scholarly journals A study of cohesion in international postgraduate Business students’ multimodal written texts: an SF-MDA of a key topic in finance

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 56-78
Author(s):  
Hesham Suleiman Alyousef ◽  
Suliman Mohammed Alnasser
Keyword(s):  
Meaning Making ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Business Students ◽  
Capital Budgeting ◽  
Multimodal Communication ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
Lexical Cohesion ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
Cohesive Devices ◽  
Analysis Scheme

Empirical research studies of finance students’ language use have investigated students’ performance in finance courses and the effect of class attendance on students’ performance.Similarly, research on accounting students’ texts has been directed at readability of accounting narratives and lexical choices. Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) based research in multimodal communication and representation has been confined to school and workplace contexts. Whereas multimodal communication investigations in tertiary contexts has been conducted across the fields of mathematics, science and computing, and nursing, business courses have not been explored. The purpose of this paper is to report on a case study designed to investigate the key multimodal academic literacy and numeracy practices of ten international Master of Commerce Accounting students enrolled at an Australian university. Specifically, it aims to provide an account of the salient textual and the logical patterns through the analysis of cohesive devices in a key topic in the Principles of Finance course, namely capital budgeting techniques and management reports. This study is pertinent as most international ESL/EFL students’ enrolments in Australia and elsewhere is in business programs. This study is underpinned by Halliday’s (1985) Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) approach to language and Halliday and Hasan’s (1976) cohesion analysis scheme. The study employs a Systemic Functional Multimodal Discourse Analysis (SF-MDA) for the analysis of cohesive devices in the participants’ multimodal texts. Lexical cohesion formed the largest percentage of use, and in particular repetition of the same lexical items, followed by reference.The findings contribute to the description of the meaning-making processes in these multimodal artefacts. They provide a potential research tool for similar investigations across a broad range of educational settings. Implications of the findings for finance students and educators are finally presented.

scholarly journals An SF-MDA of the Textual and the Logical Cohesive Devices in a Postgraduate Accounting Course

SAGE Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 215824402094712
Author(s):  
Hesham Suleiman Alyousef
Keyword(s):  
Meaning Making ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Business Students ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Making Meaning ◽  
Lexical Cohesion ◽  
Multimodal Discourse Analysis ◽  
Multimodal Discourse ◽  
Cohesive Devices

The use of cohesive devices in academic discourse not only improves the quality of writing but also enhances our learning experiences. This study aims to explain how the multimodal accounting discourse is constructed by postgraduate business students through the cohesive ties. Halliday and Hasan’s and Halliday’s cohesion analysis schemes were employed in the systemic functional multimodal discourse analysis (SF-MDA) of the cohesive devices in the multimodal accounting texts. The schemes are based on systemic functional linguistics (SFL) which suits the context of this study as it considers language as a social semiotic resource for making meaning. Its linguistic tools are capable of explaining the way we construct and make meanings. The SF-MDA findings showed the first and most frequently occurring cohesive device type in the orthographic texts was lexical cohesion, in particular repetition of the same lexical items, followed by reference and conjunctions. Lexical cohesive devices were higher in the tables than in the orthographic texts. Conjunctions were only employed in the orthographic texts to signal extension and enhancement relationships. One of the key features that characterize financial statements is the abundance of implicit hierarchically networked lexical ties that bind the separate lexical strings, thereby organizing the discourse of financial statements. The results contribute to our understanding of the complex multimodal meaning-making processes in accounting discourse.

scholarly journals English-Arabic Translator Education Through Systemic Functional Linguistics: Analysis of Cohesive Devices in Investopedia Business Texts

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 32
Author(s):  
Reem Fahad Alshalan ◽  
Hesham Suleiman Alyousef
Keyword(s):  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Lexical Cohesion ◽  
Specific Field ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
Cohesive Devices ◽  
Analysis Scheme ◽  
Intensive Use ◽  
Textual Features ◽  
Translator Education

In translation courses, students are asked to practice translation skills by translating a source text (ST) in a specific field. While teachers usually select texts based on topic and language accuracy, some such texts do not provide rich textual features that help students practice and improve their translation skills. This study aimed to analyze the cohesive features in business texts collected from “Investopedia” to investigate their suitability for use as STs to practice translation skills in the field of finance and administration. It was framed by Halliday’s (1978) systemic functional linguistics (SFL) approach to language and Halliday and Hassan’s (1976) cohesion analysis scheme. The findings demonstrated that the most prominent type used was lexical cohesion, followed by reference and conjunctions. Ellipses and substitution were rarely used. The findings indicated that the intensive use of lexical cohesion and the various subcategories used in these texts can help enrich the background knowledge of financial terminology and provide a communicative understanding of the ST while practicing various elements of textual features. The study provided a demonstration of the significance of SFL in providing coherent and cohesive STs that facilitate the needs of translation instructors and students in the field of finance and administration. Other SFL tools can be employed to provide a better understanding of these texts.

