
was Material Process with the total numbers and percentage are 287 (54,6% ).
The most dominant participant was Actor which was 192 (31,1%). The last,
the most dominant circumstance found in this analysis is Location which was
94 (46,1%).
3) Material Process is the most dominant process because it indicates activities
that happen in the outside world of human beings. Furthermore, the speeches
of Barrack Obama told about many activities that can be done to make
America better. So, the physical or action verbs are mostly used
45
as the representation of the physical experience of human beings as the
implication of the most dominant process. As the process controls the
participant so the most dominant participant which appeared in the analysis
was Actor which was 192 (31,1%). And the last, the most dominant
circumstance appeared in this analysis was Location with the numbers of
percentage was 94 (46,1%). It was caused Obama mentioned more both place
and time in his speeches as the implication of the most dominant participant
and circumstance.
B. Suggestions
Based on the conclusion above, the suggestions are as follows:
1) It is suggested that the students of English department should understand how
to analyze transitivity (process, participant and circumstance) in such kind of
research either in spoken or written, such as: speech, song, magazine,
newspaper, novel, poetry, etc.
2) It is suggested that the teachers can use Barrack Obama’s speeches as one of
the objects used in analyzing the transitivity system because it is a valuable
source of teaching material.
3) It is suggested that the readers can use the result of the research as the useful
information to have a better understanding about transitivity.
4) It is advised for other researchers who are concerned to this study to conduct
in depth-research to get better knowledge in this theory and application.
46
REFERENCES
Benesty, Jacob., Sondhi, M. Mohan., & Huang, Yiteng. 2008. Springer Handbook
of Speech Processing. Berlin: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.
Bloor, T., and Bloor, M. 19995. The Functional Analysis of English. A Hallidayan
Approach. New York: Oxford University Press.
Downing, A., and Philip, L. 2002. English Grammar. New York: Prentice Hall
International (UK).
Dupuis, Martin & Boeckelman, Keith. 2008. Barack Obama, the New Face of
American Politics. London: Praeger Publishers.
Gerot, Linda and Wignell, Peter. 2001. Making Sense of Functional Grammar.
Sydney: AEE Publishing.
Greener, Sue. 2008. Business Research Methods: Dr. Sue Greener and Ventus
Publishing Aps.
Halliday, M.A.K. 1985. An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London:
Edward Arnold.
Halliday, M.A.K. 1994. An Introduction to Functional Grammar (Second
Edition). London: Edward Arnold.
Kothari, C.R. 2004. Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques. Jaipur:
New Age International (P) Ltd., Publishers.
Martin, J.R. 1997. Working with Functional Grammar. London: J.W. Arrowsmith.
M. S, Mahsun. 2005. Metode Penelitian Bahasa. Jakarta: PT. Raja Grafindo
Persada.
Pease, Allan. 1981. Body Language. North Sydney: Camel Publishing Company.
Price, Joann F.2008. Barack Obama: A Biography. Westport: An imprint of
Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
Saragih, A. 2006. Bahasa dalam Konteks Sosial. Medan: FBS. UNIMED.
Saragih, A. 2004. Introducing Systemic Functional Grammar. Medan: FBS.
UNIMED.
Searle, John R. 2006. What Is Language: Some Preliminary Remarks. Berlin.
47
Silvana, Tengku, Sinar. 2002. An Introduction to a Systemic Functional
Linguistics Oriented Discourse Analysis. Singapore: DeeZed Consult
Singapore.
Silvana, Tengku, Sinar. 2007. Phasal and Experiential Realizations in Lecture
Discourse: A Systemic Functional Analysis. Sumut-NAD. Koordinasi
Perguruan Tinggi Swasta Wilayah-I NAD-Sumut.
Trask, R.L. 1997. A Student’s Dictionary of Language and Linguistics. New
York: Edward Arnold.
Turk, Christopher. 1985. Effective Speaking: Communicating in Speech. British:
E & FN Spon, an imprint of Chapman & Hall.
http://obamaspeeches.com/2012/01/26
http://www.biograpjy.com/people/barrack-obama/2012/01/26
48
A THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
By
HENNY FAUZIAH HARAHAP
Register Number: 208222028
ENGLISH AND LITERATURE DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS
STATE UNIVERSITY OF MEDAN
2012
DECLARATION
Except where appropriately acknowledged, this thesis is my own work, has been expressed
in my own words and has not previously been submitted for assessment.
I understand that this paper may be screened electronically or otherwise for plagiarism.
