a study on projection and its realization in president barack obama’s speech at a campaign event in las vegas

It can form complexes, hence, functional grammar may be concerned with clause complexes, phrase complexes, group complexes, word complexes and even morpheme complexes Halliday & Matthies

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

TRẦN HỒNG VÂN

A STUDY ON PROJECTION AND ITS

REALIZATION IN PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S SPEECH AT A CAMPAIGN EVENT IN LAS VEGAS

NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ PHÓNG CHIẾU VÀ SỰ THỂ HIỆN CỦA NÓ TRONG BÀI PHÁT BIỂU CỦA TỔNG THỐNG BARACK OBAMA TẠI CUỘC VẬN ĐỘNG TRANH CỬ Ở LAS VEGAS

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

Field: English Linguistics

Code: 60 22 15

Hanoi – 2013

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

TRẦN HỒNG VÂN

A STUDY ON PROJECTION AND ITS

REALIZATION IN PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S SPEECH AT A CAMPAIGN EVENT IN LAS VEGAS

NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ PHÓNG CHIẾU VÀ SỰ THỂ HIỆN CỦA NÓ TRONG BÀI PHÁT BIỂU CỦA TỔNG THỐNG BARACK OBAMA TẠI CUỘC VẬN ĐỘNG TRANH CỬ Ở LAS VEGAS

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

Field: English Linguistics

Code: 60 22 15 Supervisor: Prof Dr Hoàng Văn Vân

Hanoi - 2013

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

NOTATIONAL CONVENTIONS vi

LIST OF TABLES vii

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale of the study 1

2 Aim of the study 2

3 Research question 2

4 Scope of the study 2

5 Methods of the study 2

6 Design of the study 2

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 4

CHAPTER 1 4

1.1 Introduction 4

1.2 An overview of systemic functional grammar 4

1.2.1 Review of related studies 5

1.2.2 Three metafunctions of a language 7

1.2.2.1 Interpersonal metafunction 7

1.2.2.2 Textual metafunction 8

1.2.2.3 Ideational metafunction 8

1.3 The notion of clause complex and projection in SFG 10

1.3.1 The notion of clause complex in SFG 10

1.3.1.1 Taxis 11

1.3.1.2 Logico-semantic relation 12

1.3.2 The notion of projection in SFG 14

1.3.2.1 Level of projection 14

1.3.2.2 Mode of projection 15

1.3.2.3 Speech function of projection 15

1.3.3 Paratactic projection 16

1.3.4 Hypotactic projection 19

1.3.5 Embedded projection 22

1.4 Summary 24

CHAPTER 2 26

2.1 Introduction 26

2.2 The chosen text 26

2.3 A register analysis of the text 27

2.3.1 Field 27

2.3.2 Tenor 28

2.3.3 Mode 28

2.4 The realization of projection in President Obama‟s Speech 28

2.4.1 An overview 28

2.4.2 Analysis 30

2.4.2.1 Hypotactic projection 30

2.4.2.2 Paratactic projection 38

2.4.2.3 Embedded projection 39

2.5 Summary 40

PART C: CONCLUSION 42

1 Recapitulation 42

2 Implications 44

3 Suggestion for further study 45

REFERENCES 46 APPENDIX 1 I APPENDIX 2 IX

x : Enhancement Projection:

LIST OF TABLES

Table 11 : Meaning of the reported statements in the projection of

locution

35

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

Language is the central study of linguistics It is a system of communication that is made of speech or writing It emphasizes the “arrangement of sounds or written representation into larger units, e.g morphemes, words, sentences,

utterances” (Richards et al., 1992) This arrangement is known as grammar Crystal

(2004) emphasizes the importance of grammar in a language It is as important as the skeleton, the heartbeat, the nervous system and the intelligence of a language, because without grammar, there can be no meaningful or effective communication (Crystal, 2004) Grammar is the foundation for people to express themselves If people can understand the way grammar works, they are sure to be able to use a language effectively Hence, grammar is not only important for teachers or students, but it has a particular significance for anyone who wants to master a language (Crystal, 2004) Knowing the importance of grammar, many scholars are engrossed

in studying it The linguistics history has seen many trends of grammar with their advantages and disadvantages such as traditional grammar, universal grammar and generative grammar by Noam Chomsky and his followers However, the most popular trend of grammar is functional grammar that is developed by Halliday and some other linguists such as Hassan, Morley, Bloor, etc While other trends of grammar focuses on the rules of wordings, functional grammar is concerned with the meaning and functions of a language

