Luận văn some discourse features of requests and their responses in short conversations in the listening comprehension section of toefl materials

The twenty short conversations under analysis were selected according to Quang’s 2007:151-172 and Nguyen and Vinh’s 2008:182-184 are analyzed in Tight of clause expansion in suggestion

VIEINAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOL UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACTLTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES

VÕ VIỆT CƯỜNG

SOME DISCOURSE FEATURES OF REQUESTS

AND TIIEIR RESPONSES IN SHORT CONVERSATIONS

IN THE LISTENING COMPREHENSION SECTION

OF TOEFL MATERIALS

Mặt số đặc diễm diễn ngân của yêu câu va dap lai

trong các hội thoại ngắn trong mục nghe hiểu

của tài liệu luyện thi TOFFI,

MLA MINOR THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS

CODE: 60 22 15

HANOI— 2010

VIEINAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOL UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACTLTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES

V6 VIET CUGNG

SOME DISCOURSE FEATURES OF REQUESTS

AND THEIR RESPONSES IN SHORT CONVERSATIONS

IN THE LISTENING COMPREHENSION SECTION

OF TOEFL MATERIALS

Một số đặc điểm diễn ngôn của yêu cầu và đáp lại yêu cầu

trong các hội thoại ngắn trang mục nghe hiểu

của tài liệu luyện thi TOEFL

M.A, MINOR THESIS

FLELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS CODE: 66 2215

SUPERVISOR: PHAM XUAN THO, M.A

IIANOT— 2010

1 Rationale for the study

2 Aims of the study

3 Scope of the study

4, Methods of the study

5 Design of the study

PART I: DEVELOPMENT

Chapter 1: Theoretical background

LL Introduction

1.2 Systemic Functional Grammar and the clause

1.2.1 A brief overview of Systemic Functional Grammar

1.2.2, The clause

1.3 Above the clause: the clause complex

1.3.2 Types of interdependency in clause complexes: parataxis and hypotaxis

1.3.3 A brief overview of logico-sernantic relations in clause complexes:

expansion and projection

1.3.4 Expansion

1.3.4.1, Laboration 13.4.2 Extension

1.3.43 Enhaneernent

consists of two utterances, each of which is made by a man or a woman Only the clause

sls and their respons Systemic Functional Grammar The twenty short conversations under analysis were selected according to Quang’s (2007:151-172) and Nguyen and Vinh’s (2008:182-184)

are analyzed in Tight of clause expansion in

suggestions for identifying and using requests and their responses, which will be discussed

in more detail in the introduction of chapter two of the dissertation

4, Methods of the study

‘The basic methods applied to this study are descriptive, comparative, and analytical methods of language research which are generally inductive Firsily, the issues concerning clause cxpansion in Systemic Functional Grammar are extracted, described, compared, and discussed in chapter one of the thesis to set up the theoretical background underlying the

discussion, and generalization in chapter two and part three of the dissertation

Then, the thirty-two clausc complexes in the requests and their responses in the twenty

selected short conversations are analyzed in light of clause expansion in Systemic Functional Graromar In chapter two and part three of the thesis, the resulls of the sludy

will be discussed and generalized based on the statistics to be able to contzibute to

‘amproving the teachmg and understanding of the conversations of this kind

5 Design of the study

This dissertation consists of three main parts:

Past one presents the rationale for the study, the aims, scope, methods, and design

of the study

Part two consists of two chapters Chapter one discusses clause expansion and its

relevant issues in Systemic Functional Grammar that underlie the analysis of the clause

Pact three summarizes the major findings of the study, draws out the theoretical and pedagogical implications of th

1osulls, and suggests the directions for further research,

1.2 Systemic Functional Grammar and the clause

1.2.1 A brief overview of Systemic Functional Grammar

Systemic Functional Grammar is based on the functions of language suggested by Halliday (1970, 1985, cited in Van (2006a:28-20)), According fo him, language performs three metafimctions which are ideational fiction, interpersonal fimction, and textual function The ideational function reflects the speaker's experience of the teal world, including the inner of his consciousness known as the “content”, The ideational function consists of two subtypes, namely the experiential function and logical function, Language gives slrueturcs lo experience and helps dolermins our way of looking at things and combining things in a logical way to serve this function The interpersonal function serves

to establish and maintain social relations among people who play the role of a questioner

or a respondent by asking or answering a question and

Iting things donc The textual function provides links with tanguage itsclf and with the situation in which tanguage is used ‘Ihis function enables speakers and writers to create situationally relevant discourses This fimction also enables listeners and readers to distinguish @ discourse from a random

set of utterances and sentences

According to Ilalliday's (1978, 1985, 1994, cited in Van (2005a, 2005b, 2006b),

cach of the three metafunetions above is realized through a different system The ideational

smetafunetion is realized through the transitivity system or system of process types There

coherent without being constructional, This hind of flow is very uncharacteristic of writien language

