FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR

(An Introduction to Metafunctional Components of Language)

Oleh: Christina I.T. Panggabean

(Dosen Bhs. Inggris Universitas Ronggolawe Tuban)

Abstract:
Functional Grammar describes grammar in functional terms in which a
language is interpreted as a system of meanings. The language system consists of
three macro-functions known as meta-functional components: the interpersonal
function, the ideational function, and the textual function, all of which make a
contribution to the structure of a text. The concepts discussed in Functional
Grammar aims at giving contribution to the understanding of a text and
evaluation of a text, which can be applied for text analysis. Using the concepts
in Functional Grammar, English teachers may help the students learn how
various grammatical features and grammatical systems are used in written texts
so that they can read and write better.

Key Words:
Functional Grammar, meta-functional components

INTRODUCTION from which regular relationships may be

The linguistic theories maybe established. They tend to take grammar
divided into two broad schools of thought as the foundation of language. The latter
known as formal versus functional see language as a network of relations,
1
orientations. As it is said by Halliday using structures as the realization of
that the fundamental opposition in these relationships. They emphasize
grammars of the second half of the variables among different languages, to
twentieth century is between those that take semantic as the foundation, and so
are primarily syntagmatic in orientation, to be organized around the text, or
the formal grammars, rooted in logic and discourse.
philosophy and those that are primarily Within each orientation there are a
paradigmatic, the functional ones rooted number of competing theories. One of
in rhetoric and ethnography. The former the famous structuralists was Ferdinand
sees a language as a list of structures, de Saussure. One of the most interest is
his distinction between langue and
1
Halliday, M.A.K. 1994. An Introduction to parole. Langue is the system of
Functional Grammar. New York: Oxford
University Press
language in social context in which
 FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR (AN INTRODUCTION TO METAFUNCTIONAL
COMPONENTS OF LANGUAGE)
Christina I.T. Panggabean

language is sign which is arbitrary. And language and not with the deeper
parole or speech is the individual functional levels of meaning constructed
manifestation, a part of social system. from social interaction. In functional
But he was not prepared to take context orientation, functions are essentially the
of language use into account in the purposes that we accomplish with
2
elaboration of his theory. The other language, e.g., stating, requesting,
dominant formal theory is responding, greeting, parting, etc.
transformational generative grammar However, forms of language are needed
proposed by Chomsky. His main to accomplish functions. Forms are the
concern is a speaker’s knowledge of outward manifestation of language and
grammar (linguistic competence), that functions are the realization of those
the abstract outlines of the rules systems forms.4 The theme unifying the functional
are part of a human being’s genetic approach is the belief that language
3
endowment. For Chomsky, human must be studied in relation to its role in
beings have the ability to produce and human communication.
understand an infinite number of The British linguist, J.B. Firth,5
sentences, none of which had ever been opening the door for the study of
uttered before. language function, suggested that
Ferdinand de Saussure’s linguistic linguistics at all levels of analysis be
theory and Chomsky’s are considered to concerned with meaningful human
have influenced a lot in the theory of behavior in society. He derived his
language teaching and learning, e.g. in theory of ‘context of situation’ from
the grammar-translation method and Malinowski, who believes that meaning
also audio-lingual method, producing a comes not from a passive contemplation
structural syllabus, giving top priority to of the word, but from an analysis of its
the teaching of grammar or structure of functions, with reference to the given
the language. culture. Malinowski and Firth represent a
The formal orientation seems to view of language as context-dependent
neglect the context in which language is and sociological in orientation, as
used. The rules proposed by the opposed to a more internal view in which
structuralists were considered abstract, language is a self-contained system. As
formal, explicit, and quite logical, but we know human beings do not
they concerned with the forms of communicate with each other in a
vacuum, but rather in a socio-culturally
2 defined activities and situation in which
Yalden, Janice. 1987. The
Communicative Syllabus: Evolution, Design, and
Implementation. New Jersey: Prentice Hall
4
International. Brown, H. Douglas. 2000. Principles of
3
Foley, William A. & van Valin, Roberrt D. Language Learning and Teaching. New York:
1984. Functional Syntax and Universal Grammar. Addison Wesley Longman Inc.
5
Cambridge University Press. Ibid

