Functional Grammar

IV A, B, & C
1st E-quiz March 21, 2018

Group Members: Class: IV B

1. AFIF ADANI
2. SITI SEPTIA AWALYA
3. MARIA ULFA
4. RIKA NURHIKMAH
5. AHMAD SOLIHIN
6.
7.

Questions:

Part I: Recalling basic concepts of traditional grammar, functional grammar, experiential

metafunction, and transitivity system (30%)

1. What is the main difference between traditional grammar and functional grammar
approach?

2. What is a relation between experiential metafunction and transitivity system?

3. What is the main value of knowledge of transitivity system for language teaching and
learning?

Part II: Identifying the three aspects of meaning in transitivity system and analyzing a text
quality

Text:

Last month I and my friends visited Banten province. We went to that province
because we were curious about its history and culinary. We went to three tourism places at
that time. On the first day we visited Banten archeological museum. On the second day we
visit some famous restaurants. Lastly, we visited Baduy area. We enjoyed our short visit in
Banten Province.

4. Identify each participant, process, and circumstance in the clauses of the text above.
(30%)

5. Comment the quality of the text above based on the transitivity system analysis. (40%)

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 Functional Grammar
IV A, B, & C
1st E-quiz March 21, 2018

Answers:

Part I

1. Traditional grammar aims to describe the grammar of standard English by comparing with
Latin. As such, it is prescriptive. Students learn the names of parts of speech (nouns, verbs,
prepositions, adverbs, adjectives) and the focus just only on written language.

Functional grammar, unlike traditional grammar, has a strong focus on the context of the
text being studied, with an emphasis on how language is used to express meaning.
Functional grammars view language as a resource for making meaning. These grammars
attempt to describe language in actual use and so focus on texts and their contexts. They are
concerned not only with the structures but also with how those structures construct
meaning.

2. Transitivity system is a system which deals with the content that is expressed in language: all
doing, sensing, being, saying activities that happen in the world. Transitivity deals with the
experiental metafunction. The experiental metafunction organizes our experiences and
understanding of the world. It is the potential of the language to construe figures with
elements. And the relation is experiental metafunction is the basic meaning of various
experiences and certain realities are realized in the text through the transitivity system.
3. For the teachers it can help to assess weather, the text produce by a person or learners (in
written or oral form). Is appropriate or not with his social function.
- For the teachers also can help in determining the quality of the text from the learners.
- For the learners it can help in understanding what kind of verbs that should use when
they have a specific purpose in the process of writing or speaking.
- For the learners also it can help to produce quality texts (the text corresponding to its
designation).

Part II

4. Grammatically corrected texts:

Last month, my friends and I visited Banten province. We went to that province
because we were curious about its history and culinary. We went to three tourism
places at that time. On the first day, we visited Banten Archeological Museum. On
the second day, we visited some famous restaurants. Lastly, we visited Baduy area.
We enjoyed our short visit in Banten province.

Identify each participant, process, and circumstance in the clauses of the text.

1 st clause Last month My friends Visited Banten

and I province
Circumstance: Actor Process: Goal
time material

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 Functional Grammar
IV A, B, & C
1st E-quiz March 21, 2018

To that
We Went
2 nd
clause province
Actor Process: material Goal

About its
Because We Was curious history and
rd
3 clause culinary
Process:
Senser phenomenon
mental

To three
4 th clause We Went At that time
tourism places
Process: Circumstance:
Actor Goal
material time

Banten
On the first day We visited Archeological
5 th clause Museum
Circumstance: Process:
Actor Goal
time material

On the second Some famous

We visited
day restaurants
6 th clause
Circumstance: Process:
Actor Goal
time material

lastly We visited Baduy area

7 th clause Process:
Actor Goal
material

Our short In banten

We Enjoyed
visited province
8 th clause
Process: Circumstance:
Senser phenomenon
mental place

5. A. This text type is recount text

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 Functional Grammar
IV A, B, & C
1st E-quiz March 21, 2018

- Generic structure of recount text consist of orientation, event and reorientation. The
orientation part can be found on the first until third clause. (Last month, my friends
and I visited Banten province. We went to that province because we were curious
about its history and culinary). The events part can be found on the fourth until sixth
clause (On the first day, we visited Banten Archeological Museum. On the second
day, we visited some famous restaurants.). And the reorientation part can be found
on the last clause (We enjoyed our short visit in Banten province.)

- This text has correct generic structure for a recount text. But the event part of this
text is less informative in giving information of what the participant have done in
each place.

B. This text is short for a recount, this text only presents 8 clauses that do not explain
much specific events in each place visited.

C. - Participant who dominates the text: my friend and I (actor) as the party who
performs actions at each event at that time.

- The process that dominates the text is a material process. The use of material
processes is relevant to the social function of recount text used to retell an
individual's event or experience. In this text the retelling party is those who go to
Banten province. In this text the author also uses verb “visited” and “went” as a
material process and “enjoys” verb as a mental process that explains the events of
the past.

- Circumstances that dominate the text: there are circumstances in this text, it is
great to describe the contents of the text.

D.

Advantages Deficiency
-This text has a generic sequence structure that - This text is too short and uninformative.
matches the recount text. - Only have few clauses and less specific.
-This text uses participant, process an
circumstances that are relevant to the recount
text function.

E.