Experiential meanings of American politicians' speeches on Covid-19

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

QUY NHON UNIVERSITY

NGUYỄN THỊ THẢO TRINH

EXPERIENTIAL MEANINGS

OF AMERICAN POLITICIANS’ SPEECHES

ON COVID-19

Field: English Linguistics

Code: 8 22 02 01

Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Hien

BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN

NGUYỄN THỊ THẢO TRINH

NGHĨA KINH NGHIỆM

TRONG CÁC BÀI PHÁT BIỂU

CỦA CÁC CHÍNH TRỊ GIA MỸ

VỀ COVID-19

Chuyên ngành : Ngôn ngữ Anh

Mã số : 8 22 02 01

Người hướng dẫn: PGS. TS. Nguyễn Thị Thu Hiền

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STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

This thesis represents my own work and due acknowledgment is given

whenever information is derived from other sources. No part of this thesis has

been or is being concurrently submitted for any other qualification at any

university except where due reference has been made in the text.

Quy Nhon, 2021

NGUYỄN THỊ THẢO TRINH

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Firstly, I would like to express my great thanks in particular to Assoc.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Hien, my supervisor, who has supported me a lot

during the time I work on my thesis. Her invaluable reading of the drafts as

well as her useful feedback has contributed to the final form of this thesis.

Without her kind encouragement, her endless patience, her critical comments

and her valuable materials, I cannot finish this thesis.

Besides, I would like to send my deep gratitude to all lecturers having

taken part in the training process of MA course at Quy Nhon University.

Also, I take this opportunity to thank my family for their love and kind

support during the time I worked on this work. I am also grateful to my

friends and classmates for their warm encouragement, help, and valuable

materials.

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ABSTRACT

Based on Halliday & Matthiessen‟s Systemic Functional Grammar

framework, the present study aimed to investigate experiential meanings by

Transitivity System in 20 speeches made by American politicians on COVID

- 19. The main purpose of the study is to explore kinds of processes and

circumstances of clauses in their speeches, to find out the most dominant type

of process and circumstance used in the speeches, and then to interpret how

the American politicians experience the world in COVID-19 time. The study

is a combination of qualitative, quantitative, descriptive, analytic, and

synthetic method. The results indicate that Material process, which is largely

concerned with actions and events of the external world, seems to occupy all

of the speeches. Relational and Mental process also play a very important role

in those speeches because they help the politicians express the reality from the

point of view of onlookers as well as their feeling and thinking in their

speeches. The analysis also reveals that the circumstances center round where

and when activities happen with the high proportion of Location, which

reflects that the speakers strongly explain or describe the time and place of the

events. The findings of the study could serve as data for further

understanding. To learners, this kind of material is proved to be one of the

effective instruments for improving their English skills and vocabulary.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ................................................................... i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................. ii

ABSTRACT..................................................................................................... iii

ABBREVIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS .................................................. vi

LIST OF TABLES.......................................................................................... vii

LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................... viii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION..................................................................1

1.1. Rationale ..................................................................................................1

1.2. Aim and Objectives of the Study.............................................................3

1.2.1. Aim ....................................................................................................3

1.2.2. Objectives..........................................................................................3

1.3. Research Questions..................................................................................3

1.4. Scope of the Study...................................................................................4

1.5. Significance of the Study.........................................................................4

1.6. Structure of the Thesis.............................................................................5

CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW.......................................................6

2.1 . Speech....................................................................................................6

2.2 . Systemic Functional Grammar...............................................................6

2.3. Transitivity...............................................................................................8

2.3.1. Processes of Transitivity .................................................................10

2.3.2. Circumstances.................................................................................16

2.4. Previous studies....................................................................................23

CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ........................................27

3.1 . Research Method..................................................................................27

3.2 . Data collection.....................................................................................27

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3.3 . Data analysis........................................................................................28

3.4 . Research procedure .............................................................................28

3.5 . Reliability and Validity ......................................................................29

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION..........................................31

4.1.Processes.................................................................................................31

4.1.1. Material processes..........................................................................32

4.1.2. Relational processes........................................................................38

4.1.3. Mental processes.............................................................................40

4.1.4. Verbal processes .............................................................................42

4.1.5. Existential processes.......................................................................43

4.1.6. Behavioural processes ....................................................................45

4.2. Circumstances......................................................................................46

4.2.1. Location...........................................................................................47

4.2.2. Manner............................................................................................48

4.2.3. Cause...............................................................................................49

4.2.4. Accompaniment...............................................................................51

4.2.5. Matter..............................................................................................51

4.2.6. Extent...............................................................................................52

4.2.7. Role..................................................................................................53

4.2.8. Angle................................................................................................54

4.2.9. Contingency.....................................................................................54

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................56

5.1. Summary of the findings.......................................................................56

5.2. Implications...........................................................................................57

5.3. Limitations and suggestions for further research .................................58

REFERENCES.................................................................................................59

APPENDICES

vi

ABBREVIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS

(a) Abbreviations

Cir.: Circumstance

Pro.: Process

C1S5: Clause 1 in speech 5

(b)Conventions

- Boldface is used to mark the first use of technical terms.

- Italics are used for examples, emphasis, and technical terms.