Exploration of Logical Meta-functions in ICLE: An Analysis of Pakistani Argumentative Essays
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Systemic functional linguistics (SFL) studies how a language functions in a social context, concerning the meaning of clauses at three different levels: interpersonal, ideational, and textual. The aim of this corpus-based research is to find out the logical structures of clauses in Pakistani academic writings by evaluating two main elements of clause complexity: taxis and logico-semantics relations. For this purpose, Halliday & Matthiessen’s (2014) system of clause complexing was employed as an analytical framework. A sample size of 100 argumentative essays was taken from the ICLE corpus, which was written by Pakistani students. This corpus was annotated by using the UAM corpus tool manually. Furthermore, the comparative distributions of different types of clause complexes were studied and evaluated accordingly. It helped to identify and understand lexico-grammatical variations at the clause level in non-native Pakistani academic writings. The findings showed that Pakistani students composed hypotactic and paratactic with almost the same ratio in their writing with a minor deviation. They also tend to build different types of logico-semantic relations of clauses during the argumentation; however, the occurrences of expansion were high in contrast to projection. The null hypothesis was tested by deploying the Wilcoxon signed rank test. It revealed no significant difference between paratactic and hypotactic approaches. However, their various logico-semantic relations displayed significant differences (p<0.05).
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Anada, R. P., Arsyad, S., & Dharmayana, I. W. (2018). Argumentative features of international English language testing system (IELTS) essays: A rhetorical analysis on successful exam essays. International Journal of Language Education, 2(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.26858/ijole.v2i1.4768
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Abdulaziz, M., Mahmood, M. A., & Azher, M. (2016). Variation in learner’s argumentative essays: A multidimensional comparative analysis. Science International, 28(4), 413–424.
Anada, R. P., Arsyad, S., & Dharmayana, I. W. (2018). Argumentative features of international English language testing system (IELTS) essays: A rhetorical analysis on successful exam essays. International Journal of Language Education, 2(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.26858/ijole.v2i1.4768
Asención-Delaney, Y., & Collentine, J. (2011). A multidimensional analysis of a written L2 Spanish corpus. Applied Linguistics, 32(3), 299–322. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amq053
Aziz, M. A. (2019). A multi-dimensional analysis of Pakistani learner writing [Doctoral dissertation, Government College University, Faisalabad]. Pakistan Research Repository. http://prr.hec.gov.pk/jspui/handle/123456789/10855
Bacha, N. N. (2010). Teaching the academic argument in a university EFL environment. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 9(3), 229–241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2010.05.001
Brisk, M. E., & de Rosa, M. (2014). Young writers’ attempts at making meaning through complex sentence structures while writing a variety of genres. In L. de Oliveira & J. Iddings (Eds.), Genre pedagogy across the curriculum: Theory and application in U.S. classrooms and contexts (pp.8–24). Equinox.
Ching, T. S. (1998). Linguistic differences in texts produced under examination and non-examination conditions [Doctoral dissertation, National University of Singapore]. NUS Libraries. https://scholarbank.nus.edu.sg/handle/10635/179140?mode=full
Chong, J. Y. (1997). A metalanguage for teaching and evaluating writing: An application of systemic functional linguistics in the analysis of argumentative essays written by senior secondary students in Hong Kong [Doctoral dissertation]. University of Melbourne.
Coffin, C. (2000). Defending and challenging interpretations of the past: The role of argument in school history. Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses, (40), 135–153
Coffin, C. (2004). Arguing about how the world is or how the world should be: The role of argument in IELTS tests. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 3(3), 229–246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2003.11.002
Crossley, S. A., Allen, L. K., & McNamara, D. S. (2014). A multi-dimensional analysis of essay writing. Multi-Dimensional Analysis, 25, 197–237.
Crowhurst, M. (1990). The development of persuasive/argumentative writing. In R. Beach & S. Hynds (Eds.), Advances in discourse processes: Developing discourse practices in adolescence and adulthood (Vol. 39, pp. 202–223). Ablex Publishing.
De La Paz, S., Ferretti, R., Wissinger, D., Yee, L., & MacArthur, C. (2012). Adolescents’ disciplinary use of evidence, argumentative strategies, and organizational structure in writing about historical controversies. Written Communication, 29(4), 412–454. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088312461591
Derewianka, B. (2003). Trends and issues in genre-based approaches. RELC Journal, 34(2), 133–154. https://doi.org/10.1177/003368820303400202
Dreyfus, S. J., Humphrey, S., Mahboob, A., & Martin, J. R. (2016). Genre pedagogy in higher education: The SLATE project [Doctoral dissertation, University of Wollongong]. Faculty Of Law, Humanities and The Arts - Papers (Archive). https://ro.uow.edu.au/lhapapers/2845/
Eggins, S. (2004). Introduction to systemic functional linguistics. A&c Black.
Ellis, J. (1987). The logical and textual functions. New Developments in Systemic Linguistics, 1, 107–129.
Emilia, E. (2005). A critical genre-based approach to teaching academic writing in a tertiary EFL context in Indonesia [Doctoral dissertation]. University of Melbourne. https://tinyurl.com/mpn4vvcc
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Hirvela, A. (2017). Argumentation & second language writing: Are we missing the boat? Journal of Second Language Writing, 100(36), 69–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2017.05.002
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