scholarly journals Text Cohesion in English Scientific Texts Written by Saudi Undergraduate Dentistry Students: A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Textual and Logical Relations in Oral Biology Texts

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 215824402110321
Author(s):  
Hesham Suleiman Alyousef
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Bachelor Of Science ◽  
Lexical Cohesion ◽  
Multimodal Discourse Analysis ◽  
Multimodal Discourse ◽  
Cohesive Devices ◽  
Analysis Scheme

This qualitative study examined multimodal cohesive devices in English oral biology texts by eight high-achieving Saudi English-as-a-foreign-language students enrolled in a Bachelor of Science Dentistry program. A Systemic Functional Multimodal Discourse Analysis (SF-MDA) of the textual and logical cohesive devices in oral biology texts was conducted, employing Halliday and Hasan’s cohesion analysis scheme. The findings showed that students used varied cohesive devices: lexical cohesion, followed by reference and conjunctions. Although ellipsis was minimally employed in the oral biology texts, its discipline-specific uses emerged: the use of bullet points and numbered lists that facilitate recall. The SF-MDA of cohesion in multimodal semiotic resources highlighted the processes underlying construction of conceptual and linguistic knowledge of cohesive devices in oral biology texts. The results indicate that oral biology discourse is interdisciplinary, including a number of subfields in biology. The SF-MDA of pictorial oral biology representations indicates that they include instances of cohesive devices that illustrate and complement verbal texts. The results indicate that undergraduate students need to be provided with a variety of multimodal high-cohesion texts so that they can successfully extend underlying conceptual and logical meaning-making relations.

scholarly journals AN ANALYSIS OF COHESION OF EXPOSITION TEXTS: AN INDONESIAN CONTEXT

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 515
Author(s):  
Emi Emilia ◽  
Nurfitri Habibi ◽  
Lungguh Ariang Bangga
Keyword(s):  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Written Language ◽  
High Achievers ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Lexical Cohesion ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
Cohesive Devices ◽  
Eleventh Graders ◽  
Flow Of Information

The paper reports on the results of a study aiming to investigate the cohesion of exposition texts written by eleventh graders of a school in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. The study used a qualitative case study research design, especially text analysis, involving 32 students. In the interest of space, the paper will present the data obtained from six texts written by 6 students, representing low, mid, and high achievers. The texts were analyzed using systemic functional linguistics (SFL), especially in terms of schematic structure and linguistic features, especially those contributing to the cohesion of the texts, such as Theme progression and cohesive devices. The results show that all texts show students’ grasp and understanding of the schematic structure of an exposition, including thesis, argument, and restatement of the thesis. All texts also successfully use the zig-zag and the Theme reiteration patterns, which indicate the students’ emerging capacity to create a text with cohesion at the clause level. However, only texts written by high achievers employ the multiple Theme pattern, indicating the students’ emerging capacity to create a text with better sense of connectedness, unity, and flow of information at the global level. High achiever texts also employ discourse features which allow the reader to predict how the text will unfold and guide them to a line of understanding of a text as a whole. Moreover, in terms of cohesive devices, all texts use some simple cohesive devices—reference, lexical cohesion, and conjunction. It should be mentioned that all texts are rudimentary with some inappropriate word choices and grammatical problems. This suggests that the students still needed more guidance and time to do research on the topic in focus, to go through the process of writing as professional do, to allow them to create a better text with more elaboration and characteristics of written language with consistency and accuracy. It is recommended that further research on different perspectives and foci of analysis of different text types using systemic functional linguistics, with more representative samples, and studies on the teaching of writing be conducted.

scholarly journals Cohesion in TIME Magazine Article “How covid-19 will shape the class of 2020 for the rest of their live”

E-Structural ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (01) ◽  
pp. 57-68
Author(s):  
Setyo Prasiyanto Cahyono ◽  
Valentina Widya Suryaningtyas ◽  
Raden Arief Nugroho
Keyword(s):  
Research Design ◽  
Sampling Method ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Time Magazine ◽  
Purposive Sampling ◽  
Lexical Cohesion ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
Cohesive Devices ◽  
On Line ◽  
Descriptive Qualitative