All the reasons above have encouraged us to conduct an analysis of clause expansion in the requests and their responses in these short conversations in light of Systemic Functional Grammar so as to know how it functions to display their typical discourse features, which can contribute to improving the teaching and leaming of the conversations of this kind

2 Aims of the study

As stated in the tills and the rationale for the sludy, this study is intended to find out the typical discourse features of the requests and their responses in the short conversations

in the listening comprehension section of the TOIL PBY practice tests in light of clause expansion in Systemic Functional Grammar To achieve this aim, the study allempls to answer the following research questions:

PBT practice tests’?

3 Scope of the study

As slated in the aims of the study, within the framework of an M.A rinor thesis,

we can only focus on the issues conceming clause expansion in Systemic Functional Grammar in the requests and their responses in the short conversations in the listening

comprehension section of the TOEFL PBT practice tests These issnes are the componsnts

of clause cxpansion and clause cxpansion-rclated aspects of Systemic Functional Grammar, which are discussed and realized throughout the study Twenty short conversations containing requests and their responses were setectad from Part A of the listening, compichension sczipts of the book “TOEFL Preparation Kit Workbook 2002-

2003, Volume 1” designed and introduced by ETS Each of the short conversations

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the study

Besides IELTS (International English Language Testing System), TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication), and TOEFL iBT (Test of English as a Foreign Language: Intemet-based Test), TORFL II'P (Lest of English as a Foreign Language: Institutional Testing Program), which is composed of previously administered TORFT Paper-based Tast forms or TOEFL PBT, has offen been used to test the English competence of leamers A certain acceptable TOKVL ITP score is now one of the

their career or both This is manifested in Circular number 08/2009/TT-BGDDT fiom the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam that candidates who have a valid minimum TORFL ITP score of 400 or higher do nol have to lake the English entrance examination for his M.A In addition, candidates who have a valid TOEFL ITF score of 450 or higher are allowed to defend their M.A dissertation without taking the final exam in English 'This

is also manifested in Circular number 10/2009/TT-RGDDT from the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam that candidates who have a valid minimum TOEFL ITP score of

450 or higher do not have to take the Ph.D entrance examination for English, and candidates who have a valid TOFFL TTP score of $00 or higher are allowed to defond thir Ph.D dissertation without taking the final exam in English Realizing the importance of English, the President of Thai Nguyen University issued Decision number 805QD/TCCB stating that from 2008, a TOEFL ITP score is one of the conditions and options used to decide the job status of the lecturers in all member institutions of the University Specifically, only applicants with a minimum TOEFL IVP score of 400 can sign teaching contracts; only applicants with a minimum TOEFL TTP score of 150 can apply for a permanent teaching position, A considerable number of other institutions, like Hanoi University of Education, also require their lecturers to have a valid and acceptable TOEFL TTP score

‘As a teacher of English in Thai Nguyen University, I have had some experience in instructing quite a large number of students in ‘TOKWL ITP During the lessons, [ have found that listening seems Jo be a challenge to my sludenls, One reason is that their English is not good enough Our students are graduates, so they probably have the

1.2 Systemic Functional Grammar and the clause

1.2.1 A brief overview of Systemic Functional Grammar

Systemic Functional Grammar is based on the functions of language suggested by Halliday (1970, 1985, cited in Van (2006a:28-20)), According fo him, language performs three metafimctions which are ideational fiction, interpersonal fimction, and textual function The ideational function reflects the speaker's experience of the teal world, including the inner of his consciousness known as the “content”, The ideational function consists of two subtypes, namely the experiential function and logical function, Language gives slrueturcs lo experience and helps dolermins our way of looking at things and combining things in a logical way to serve this function The interpersonal function serves

to establish and maintain social relations among people who play the role of a questioner

or a respondent by asking or answering a question and

Iting things donc The textual function provides links with tanguage itsclf and with the situation in which tanguage is used ‘Ihis function enables speakers and writers to create situationally relevant discourses This fimction also enables listeners and readers to distinguish @ discourse from a random

set of utterances and sentences

According to Ilalliday's (1978, 1985, 1994, cited in Van (2005a, 2005b, 2006b),

cach of the three metafunetions above is realized through a different system The ideational

smetafunetion is realized through the transitivity system or system of process types There