Medan,
September 2012
Henny Fauziah Harahap
208222028
CURRICULUM VITAE
Henny Fauziah Harahap was born in Medan, on October 26th 1989, as the
third child. After she finished her study in SD Negeri 101769 (2002), SMP Negeri
12 Medan (2005), and SMA Negeri 3 Medan (2008), she continued her study in
State University of Medan, Faculty of Languages and Arts, majoring English and
Literature.
By hard work and prayers, finally in 2012, he finished her study in State
University of Medan with the satisfying result.
ABSTRACT
Harahap, Henny Fauziah. 208222028. Transitivity in Barrack Obama’s
Speeches. A Thesis. Faculty of Languange and Arts, State University of
Medan. 2012.
The objectives of this research were to find out the types of processes,
participants, and circumstances, the dominant types of processes, participants and
circumstances, and the implication of the dominant process, participant and
circumstance in Barrack Obama’s speeches. It was a descriptive quantitative
design. The analysis was based on two speeches of Barrack Obama, they were
Election Night Victory Speech (November 4th, 2008) in Grant Park, Chicago,
Illionis and Obama Inaugural Address (January 20th, 2009) in Washington DC and
there were 525 processes, 618 participants, and 204 circumstances in 525 clauses.
The result showed the most dominant process was Material process (54,6%), the
most dominant of participant was Actor (31,1%), and the most dominant of
circumstance was Location (46,1%). Material Process is the most dominant
process because it indicates activities that happen in the outside world of human
beings. Furthermore, the speeches of Barrack Obama told about many activities
that can be done to make America better. So, the physical or action verbs are
mostly used as the representation of the physical experience of human beings. As
the process controls the participant so the most dominant participant which
appeared in the analysis was Actor. And the last, the most dominant circumstance
appeared in this analysis was Location. It was caused Obama mentioned more
both place and time in his speeches as the implication of the most dominant
process, participant, and circumstance.
i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,
Alhamdulillah, first and foremost the writer would like to express her
praises to Allah SWT for the strengths, blessings, and guidance which have been
given to her in completing this thesis. This thesis is aimed to fulfill one of the
requirements for the degree of Sarjana Sastra (S-1) at the English Department,
Faculty of Languages and Arts, State University of Medan.
This thesis would not have been possible without the guidance and the
help of several individuals who always contributed and extended their valuable
assistances in the preparation and completion of this thesis. The writer’s special
appreciation goes to:
Prof. Dr. Ibnu Hajar Damanik, M.Si. as the Head of State University of
Medan.
Dr. Isda Pramuniati, M.Hum. as the Dean of Faculty of Languages and
Arts State University of Medan and to all her staffs.
Prof. Dr. Hj. Sumarsih, M.Pd. as the Head of English Department and as
the writer’s Thesis Supervisor who always gave the encouragement,
constant support, constructive comments, and suggestions to the writer in
finishing this thesis, Dra. Rahmah, M.Hum. as the Secretary of English
Department, Dra. Meisuri, MA. as the Head of Non-Educational English
Program and Dra. Masitowarni Siregar, M.Ed. as the Head of
Educational English Program thanks for their administrative help during
the writer’s study in English Department State University of Medan.
Dra. Nurhayati as the writer’s Academic Counselor who has given her
support to the writer’s thesis topic.
Mam Endah and Mam Indri who have helped the writer in providing the
academic administration.
The writer’s greatest family, her Dad, the lovable, Mr. H. Salasa
Harahap, S.H, and her Mom, the greatest woman and the truly inspiring,
Mrs. Hj. Rahimah Pohan, S.Ag, and also to her older sisters Helmi
Wardani Harahap with her husband Syafirudin Lubis S.E, Nur
Kholilah Harahap, S.Hut, and the her nieces Zalfa Fadilah Lubis and
Rafif Al Farizi Lubis their endless love, prayers, advises, and
encouragement. Without them, the writer may never have overcome this
long journey, because when she felt down, their love will always give her
strength in facing all complications happened in her life.
ii
The writer’s best friends Wardah Al Munawaroh Daulay, S.S. Eulistia
Kharismayanti and Nova Susanti who always support and motivates me
in finishimg and completing this script and thak you so much for the
friendship, hospitality, moral support, and for all the fun and happy
memories they shared. She treasures them and will never forget.
The writer’s special colleagues: Unie, Atiqah, Giel, Judolz, Fina, and
All of the writer’s friends in Applied Linguistics A and B 2008, for
studying together in classroom, gossiping around and having delicious
lunch under the ladder have motivated the writer to finish her study.