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 FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR (AN INTRODUCTION TO METAFUNCTIONAL
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Christina I.T. Panggabean

the participants take on socially defined important contribution to the

roles and statuses. development of a detailed functional
Malinowski and Firth had a strong grammar of modern English and has
influence on the work of Michael inspired work on a wide range of
Halliday, who in turn has had a great languages.
impact on applied linguistics. According
to Halliday6 functional theory is FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR
concerned with language as a form of Functional grammar is a way of
interaction, and also with the context in looking at grammar in terms of how
which such interaction takes place. A grammar is used. It is used for
single sentence or conversation might describing languages in functional terms.
incorporate many different functions It focuses on the development of
simultaneously. On the other hand, one grammatical systems as a means for
function of language can be expressed people to interact with each other.
using different forms. The idea of According to Halliday8 it is called
functional theory has been adopted into functional grammar because the
the theory of language teaching and conceptual framework on which it is
learning which are functional and based is a functional one rather than a
communicative, from which the notional formal one. In a functional grammar, a
syllabus, the functional-syllabus, or the language is interpreted as a system of
notional-functional syllabus are meanings, accompanied by forms
produced. through which the meaning can be
With regard to grammar, Halliday realized. The theory underlying
divides the language system into three functional grammar is systemic theory,
macro-functions the interpersonal which is a theory of meaning as choice.
function, the ideational function, and the It is functional in three different but
textual function. Each of these closely related senses: in its
components makes a contribution to the interpretation (1) of texts, (2) of the
structure, so that a grammatical system, and (3) of the elements of
structure is a composite, as it were a linguistics structures.
polyphonic pattern in which one melodic According to Halliday, every text –
line derives from each function (Kress in that is, everything that is said or written –
7
Yalden). unfolds in some context of use. As it is
In this paper I will discuss stated by Eggins9 in contemporary life,
functional grammar, more specifically, we are constantly required to react to
the three functions of language,
developed by Michael Halliday, who has 8
Ibid
9
Eggin, Suzzana. 2004. An Introduction to
6
Ibid Systemic Functional Grammar. London:
7
Ibid Continuum International Publishing Group.

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Christina I.T. Panggabean

and produce bits of language that make sets of semantic choice. (1) Theme
sense. So a functional grammar is structures express the organization of
essentially a ‘natural’ grammar, in the the message: how the clauses relates to
sense that everything in it can be the surrounding discourse, and to the
explained by reference to how language context of situation in which it is being
is used. The relationship between the produced; (2) Mood structures express
meaning and the wording (grammar) is interactional meaning: what the clause is
not, however, an arbitrary one: the form doing, as a verbal exchange between
of the grammar relates naturally to the speaker-writer and audience; (3)
meanings that are being encoded. Transitivity structures express
Furthermore, the fundamental representational meaning: what the
components of meaning in language are clause is about, which is typically some
functional components, called process, with associated participants
metafunctional components consisting of and circumstances. These three sets of
ideational or reflective, interpersonal or options together determine the structural
active, and textual. The first two underlie shape of the clause.
all uses of language: (1) to understand
the environment (ideational), and (2) to THEME: CLAUSE AS MESSAGE
act on the others in it (interpersonal), The system of Theme belongs to
and the textual breathes relevance into the textual metafunction of the language.
the other two. In the third sense, each The Theme functions in the structure of
element in a language is explained by the clause as a message. The Theme is
reference to its function in the total the element which serves as the point of
linguistic system. A functional grammar departure of the message. It is
combines all the units of a language – its concerned with the organization of
clauses, phrases and soon. information within individual clauses.
Halliday’s main purposes of his The following examples show that ‘the
functional grammar are a contribution to same’ clause-sized piece of information
the understanding of the text: the embody alternative Theme choices.
linguistic analysis enables one to show Your reporter repeatedly interrupted her
how, and why, the text means what it replies.
does, and a contribution to the Her replies were repeatedly interrupted
evaluation of the text: the linguistic by your reporter.
analysis may enable one to say why the Repeatedly, your reporter interrupted her
text is, or is not, an effective text for its replies.
own purposes.
The three metafunctional
components proposed by Halliday serve
to express three largely independent

