LANGUAGE FOR CIVIL AVIATION SAFETY:

A SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL LINGUISTIC APPROACH

Muhammad Putra Wibowo

RATIONALE
• Safety demonstration is one of the methods to provide safety
information for passengers before the aircraft takeoff.
• One of the issues in understanding a safety demonstration
announcement is the lack of language skills (Barkow and
Rutenberg, 2002).
• Airlines need to communicate a safety demonstration
announcement which is linguistically effective, to make sure
the passengers are interested and understand.
RATIONALE
• The interpersonal meaning of a safety demonstration
announcement provides the impression of the airline’s
interactive strategies in communicating the announcement to
the passengers.
• The interpersonal meaning can be seen through the mood
system and the modality.
SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL LINGUISTICS (SFL)
• Established by Michael Halliday in 1985.
• A functional approach in the study of grammar, contrast with
the formal grammar.
• SFL sees language as a resource of making meaning.
• In SFL, language is centered on the notion of its function,
rather than only the structure.
• SFL values meaning in all areas of the language, whereas
formal or structural linguistics isolates semantics from syntax.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FORMAL AND FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR
Type of Differences Formal Grammar Functional Grammar
Primary concern How is (should) this How are the meanings of
sentence be structured? this text realized?
Unit of analysis Sentences Whole text
Language level of concern Syntax Semantic
Language - Is something we know - Is something we do
- As a set of rules for - As a resource of making
sentence construction meaning
METAFUNCTIONS
• Ideational function (clause as representation)
• Interpersonal function (clause as exchange)
• Textual function (clause as message)
Ideational Function (Clause as Representation)
It talks about our experience of the world, to describe
events and states and the entities involved in them. It is
realized in transitivity.
The plane crashed last night
Participant Process Circumstances
Interpersonal Function (Clause as Exchange)
It relates to the use of language to interact with other
people, to express our own viewpoint, and to elicit or
change theirs. The interpersonal meaning is realized by
mood and modality.
The plane crashed last night
Mood Residue
Textual Function (Clause as Message)
It organizes the other two functional meanings to be
actualized as it creates a coherent flow of a discourse. It
is realized in information structure and cohesion,
known as theme and rheme.
The plane crashed last night
Theme Rheme
Realization of Interpersonal Meaning

Mood

Interpersonal
Meaning

Modality
Realization of Interpersonal Meaning

Mood

Interpersonal
Meaning

Modality
 Mood
• Two components that are essential to the mood is
subject and finite.
• Subject is always expressed by nominal group, while
finite is always expressed in verbal group.
• Together, the two components have a vital role in
carrying out the interpersonal functions of the clause as
exchange.
 Mood

Declarative
Indicative Polar
Types of Interrogative
Mood Wh
Imperative

Halliday and Matthiessen (2014)

Declarative Mood
Interrogative Mood
Imperative Mood
DATA SOURCES
The data for this study are the clauses from the script of safety demonstration
announcements in:
• Garuda Indonesia Flight Attendant Announcement Book 7th Edition
Revision No. 4 issued on February 24th 2017
• Lion Air Flight Attendant Manual Announcement Book Revision No. 1
issued on August 2nd 2016
The books contain safety demonstration announcement scripts for several
types of aircraft, but the writer limits it to the announcement for Boeing 737-
800, considering it is the aircraft type which both of the airlines currently has
in common.
WEIGHT AND RELEVANCE
• The readers can understand the role of language used by the airline
industries in making strategic communication for the safety of civil
aviation.
• The readers can understand the similarities and differences of
interpersonal meaning between a national full-service airline’s and a
private low-cost airline’s safety demonstration announcements.
• This research can contribute in the development of linguistic study,
especially in the subject of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), and also
its relation with the field of aviation, especially in the area of civil aviation
safety.
FINDING AND DISCUSSION
The declarative mood is predominant in both Garuda Indonesia’s
and Lion Air’s safety demonstration announcement texts. From
31 clauses in Garuda Indonesia’s safety demonstration
announcement, there are 16 declarative mood, 14 imperative
mood, and 1 interrogative mood. In the other hand, from 45
clauses in Lion Air’s safety demonstration announcement, there
are 26 declarative mood, 19 imperative mood, and no
interrogative mood.
Declarative Mood
Garuda Indonesia Lion Air
Finite + Predicator Finite Only Finite + Predicator Finite Only
13 3 19 7
Total 16 Clauses Total 26 Clauses
Finite + Predicator
(1 GIA) …an oxygen mask will appear within reach
(2 LNI) …oxygen mask will drop automatically…
Subject Finite Predicator Complement
Mood Residue

Finite Only
(3 GIA) …there is an instruction card available beneath your…
(4 LNI) the safety information card of this is available in your seat pocket
aircraft
Subject Finite
Residue
Mood
GIA = Garuda Indonesia
LNI = Lion Air
Imperative Mood
Garuda Indonesia Lion Air
Residue Only Finite Only Residue Only Finite Only
14 0 18 1
Total 14 Clauses Total 19 Clauses
Finite Only
(5 LNI) …do not hesitate to let us know
Finite Predicator Complement
Mood Residue

Residue Only
(6 GIA) …pull the mask towards you
(7 LNI) …pull the mask toward you
Predicator Complement
Residue

GIA = Garuda Indonesia

LNI = Lion Air
Interrogative Mood
Garuda Indonesia Lion Air
Polar Wh Polar Wh
1 0 0 0
Total 1 Clauses Total 0 Clause
Polar Question
(8 GIA) …may we have your attention…
Finite Subject Predicator Complement
Mood Residue

GIA = Garuda Indonesia

CONCLUSION
Comparisons of Mood System in the Airlines’ Safety Demonstration Announcement

Garuda Indonesia (31 Clauses) Lion Air (45 Clauses)

Declarative Imperative Interrogative Declarative Imperative

Finite + Finite Residue Finite Polar Finite + Finite Residue Finite

Predicator Only Only Only Question Predicator Only Only Only

13 3 14 0 1 19 7 18 1
Total: 1
Total: 16 Clauses Total: 14 Clauses Total: 26 Clauses Total: 19 Clauses
Clause
CONCLUSION
• Both airlines predominantly provide informative messages in the
safety demonstration announcements. This tendency is seen from the
declarative mood which found as the major mood types in the
announcement texts, which means the speakers or writers of the two
texts intend to give or supply information to the hearers or readers.
• The significant difference between the mood system of the two
airlines’ safety demonstration announcement is that there is an
interrogative mood in Garuda Indonesia’s, while there are none found
in Lion Air’s.
SUGGESTION
• The data which are to be analyzed in further studies can be in other
languages in order to find out the interpersonal meaning of safety
demonstration announcements in other languages compared to the
ones in English.
• Further studies can include the analysis of other domains of
interpersonal meaning, such as polarity or modality.
• As the results of this study provide statistical information about the
mood system of safety demonstration announcements, it can be
used as basic data for any further research with similar topic.
REFERENCES ON SFL
• Gerot, L., & Wignell, P. (1995). Making Sense of Functional
Grammar (2nd ed.). Sydney: Gerd Stabler.
• Halliday, M. A. K. (1985).An introduction to Functional Grammar.
London: Edward Arnold
• Halliday, M. A. K. and Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (2014). Halliday’s
Introduction to Functional Grammar (4th ed.). London: Edward
Arnold.
• Sujatna, E. T. S. (2013). Understanding Systemic Functional
Linguistics. Bandung: Unpad Press.
THANK YOU