In Vietnam, functional grammar is studied by such grammarians as Cao

Xuân Hạo (1991) with Tiếng Việt: Sơ thảo Ngữ pháp chức năng and Hoàng Văn Vân (2005) with Ngữ pháp kinh nghiệm của cú tiếng Việt: Mô tả theo quan điểm

chức năng hệ thống

In Faculty of Postgraduate Studies, students have a chance to take an approach to functional grammar to discover new features of this innovative trend of grammar For the author, what attracts her the most is projection That is the reason why she chooses to analyze the realization of projection in a speech by President

Obama It is expected that the analysis of projection will reveal the underlying meaning of the President‟s speech

2 Aim of the study

The aim of the study is to explore how different types of projection are realized in President Obama‟s speech at a Campaign Event in Las Vegas In order

to achieve this aim, an overview of the key concepts of functional grammar relevant

to the study is in need of exploration to provide the theoretical framework for the analysis

4 Scope of the study

In order to make the most convenience for the author, the study only focuses

on exploring one of the two subtypes of logico-semantic relations between clauses: projection The text chosen for analysis is President Obama‟s speech at a Campaign Event in Las Vegas on October 24th, 2011

5 Methods of the study

This study uses two main methods: descriptive method and analytical method The descriptive method is used to re-examine the basic notions of systemic functional grammar and, in particular, the notion of projection in the clause complex The analytical method, on the other hand, is employed to analyze President Obama‟s speech to reveal the different logico-semantic meanings of the text

6 Design of the study

The study is divided into 3 parts:

Part A – Introduction – presents the rationale, the aim, the research questions, the scope, the methods and the design of the study

Part B – Development – consists of 2 chapters Chapter 1 – Theoretical background presents the overview of systemic functional grammar and the notions

of clause complex and projection Chapter 2, the main chapter of the thesis, explores the realization of projections in President Barack Obama‟s speech at a Campaign Event in Las Vegas

Part C – Conclusion – recapitulates the results of the study In this part, the author reviews such concepts as systemic functional grammar, metafunctions of language, clause complex and two logico-semantic relations in clause complex More importantly, the analysis of President Obama‟s speech in terms of projection

is summarized in part C This last part also makes some implications for teaching and learning English and some suggestions for further study

PART B: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Introduction

In the first chapter of the study, the author attempts to present some concepts

of systemic functional grammar including three metafunctions of a language and to review some related studies The main content of this chapter is the notion of clause complex and projection In the clause complex, the logico-semantic relations between clauses are focused because one of the two logico-semantic relations, projection, is the main interest of the study

1.2 An overview of systemic functional grammar

Language is an important tool in our life We use it not only to make ourselves understood but also to maintain a relationship with other people in our society Grammar is part of a language According to Matthiessen & Halliday (1997), grammar is “the system of wordings of a language” However, the interpretation of how a language is worded depends on different theories of grammar In linguistics history, there have been many trends of grammar, most of which began with European languages such as Greeks, Romans or Latin These grammar trends are mainly based on the two theoretical perspectives Those who are in favor of the first viewpoint consider language “a set of rules” and grammar is

a structure to specify those rules From this perspective, it is important to define which parts of a sentence function as Subject, Predicate, Object or Adverbial This kind of grammar is often taught at school because it is suitable for young students to study a language Despite its comprehensibility, it is isolated from its meaning Besides that, it does not convey the whole “grammatical system of language” but just “a fragment of grammar” On the other hand, because it is originated from European languages, it focuses on describing these languages Hence, it is difficult

to apply this grammar to non-European languages such as Chinese, Japanese or Vietnamese (Matthiessen & Halliday, 1997) In that context, it is required that there

should be another kind of language that is more meaningful and can be applicable in

a wider range

Systemic functional grammar (SFG) has found the answer to this demand This kind of grammar is an outstanding representative for the second perspective of grammar and was originally developed by Halliday In this concept, it is necessary

to understand what it means by “systemic” and “functional” “Systemic theory gets its name from the fact that the grammar of language is represented in the form of system networks, not as an inventor of structures” (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 23) This means that systemic grammar does not merely describe the structure of a language, but it is also a set of choices to make meaning The term “functional” refers to Halliday's view that language is as it is because of what it has evolved to