The people who direct or indirectly contributed in this research, your
kindness means a lot to her. Thank you very much. May Allah bless us.
Amin.
Medan, August 2012
The Writer,
Henny Fauziah Harahap
208222028
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................... ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................... iv
LIST OF TABLES................................................................................................vi
LIST OF APPENDICES.....................................................................................vii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................... 1
A. The Background of the Study ............................................................. 1
B. The Problems of the Study .................................................................. 5
C. The Scope of the Study ....................................................................... 5
D. The Objectives of the Study ................................................................ 6
E. The Significances of the Study ........................................................... 6
CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ................................................... 7
A. Theoretical Framework............................................................................7
B. Metafunction ......................................................................................... 7
C. Meanings: The clause as representation ................................................ 8
D. Transitivity ............................................................................................ 9
1. Process ........................................................................................... 10
a. Material Process........................................................................ 11
b. Mental Process ......................................................................... 12
1) Perception .......................................................................... 13
2) Affection ........................................................................... 13
3) Cognition ........................................................................... 14
4) Desirability ........................................................................ 14
c. Relational Process .................................................................... 14
d. Verbal Process ........................................................................... 15
e. Behavioral Process ................................................................... 16
f. Existential Process ..................................................................... 17
g. Meteorological Process ............................................................ 17
2. Participants .................................................................................... 18
3. Circumstances ................................................................................ 19
a. Extent ........................................................................................ 20
b. Location .................................................................................... 21
c. Manner ...................................................................................... 21
1) Means .................................................................................... 22
2) Quality ................................................................................... 22
3) Comparison ............................................................................ 22
d. Clause ........................................................................................ 23
1) Reason .................................................................................. 23
2) Purpose ................................................................................ 23
3) Behalf ................................................................................... 24
e. Contingency .............................................................................. 24
iv
1) Condition .............................................................................. 24
2) Concession ........................................................................... 24
3) Default .................................................................................. 24
f. Accompaniment ......................................................................... 25
g. Role .......................................................................................... 25
h. Matter ....................................................................................... 25
i. Angle ......................................................................................... 26
E. Barrack Obama’s Biography ............................................................... 26
F. Speech ................................................................................................. 29
CHAPTER III. METHOD OF RESEARCH .................................................. 31
A. Research Design .................................................................................. 31
B. Source of Data ..................................................................................... 32
C. The Technique of Collecting Data ...................................................... 32
D. The Technique of Analyzing Data ...................................................... 32
CHAPTER IV. DATA AND DATA ANALYSIS ............................................. 34
A. The Data ............................................................................................... 34
B. Data Analysis ....................................................................................... 34
1.Election Night Victory ...................................................................... 34
2.Obama Inaugural Address ................................................................. 38
C. Research Findings ................................................................................ 41
CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS................................. 45
A. Conclusions .......................................................................................... 45
B. Suggestions ........................................................................................... 46
REFERENCES ................................................................................................... 47
v
LIST OF TABLES
TABLES
Page
2.1. The Principal Types of Relational process......................................... 15
2.2. Types of Participants and Process....................................................... 19
2.3. Types of Circumstances...................................................................... 20
2.4. The Circumstance of Extent................................................................ 21
4.1. The numbers of processes in Election Night Victory.......................... 35
4.2. The numbers of participants in Election Night Victory ..................... 36
4.3. The numbers of circumstances in Election Night Victory................... 37
4.4. The numbers of processes in Obama Inaugural Address.................... 38
4.5. The numbers of participants in Obama Inaugural Address................. 39
4.6. The numbers of circumstances in Obama Inaugural Address............. 40
4.7. The Total numbers of processes in Barrack Obama’s Speeches.......... 41
4.8. The Total numbers of participants in Barrack Obama’s Speeches...... 41
4.9. TheTotal Numbers of circumstances in Barrack Obama’s Speeches... 42
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LIST OF APPENDICES
APPENDICES
Page
1. An Analysis Transitivity in Election Night Victory Speech ........................... 50
2. An Analysis Transitivity in Obama Inaugural Address .................................. 80
3. Barrack Obama’s Speeches ........................................................................... 121
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. The Background of the Study
Language is inseparable in human‟s life since no way to replace its role and
function to express what people think and feel. It conveys meaning from
someone‟s intention, emotion as well as feeling as stated by Bloor and Bloor
(1995: 1) language is a „system of meanings‟. When people communicate by
using language, their language acts are the expression of meaning. Of course
every single word we utter has meaning that can be understood and caught by the
listener, then there will be such interaction that we call as communication.