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Christina I.T. Panggabean

(Taken from Martin, Mathiessen, and Or it can be a ‘circumstance’, giving

10
Painter) information about time, place, manner,
Theme can be identified as that cause, etc:
element which comes in first position in In 1876, Shaw joined his mother and
the clause. The rest of the message sister in London.
where the clause moves after the point
of departure is called Rheme. The Marked and unmarked topical Theme
clause as message is organized into In a declarative clause, the typical
Theme + Rheme. The Theme is not pattern is Theme as Subject. If the first
necessarily a nominal group, but it can topical element of declarative clause is
be an adverbial group or prepositional also the Subject of the clause, then the
phrase like the following examples: Theme choice is a neutral or ‘unmarked’
one, giving the Theme no special
Once upon there were three bears prominence like the following examples:
a time
With sob he sorted out those of She went to the

and tears the largest size baker’s

Theme Rheme Unmarked Rheme

Theme/Subject

The Theme of a clause can have

ideational, interpersonal, and textual However, when the topical
stages. Theme of a declarative clause is not the
Subject, it gains a greater textual
Ideational (topical) Theme prominence. Non-Subject Themes are
The ideational stage to the ‘marked’ Themes such as:
Theme, known as topical Theme, can
Someday you ‘ll understand
be recognized as the first element in the
that
clause that expresses some kind of
‘representational’ meaning. It is a Subject

function from the transitivity structure of Marked Rheme

the clause. It can be a ‘participant’ as in: Theme

Charles Dickens was famous for his first

novel ‘Oliver Twist’. In imperative clause, the basic
message is either ‘I want you to do
something’ or I want us (you and me) to
do something’. The second type usually
10 begin with let’s, which is the unmarked
Martin, J.R., Mathiessen, Christian
M.I.M., and Painter, Clare. 1997. Working with choice of Theme. But with the first type,
Functional Grammar. London: Arnold

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Christina I.T. Panggabean

although the ‘you’ can be made explicit Can you lend me

as a Theme, e.g. you keep quiet! This is your
clearly a marked choice because the calculator?
more typical form simply keep quiet! with Does she live around
the verb in thematic position. In negative here?
imperatives, the principle is the same as
Theme 1 Theme Rheme
with yes/no interrogatives: the unmarked
(interpersona 2
Theme is don’t plus the following
element, either Subject or Predicator. In l) (topical)

the first type, there is a marked form with

you, where the Theme is don’t + you. A Wh- element, signaling that an
Some other examples of imperative ‘answer’ is required from the addressee:
clause are as follows: In a WH-question, the element that
functions as Theme is the element that
answer all five questions
requests this information, namely the
don’t leave your wallet on the
WH- element: that is, the group or
table phrase in which the WH- word occurs. If
let’s not quarrel about it the WH- word is part of a nominal group,
Unmarked Rheme this nominal group may function as
Theme Theme. The examples are:

Who killed the man?

Interpersonal Theme Which house do they live in?
Interpersonal Theme includes one or
Theme Rheme
more of the following:
The Finite, typically realized by an
auxiliary verb and its presence in A Vocative, identifying the addressee in
thematic position, signals that a the exchange:
response is expected.
In a yes-no question, the element Frank, it was
that functions as Theme is the finite fantastic.
verbal operator, which expresses Theme 1 Theme 2 Rheme
positive or negative: is, isn’t; do, don’t; (interpersonal) (topical)
does, doesn’t; can, can’t; etc. The finite
operator is put first before the subject.
The Theme includes the finite verb and An Adjunct, typically realized by an

the Subject like the following examples: adverb. It provides the speaker’s
comment, assessment or attitude toward
the message, for example:

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speaker, or writer, and audience.