do In a functional grammar, “a language is interpreted as a system of meanings, accompanied by forms through which the meanings can be realized” (Halliday, 1994) Functional grammar is not the ultimate goal of grammarians like what is expressed in traditional perspective; whereas, it is just a means to convey the meaning of a language All in all, Halliday (1994) defines SFG as “a network of systems, or interrelated sets of options for making meaning” In his book, SFG is called “natural grammar in the sense that everything in it can be explained, ultimately, by reference to how language is used” (Halliday, 1994) Functional grammar can be considered one of the most successful trends of grammar as it is closer to people‟s communicative language It not only mentions form and meaning

of a language but also the relationship between them (Thompson, 1996: 6) In functional grammar, there is no “right” or “wrong” in terms of structure like in traditional grammar, but functional grammarians only consider something

“appropriate” or “inappropriate” to achieve high effectiveness in language (Eggins, 1994: 22)

1.2.1 Review of related studies

The founder of SFG is M.A.K Halliday (1994) with a famous book An

Introduction to Functional Grammar In this book, he explores the clause as

message, the clause as exchange and the clause as representation, which correspond

to textual metafunction, interpersonal metafunction and ideational metafunction Besides the clause, the author presents some concepts about below, above and beyond the clause such as groups and phrases, the clause complex, intonation and rhythm and cohesion and discourse These concepts are considered the theoretical foundation for many of his followers to base on in their research and publications Ten years later, Mathiessen (2004) revises Halliday‟s book with more specifications and examples to illustrate the concepts Some other scholars such as Eggins (1994), Bloors (1995), Thompson (1996), Martin, Mathiessen and Painter (1997) also pay much attention to SFG While Thompson (1996) focuses on analyzing examples to clarify some concepts of SFG, Martin, Mathiessen and Painter (1997) provides some exercises for students to work with functional grammar In Eggin‟s (1996) book, she focuses more on some concepts such as genre or register Bloors (1995) attempt to analyze English in the light of SFG

In Vietnam, the history of research on Vietnamese grammar dates back to long ago However, the very first studies of Vietnamese grammar were just some simple notes of different parts of speech or the role of word order, etc in the bilingual dictionaries developed by Western scholars in order to teach Vietnamese grammar to foreigners (Nguyen Thi Minh Tam, 2012) Later, there appeared some scholars who paid much attention to specific areas in Vietnamese language such as

Nguyen Tai Can (1975): Vietnamese noun and compound words, Nguyen Kim Than (1977): Vietnamese verbs and verb phrases, Diep Quang Ban (1984): Vietnamese

sentences and Tran Ngoc Them (1985): Cohesion in Vietnamese texts The first

Vietnamese linguist to study Vietnamese grammar in the light of SFG is Cao Xuan

Hao (1991) with his book Tiếng Việt: Sơ thảo Ngữ pháp Chức năng which was then

reprinted in 2007 His works gave an overview of SFG and analyzed Vietnamese grammar basing on this theoretical framework Besides that, the PhD dissertations

by Hoang Van Van (1997) An Experiential Grammar of the Vietnamese Clause: A

Functional Description and Thai Minh Duc (1998) A Metafunction Profile of

Vietnamese Clause Grammar analyzed in depth the Vietnamese grammar basing on

the theoretical framework of SFG (Nguyen Thi Minh Tam, 2012) More recently,

Do Tuan Minh (2007) studied the thematic structure of English and Vietnamese in his PhD dissertation and Nguyen Thi Minh Tam (2012) investigated the logico-semantic relationship in English and Vietnamese clause complexes However, there are hardly any studies analyzing the projection, one of the two logico-semantic relationships in a specific text

1.2.2 Three metafunctions of a language

In Halliday‟s view on SFG, he mentions three metafunctions of a language, namely ideational metafunction, interpersonal metafunction and textual metafunction It is obvious that language can make various meanings simultaneously The meaning of a language is not the sum of individual words but it depends on other factors such as the arrangement of words in a text Hence, different wordings will make different meanings Three metafunctions express three kinds of meaning which are the way people use language to make sense of their experience, act out their social relationship and organize their messages in a network where they are suitable to other messages around them Halliday calls these functions “metafunctions” because “function simply means purpose or way of using language and has no significance for the analysis of language itself” (Halliday & Hasan, 1985; Martin, 1990 cited in Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004)