2.2 Clause complexes in the requests and their responses of the short conversations

2.4 Conjunetions for expansion in the requests and their responses of the shor!

consists of two utterances, each of which is made by a man or a woman Only the clause

sls and their respons Systemic Functional Grammar The twenty short conversations under analysis were selected according to Quang’s (2007:151-172) and Nguyen and Vinh’s (2008:182-184)

are analyzed in Tight of clause expansion in

suggestions for identifying and using requests and their responses, which will be discussed

in more detail in the introduction of chapter two of the dissertation

4, Methods of the study

‘The basic methods applied to this study are descriptive, comparative, and analytical methods of language research which are generally inductive Firsily, the issues concerning clause cxpansion in Systemic Functional Grammar are extracted, described, compared, and discussed in chapter one of the thesis to set up the theoretical background underlying the

discussion, and generalization in chapter two and part three of the dissertation

Then, the thirty-two clausc complexes in the requests and their responses in the twenty

selected short conversations are analyzed in light of clause expansion in Systemic Functional Graromar In chapter two and part three of the thesis, the resulls of the sludy

will be discussed and generalized based on the statistics to be able to contzibute to

‘amproving the teachmg and understanding of the conversations of this kind

5 Design of the study

This dissertation consists of three main parts:

Past one presents the rationale for the study, the aims, scope, methods, and design

of the study

Part two consists of two chapters Chapter one discusses clause expansion and its

relevant issues in Systemic Functional Grammar that underlie the analysis of the clause

Pact three summarizes the major findings of the study, draws out the theoretical and pedagogical implications of th

1osulls, and suggests the directions for further research,

by the grammatical structures seems to be one of the linguistic components affecting the students’ understanding ‘This means that te comprehend these conversations, the students have to combine their knowledge of the world and their oxperianes with their knowledge

of English, in which phonetics and semantics are logically structured and conveyed in grammar to create communication or language in use known as discourse in social contexts This also means that grammar is the base supporting meaning in discourse and discourse analysis This role of grammar has bccn recognized by Halliday (1994: xvi):

os But whatever the final purpose or direction of the analysis, there has to be a yranmar

at the base The cusvent preuccupalian is with discourse analysis, or ‘text linguistics’:

and it is sometimes assumed that this can be carried on without grannnar — or even that it

is somehow an alternative to grammar, Bui this is an ilusion, A discourse analysis that is not based on grammar is not an analysis at all, but simply a running conmeriary on « text

The requests and their responses in the short conversations between two people in part A of the listening comprehension scotion of the TOEFL PBT practice tests by ETS consist of clause complexes formed by clause expansion in Systemic Funetional Grammar These clause complexes help the speakers in these conversations express (heir intentions in

a logical way known as the Jogico-semantic relations among their clauses in Systemic Functional Grammar ‘The reason for the analysis of the clause complexes in the requests and their responses in these conversations also originales ftom Halfiday’s (1994:224) viewpoint

‘The clause complex is of particular interest in spoken language, becaure it represents the dynamic polential of the system — the ability to ‘choreograph’ very long and inivivate

Patterns of semantic movement while maintaining a continuous flaw of discourse that ix

vii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: The rank scale (Thomson, 1996:22)

Table 2: Primary and secondary clauses (Halliday, 1994:219)

‘Yable 3: Basic types of clause complex (Llalliday, 1994:220)

“Table 4: Inserted conjunctions in the short conversations

Table 5: Percenlages of paralactic expansion in the short conversations

'Table 6: Percentages of hypotaetic expansion in the short conversations

Table 7; Oiginal conjunctions in the short conversations

by the grammatical structures seems to be one of the linguistic components affecting the students’ understanding ‘This means that te comprehend these conversations, the students have to combine their knowledge of the world and their oxperianes with their knowledge

of English, in which phonetics and semantics are logically structured and conveyed in grammar to create communication or language in use known as discourse in social contexts This also means that grammar is the base supporting meaning in discourse and discourse analysis This role of grammar has bccn recognized by Halliday (1994: xvi):

os But whatever the final purpose or direction of the analysis, there has to be a yranmar

at the base The cusvent preuccupalian is with discourse analysis, or ‘text linguistics’:

and it is sometimes assumed that this can be carried on without grannnar — or even that it

is somehow an alternative to grammar, Bui this is an ilusion, A discourse analysis that is not based on grammar is not an analysis at all, but simply a running conmeriary on « text

The requests and their responses in the short conversations between two people in part A of the listening comprehension scotion of the TOEFL PBT practice tests by ETS consist of clause complexes formed by clause expansion in Systemic Funetional Grammar These clause complexes help the speakers in these conversations express (heir intentions in

a logical way known as the Jogico-semantic relations among their clauses in Systemic Functional Grammar ‘The reason for the analysis of the clause complexes in the requests and their responses in these conversations also originales ftom Halfiday’s (1994:224) viewpoint

