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Abstract
This study is an investigation using transitivity analysis on the news headlines on the
declaration of martial law dated on May 23, 2017 to August 30, 2017. The purpose of this study
is to discover the ideologies embedded in the headlines and expose its social implications
through critically examining each verb clauses using Halliday’s Systemic Functional
Linguistics. The corpora of the study were taken from numerous sources such as New York
Times, CNN Philippines, HRW org, CNBC, Forbes, the Atlantic, MindaNews, Interaksyon,
etc. which were taken online. The study reveled that the dominant processes observed among
all the headlines were Verbal and Mental Functions. It shows that there were lexical items
connoting negative implications towards the issue. The writers vividly focused on the sayer
and highly contextualize the verbiage which is the martial law. There was a headline which
were creatively constructed to hide negative meaning. Mostly the headlines observed were very
much constructed not to inform people but to state of a possible threat to the people of what
the president has declared since majority of them used transitive verbs indicating a direct action
of the doer. It is indeed very important that Filipinos should be critical about social and political
issues as well as not be blinded on what the news is all about because there were important
details of the issue that were filtered as well as crafted to provide negative implications to
readerships.
Rationale
The term discourse is used in numerous ways, also in diverse functions for a long time
(Bloor and Bloor, 2013). It is described as what the author means through a text and what a
text actually means to a reader. Definitely, what we try to say through a particular text may
well refer to wider issues such as social and ideological meaning inside, and another concept
referred by discourse is truly based on how text cab be a way of expressing and imposing
specific ways of thinking about the world (Widdowson, 2007). Discourse Analysis clearly
addresses to the analysis of the used language (Brown and Yule, 1983). At this juncture,
contextualizing Philippine politics is very vital to delve with due to countless social issues that
upheave Filipinos’ concerns especially the declaration of Martial Law in the country
specifically in Mindanao.
On the other hand, the prime setter of issue are the journalists where journalism is an
area in which we practice the art of data circulation. Journalists particularly pick out vocabulary
that would transfer peculiar meaning to their intended readers. This study would like to give
light on the unveiling the ideologies behind the news headlines about the declaration of martial
law in the Philippines from various organizations through the lens of transitivity. Knowing that,
opinion leaders, government, newspaper editors, etc. play crucial role in shaping the issue in
the society and setting the boundaries of what is talked about, how is talked about (Taiwo,
2007: 218).
behind news headlines. This would provide knowledge and develop the critical thinking skills
of readers as well as develop their awareness in ways to decipher meaning through text.
This research aimed to analyze using transitivity analysis the headlines on Martial Law
Declaration in the Philippines last May to June 2017. Specifically, it answers the question:
1. What can be describe in the ideology in the headlines by using transitivity analysis on martial
law declaration?
Theory Base
This study is anchored on the theory of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). It is the
study of the relationship between language and its functions in social settings. SFG treats
grammar as a meaning-making resource and insists on the interrelation of form and meaning.
semiotic” outlined in the works of Halliday. Language is used functionally, that is, what is said
depends on what one needs to accomplish. According to Halliday (1985), there are three major
functions of language, namely: the ideational, the textual, and the interpersonal. The ideational
function is the use of language to express content and to communicate information. Where
content is the focus, the emphasis is on transferring information clearly and effectively so that
it can be comprehended quickly and easily. The other two functions of language are the textual
and the interpersonal. The textual function is the use of language to signify discourse. Here,
language becomes text, is related to itself and to its contexts of use, including the preceding
and following text, and the context of situation. The textual can be classified into two structures,
namely: thematic structure (theme and rheme) and Information structure (NEW and GIVEN).