1.2.2.1 Interpersonal metafunction

People use languages to establish and maintain the social relationship with other people The metafunction of language that expresses the interaction between speakers and addressees is called interpersonal metafunction People can use their language to ask a question, to make an order, an offer or to express their emotion towards other people and other things

Interpersonal metafuntion is realized through the Mood system The mood element consists of two parts: (1) the Subject, which is a nominal group, and (2) the

Finite operator, which is part of a verbal group (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004:

111) The remainder of the clause is called Residue constituted by three elements:

Predicator, Complement and Adjunct The following example is analyzed on the

basis of interpersonal metafunction:

1.2.2.2 Textual metafunction

While interpersonal metafunction enacts the social world, textual metafunction is connected to the presentation of ideational and interpersonal metafunctions As Halliday & Matthiessen (2004: 30) emphasizes in their book, it

“builds up sequences of discourse, organizes the discursive flow and creates cohesion and continuity” Textual metafunction is not extra-linguistic phenomena, but it is intrinsic to language, which means that it is a phenomenon created by language itself When the text flows change, the message of the text may also vary When a clause is analyzed basing on textual metafunction, it is necessary to focus

on Theme and Rheme “The Theme is the element which serves as the point of

departure of the message; it is that which locates and orients the clause within its context The remainder of the message, the part in which the Theme is developed, is called the Rheme” (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 64) It can be seen that a message or a clause consists of a Theme accompanied by a Rheme; and in English the Theme is in the initial position The following example illustrates textual metafunction basing on the analysis of Thematic structure:

The duke

My aunt That teapot

has given my aunt that teapot

has been given that teapot my the duke

the duke has given to my aunt

1.2.2.3 Ideational metafunction

The most important metafunction of a language is to construe the natural world and this metafunction is called ideational metafunction by Halliday &

Matthiessen (2004: 29) This metafunction is distinguished into two components: experiential metafunction and logical metafunction

Experiential metafunction is concerned with content or ideas In Halliday‟s

theory, experiential metafunction is realized through the system of transitivity He

emphasizes that “transitivity system construes the world of experience into a manageable set of process types”, namely material process, mental process, relational process, behavioral process, verbal process, and existential process (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 170) In each process, he continues to analyze the

participants and circumstances taking part in the process

Logical metafunction is the relationship between the expressed ideas It is realized through the relationship of coordination (parataxis) or subordination (hypotaxis) between the two clausal units The example below illustrates the experiential and logical metafunction of a clause:

Sayer Process: Verbal Carrier Process: relational Attribute

||| Peter says || that he was an engineer |||

In summary, three metafunctions of language play a very important role in functional grammar They are closely related and “they all contribute to the overall meaning and structure of the text” (Morley, 2000: 16) In order to see the relationship between three metafunctions, an example is analyzed in relation to transitivity, mood and thematic structure In the following sections, the author will focus on the logical metafunction of clause complex which is the main interest in the study

Inter-

-personal MOOD

Subject Finite Predi-

-cator Adjunct Adjunct

1.3 The notion of clause complex and projection in SFG

1.3.1 The notion of clause complex in SFG

Functional grammarians pay much attention to the notion “rank scale” related to “constituency” “whereby larger units are made up out of smaller ones” (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004:5) There exists the rank scale in the grammar of every language In English, the rank scale can be represented as below:

Clause Phrase/ group Word

Morpheme

Unit rank scale in English

Each unit of rank can consist of one or more units of the rank next below It can form complexes, hence, functional grammar may be concerned with clause complexes, phrase complexes, group complexes, word complexes and even morpheme complexes (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 9)

It can be seen that a clause is the largest unit of the rank scale It is also a basic unit in functional grammar As Bloor (1995) emphasizes, it is at this rank that people start to exchange information and interact with each other (Bloor, 1995: 7) From Hallidayan linguists‟ perspective, clauses include clause simplexes and clause complexes As it is called, a clause simplex consists of only one clause while a clause complex is a combination of “a Head clause and other clauses that modify it” (Halliday, 1994: 215) A clause complex is equivalent to the concept “sentence” in traditional grammar However, sentence is just “a constituent of writing”, but a clause complex is “a constituent of grammar” (Halliday, 1994: 216) Halliday‟s view obviously shows that in functional grammar, it is necessary to focus on clause

or clause complex to see the relations between these grammatical units rather than mentioning the term “sentence”