However the use of language doesn‟t direct from one person to another person
individually, but also to the public in globally.
Expressing language is influenced by the complex elements of situations. We
have to know where we are, whom we are talking to, how to say it in good order
and etc. It means that in doing communication using language we need to concern
to the situation and condition involved to convey what speaker‟s intention and
purpose in proper order precisely without having been misunderstood by the
listener. However it is related to the ethics of communication; no wonder that
language can change human‟s mood because its influence has been part of
human‟s life. People can be in bad temper, sorrow, as well as in happiness by
someone‟s language just because of the meaning caught is different from one
person to other persons; that‟s why we have perception in understanding human‟s
utterances or intention through language used since language can‟t be touched
1
2
even be seen by human‟s part of body, but indeed it can be felt. Searle emphasizes
that Language is not seen as continuous with, nor as an extension of, the rest of
our specifically human biological inheritance. (Serle, 2006: 1)
Communication can be expressed and conveyed by two ways; they are written
and spoken. However language has interconnection with society that The key
connecting link between language and society is the notion of deontology, a
notion involving commitments of various kinds, about which I will say more later.
(Serle, 2006: 3). Through written the communication done by using the symbols
of letters combined together and produce meanings. The use of written language
recently has been booming and widespread; it can be seen through newspapers,
magazines, books and many other writings which are the collection of human
beings‟ inspiration. It is such a miracle that the information worldwide can be
informed and told through the media available. It is important to keep in mind that
written language is the representative or the replacement of human‟s intention, so
it is more easily to be analyzed and corrected. The term „written language‟ does
not only refer to language which is written down, likewise the term „spoken
language‟ does not only refer to language which is said aloud, Gerot and Wignel
(1994: 159) explains that „what is at issue here is not just the medium through
which language is transmitted but, more importantly, the way meanings are
encoded.‟
Spoken language is a communication done directly between a speaker and a
listener; it is a requirement that in spoken language there are two participants
involved. Spoken language done in two ways which we call as one direction and
3
two direction communications. Besides in language there are two kinds of
language which are called verbal and non-verbal language (body language) as
Pease says that the fascinating thing is that the human animal is rarely aware of
his postures, movements and gestures that can tell one story while his voice may
be telling another. (Pease, 1981: 10). This script focuses on the communication of
one direction in Barrack Obama‟s Speech. Both written language and spoken
language basically have the same purpose or goal, but they are served in different
ways; spoken language served through mouth, meanwhile written language served
through writing. Gerot & Wignel (1994: 158) say that spoken language is
typically more dependent on its context than written language is. And also they
are different from the language structure; usually written language is more formal
and grammatical than spoken language is. When we use written language there are
some criteria or requirements like structure, style, or kinds of writing to be
considered before being published for the sake of avoiding misunderstanding or
misperception; otherwise in the spoken language the speaker doesn‟t concern too
much on the criteria. Besides it is easy to capture the meaning of a text by finding
out the central meaning of a clause since as Trask (1997: 42) says that „clause is a
grammatical unit containing a subject and a predicate, every sentence at least has
one clause.‟
Human beings use language in order to fulfill three functions called
metafunction. Sinar (2002: 39) states “metafunction of language are inherent in
every language use in social contexts. Metafunction divided into three functions.
They are ideational, interpersonal, and textual function. When the language is
4
used to relate what it is said (or written) to the real world and to other linguistics
events. This involves the use of language to organize the text itself. This is known
as the textual function.
Transitivity represents the encoding of experiential meaning. A meaning is
about the world, about experience, about how we perceive and experience what is
going on. All these goings on are sorted out in the grammar of clause. Saragih
(2004: 5) says that realization of language as experience is seen in clause. A
clause is considered as unit of experience, which is constituted by three elements:
process, participants, circumstance.
Bloor (1995: 110) elaborates that the process centers on that part of that clause
is realized by the verbal group, but it can also be regarded as what “what goings
on” are represented in the whole clause. The participants are entities involved in
the process. Saragih (2004: 5) states that circumstances indicate situation or
surroundings in which the process occurs.
Actually the analysis of the research focuses on two aspects; they are process
and circumstance; since the participant is inseparable part in a context. Downing
(2002:111) says that the participant roles involved in the situation. So in this study
only two aspects will be discussed, there are process and circumstance in the
Barrack Obama‟s speech”.