‘The clause complex is of particular interest in spoken language, becaure it represents the dynamic polential of the system — the ability to ‘choreograph’ very long and inivivate

Patterns of semantic movement while maintaining a continuous flaw of discourse that ix

vii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: The rank scale (Thomson, 1996:22)

Table 2: Primary and secondary clauses (Halliday, 1994:219)

‘Yable 3: Basic types of clause complex (Llalliday, 1994:220)

“Table 4: Inserted conjunctions in the short conversations

Table 5: Percenlages of paralactic expansion in the short conversations

'Table 6: Percentages of hypotaetic expansion in the short conversations

Table 7; Oiginal conjunctions in the short conversations

consists of two utterances, each of which is made by a man or a woman Only the clause

sls and their respons Systemic Functional Grammar The twenty short conversations under analysis were selected according to Quang’s (2007:151-172) and Nguyen and Vinh’s (2008:182-184)

are analyzed in Tight of clause expansion in

suggestions for identifying and using requests and their responses, which will be discussed

in more detail in the introduction of chapter two of the dissertation

4, Methods of the study

‘The basic methods applied to this study are descriptive, comparative, and analytical methods of language research which are generally inductive Firsily, the issues concerning clause cxpansion in Systemic Functional Grammar are extracted, described, compared, and discussed in chapter one of the thesis to set up the theoretical background underlying the

discussion, and generalization in chapter two and part three of the dissertation

Then, the thirty-two clausc complexes in the requests and their responses in the twenty

selected short conversations are analyzed in light of clause expansion in Systemic Functional Graromar In chapter two and part three of the thesis, the resulls of the sludy

will be discussed and generalized based on the statistics to be able to contzibute to

‘amproving the teachmg and understanding of the conversations of this kind

5 Design of the study

This dissertation consists of three main parts:

Past one presents the rationale for the study, the aims, scope, methods, and design

of the study

Part two consists of two chapters Chapter one discusses clause expansion and its

relevant issues in Systemic Functional Grammar that underlie the analysis of the clause

Pact three summarizes the major findings of the study, draws out the theoretical and pedagogical implications of th

1osulls, and suggests the directions for further research,

2.2 Clause complexes in the requests and their responses of the short conversations

2.4 Conjunetions for expansion in the requests and their responses of the shor!

by the grammatical structures seems to be one of the linguistic components affecting the students’ understanding ‘This means that te comprehend these conversations, the students have to combine their knowledge of the world and their oxperianes with their knowledge

of English, in which phonetics and semantics are logically structured and conveyed in grammar to create communication or language in use known as discourse in social contexts This also means that grammar is the base supporting meaning in discourse and discourse analysis This role of grammar has bccn recognized by Halliday (1994: xvi):

os But whatever the final purpose or direction of the analysis, there has to be a yranmar

at the base The cusvent preuccupalian is with discourse analysis, or ‘text linguistics’:

and it is sometimes assumed that this can be carried on without grannnar — or even that it

is somehow an alternative to grammar, Bui this is an ilusion, A discourse analysis that is not based on grammar is not an analysis at all, but simply a running conmeriary on « text

The requests and their responses in the short conversations between two people in part A of the listening comprehension scotion of the TOEFL PBT practice tests by ETS consist of clause complexes formed by clause expansion in Systemic Funetional Grammar These clause complexes help the speakers in these conversations express (heir intentions in

a logical way known as the Jogico-semantic relations among their clauses in Systemic Functional Grammar ‘The reason for the analysis of the clause complexes in the requests and their responses in these conversations also originales ftom Halfiday’s (1994:224) viewpoint

‘The clause complex is of particular interest in spoken language, becaure it represents the dynamic polential of the system — the ability to ‘choreograph’ very long and inivivate

Patterns of semantic movement while maintaining a continuous flaw of discourse that ix

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the study

Besides IELTS (International English Language Testing System), TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication), and TOEFL iBT (Test of English as a Foreign Language: Intemet-based Test), TORFL II'P (Lest of English as a Foreign Language: Institutional Testing Program), which is composed of previously administered TORFT Paper-based Tast forms or TOEFL PBT, has offen been used to test the English competence of leamers A certain acceptable TOKVL ITP score is now one of the

their career or both This is manifested in Circular number 08/2009/TT-BGDDT fiom the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam that candidates who have a valid minimum TORFL ITP score of 400 or higher do nol have to lake the English entrance examination for his M.A In addition, candidates who have a valid TOEFL ITF score of 450 or higher are allowed to defend their M.A dissertation without taking the final exam in English 'This

is also manifested in Circular number 10/2009/TT-RGDDT from the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam that candidates who have a valid minimum TOEFL ITP score of