As mentioned above, the relationship between clauses is the realization of logical meaning of ideational metafunction According to Halliday & Matthiessen (2004: 373), clauses are interrelated in terms of the degree of interdependency or taxis and the logico-semantic relation

1.3.1.1 Taxis

It cannot be denied that all clauses are linked together by grammatical relations Some clauses are equal to each other, but some are of unequal status When the two clauses are equal, Halliday & Matthiessen (2004: 374) calls relation

“parataxis” in which one clause is initiating and the other continuing Contrary to

“parataxis” is “hypotaxis”, the relation between a dependent clause and its dominant clause

In parataxis, clauses are independent of one another According to Halliday (1994:221), “the paratactic relation is logically symmetrical and transitive” The example below shows the characteristics of paratactic relation:

||| Kukul crouched low to the ground || and moved slowly |||

(Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004:373) Hypotaxis is the relation between two clauses where one is considered the main clause and one is the dependent clause or “qualification” in Halliday‟s words The following example illustrates hypotactic relation:

||| As he came to a thicket, || he heard the faint rustling of leaves |||

Interestingly, in clause complexes, parataxis or hypotaxis does not exist separately but there is a mixture of parataxis and hypotaxis This is called “clause nexus” by Halliday (2004:375) The clauses making up clause nexus are primary and secondary clauses The clauses making up clause nexus are primary and secondary clauses The primary may be the initiating clause in a paratactic nexus or

the dominant clause in a hypotactic while the secondary is the continuing clause in parataxis or the dependent clause in hypotaxis The mixture of parataxis and hypotaxis in clause nexus can be illustrated in the following example:

||| I would || if I could, || but I can‟t |||

Expansion is the relationship where the secondary clause expands the primary clause by elaborating it, extending it or enhancing it In elaboration, one clause does not add new information to the other clause but specify, clarify and describe what has been said in the primary clause instead

||| She sang poorly, || the audience was bored with her voice |||

||| I came || when he had left |||

Different from expansion, in projection, “the secondary clause is projected through the primary clause, which instates it as a locution or an idea” (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 377) While locution is connected with verbal process (what

people say), idea is related to mental process (what people think) The following clause complexes give an example of projection:

||| John said: || “I‟m running away.” |||

(i) paratactic (ii) hypotactic

(b) extension

1 John ran away, +2 and Fred stayed behind

α John ran away,

(b) idea

1 John thought to himself:

„2 „I‟ll run away‟

α John thought

„β he would run away

Table 1: Relation between clauses in clause complexes

(Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 380)

1.3.2 The notion of projection in SFG

As it was mentioned in the previous part, projection is one of the two semantic relations between clause complexes which does not directly express non-linguistic experience but interpret linguistic representation instead (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 441) In projection, people tend to include the wording or meaning of an original event rather than express their own experience Projection is often applied to quote source in a report, to give attitude in a text, to make a conversation or ask a question (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 442) Among six

logico-processes in SFG, only two of them, mental process and verbal process are

capable of projecting other clauses Mental process interprets what people feel, think, and see in their experiential world There are two participants in mental

process, namely senser who can feel or perceive the world with consciousness, and phenomenon, something that is “felt, thought, wanted or perceived” (Halliday &

Matthiessen, 2004: 203) On the other hand, verbal process allows people to quote

or report sources of information It is the process of saying including the sayer, the receiver and the verbiage It can be considered the most popular process in projection The examples of mental process and verbal process are shown below:

I learned that lesson a long time ago

Senser Process: mental Phenomenon (thing) Circumstance

(Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004)

I told the story to my parents

Sayer Process: verbal Verbiage Receiver

Each projection process is realized through projecting element and projected element In fact, there are three systems involving the categorization of projection:

the level of projection, the speech function of projection and the mode of projection

1.3.2.1 Level of projection

The two processes mentioned above directly affect level of projection If the projecting clause is verbal process, then the projected clause is called “locution”,

whereas if the projecting clause is a mental process, the projected clause is “idea”