Perhaps, he won’t Halliday further explained that in the act
notice of speaking, the most fundamental types
you. of speech role are just two: (1) giving,
Sadly, His boss didn’t and (2) demanding. It means that either

believe the speaker is giving ‘something’ or

‘commodity’ (using Halliday’s metaphor)
him.
to the listener or he is demanding
Theme 1 Theme 2 Rheme
‘something’ from him. It is an exchange,
(interpersonal) (topical) in which giving implies receiving and
demanding implies giving in response.
Textual Theme When they are combined, define the four
The other type of Theme is Textual primary speech functions of offer,
Themes which almost always constitute command, statement, and question.
the first part of the Theme, coming Statements and questions, which
before any interpersonal Themes. They involve exchanges of information, are
give thematic prominence to textual called proposition while offers and
elements with a linking function. They commands, which involve exchanges of
are usually structural conjunctions, goods and services, which exist
relatives, conjunctives, or continuatives. independently of language, are called
proposals. These semantic categories
But don’t you realize are realized by grammatical Mood
it? options (declarative, interrogative,
imperative).
And Diana he gave
then me a
Goods and information
ring.
services
textual interpersonal topical
Giving Offer, e.g., Statement
Theme Rheme
May I help (declarative),
you? e.g., He will
MOOD: CLAUSE AS EXCHANGE help me.
Another aspect of the meaning of demanding Command Question
the clause is clause as an exchange, in (imperative), (interrogative),
which the system of Mood
e.g., Help e.g., who will
characterizes. The system of Mood
me! help me?
belongs to the interpersonal
proposal proposition
metafunction of the language and is the
grammatical resource for realizing an
interactive move in a dialogue, involving

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Christina I.T. Panggabean

The Mood element guy.

In this system, clauses are Subject Finite
structured to enable us to exchange Mood Residue
information. The mood element makes
the clause ‘negotiable’. The following is
The man could sing that
the example given by Halliday on a
song.
typical piece of information-exchanging
dialogue: Subject Finite:
The duke’s given away that teapot, modal
hasn’t he? Mood Residue
- Oh, has he?
- Yes, he has.
Other Elements of Mood Structure
- No, he hasn’t.
Residue
- He hasn’t; but he will.
The other component is called
- Will he?
Residue, which can be left out or
- He might.
ellipsed. It consists of three kinds of
What we can see from the example
functional elements: Predicator,
is that one particular component of the
Complement, and Adjunct like the
clause is being, as it were, tossed back
following example:
and forth to keep the argument going,
while the remainder (given away that
I did tell that to
teapot) is simply left out.
n’t my
The component that gets bandied
fathe
back and forth is called Mood, which
functions to carry the argument, and it r
consists of two parts: (1) the Subject, Subj Fini Predic Comple Adju
which is a nominal group, and (2) the ect te ator ment nct
Finite operator, which is part of a verbal Mood Residue
group expressing tense or modality.
He wasn’t a was he?
psycholog Predicator
ist Predicator is realized by a verbal
Subject Finite Finite Subje group minus the temporal or modal
ct
operator. It fills the role of specifying the
Mood Residue Moodtag
actual event, action or process being
discussed, for example, the second
verbal element, reading in I’m reading
I learnt the English from ‘Pride and Prejudice’ tells us what
language this process was actually going on.

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neg. attributive
Mood Residue
Complement
A second component of the
residue is the complement. A Adjunct
complement is defined as non-essential A third component of the Residue
participant in the clause. It can be is the Adjunct. It is a clause element
identified as an element within the which contributes some additional
residue that has a potential of being information to the clause. Adjuncts can
Subject. It can be subject through the be identified as elements which do not
process of making the clause passive. have the potential to become Subject.
They are not nominal elements, but
adverbial, or prepositional like the
Charles wrote ‘Oliver
following examples:
Dickens Twist’.
The old man died yesterday.
Subject Finite Predicator Complem
I learnt the dance from my aunt.
ent
Mood Residue
WH- interrogative, Exlamative, and
Imperative Clauses
WH-element is always linked to
‘Oliver was written By
one or another of the three functions
Twist’ Charles
Subject, Complement, Adjunct. If it is
Dickens
linked to the Subject, it is part of the
Subject Finite Predicator Adjunct
Mood element, and if it linked to a
Mood Residue
Complement or Adjunct it becomes part
of the Residue.
The complement is typically a
nominal group. It can also be a whole who killed John Lennon
clause. There is a particular sub-class of Subject/ (past) kill Complement

complements which are called attributive WH- Finite Predic

complements, where the complement is ator

realized by an adjectival element to Mood Residue

describe the Subject. Attributive

complements cannot become subject. Whose little boy are you
Complement/WH- Finite Subject
Residue Mood
He isn’t Honest where have you gone
Subject Finite: Complement: Adjunct/WH- Finite Subject Predicator