The interpersonal function is the use of language to establish and maintain social relations. This
function involves modalities so that it is related to modus system. The system is signified by
two main elements, namely: mood and residue. Halliday (1985) claims that the three types of
meanings presented in language are not accidental but are necessarily in place because we need
The ideational function is divided into two; transitivity and ergativity. In this study, the
newspaper headlines on martial law declaration are analyzed in terms of transitivity because
transitivity handles all the grammatical aspects. Halliday (1981) summarizes transitivity as the
and ‘all experiential functions relevant to the syntax of the clause’. Transitivity is usually
considered to be a property of an entire clause (Hopper and Thompson, 1980). It is, broadly,
the notion that an activity is transferred from an agent to a patient. In Halliday’s (1973) terms,
transitivity is a part of the ideational function of the clause. The ideational function represents
There are three components of what Halliday (1994) calls a “transitivity process,”
namely:
- Participants in the process; the entities involved in the process, e.g actor, sayer,
senser, goal
- Circumstances associated with the process- specifying when, how, where and why
of the process
Transitivity patterns can reveal the certain worldview framed by the authorial ideology
in a literary text (Fowler, 1986). Clauses represent events and processes of various kinds, and
transitivity aims to make clear how the action is performed, by whom and on what. Transitivity
is an essential tool in the analysis of representation. Different social structures and values
require different patterns of transitivity. Halliday (1994) identifies six process categories in his
The significance of analyzing the data propositions in terms of Participant, Process and
Goal types puts focus on the doers, the actions done and the recipients of the action; in other
words, who is doing what to whom? This analysis relates to the ideational meta function
(Halliday, 1978, Eggins, 2004). The transitivity analysis is applied in the analysis of how Al-
Shabaab is represented in the news headlines and the Process types they are associated with.
Methods
Research Design
comprehending problems and phenomenon in the society. It is based upon holistic and complex
portrayal of the context illustrated in words and detailed perceptions of informants in a natural
setting.
This research employed a descriptive qualitative research design to unveil the ideology
found in the headlines on the martial declaration in the Philippines specifically last May to June
Corpus
This research studied 10 randomly selected headlines from various national and local
news centers which can be found online. Specifically, these are Interaksyon, Mindanews, NYT,
BBC News, PNA, etc. The headlines were about the declaration of martial in the country last
The headlines of the declaration of the martial law was analyzed through the lens of transitivity
analysis framework of Halliday. In conducting the study, the research randomly selected 10
headlines online. Then, these headlines were analyzed through identification of the transitivity
process: material, verbal, behavioral, mental, relational and existential. The researcher
analyzed each verbal clause, and identified the agent, process and the circumstance. Lastly, the
identified processes were tabulated and drawn ideologies out from the gathered and analyzed
data.
The following results and discussions are based on Halliday’s theory of Systemic
newspaper headlines on martial law declaration are analyzed in terms of transitivity because
transitivity handles all the grammatical aspects. Halliday (1981) summarizes transitivity as the
and ‘all experiential functions relevant to the syntax of the clause’. Transitivity is usually
considered to be a property of an entire clause (Hopper and Thompson, 1980). It is, broadly,
the notion that an activity is transferred from an agent to a patient. In Halliday’s (1973) terms,
transitivity is a part of the ideational function of the clause. The ideational function represents
Moreover, transitivity patterns can reveal the certain worldview framed by the authorial
ideology in a literary text (Fowler, 1986). Clauses represent events and processes of various
kinds, and transitivity aims to make clear how the action is performed, by whom and on what.
Transitivity is an essential tool in the analysis of representation. This is the reason why
Verbal process involved “sayer” who is the participant who utters something, verbal or
the process of saying which identifies the verb use for utterance, and verbiage referring to the
statement being uttered directly or indirectly to the listener. Target on the other hand refers to
another participant in the verbal process whom the utterance must be addressed to.
Sample 1. PhilStar
provinces and 33
cities
Sample 2. MindaNews
Sample 3. Interaksyon
Sample 4: Rappler
Duterte’s Call For nationwide In the Philippines-
Sample 5. theatlantic
Philippine island of
Mindanao
Sample 6. Washingtonpost
These following headlines from various sources illustrated the verbal process wherein
it emphasizes the utterance dine by the “sayer”. It is very evident that the voice portrayed in
the headlines are focusing on the utterance made by the president that he strongly imposed the
martial law in the country. The lexical item “declares” is a strong vocabulary showing power
and authority yet at the same time may provide a great threat for the security of the people.
Filipinos has very tragic history regarding martial with the late president Marcos which is why
Filipinos finds it as a threat to have an absolute power over the country since he is known or
“tagged” to be as dictator similar to the late president Marcos. Although there are no certainties
of the real motive, president Duterte asserts the declaration of the martial law only in the
Mindanao Island where Maute group has started a war. Going back to the verb phrased present
in the headlines, it shows assertion and the use of political power as the president of the country.
The samples below are showing the mental process found in the headlines about the declaration
of martial law.