“Locution” and “idea” constitute two levels of projection For example, in the

clause complex “John said that she was beautiful”, “she was beautiful” is a locution, while in “John thought that she was beautiful”, “she was beautiful” is an

idea It can be said that locution is the projection of wording and idea is the projection of meaning (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 443)

1.3.2.2 Mode of projection

As it was mentioned in the previous part, taxis and logico-semantic relations are two kinds of relationship between clauses When projection is in combination with taxis, we have paratactic projection and hypotactic projection which are conceptualized as mode of projection Paratactic projection is known as quoting where the projected clause is directly quoted In contrast, hypotactic projection is similar to reporting in which the projected clause is indirectly reported

||| The girl said: || “I saw a young man in the house.” |||

||| I agree with the idea [[that we will go for a picnic.]] |||

These modes of projection will be discussed thoroughly in the following

sections

1.3.2.3 Speech function of projection

The projected clauses can function as statements, questions, offers or commands The two former ones form projected proposition while the latter are called projected proposal by Halliday & Matthiessen (2004: 444) In paratactic projection, the projected clause may be not only propositions and proposals but also

some minor speech functions such as greetings and exclamations Some examples

of projection of propositions and proposals are shown in the following table:

“Wow!”

-

Table 2: Projection of propositions and proposals

(Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 445)

it can occur alone, without the appearance of the projecting clause In the clause

complex “He says that “I am an architect.””, the projecting clause “He says” represents an ordinary phenomenon of experience, while the projected clause “that

“I am an architect” represents a second-order phenomenon It is so-called

“metaphenomenon” by Halliday & Matthiessen (2004: 447)

||| He says || that “I am an architect” |||

In paratactic projection, the projecting clause may vary in position, that is, they can precede the projected one, stand in the middle or come after the projected one When projecting clause comes after the projected, there might be an inversion

of the reported verb and the Sayer, but it is largely restricted to some formal planned texts, usually published writing (Bloor, 1995:202) The table below shows the various positions of projecting clause in paratactic projection:

Table 3: Positions of projecting clauses (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 446)

In paratactic projection, the verb “say” is the general member of the group Besides that, there are many other verbs which add more connotation meaning to themselves The following table illustrates the verbs for paratactic projection of both propositions and proposals:

(a) statements: tell, remark,

observe, point out, report, announce

threaten, vow, promise, agree

(b) questions: ask, demand,

inquire, query

request, tell, propose, decide; urge, plead, warn

suggest, offer; threaten, vow, promise, agree, call, order, request, tell, propose, decide;

feature: boast, murmur, stammer urge, plead, warn, blare,

thunder, moan, yell, fuss

Table 4: Verbs used in projecting clauses (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 448)

The author has just mentioned the paratactic projection or quoting of locutions (verbal process); however, there still exists the quoting of ideas (mental process) Although it is quite restricted, it will be insufficient not to mention it For example:

||| “The gods must watch out for Kukul,” || he thought to himself |||

The projected clause in this case represents what one can think in words Not all mental verbs are able to be used in quoting ideas except some certain verbs such

as think, wonder, reflect, surmise

Paratactic projection is not only realized through quoting but also through paratactic reporting Paratactic reporting can be considered the blended type between quote and report because it appears as a part of a report but still retains some interactive features of the original speech event If quoting is traditionally called “direct speech”, paratactic reporting is traditionally call “free indirect speech” Free indirect speech can be projected verbally and mentally and includes both propositions and proposals

Paratactic reporting (free indirect) Verbal

Proposition

Proposal

“1 2

“I can”, he said

“Are you sure?” asked Fred

“Wait here,” she told him

„I can‟, he thought

„Am I dreaming?‟ wondered Jill

He could, he thought

Was she dreaming, Jill wondered

Proposal „Wait here,‟ she willed him Wait there, she willed him

Table 5: Quoting and paratactic reporting (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 466)

In short, in paratactic projection, projected clause keeps the original wording

of the speech event Projecting clause and projected clause are independent from each other Both verbal clause and mental clause are capable of paratactically projecting other clauses When we mention paratactic projection, it is not only quoting but also paratactic reporting which is called free indirect speech in traditional grammar

1.3.4 Hypotactic projection

Contrary to paratactic projection, hypotactic projection is the projection in which the projected clause is dependent on the projecting one Halliday & Matthiessen (2004: 449) calls the projecting clause phenomenon and the projected one metaphenomenon because the projected clause is a phenomenon of language While paratactic projection tends to represent the exact words, hypotactic projection tries to interpret the gist or the main idea of the original clause It means that the projected clause in hypotactic projection is more focused on meaning than wording