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Residue Mood Residue addressed to no one in particular, for

examples Wow!, Aha!, Ouch!,
Exclamative clauses have the WH- Heavens!; (2) Calls are the speaker
element what or how, in nominal or calling to attention another person, or
adverbial group. What conflates with a other entity treated as capable of being
Complement, as in what a beautiful addressed, for examples Diana!, You
voice you have. How conflates with there!, Darling!; (3) Greetings include
Adjunct, as in how fast we are going; or salutations, e.g. Good Morning!, Hi!, and
with an attributive Complement, as in partings, such as Good bye!, See you!
how foolish he is. We can also include well-wishings, like
The imperative has a different Cheers! Congratulation!; (4) Alarms
system of PERSON from the indicative. have some resemblance to exlamatives,
Since the imperative is the mood for but they are addressed to another party.
exchanging goods & services, its They are intermediate between major
Subject is ‘you’ or ‘me’ or ‘you and me’. and minor clauses. Alarms can be in the
The unmarked positive has no forms of warnings, such as Look out!,
Mood element, e.g. listen carefully! the Keep off!, Quick!, or appeals, like Help!,
verb form is Predicator only. The other Fire!. Many of these are clearly
forms have a Mood element; this imperative and can be analyzed as
consists of Subject only, Finite only, or Residue only, consisting Predicator
Finite followed by Subject. (help), Predicator plus Adjunct (keep
Meanwhile, the imperative for let’s off), optional Predicator plus
is considered as Subject ‘you and I. The Complement ([be] careful). Others are
form of the response is Yes, let’s! or No, nominal groups, functioning either as
let’s not!, which has Subject and no Subject or Complement, like Fire! Can
Finite. 11
be from there is a fire! or fire’s broken
out!
Outside the Mood-Residue structure
The other circumstances in which TRANSITIVITY: CLAUSE AS
a clause does not display a Mood + REPRESENTATION
Residue structure is if it is showing a The third aspect of the meaning of
minor speech function. These minor the clause is its meaning as
speech functions are exclamation, calls, representation, which concern with the
greetings, and alarms: (1) Exlamations clause in its experiential function, its
are verbal gestures of the speaker guise as a way of representing patterns
of experience. These are represented as
11
The examples can be seen from the a configuration of a process, participants
following table 4.

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involved in it, and attendant Material processes are process of

circumstances. Experience consists of ‘doing’, which express that some entity
‘going-on, - happening, doing, sensing, ‘does’ something to some other entity.
meaning, and being and becoming. All of The one inherent participant is the Actor
these going-on are realized in the – the one doing the material deed. The
grammar of the clause. The grammatical other participant is the Goal – a
system by which this is achieved is participant impacted by a doing (the one
TRANSITIVITY. The transitivity system done to/with), and sometimes a
construes the world of experience into a Beneficiary – a participant benefiting
manageable set of PROCESS TYPES. from the doing (the one given to or done
The process consists of three for), or else (in a clauses without a Goal)
components, which provide the frame of a Range – a participant specifying the
reference for interpreting our experience scope of happening.13
of what goes on: (1) the process itself,
typically in the form of verbal group; (2) Mental processes: processes of
participant in the process, in the form of sensing
nominal group; (3) circumstances Mental processes which construe
associated with the process, in the form a person involved in conscious
of adverbial group or prepositional processing, including processes of
phrase. The concept of process, perception, cognition, and affection. The
participant and circumstance are one inherent participant is the Senser –
semantic categories which show how the conscious being that is feeling,
phenomena of the real world are thinking, or seeing. This participant is
12
represented as linguistic structures. endowed with consciousness; nominal
There are three main types of groups serving as Senser which denote
process in the English transitivity non-conscious entities have to be
system: material, mental, and construed metaphorically as
relational. In addition, there are other ‘personified’. Here are some examples,
process types, the behavioural, verbal, in which the Senser is underlined:
and existential. The man knew too much.
Her tasks interested her.
My car doesn’t like hills.
Material processes: processes of Beside the Senser, the mental
doing clauses may involve one further type of
participant, the Phenomenon being

12 13
The examples can be seen from the The examples can be seen from the
following table 3. following table 2.