Abstract. This study is aimed at investigating the types of cohesive devices and their relationship which are found in an article of Time magazine entitled “how covid-19 will shape the class of 2020 for the rest of their live”. In conducting this study, the researchers employ descriptive qualitative as the research design. Meanwhile, in collecting the data, the researcher applied a purposive sampling method by choosing an article in an on line Time magazine. Meanwhile, the text was analyzed using systemic functional linguistics (SFL) especially those contributing to the cohesion of the text, including grammatical and lexical cohesion. The result of this study reveals that the text is “hang-together” which is described by the successfully use of cohesive devices. These patterns indicate that the writer of the article introduces the capacity to create a text with cohesion not only at the clause level but also to create text with better unity, flow and connectedness of information of the whole text. Besides, the use of cohesion in the text can create a relationship between language elements. Furthermore, the text of the article uses some simple cohesive devices such as reference, conjunction, repetition, and synonym.Keywords: cohesion, cohesive devices, language elements, magazine, SFLAbstrak. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menyelidiki jenis perangkat kohesif dan keterkaitannya dalam artikel majalah Time berjudul “how covid-19 will shape the class of 2020 for the rest of their live”. Dalam penelitian ini, peneliti menggunakan metode deskriptif kualitatif. Sedangkan dalam pengumpulan data, peneliti menggunakan sampel purposive dengan memilih artikel di majalah on line Time. Sedangkan teks dianalisis dengan menggunakan linguistik fungsional sistemik (LFS) terutama yang berkontribusi pada kohesi teks, termasuk kohesi gramatikal dan leksikal. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa teks yang dihasilkan oleh penulis “saling terpadu” yang digambarkan dengan berhasilnya penggunaan elemen perangkat kohesif. Pola-pola ini menunjukkan bahwa penulis artikel memunculkan kapasitas untuk membuat teks dengan kohesi tidak hanya pada tingkat klausa tetapi juga untuk membuat teks dengan kesatuan, aliran, dan keterhubungan informasi yang lebih baik dari keseluruhan teks. Selain itu penggunaan kohesi dalam teks dapat menciptakan hubungan antar elemen bahasa. Lebih lanjut lagi, teks tersebut menggunakan beberapa perangkat kohesif sederhana seperti referensi, konjungsi dan juga pengulangan, dan sinonim.Kata kunci: kohesi,  peranti kohesi, unsur bahasa, LSF, majalah, perangkat kohesif

scholarly journals Longitudinal Study of EFL Students Using the Systemic Functional Linguistics Method

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akiko Nagao
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
First Year ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Essay Writing ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
Genre Awareness ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Study Participants

This study examined the progress of English as a foreign language (EFL) writers using the instructional framework of systemic functional linguistics (SFL) and the communities of practice (CoPs) model. The study participants comprised 11 first-year undergraduate students in Japan with intermediate-level English proficiency who were exposed to SFL in a single EFL classroom (CoP). The participants’ genre understanding and meaning-making decisions when writing discussion essays were studied over two semester-long courses. To do so, their developmental changes were analyzed using pre- and post-instructional writing tasks. In particular, their ability to convey interpersonal meaning, such as through the use of modal verbs, was examined and compared between the pre- and post-tasks. To triangulate the findings, participants’ genre awareness in relation to discussion essays was also examined using in-depth qualitative analysis of their self-reflective texts and peer assessments, based on a grounded theory approach. In the pre-writing task, it was apparent that the learners lacked understanding of the components of discussion essay writing. However, analysis of their post-instructional tasks revealed that most had begun to apply the language components required to convey interpersonal meaning in their discussion genre texts. These results suggest that the changes in learner’s genre awareness and knowledge affected the lexicogrammatical features they used when writing discussion essays. Thus, this study concludes that applying the SFL framework to writing instruction enhanced EFL learners’ awareness of textual meaning and their understanding of the function of discussion essay texts.

scholarly journals Printed t-shirts in the linguistic landscape

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Caldwell
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
Social Semiotics ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Unique Mode ◽  
Landscape Research ◽  
A Site