It is obvious that we use language not only to talk but also to think, hence, hypotactic projection is the most typically applied to mental process with two sub-types: (1) cognition and (2) desideration

For cognition hypotactic projection is applied in both (a) like type and (b)

please type, two ways to express mental process without changing the active voice

of clauses For example:

(a) like type

||| I notice || that Eve‟s disloyalty and ingratitude must be contagious! |||

(b) please type

||| It strikes me || that Eve‟s disloyalty and ingratitude must be contagious! |||

(Halliday & Matthiessen , 2004: 449)

It cannot be concluded that the like type and the please type has exactly the

same semantic meaning; however, it may be stated that mental processes can be realized in either of the two directions: the senser or the phenomenon can be the subject but still keep the active voice The table below illustrates some paired verbs

of the like type and the please type:

Table 6: Paired verbs of the like type and the please type (Halliday, 1994: 117)

Besides mental process, hypotactic projection is employed in verbal process

In verbal process, the speaker does report the gist of what was said, so the wording may be quite different from the original (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 454) As he emphasizes, when the statements, questions, offers or commands are projected, their speech functions may be obscured and is therefore explicit in the reporting verbs Hence, there is a difference between the set of quoting verbs and reporting verbs

In hypotactic projection, not only are general reporting verbs employed but also the verbs for elaborated speech functions are used These verbs are listed

below:

Proposition Proposal Statement question

predict; strike, occur to

wonder, doubt;

out, ascertain, check;

determine, judge; predict;

know, remember

Desiderative

want, would like, wish, intend, plan for, hope for

Verbal

General

Elaborated

speech

function

hypothesize, deny, make out, claim, maintain

discourage

Table 7: Verbs serving in hypotactic projection

(Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 450, 456)

In short, in hypotactic projection, the two clauses are of unequal status The projected clause does not represent the wording but interprets the meaning instead This kind of projection can be applied for both mental and verbal process

1.3.5 Embedded projection

In addition to paratactic projection and hypotactic projection, locutions and ideas can be down-ranked as a qualifier for a nominal group Thus, the projecting element in this case is not a clause but functions as a nominal group The noun is the name of a locution or an idea and the projected clause serves to define it the same way as a relative clause Nouns of projecting elements belong to verbal process nouns and mental process nouns These nouns have a close relationship with the verbs used in projecting clause In some instances, these nouns are derived from such verbs

When we talk about embedded projection, it is necessary to mention a kind

of projection that is not projected by a verbal or mental process or by a verbal or mental process noun but it “comes as it were ready packaged in projected form”

Halliday (2004) refers to it as a fact For example:

The fact [[that Caesar was dead]] was obvious to all

The fact nouns fall in four subtypes: (1) cases, (2) chances, (3) proofs and (4) needs, among which the first three go with embedded propositions whereas the last goes with embedded proposals The below table illustrates some nouns used in embedded projection:

Projection nouns Fact nouns

argument, insistence, proposition, assurance,

(1) „cases‟: fact, case, point, rule, principle, accident, lesson, grounds

chance, possibility, likelihood,

Projection nouns Fact nouns

certainty, offchance, impossibility (3) „proofs‟: proof, indication,

implication, confirmation, demonstration, evidence, disproof ideas

conviction, discovery

questioning

locutions

inquiry; argument, dispute

(1) „cases‟: issue, problem,

As Halliday & Matthiessen (2004: 472) emphasizes in their book, sometimes there is no participant doing the projecting – no Sayer or Senser – a fact may be projected impersonally, either by (ii) a relational process or by (ii) an impersonal mental or (iii) verbal process For example:

(i) relational:

It came about [[that he was a robber.]]

(ii) mental: impersonal:

It was thought [[that he was a robber.]]

(iii) verbal: impersonal:

It was said [[that he was a robber.]]