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sensed – felt, thought, or seen. This can abstraction; they are related symbolically
be any kind of entity entertained or and reversible.14
created by consciousness – a conscious Attributive and identifying modes
being, an object, a substance, an have each own characteristics. There
institution, or an abstraction, but not only are four characteristics of attributive
such things but also acts. clauses which distinguish them from
Grammatically, a wide range of units can identifying ones: (1) the nominal group
serve as Phenomenon. In the following functioning as Attribute is typically
examples the Phenomenon is indefinite: either an adjective or a
underlined: common noun. It cannot be a proper
The man knew too much. noun or a pronoun; (2) the verb realizing
Her tasks interested her. the Process is one of the ‘ascriptive’
I like swimming early in the morning. classes, for examples become, get,
remain, stay, seem, appear, look, sound,
Relational processes: processes of be, feel; (3) the probe for such clauses is
being what?, how?, what…like?; (4) these
In discussing this kind of process clauses are not reversible: there are no
Halliday apply the category of relational passive forms.
clauses of the traditional notion of The identifying clauses have
‘copula’ construction. The English characteristics which contrast with the
system operates with three main types: attributive clauses: (1) the nominal group
(1) intensive; (2) circumstantial; (3) realizing the function identifier is typically
possessive. Each type occurs in two definite: it has a common noun as Head,
distinct modes, attributive and with the or other specific determiner, or a
identifying. The attributive mode is an proper noun or pronoun; (2) the verb
entity having some quality ascribed or realizing the Process is one from the
attributed to it, while the identifying mode ‘equative’ classes, for example play, act
is some thing having an identity as, mean, indicate, equal, make, include,
assigned to it. Each has different sets of represent, illustrate, stand for, mean, be
participant roles: (1) attributive clauses become; (3) the probe for such clauses
with Carrier + Attribute, which are of is which?, who?, which/who…as?; (4)
the same order of abstraction but differ these clauses are reversible. All verbs
in generality as member to class, and (2) except the neutral have passive forms.
identifying clauses with Token + Value,
which are of different orders of Other process types

14
The examples are given in table 1 .

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In addition to the three main types, there semiotic processes that are not
are three subsidiary process types, necessarily verbal (indicating, showing).
accommodates an intermediate type The central participant is labeled the
with mixed characteristics. They are Sayer – the participant saying, stating,
behavioural sharing characteristics of informing, asking, etc. it can be human
material and mental, verbal sharing the or human-like speaker, but it can also be
characteristics of mental and relational, other symbolic source, for example:
existential sharing the characteristics of She told me a strange story.
relational and material. They asked me whether I could come to
the meeting.
Behavioural processes The paper says there’ll be another
These are processes of physiological election.
and psychological behaviour. They are In addition, a verbal clause may
partly like the material and partly like the also represent the addressee of a
mental. The participant who is ‘behaving’ speech interaction, Receiver, for
typically a conscious being, labeled example they told me to leave at once.
Behaver. It is like the Senser, but the The Receiver can be the Subject in a
Process is grammatically like one of clause with a passive, e.g. I in I wasn’t
‘doing’, which have typical told the news. Beside the Receiver, the
characteristics: (1) the unmarked content of saying or the name of the
representation of present in present; (2) saying may also construed as a
they cannot report; (3) behavioural participant labeled the Verbiage. The
processes including categories reflecting other participant function is Target which
the mental and verbal ones, for is the entity that is targeted by the
examples look, talk, think, etc, and process of saying.
behavioural processes including more They told me a story.
material-like subtypes which covered by They were speaking French.
two main types physiological processes, She always praised him to his friends.
for examples cry, laugh, breathe, etc
and social processes, like sing, dance, Existential Processes
chat, etc. These represent that something exists or
happens. They resemble relational
Verbal processes processes, but they are different in that
Verbal processes represent processes there is only one participant. In
of ‘saying’. This category includes not existential clauses, the there signals the
only the different modes of saying process type but does not function as a
(asking, stating, offering) but also Location circumstance; nor does it

