Quiz Transitivity:

1. How is the term transitivity used in Simpsons (2004) study (following Halliday
1985)? What does it mean?
2. What are the three semantic processes expressed by clauses?
3. What is the difference between a event process and an action process? Explain
and give one example of each.
4. What is
difference
between
98 EXPERIENCE
IN the
LANGUAGE:
TRANSITIVITY

a intention process and a supervention process?

Explain and give one example of each.

(1) Intensive:
Hurd becomes
Foreign Secretary.
5. Analyse
the following
two examples following the transitivity model:
(2) Possessive:
a.
Donetsk
miner
recalls explosion: 'the blast threw me into the air'
United have four point advantage over Liverpool.
b. Abid Naseer found guilty of al-Qaida bomb plot by New York court
(3) Circumstantial:
Capacity crowd at Nat West final.

6. Name the 4 Process names, 4 Process typs, and 9 participant roles Simpson
Now, it (1993/2003)
was pointed outfollowing
earlier that
a criticaldescribes.
linguistic analysis will seek to
Halliday

interpret, rather than simply describe the linguistic structure of texts. With
specific
transitivity,
one study
whichare
hasthey?
become
in many
a
7. reference
ExplaintoMental
processes.
What
How
are respects
they different
from action
flagship for the critical linguistics approach is Tony Trews widely referenced
processes? How can they be broken down in constituent parts?
article on media language (1979). Trew analyses the news coverage of an event
of civil disorder in preindependence Zimbabwe. He examines, amongst other
things, the headlines and opening texts of two British newspapers of 2 June 1975
8.cover
Explain
the difference
thehere:
following two sentences create:
which
this event.
Part of thesein
aremeaning
reproduced
POLICE SHOOT 11 DEAD IN SALISBURY RIOT
Riot police shot and killed 11 African demonstrators.
(the Guardian, p. 1)
RIOTING BLACKS SHOT DEAD BY POLICE
Eleven Africans were shot dead and 15 wounded when Rhodesian police
opened fire on a rioting crowd.
(The Times, p. 1)
Lexical choices in these two texts are clearly significant: the African
demonstrators of the Guardian are transformed into Rioting Blacks in The
Times. These lexical differences are also accompanied by important differences
of the transitivity structure of the two reports, the Guardian employs active
constructions thereby making the ACTOR the first element in the clause and
shifting the GOAL towards the end of the clause. This places considerable
emphasis on the agents involved in the process (POLICE Riot police). The
Times, by contrast, adopts passive constructions which put the GOAL (the
affected participants) in a position of focal prominence (RIOTING BLACKS
Eleven Africans) whilst placing the ACTOR element (the agents of the
killings) in a less prominent position. Furthermore, in The Timess opening text,
agency is actually deleted from the processes expressed by the first clause and
can only be identified by inference from the second. Here is a breakdown of this
sentence following the format established for this chapter:
GOAL
Eleven
[when]

Africans
ACTOR
police

PROCESS
were shot dead
PROCESS
opened fire on

[and]

GOAL
PROCESS
15
wounded
GOAL
a rioting crowd