In this case, the fact “that he was a robber” is an embedded clause functioning as the realization of an element in the relational process clause

All in all, embedded projection is the case when the projected clause is employed to define a nominal group The nominal groups consist of projection nouns and fact nouns In projecting a fact, in some situations, there is no participant,

so a fact becomes an impersonal projection or is connected to a relational process

1.4 Summary

In the first chapter of this thesis, the authors have presented an overview of SFG according to Halliday‟s view SFG is different from other trends of grammar in that it is more focused on meaning of a language rather than its form and structure

It will be insufficient to talk about SFG without mentioning three metafuntions: ideational function, interpersonal function and textual function These three metafunctions are interrelated to one another and they are corresponding to clause

as representation, clause as exchange and clause as message In addition, clause plays the role as the biggest functional grammatical unit Clause complexes are made up of a number of clauses The relationship between these clauses is realized through taxis (parataxis and hypotaxis) and logico-semantic relation (expansion and projection)

The main content of this chapter refers to the notion of projection in SFG When people want to express their saying or thinking of the experiential world, they can employ projection to interpret their meaning or wording Projection is studied in terms of level of projection, mode of projection and speech function of projection Level of projection is related to verbal process and mental process When the projecting element is a verbal process, we call projected clause a locution while in the other case, we call it an idea The mode of projection includes paratactic projection where the projecting and projected clauses are equal (equivalent to direct speech in traditional grammar), hypotactic projection in which the two clauses are

of unequal status (similar to what is traditionally called indirect speech), and embedded projection where the projected clause is down-ranked as the qualifier for the nominal group Speech function of projection studies the projection of propositions including statements and questions and the projection of proposals consisting of offers and commands While direct and indirect speech in traditional grammar emphasize on structure and form of the clause, projection in functional grammar is more focused on the meaning and the function of the clause

CHAPTER 2 THE REALIZATION OF PROJECTION IN PRESIDENT OBAMA’S SPEECH 2.1 Introduction

In the previous chapter, the relation of projection in clause complexes was investigated It is obvious that it is important to focus on level of projection, mode

of projection and speech function of projection when we study projection In this chapter, an attempt is made to look at the realization of projection in President

, 2011 to understand some characteristics of the genre of the text and the ideas of the President The speech of the President and the realization of projection in his speech are provided in Appendix 1 and Appendix 2 of this thesis

2.2 The chosen text

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and the current President of the United States of America He is the first African American President to hold the office He was born in 1961 in Hawaii During his schooling, he proved to excel in school and became the President of Harvard Law Review He started his political career in

1996 when he won a seat in Illinois State Senate In 2008, he won the general election defeating the Republican Candidate John McCain and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009 He was re-elected president in 2012, defeating Republican nominee Mitt Romney He is the first Democrat since Franklin D Roosevelt to win two successive presidential elections with a majority of the popular vote

Although Obama began his presidency in the midst of the worst economic crisis that America has faced since the Great Depression, he has done many things

to put America forward He made several domestic policies during his first term in office including signing the economic stimulus legislation in response to the 2007–

2009 recession in the United States In foreign policy, Obama ended U.S military involvement in the Iraq War, was able to track down and kill Osama Bin Laden

It is obvious that President Barack Obama is the proud president of the US During his presidency, he has made many speeches and remarks whose messages are loved and highly appreciated by the US citizens The speech that he made in Las Vegas on October 24th, 2011 is a speech for his campaign event and it has convinced many American people

2.3 A register analysis of the text

Language is not the entity that exists separately but it must be studied in its context In order to understand a text, it is necessary to know what the text is about, who are the participants of the text, the purpose of the text, etc All the listed things can be call the register of a text Eggins (1994: 26) in her book defines register as

“the immediate situational context in which the text was produced” According to Halliday & Hasan (1989), any register is realized through field, tenor and mode which are related to experiential meanings, interpersonal meanings and textual meanings Hence, in the following part, the author will try to analyze the text in terms of field, tenor and mode

2.3.1 Field

According to Martin (1984) and Swales (1990) cited in Nunan (1993), field means “different types of communicative events” which carry different characteristics It can be easily seen that the analyzed text in this study is a political speech thanks to the use of lexis in the text To begin the speech, the President says

“Hello” to all his people in Las Vegas After the greeting to his citizens, he continues to express his great thanks to the people and his staff by saying “Thank you” In his speech, he also uses the pronouns “I” to refer to himself, “you” for Las Vegas people and “we” to refer to all the Americans His speech is full of words and expressions to review what he and the US have done during the previous three years and to ask for the support from the people Owing to these features, it can be concluded that the text is a political speech