450 or higher do not have to take the Ph.D entrance examination for English, and candidates who have a valid TOFFL TTP score of $00 or higher are allowed to defond thir Ph.D dissertation without taking the final exam in English Realizing the importance of English, the President of Thai Nguyen University issued Decision number 805QD/TCCB stating that from 2008, a TOEFL ITP score is one of the conditions and options used to decide the job status of the lecturers in all member institutions of the University Specifically, only applicants with a minimum TOEFL IVP score of 400 can sign teaching contracts; only applicants with a minimum TOEFL TTP score of 150 can apply for a permanent teaching position, A considerable number of other institutions, like Hanoi University of Education, also require their lecturers to have a valid and acceptable TOEFL TTP score

‘As a teacher of English in Thai Nguyen University, I have had some experience in instructing quite a large number of students in ‘TOKWL ITP During the lessons, [ have found that listening seems Jo be a challenge to my sludenls, One reason is that their English is not good enough Our students are graduates, so they probably have the

consists of two utterances, each of which is made by a man or a woman Only the clause

sls and their respons Systemic Functional Grammar The twenty short conversations under analysis were selected according to Quang’s (2007:151-172) and Nguyen and Vinh’s (2008:182-184)

are analyzed in Tight of clause expansion in

suggestions for identifying and using requests and their responses, which will be discussed

in more detail in the introduction of chapter two of the dissertation

4, Methods of the study

‘The basic methods applied to this study are descriptive, comparative, and analytical methods of language research which are generally inductive Firsily, the issues concerning clause cxpansion in Systemic Functional Grammar are extracted, described, compared, and discussed in chapter one of the thesis to set up the theoretical background underlying the

discussion, and generalization in chapter two and part three of the dissertation

Then, the thirty-two clausc complexes in the requests and their responses in the twenty

selected short conversations are analyzed in light of clause expansion in Systemic Functional Graromar In chapter two and part three of the thesis, the resulls of the sludy

will be discussed and generalized based on the statistics to be able to contzibute to

‘amproving the teachmg and understanding of the conversations of this kind

5 Design of the study

This dissertation consists of three main parts:

Past one presents the rationale for the study, the aims, scope, methods, and design

of the study

Part two consists of two chapters Chapter one discusses clause expansion and its

relevant issues in Systemic Functional Grammar that underlie the analysis of the clause

Pact three summarizes the major findings of the study, draws out the theoretical and pedagogical implications of th

1osulls, and suggests the directions for further research,

coherent without being constructional, This hind of flow is very uncharacteristic of writien language

All the reasons above have encouraged us to conduct an analysis of clause expansion in the requests and their responses in these short conversations in light of Systemic Functional Grammar so as to know how it functions to display their typical discourse features, which can contribute to improving the teaching and leaming of the conversations of this kind

2 Aims of the study

As stated in the tills and the rationale for the sludy, this study is intended to find out the typical discourse features of the requests and their responses in the short conversations

in the listening comprehension section of the TOIL PBY practice tests in light of clause expansion in Systemic Functional Grammar To achieve this aim, the study allempls to answer the following research questions:

PBT practice tests’?

3 Scope of the study

As slated in the aims of the study, within the framework of an M.A rinor thesis,

we can only focus on the issues conceming clause expansion in Systemic Functional Grammar in the requests and their responses in the short conversations in the listening

comprehension section of the TOEFL PBT practice tests These issnes are the componsnts

of clause cxpansion and clause cxpansion-rclated aspects of Systemic Functional Grammar, which are discussed and realized throughout the study Twenty short conversations containing requests and their responses were setectad from Part A of the listening, compichension sczipts of the book “TOEFL Preparation Kit Workbook 2002-

2003, Volume 1” designed and introduced by ETS Each of the short conversations

2.2 Clause complexes in the requests and their responses of the short conversations

2.4 Conjunetions for expansion in the requests and their responses of the shor!

2.2 Clause complexes in the requests and their responses of the short conversations

2.4 Conjunetions for expansion in the requests and their responses of the shor!

2.2 Clause complexes in the requests and their responses of the short conversations

2.4 Conjunetions for expansion in the requests and their responses of the shor!

2.2 Clause complexes in the requests and their responses of the short conversations

2.4 Conjunetions for expansion in the requests and their responses of the shor!

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the study

Besides IELTS (International English Language Testing System), TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication), and TOEFL iBT (Test of English as a Foreign Language: Intemet-based Test), TORFL II'P (Lest of English as a Foreign Language: Institutional Testing Program), which is composed of previously administered TORFT Paper-based Tast forms or TOEFL PBT, has offen been used to test the English competence of leamers A certain acceptable TOKVL ITP score is now one of the

their career or both This is manifested in Circular number 08/2009/TT-BGDDT fiom the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam that candidates who have a valid minimum TORFL ITP score of 400 or higher do nol have to lake the English entrance examination for his M.A In addition, candidates who have a valid TOEFL ITF score of 450 or higher are allowed to defend their M.A dissertation without taking the final exam in English 'This

is also manifested in Circular number 10/2009/TT-RGDDT from the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam that candidates who have a valid minimum TOEFL ITP score of