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Christina I.T. Panggabean

represents a participant. The existential various genres of written English, for

clauses typically have the verb be example the descriptive science writing
beside other verbs meaning ‘exist’ or usually requires the present tense verb
‘happen’: exist, happen, occur, takes form, modifying phrases after nouns,
place. The other group embodies some relative clauses, and possessive
circumstantial feature: follow, sit, stand, phrases. By recognizing the grammatical
rise, hang, emerge, grow. features of a certain genre, they are
There was a storm. expected to be able to apply the forms in
On the wall there hangs a picture. their writing.
Meanwhile Fries16 mentions that
APPLICATION OF FUNCTIONAL by some knowledge of functional
GRAMMAR grammar, a teacher can help students
15
According to Halliday functional become sensitive to what they write – to
grammar can be applied for text the signals they give their readers as to
analysis: to understand the text and to what is important, and how they can
evaluate the text. Functional Grammar orient their readers to what is to come.
has been used to develop literacy He gives the following examples taken
programs for primary and secondary from the first paragraph of his student’
school students, as the basis for paper.
automatic text analysis and generation in 1. Alcoholism has always been a major
computational contexts, and as the basis problem in the US.
for critical discourse analysis including 2. In the past few years, though, an
analysis of culturally significant texts. alarming increase in teenage
Recently it has been used for purposes alcoholic has been found in research
of diagnosis and therapy in speech studies.
pathology, for text analysis in forensic 3. Nobody really knows what the
settings and for the development of reasons actually are, but many
workplace training programs. believe that young people have a too
The application of functional easy access to liquor.
grammar for text analysis can help Here sentence (2) shows a
learners to learn how various problem which often arises. The student
grammatical features and grammatical has placed information which is not quite
systems are used in authentic written important in the N-Rheme (New-Rheme)
texts. In addition, learners will be more
16
familiar with different structures of Fries, Peter, H. 1997. Theme and New in
Written English in Tom Miller (Ed.) Functional
Approaches to Written Text: Classroom
Application. Washington: English Language
15
Ibid Program United States Information Agency.

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 FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR (AN INTRODUCTION TO METAFUNCTIONAL
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Christina I.T. Panggabean

of the clause. In this context, it is clear Indonesia adopts literacy approach,

that findings are produced in research which is the use of socially, historically,
studies. So the information can be and culturally-situated practices of
considered redundant, and the sentence creating and interpreting meaning
can be corrected if the last prepositional through texts.
phrase were deleted, becoming: The result of the implementation of
In the past few years, though, an the curriculum seems to be
alarming increase in teenage alcoholics unsatisfactory. There are still a lot of
has been found. problems faced by either the teachers or
The change is to bring found into the students concerning its
the N-Rheme showing a much more implementation. We know that English is
important idea in the context. Another a foreign language taught to the
possible revision would be to move the students coming from different cultural
notion of teenage alcoholics, considered background and having different
as another important meaning in the proficiency in English. With limited
context, into the N-Rheme position, by English proficiency it is difficult to apply
changing the sentence to the active the spirit of functional grammar in the
voice as in the following sentence: English language teaching and learning
In the past few years, though, in Indonesia. But we can still adopt the
research studies have found an alarming theory underlying functional grammar,
increase in teenage alcoholics. which sees language as a system of
Even though research studies is meanings in relation to its context of its
still redundant information, it has not use, with some consideration. It can be
been placed in as prominent a position considered wisely what Prof. Badib 17
as it was in the original (it is neither stated that ‘whatever the theories of
Theme nor N-Rheme). teaching English of as a Foreign
In Indonesia the application of Language, the next curriculum of English
functional grammar is adopted in the should incorporate the concept of the
English curriculum named ‘Kurikulum strengthening, cultivating, preserving the
1994’, claiming the use of local languages and cultures.’
communicative approach in its teaching.
This curriculum was then changed to the CONCLUSION
2004 Curriculum known as KBK
(Competence Based Curriculum) and 17
Badib, Abbas A. 2009. Linguistic
Theories in EFL Teaching in a Multilinguaal
finally it now becomes KTSP, which is
Setting. A Paper Presented in a Seminar Held by
actually similar to the former one. The English Department of UNIROW Tuban & the
th
English Teacher Association of Tuban 8 Feb
Competence Based Curriculum in
2009.

