SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL LINGUISTIC

FINAL ASSIGNMENT
Lecturer: Kristiandi, S.S.

SITI FATHONAH WIJAYANTI K2208047

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION SEBELAS MARET UNIVERSITY 2011

Raising Students Language Awareness through The Use of Ideational Metafunction in Teaching English

Background Systemic Functional Linguistic views language as a social semiotic resource in which people utilize certain choices of expressions to gain certain purposes in the appropriate context of communication. This view is now widely adopted in English Teaching curriculum throughout the world, including English for Second or Foreign Language Learners in some countries, i.e. Indonesia. SFL view on language is adopted in the so-called Genre Based Approach (GBA) which is applied to both Junior and Senior High Schools in Indonesia through various English texts and genres being discussed in the classroom. This implementation, somehow, is not really satisfying since there is such tendency that some teachers merely teach students the variety of text types or genres, instead of building or raising students language awareness expressed through those various text types or genres. Thus, students tend to memorize the feature of each text type without much more elaborating their comprehension of the language used in the text and how the text can build such social communicative purpose. Considering this phenomenon, I would like to point out SFL view in language learning, on how SFL would be effectively adopted through certain methods or techniques of teaching teacher may implement in the classroom. My focus will be on raising students language awareness through the use of ideational metafunction and its realization in teaching language skills in an integrated way. The Underlying Concept Ideational metafunction is one of three language metafunctions proposed by Halliday underlying his theory of SFL. This metafunction, which is also known as

experiental metafunction or clause as representation, reflects language function to talk about ones experience, while the other two metafunctions namely interpersonal and textual reflect the function on how people interact or maintain social relationship with others and on how to accommodate experiental and interpersonal meaning into a coherent discourse. Clause in ideational metafunction functions as the representation of goingson processes, such as doing, happening, feeling, and being. These processes are realized through the system of TRANSITIVITY which specifies type of process recognized in a language and the structure by which they are expressed (Halliday, 1985: 101). Basically, each process consists of three elements: process itself realized through verbal group, participants in the process realized through nominal group, and circumstances associated with the process realized through adverbial group or prepositional phrase. There are several types of processes each of which reflects different functions, as explained in the following table:

Process type

Associated participant(s)

Example Stella [actor] opened the door [Goal] She [behaver] was smiling. She [senser] didnt see anyone [phenomena].

Functions in Context Experience in the real, material world, doing & happening Physiological or psychological behavior Experiences in the inner world of consciousness Experiences of bringing the inner world outside by speaking Relations of being and having between two participants The existence of a sole participant

Material Actor, Goal, Target, (verbs of action) Recipient, Initiator, Beneficiary Behavioral Mental perceptive, cognitive & affective Verbal Behaver Senser, Phenomenon

Sayer, Verbiage (Receiver)

She [sayer] told the truth [verbiage].

Relational intensive, circumstantial & possessive Existential

Identifier, Identified Token, Value Carrier, Attribute Possessor, Possessed Existent

-Her brother [identifier] was the host [identified]. -They (possessor] had a big dog [possessed]. There was a madwoman [existent] in the attic.

Implementation of Ideational Metafunction in Classroom The first thing teacher needs to do is to build students awareness of various processes involved in certain text. Teacher may simply explain the idea of processes to the students and the characteristic of each process in relation to its participants and circumstances. Another alternative is by eliciting students sensitivity of language used in certain text by triggering some questions which lead them to the notion of processes involved in the text. I prefer the second way, and in doing so, I think it is better for teacher to bring two different types of text, or, two different genres in a classroom discussion, for example a written recipe from a magazine and a video of cooking program from a TV. Teacher will lead students to discuss how those two

texts posses quite different language use (though they may still be considered belong to the same text type) and how this difference reflects the realization of social purposes of each. After students being understood about the notion of processes, teacher should lead the students to analyze the text to comprehend its content. This can be undergone by utilizing students knowledge of ideational metafuntion realized through processes involved in the text. Teacher may take certain word from the text and create other context in which different process involved, still by using the same word as follows. I felt the wood and decided it needed more sanding (material process: doing) I felt that I was at a crosshands in my life (mental process: thinking) I felt tired (relational process: being) The word felt above reflects different role for each sentence. By giving such example, teacher will provide students a wider chance to learn the language use; how it is important to comprehend a language from a context to which it attached. Next, teacher needs to assist students to construct their own texts. The text they create should therefore reflect their understanding upon the ideational metafunction they have learnt before. Teacher may create various activities, either it is individual, in pair, small group, or bigger group, and also utilize various learning media and activity like games, debate, role-play, and so on; to help avoiding students boredom in the classroom. The point is that teacher facilitates students to apply their knowledge of language in a real-life context of communication; thus, activities being carried out are meaningful and communicative, as well. Implementing SFL in English classroom will bring much more benefit especially in raising students awareness of language. By introducing them towards such features of language reflected in various types of processes, it is expected that they will not merely comprehend a text from its content (what it is about) but they will also learn how the author construct the text in such a way that its goal or social objectives can be finally achieved.