450 or higher do not have to take the Ph.D entrance examination for English, and candidates who have a valid TOFFL TTP score of $00 or higher are allowed to defond thir Ph.D dissertation without taking the final exam in English Realizing the importance of English, the President of Thai Nguyen University issued Decision number 805QD/TCCB stating that from 2008, a TOEFL ITP score is one of the conditions and options used to decide the job status of the lecturers in all member institutions of the University Specifically, only applicants with a minimum TOEFL IVP score of 400 can sign teaching contracts; only applicants with a minimum TOEFL TTP score of 150 can apply for a permanent teaching position, A considerable number of other institutions, like Hanoi University of Education, also require their lecturers to have a valid and acceptable TOEFL TTP score

‘As a teacher of English in Thai Nguyen University, I have had some experience in instructing quite a large number of students in ‘TOKWL ITP During the lessons, [ have found that listening seems Jo be a challenge to my sludenls, One reason is that their English is not good enough Our students are graduates, so they probably have the

by the grammatical structures seems to be one of the linguistic components affecting the students’ understanding ‘This means that te comprehend these conversations, the students have to combine their knowledge of the world and their oxperianes with their knowledge

of English, in which phonetics and semantics are logically structured and conveyed in grammar to create communication or language in use known as discourse in social contexts This also means that grammar is the base supporting meaning in discourse and discourse analysis This role of grammar has bccn recognized by Halliday (1994: xvi):

os But whatever the final purpose or direction of the analysis, there has to be a yranmar

at the base The cusvent preuccupalian is with discourse analysis, or ‘text linguistics’:

and it is sometimes assumed that this can be carried on without grannnar — or even that it

is somehow an alternative to grammar, Bui this is an ilusion, A discourse analysis that is not based on grammar is not an analysis at all, but simply a running conmeriary on « text

The requests and their responses in the short conversations between two people in part A of the listening comprehension scotion of the TOEFL PBT practice tests by ETS consist of clause complexes formed by clause expansion in Systemic Funetional Grammar These clause complexes help the speakers in these conversations express (heir intentions in

a logical way known as the Jogico-semantic relations among their clauses in Systemic Functional Grammar ‘The reason for the analysis of the clause complexes in the requests and their responses in these conversations also originales ftom Halfiday’s (1994:224) viewpoint

‘The clause complex is of particular interest in spoken language, becaure it represents the dynamic polential of the system — the ability to ‘choreograph’ very long and inivivate

Patterns of semantic movement while maintaining a continuous flaw of discourse that ix

2.2 Clause complexes in the requests and their responses of the short conversations

2.4 Conjunetions for expansion in the requests and their responses of the shor!

2.2 Clause complexes in the requests and their responses of the short conversations

2.4 Conjunetions for expansion in the requests and their responses of the shor!

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the study

Besides IELTS (International English Language Testing System), TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication), and TOEFL iBT (Test of English as a Foreign Language: Intemet-based Test), TORFL II'P (Lest of English as a Foreign Language: Institutional Testing Program), which is composed of previously administered TORFT Paper-based Tast forms or TOEFL PBT, has offen been used to test the English competence of leamers A certain acceptable TOKVL ITP score is now one of the

their career or both This is manifested in Circular number 08/2009/TT-BGDDT fiom the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam that candidates who have a valid minimum TORFL ITP score of 400 or higher do nol have to lake the English entrance examination for his M.A In addition, candidates who have a valid TOEFL ITF score of 450 or higher are allowed to defend their M.A dissertation without taking the final exam in English 'This

is also manifested in Circular number 10/2009/TT-RGDDT from the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam that candidates who have a valid minimum TOEFL ITP score of

450 or higher do not have to take the Ph.D entrance examination for English, and candidates who have a valid TOFFL TTP score of $00 or higher are allowed to defond thir Ph.D dissertation without taking the final exam in English Realizing the importance of English, the President of Thai Nguyen University issued Decision number 805QD/TCCB stating that from 2008, a TOEFL ITP score is one of the conditions and options used to decide the job status of the lecturers in all member institutions of the University Specifically, only applicants with a minimum TOEFL IVP score of 400 can sign teaching contracts; only applicants with a minimum TOEFL TTP score of 150 can apply for a permanent teaching position, A considerable number of other institutions, like Hanoi University of Education, also require their lecturers to have a valid and acceptable TOEFL TTP score