Abstract While the printed t-shirt remains a prominent form of communication in our contemporary linguistic landscape, little research to date has examined the semiotics of this unique mode of communication. In response to the interdisciplinary ‘invitation’ from Shohamy and Ben-Rafael (2015), this paper draws on principles and methods from social semiotics (van Leeuwen, 2005) and Systemic Functional Linguistics (Halliday, 1989) to explore the meaning-making potential of English words on printed t-shirts. The paper begins by applying Halliday’s concept of mode to the printed t-shirt and then presents a linguistically motivated taxonomy of words on printed t-shirts. In addition to foregrounding the printed t-shirt as a site for future exploration, this paper aims to present a close textual discourse analysis – an examination of the ‘perceived space’ (Malinowski, 2015) – to complement, inform and engage with current trends and methods in linguistic landscape research and pedagogy.

scholarly journals Using systemic functional linguistics to explore digital technologies in educational contexts

2013 ◽  
Vol 33 (4-5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Coffin
Keyword(s):  
Meaning Making ◽  
Online Discussion ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Main Body ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
Online Discussion Forums ◽  
Semiotic Resources ◽  
Fresh Perspective ◽  
Educational Argumentation

AbstractOver the last decade, technological innovation has led to new pedagogic sites, such as online discussion forums and virtual 3D worlds. In these sites students and teachers use language and other meaning-making resources to engage in educational argumentation. However, there have been few studies which have systematically explored the role of lexicogrammatical and other semiotic resources in the making of meaning in these contexts. This is because the main body of research underpinning claims around the affordances and limits of online argumentation is located within sociocognitive paradigms. By drawing on the tools of systemic functional linguistics and, where relevant, systemic functional-multimodal analysis, this article therefore offers a fresh perspective. I show how such tools can illuminate both the overarching textual shape and structure of online discussion forums and the ways in which meanings are made through language and other semiotic resources.

scholarly journals Teaching L2 writing through the use of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL)

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-72
Author(s):  
Setyo Prasiyanto Cahyono
Keyword(s):  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Thinking Skill ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Critical Response ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
Thematic Progression ◽  
Cohesive Devices ◽  
Editing Activity ◽  
Teaching Of Writing ◽  
Textual Meaning

This study aims to describe the implementation of systemic functional linguistics (SFL) of the textual grammar of message (or textual meaning) to enhance students’ critical response to the text they created. For EFL learners, transferring their ideas into writing is already a difficult task and that to give a response to the text they read or write critically is even more challenging. This study intends to approach the teaching of writing by adopting Halliday’s idea of textual meaning and Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). The students were introduced to samples of hortatory texts and trained to analyze the thematic patterns and grammatical cohesive devices. It is hoped that by training them to understand textual grammar (including thematic progression and cohesion), students (as readers and writers) are able to build their critical thinking skill and evaluate their own works. After the training, students were assigned to produce a hortatory text and to do self-editing activity. The data of this study were the twenty students’ hortatory texts which was analyzed using a framework of textual meaning proposed by Butt (2000). The analysis of the students texts show that most students were able to self-edit their own writings and edit their peer’s writing using thematic progression and cohesive devices. Students adopted skills of using both strategies in creating cohesiveness in their writing. In addition, students also produced critical response to the topic given through its theme and thematic displayed in the text analysis.

scholarly journals Discourse Intonation and Systemic Functional Phonology

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 100
Author(s):  
Miriam P. Germani ◽  
Lucia Rivas
Keyword(s):  
Meaning Making ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
Language System ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Discourse Intonation ◽  
University Level ◽  
Natural Result ◽  
The Way

This paper is a reflection on praxis which addresses the phonological stratum as an integral part of the language system. As EFL teachertrainers, we often find that students isolate the different meaning-creating components of language as a natural result of the way courses areorganized at university level. It is in the spirit of helping students integrate the various aspects of language and context that we have set outto compare David Brazil, Malcolm Coulthard and Catherine Johns’s Discourse Intonation model –which we have been working with for morethan ten years– with the intonation approach in Systemic Functional Linguistics, by M.A.K. Halliday and William Greaves. We observe thetheoretical similarities between the two approaches in order to see how they may supplement one another. Then, we analyse a conversationtaken from a film following both theoretical approaches, and draw conclusions in the light of the comparison. Our preliminary results show thatthe two approaches explain the meanings conveyed with reference to different meaning-making resources. Brazil et al. explain the meaningsat risk in the interaction according to the phonological systems they describe (prominence, tone, key and termination). Halliday and Greavesdo so by referring to the phonological and lexico-grammatical strata in combination.

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