Asian Research Thesis Index

Abstract

Functional approach to language illustrates the role a language plays in the text indicating its context as meaning making and action undertaking process. Otherwise, language studies without functional approach either describe ‘code’ or ‘behaviour’ separately whatever directed. However, Systemic Functional Linguistics/Grammar (SFG) is aimed to analyse meaning and function with ‘code’ and ‘behaviour’ together. This approach, taken from Halliday’s SFG, was applied focusing lexicogrammar and semantic role play of language. Mood clause and other elements were analysed under lexicogrammar category of text structure, whereas, modality was explored under semantic meaning making resource. The SFG framework was applied qualitatively on the two selected Pakistani English novels Mohammad Hanif’s ‘A Case of Exploding Mangoes’ and Mohsin Hamid’s ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’. In addition, quantitative method was applied for simple quantification of data occurrence and the word choice. It was found by the analysis of mood clause structure that the language is less interactive and more rhetoric expression of the fact revealing (see mood analysis in appendix A-D). It is primarily recounting the events and inclined much towards giving information. Language, from the perspective of SFG, is based on exchange of information and goods-&-services either by demanding or by giving in speech function. In the perspective, this study found that the overall text of both the novels is mainly tending to ‘giving information’ and scarcely having ‘demanding information’ or ‘goods-&-services’ which are the characteristics of dialogic pattern of a text in novel genre. Similar to mood structure, the choice of modality pattern was also found that the discourse is also based on belief in its own knowledge and personal judgement as it plays the role of informer by the language play. Based on the formulations and findings, conclusion and recommendations were offered at the end of the study.

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