‘As a teacher of English in Thai Nguyen University, I have had some experience in instructing quite a large number of students in ‘TOKWL ITP During the lessons, [ have found that listening seems Jo be a challenge to my sludenls, One reason is that their English is not good enough Our students are graduates, so they probably have the

1.2 Systemic Functional Grammar and the clause

1.2.1 A brief overview of Systemic Functional Grammar

Systemic Functional Grammar is based on the functions of language suggested by Halliday (1970, 1985, cited in Van (2006a:28-20)), According fo him, language performs three metafimctions which are ideational fiction, interpersonal fimction, and textual function The ideational function reflects the speaker's experience of the teal world, including the inner of his consciousness known as the “content”, The ideational function consists of two subtypes, namely the experiential function and logical function, Language gives slrueturcs lo experience and helps dolermins our way of looking at things and combining things in a logical way to serve this function The interpersonal function serves

to establish and maintain social relations among people who play the role of a questioner

or a respondent by asking or answering a question and

Iting things donc The textual function provides links with tanguage itsclf and with the situation in which tanguage is used ‘Ihis function enables speakers and writers to create situationally relevant discourses This fimction also enables listeners and readers to distinguish @ discourse from a random

set of utterances and sentences

According to Ilalliday's (1978, 1985, 1994, cited in Van (2005a, 2005b, 2006b),

cach of the three metafunetions above is realized through a different system The ideational

smetafunetion is realized through the transitivity system or system of process types There

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the study

Besides IELTS (International English Language Testing System), TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication), and TOEFL iBT (Test of English as a Foreign Language: Intemet-based Test), TORFL II'P (Lest of English as a Foreign Language: Institutional Testing Program), which is composed of previously administered TORFT Paper-based Tast forms or TOEFL PBT, has offen been used to test the English competence of leamers A certain acceptable TOKVL ITP score is now one of the

their career or both This is manifested in Circular number 08/2009/TT-BGDDT fiom the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam that candidates who have a valid minimum TORFL ITP score of 400 or higher do nol have to lake the English entrance examination for his M.A In addition, candidates who have a valid TOEFL ITF score of 450 or higher are allowed to defend their M.A dissertation without taking the final exam in English 'This

is also manifested in Circular number 10/2009/TT-RGDDT from the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam that candidates who have a valid minimum TOEFL ITP score of

450 or higher do not have to take the Ph.D entrance examination for English, and candidates who have a valid TOFFL TTP score of $00 or higher are allowed to defond thir Ph.D dissertation without taking the final exam in English Realizing the importance of English, the President of Thai Nguyen University issued Decision number 805QD/TCCB stating that from 2008, a TOEFL ITP score is one of the conditions and options used to decide the job status of the lecturers in all member institutions of the University Specifically, only applicants with a minimum TOEFL IVP score of 400 can sign teaching contracts; only applicants with a minimum TOEFL TTP score of 150 can apply for a permanent teaching position, A considerable number of other institutions, like Hanoi University of Education, also require their lecturers to have a valid and acceptable TOEFL TTP score

‘As a teacher of English in Thai Nguyen University, I have had some experience in instructing quite a large number of students in ‘TOKWL ITP During the lessons, [ have found that listening seems Jo be a challenge to my sludenls, One reason is that their English is not good enough Our students are graduates, so they probably have the

consists of two utterances, each of which is made by a man or a woman Only the clause

sls and their respons Systemic Functional Grammar The twenty short conversations under analysis were selected according to Quang’s (2007:151-172) and Nguyen and Vinh’s (2008:182-184)

are analyzed in Tight of clause expansion in

suggestions for identifying and using requests and their responses, which will be discussed

in more detail in the introduction of chapter two of the dissertation

4, Methods of the study

‘The basic methods applied to this study are descriptive, comparative, and analytical methods of language research which are generally inductive Firsily, the issues concerning clause cxpansion in Systemic Functional Grammar are extracted, described, compared, and discussed in chapter one of the thesis to set up the theoretical background underlying the

discussion, and generalization in chapter two and part three of the dissertation

Then, the thirty-two clausc complexes in the requests and their responses in the twenty

selected short conversations are analyzed in light of clause expansion in Systemic Functional Graromar In chapter two and part three of the thesis, the resulls of the sludy

will be discussed and generalized based on the statistics to be able to contzibute to

‘amproving the teachmg and understanding of the conversations of this kind

5 Design of the study

This dissertation consists of three main parts:

