Ralph Anjelo R.

Rueco Final Paper (Response Paper)

MAEd English Advanced Linguistics

On the Use of Marked Syntax in Four Short Stories Written by Hispanic American Writers: A
Functional Perspective

Michael Halliday (1985) coined the term "Systemic Functional Grammar" to describe a
novel way to study grammar that differs significantly from the traditional understanding of
language as a set of rules for determining grammatical structures. Language, in this view, is a
resource for producing meaning through the wording, and grammar is a resource for creating
meaning through wording.

Language interpretation is viewed as a system of meanings and forms that express those
meanings in functional grammar. It also serves as a valuable lens for demonstrating how these
resources enable the author to use language to create a social reality, contribute to the vividness
of texts such as literary genres, and construct the reality of texts expected to show based on
communicative purpose in the marked syntactical structures.
Systemic Functional Grammar as lens in Understanding Short Stories Written by Hispanic
Americans

The purpose of the said study is to extract the gist by analyzing the primary syntactical process
of thematization and postponement in four short stories published by different Chicano authors,
namely Rudolfo Anaya's The Force of Luck, Denise Chávez's Evening in Paris, Alberto lvaro
Ros' My Father and the Snow, and Ana Castillo's My Mother's Mexico.

Because Chicano writers inscribe a utopian vision and their search for identity through language,
and because they believe that writers have a colossal responsibility in society towards the
multicultural sphere, the primary goal of this research is to demonstrate that presenting specific
essential facts in short stories using several marked syntactical structures in English is possible.

The Systematical Functional Grammar serves as a lens because it examines the primary reasons
for choosing between linguistic forms such as extraposition, existential sentences, pseudo-cleft
sentences, passive, and cleft sentences concerning society. Using this as a framework, according
to numerous studies, makes the relevant corpus more substantial, relevant, and purposeful by
allowing us to delve deeper into the pragmatical, syntactical, and semantical components of
texts.

Furthermore, functional grammar serves a communicative purpose and allows users to recognize
the language's linguistic properties. It focuses on how spoken and written language interact in
various social circumstances. It is beneficial for demonstrating how texts function beyond the
level of the phrase, how different texts are constructed, and how language changes to meet the
users' needs. It adopts a descriptive approach, focusing on clusters of words that work together to
create meaning.
The given paper concentrates on certain anomalous syntactical structures guided by the questions
such as why do these Chicano writers write the way they do? And what is their communicative
purposes?

Through Syntactical Processes of Thematization and Process of Postponement: What is

Chicano Writer Communicative Purpose

The functional grammar refers to the relationship between grammatical categories and the
communicative purposes they provide. It examines how language functions in terms of the
functional links between its essential pieces and our choices when we use it. The following
framework is provided as a result of the findings:
 
Cleft sentences allow the writer to state something categorically, generally in contrast with
something already said, as seen in the contrast expressed. The primary use of this structure is to
express emphasis. This is represented in texts of Chavez, Anaya, and Castillo such as; 

One said that it was money which made a man prosperous, and the other maintained that it
wasn't money, but luck, which made the man.

It was with great reluctance that it was dispatched into oblivion, which in this case was the
irrigation ditch behind the house.

It was the destiny in Mexico that my mother's little brother Leonel refused to reject because of his
hatred for capitalism, which he felt was fully embodied by the United States

On the other hand, reversed pseudo- cleft utterances provide us with how they acquire language
(Castillo). The author points out that Spanish was crucial for the Hispanic population in the
United States. However, living in America implied that Hispanics had to immerse in the
American culture and the English language. I certainly adhere to this as it mirrors the
sociological impact of texts on society. This can be found in the texts of Rios: 

I take as measure against these recent days the fine drama and big lives of my parents together-
that's where my father is still big

Meanwhile, left dislocation is utilized to define literature's topics/ or themes. Based on the

findings, this can solely be found in the text of Rios:

It is a long and slow worm, this thing of dying in the way that he is

Passive, on the other hand, are used to emphasize specific facts. In this way, the reader pays
attention to certain climactic moments. As I scan the examples of given texts, the author
highlights a bad situation, which was typical for many Chicanos such can be found in the texts of
Chavez: 

I am wonderstruck by the colors behind the glass, by the image in the mirror, by the smell of this
midnight time
On extraposition, it emphasized specific facts by presenting them at the end of the structure.
Sometimes, the author firmly declares a statement by placing the most critical information at the
end of this syntactic structure. I notice that the author is postponing the heavy subject to the end
of the clause; that is, we are postponing an essential part of the message as a way of giving
prominence to it. This can be found in the texts of Anaya and Chavez that goes this way:

It is our lot to be poor until God wills it otherwise

But what a serious sounding debris of words. It's just that there's nothing else to say or to use.

Somehow, pseudo-cleft sentences were used to provide prominence without defying the

meaning, information, or even other linguistic environments that we find the focus of the
relevant reference or point of information that can be found in the sample texts of Rios: 

is the way of understanding - of understanding her, of course, but of understanding him too.

Lastly, an existential sentence was observed to portray the existence of something. This type of
syntactic structure introduces new topics or conversations of some short stories (Like in
Castillo). This helps readers to picture facts, reality, and other literary elements of short stories
and can be found in the sample utterances of Chavez and Castillo, respectively: 

There was a chicken in the oven, our Christmas "turkey".

But I don't remember their names or how many there were then. There were nearly ten-but not
ten yet-because that was the total number my uncle and his woman would eventually have. Still, it
felt like ten. So now there were four adults and al least thirteen children, age fourteen and under,
staying in one room.

The Essence of Study

The syntactical processes of thematization (cleft sentence, reversed the pseudo-cleft sentence and
passive) and the syntactical processes of postponement (existential sentence, pseudo-cleft
sentence, and extraposition) serve as a way of controlling the sentences and transmitting the
message.

Based on the results and findings through analysis, it is within the framework of Systemic
Functional Grammar for two main reasons: the importance of the context for the analysis of the
main syntactical processes of thematization because it studies language concerning society and
analyses the main reasons for choosing between some linguistic forms or others, a fact that is
always determined for the function that those linguistic forms have in society.

It is vividly portrayed that these Chicano writers have a function connected with the context in
which the short stories are written. In simple terms, short stories reflect social reality. Their use
of language has a clear vision and purpose that exhibits how the meaning of the text is expressed
by the Chicano authors and perceived by their expected readers.
With this study, it all boils down to that functional grammar, which is based on cultural and
social circumstances, is particularly valuable for explaining and evaluating how language might
be utilized to write and talk more correctly and effectively. Using functional grammar can assist
us in reading more critically and attentively.