Speech is an activity of speaking aloud to the audiences or listeners to give
information on purpose. It came long before written language, and writing is a
transcript of speech, not vice versa. (Turk, 1985:9). The message to be transmitted
in the case of speech is carried mainly by the time-varying shape of the vocal
5
tract, which in turn is a representation of the thoughts the speaker wishes to
convey to the listener. (Benesty, Mohan, & Huang, 2008: 1). Usually it happens in
formal situation where the listeners or the audiences are not allowed to speak but
the speaker who is as the source. As a president in United States, Barrack Obama
often delivers his speech to his people as well as to other countries. A speech is
usually done by a leader or a head of an organization to manage and orate to his
men or to public.
B. The Problems of the Study
The problems in this study are formulated as follows:
1. What types of processes, participants, and circumstances are found in
Barrack Obama‟s speeches?
2. Which types of processes, participants, and circumstances which are the
most dominant used in the Barrack Obama‟s speeches?
3. What is the implication of the most dominant process, participant, and
circumstance in Barrack Obama‟s Speeches?
C. The Scope of the Study
A clause considered as a unit of experience is constituted by three elements
namely process, participant, and circumstance. In this study it will be restricted to
analyze the type of the process, participants, and circumstances used in Barrack
Obama‟s speeches.
6
D. The Objective of the Study
The objectives of the study are:
1. To find out the types of processes, participants, and circumstances which
are used in the Barrack Obama‟s speeches.
2. To find out the most dominant of process, participants and circumstances
which are used in Barrack Obama‟s speeches.
3. Determined the most dominant of process, participant and circumstances
which are used in Barrack Obama‟s speeches.
E. The Significances of the Study
The finding of the study is expected to be useful for the researcher about the
use of transitivity and give some contribution to the students of English
Department and those who are interested in metafunction of using language in
terms of process, participant and circumstance. The finding also will give the
readers the ideas of the function of the three aspects of language in this case,
metalanguage, namely ideational, interpersonal, and textual function both in
written and spoken form. From this finding the students can improve his/her
ideas in which the language can be analyzed in term of process, participant, and
circumstance in written text; while in spoken one might use the language to
communicate his/her ideas to convey the meaning of the language being
expressed. The last, it is also expected to be beneficial for the teachers or lecturers
of functional grammar to apply transitivity in teaching process, participant and
circumstance.
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
A. Conclusion
After analyzing the transitivity involving process, participant, and
circumstance in Barack Obama’s Speeches which were representative by two
speeches namely “Election Night Victory Speech” and “Obama Inaugural
Address”, the research can be concluded as follows:
1) The six types of process were found in the speechess of Barrack Obama, they
are Material Process, Mental Process, Relational Process, Behavioral Process,
Verbal Process, and Existential Process. The nine types of participants that
were used in Barrack Obama’s speeches were Actor, Goal, Senser,
Phenomenon, Token, Value, Carrier, Attribute, Possessor, Possessed,
Behavior, Sayer, Verbiage, and Existent. The types of circumstances that
were found in Barrack Obama’s speeches were Extent, Location, Manner,
Cause, Contingency, Accompanimen, Role, and Matter
2) The most dominant process which was used in Barrack Obama’s speeches
was Material Process with the total numbers and percentage are 287 (54,6% ).
The most dominant participant was Actor which was 192 (31,1%). The last,
the most dominant circumstance found in this analysis is Location which was
94 (46,1%).
3) Material Process is the most dominant process because it indicates activities
that happen in the outside world of human beings. Furthermore, the speeches
of Barrack Obama told about many activities that can be done to make
America better. So, the physical or action verbs are mostly used
45
as the representation of the physical experience of human beings as the
implication of the most dominant process. As the process controls the
participant so the most dominant participant which appeared in the analysis
was Actor which was 192 (31,1%). And the last, the most dominant
circumstance appeared in this analysis was Location with the numbers of
percentage was 94 (46,1%). It was caused Obama mentioned more both place
and time in his speeches as the implication of the most dominant participant
and circumstance.
B. Suggestions
Based on the conclusion above, the suggestions are as follows:
1) It is suggested that the students of English department should understand how
to analyze transitivity (process, participant and circumstance) in such kind of
research either in spoken or written, such as: speech, song, magazine,
newspaper, novel, poetry, etc.
2) It is suggested that the teachers can use Barrack Obama’s speeches as one of
the objects used in analyzing the transitivity system because it is a valuable
source of teaching material.
3) It is suggested that the readers can use the result of the research as the useful
information to have a better understanding about transitivity.
4) It is advised for other researchers who are concerned to this study to conduct
in depth-research to get better knowledge in this theory and application.
46
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http://obamaspeeches.com/2012/01/26
http://www.biograpjy.com/people/barrack-obama/2012/01/26
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