Past one presents the rationale for the study, the aims, scope, methods, and design

of the study

Part two consists of two chapters Chapter one discusses clause expansion and its

relevant issues in Systemic Functional Grammar that underlie the analysis of the clause

Pact three summarizes the major findings of the study, draws out the theoretical and pedagogical implications of th

1osulls, and suggests the directions for further research,

1.2 Systemic Functional Grammar and the clause

1.2.1 A brief overview of Systemic Functional Grammar

Systemic Functional Grammar is based on the functions of language suggested by Halliday (1970, 1985, cited in Van (2006a:28-20)), According fo him, language performs three metafimctions which are ideational fiction, interpersonal fimction, and textual function The ideational function reflects the speaker's experience of the teal world, including the inner of his consciousness known as the “content”, The ideational function consists of two subtypes, namely the experiential function and logical function, Language gives slrueturcs lo experience and helps dolermins our way of looking at things and combining things in a logical way to serve this function The interpersonal function serves

to establish and maintain social relations among people who play the role of a questioner

or a respondent by asking or answering a question and

Iting things donc The textual function provides links with tanguage itsclf and with the situation in which tanguage is used ‘Ihis function enables speakers and writers to create situationally relevant discourses This fimction also enables listeners and readers to distinguish @ discourse from a random

set of utterances and sentences

According to Ilalliday's (1978, 1985, 1994, cited in Van (2005a, 2005b, 2006b),

cach of the three metafunetions above is realized through a different system The ideational

smetafunetion is realized through the transitivity system or system of process types There

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the study

Besides IELTS (International English Language Testing System), TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication), and TOEFL iBT (Test of English as a Foreign Language: Intemet-based Test), TORFL II'P (Lest of English as a Foreign Language: Institutional Testing Program), which is composed of previously administered TORFT Paper-based Tast forms or TOEFL PBT, has offen been used to test the English competence of leamers A certain acceptable TOKVL ITP score is now one of the

their career or both This is manifested in Circular number 08/2009/TT-BGDDT fiom the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam that candidates who have a valid minimum TORFL ITP score of 400 or higher do nol have to lake the English entrance examination for his M.A In addition, candidates who have a valid TOEFL ITF score of 450 or higher are allowed to defend their M.A dissertation without taking the final exam in English 'This

is also manifested in Circular number 10/2009/TT-RGDDT from the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam that candidates who have a valid minimum TOEFL ITP score of

450 or higher do not have to take the Ph.D entrance examination for English, and candidates who have a valid TOFFL TTP score of $00 or higher are allowed to defond thir Ph.D dissertation without taking the final exam in English Realizing the importance of English, the President of Thai Nguyen University issued Decision number 805QD/TCCB stating that from 2008, a TOEFL ITP score is one of the conditions and options used to decide the job status of the lecturers in all member institutions of the University Specifically, only applicants with a minimum TOEFL IVP score of 400 can sign teaching contracts; only applicants with a minimum TOEFL TTP score of 150 can apply for a permanent teaching position, A considerable number of other institutions, like Hanoi University of Education, also require their lecturers to have a valid and acceptable TOEFL TTP score

‘As a teacher of English in Thai Nguyen University, I have had some experience in instructing quite a large number of students in ‘TOKWL ITP During the lessons, [ have found that listening seems Jo be a challenge to my sludenls, One reason is that their English is not good enough Our students are graduates, so they probably have the

vii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: The rank scale (Thomson, 1996:22)

Table 2: Primary and secondary clauses (Halliday, 1994:219)

‘Yable 3: Basic types of clause complex (Llalliday, 1994:220)

“Table 4: Inserted conjunctions in the short conversations

Table 5: Percenlages of paralactic expansion in the short conversations

'Table 6: Percentages of hypotaetic expansion in the short conversations

Table 7; Oiginal conjunctions in the short conversations

vii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: The rank scale (Thomson, 1996:22)

Table 2: Primary and secondary clauses (Halliday, 1994:219)

‘Yable 3: Basic types of clause complex (Llalliday, 1994:220)

“Table 4: Inserted conjunctions in the short conversations

Table 5: Percenlages of paralactic expansion in the short conversations

'Table 6: Percentages of hypotaetic expansion in the short conversations

Table 7; Oiginal conjunctions in the short conversations

vii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: The rank scale (Thomson, 1996:22)

Table 2: Primary and secondary clauses (Halliday, 1994:219)

‘Yable 3: Basic types of clause complex (Llalliday, 1994:220)

“Table 4: Inserted conjunctions in the short conversations

Table 5: Percenlages of paralactic expansion in the short conversations

'Table 6: Percentages of hypotaetic expansion in the short conversations

Table 7; Oiginal conjunctions in the short conversations