Philippines Contends Martial law In South For another year
Sample 7. NYTimes
Sample 8. HRW.Org
worries
Sample 9. CNBC
Philippines
(Halliday, 1976) shows how speakers encode in language their mental picture of reality and
how they account for their experience of the world around them. In this sense, focusing on the
mental process observed in the corpora, there were numerous striking clauses showing
ideologies of different writers. Sample 6 to Sample 9 are classified as Mental process cognition
type. This means that the sensor recognizes and believe the concepts of what is on the
phenomenon. However, Sample 6,7 and 9 are using negation of positivity or even mediocrity
since verbs used were “threatens”, “contends” and “ignore”. This is an indication of negative
portrayal of the sensor or the speaker to the issue at hand. The linguistic features were highly
contextualized as negative conceptualization by using the transitive form of the verbs. Unlikely
to sample 8, the verb used was “sparks fresh” where lexical items used were much in a sense
of warm. It was portrayed creatively by using a highly sophisticated words to cover negative
connotation of the issue. By using a less intense verb in a sentence, the notion would seem to
The dominant process based on the corpora is the verbal process wherein it involves
“sayer” who is the participant who utters something, verbal or the process of saying which
identifies the verb use for utterance, and verbiage referring to the statement being uttered
directly or indirectly to the listener. Having said that, most headline news was presented as
verbal entailing that the sayer referring to the president is clearly verbalizing or “declaring”
where such lexical item as a powerful showing authority. Noting as well that from Samples 1
to 6 emphasizes Duterte as the sayer. Rhea (1998) asserted that words may carry “particularly
strong connotations that carry an emotional loading beyond their literal meaning” and lexical
words are more useful in headlines than grammatical words which may cause ambiguity in
some cases since headlines have visual function (Nada, 2011). This would imply that they
recognized the authority of the president and uses the president’s image as the carrier of such
authority to put such actions towards an important political and issue. Although, this may
connote other way as well that the sayer president is provoking other people to think of a
possible threat due to past experiences about martial law in the time of President Ferdinand
Marcos. They as well always highlighted the topic about martial law to give emphasis on the
verbiage.
Headlines act as a forerunner to the news reports (Javed and Mahmood, 2011). That is,
readers tend to read the headline before they read the news article. By highlighting the sayer
verbalizing the action as its function about a very pressing political and security issue
(verbiage) may sense strongly negative rather than as a somewhat positive measure to resolve
On the other hand, mental process is also observed among the headlines. Mental process
verbs that are highly using people’s senses. The media focused not only to the verbalization of
the president about the declaration of the martial law but as well as the mental cognition that
this notion. There were negation and literary way of expressing cognition of the verbs such as
the use of lexical items “threatens”, “contends”, “is ignoring” and the highly creative verb
“sparks fresh”.
Conboy (2007), headlines serve 3 important functions which are to provide brief
summary, attract attention and provide initial indicator of the content and style of the news
valued of the newspaper and aims to present main points of the news, tells importance of the
news and catch attention (Thongkliang, 1995). By formulating a headline and telling it to the
public is a very crucial opportunity since it affects people by setting what issue is to be talked
about. Focusing in the mental functions of the headlines, the lexical terms used were very
negative and very creative to alleviate the negative implication of the news since words
“convey the imprint of society and of value judgments in particular” (Richardson, 2007).
It is very evident that writers crafted the headlines to draw attention on the act of the
president rather than the threat of national security as well as the reason why declaration has
been done. The headlines provide a very vivid description of the declaration of the martial law
but limited to include the reason why declaration was called for. It was specifically illustrated
by using the name of the president declaring the martial law and to where it was implemented
yet the reason for national security and its reason was not established which would left the
audience think that the president is primarily concerned in declaring martial law and not for
security of the people. The headlines were very much biased in the sense that all were projected
Conclusion
analyzing the lexical items present in the text indicating the action of the subject and what is
talked about. Based from the analysis, there is very evident of negative constructs of the
headlines where people just do not mind. Headlines should be crafted without any biases so
that there is no misleading information as well as there could be a good representation of the
interpretation.
Reference
www.Rappler.Com
www.Forbes.com
www.Interaksyon.com
www.washingtonpost.com
www.cnbc.com
ww.cnn.philippines.com
www.hrw.org
www.nytimes.com
www.theatlantic.com
www.MindaNews.com