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 FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR (AN INTRODUCTION TO METAFUNCTIONAL
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Christina I.T. Panggabean

Based on the discussion of Functional Grammar theory can be a

Functional Grammar proposed by way for English teachers to show their
Halliday, it can be concluded that students how text is constructed so that
language is structured to make three students can become better readers and
main kinds of meanings simultaneously. writers. Despite its advantages, in
These three meta-functions of language: Indonesia context, it is rather difficult to
ideational, interpersonal, and textual apply if the students’ language
functions are fused together and realized proficiency is still below standard.
throughout the grammar of language.
The three structures serve to express
three largely independent sets of
semantic choice: Theme expressing
clause as message; Mood expressing
clause as exchange; and Transitivity
expressing clause as representation.
These three determine the structural
shape of the clause.
Compared with the traditional
school grammar and formal grammar,
Halliday’s Functional Grammar makes
use of class labels, like noun, verb, or
adjective. He also makes extensive use
of function labels like Theme, Rheme,
Actor, Process, Goal, etc. The function
labels are used to show the grammatical
analysis in relation to meaning as what
is stated by Halliday18 that Functional
Grammar interprets language as a
system of meanings, accompanied by
forms through which the meanings can
be realized.
Functional Grammar can be used
to construct a grammar for the purposes
of text analysis. Related to that,
according to Fries19 the application of

18
Ibid
19
Ibid

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Christina I.T. Panggabean

REFERENCES
Fries, Peter H. 1997. Theme and New in
Badib, Abbas A. 2009. Linguistic Written English. In Tom Miller
Theories in EFL Teaching in a (Ed.), Functional Approaches to
Multilingual Setting. A paper Written Text: Classroom
presented in a seminar held by Application. Washington: English
English Dept. of UNIROW Tuban & Language Programs United States
The English Teachers’ Association Information Agency.
of Tuban, 8th February 2009.
Halliday, M.A.K. 1994. An Introduction to
Brown, H. Douglas. 2000. Principles of Functional Grammar. New York:
Language Learning and Teaching. Oxford University Press.
New York: Addison Wesley
Longman Inc. Martin, J.R., Matthiesen, Christian
M.I.M., and Painter, Clare. 1997.
Eggins, Suzzane. 2004. An Introduction Working with Functional Grammar.
to Systemic Functional Grammar. London: Arnold
London: Continuum International
Publishing Group. Yalden, Janice.1987. The
Communicative Syllabus:
Foley, William A. & van Valin, Robert Evolution, Design, and
D.1984. Functional Syntax and Implementation. New Jersey:
Universal Grammar. Cambridge: Prentice Hall International.
Cambridge University Press.

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 FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR (AN INTRODUCTION TO METAFUNCTIONAL
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Christina I.T. Panggabean
Table 1
Mode
(i) attribute (ii) identifying
Type
Tom is the leader:
(1) intensive Sarah is wise
the leader is Tom
Tomorrow is the 10th; the
(2) circumstantial The fair is on a Tuesday
10th is tomorrow
The piano is Peter’s
(3) possessive Peter has a piano
Peter’s is the piano;

Table 2
Type Actor Process Goal Beneficiary Range
Action she built the house for the kids
she moved the chair
Event the chair moved
she climbed the mountain

Table 3
The lion chased The tourist lazily through the
bush
participant process participant circumstance circumstance
Nominal Verbal Nominal Adverbial group Prepositional
group group group phrase

Table 4
let’s go home shall we
Subject Predicator Adjunct Finite Subject
Mood Residue Mood tag

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