Analysis of Two Texts Using Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics: The Impacts of Contexts on Genre and Register Variables

Abstract

This paper presents the results of the systemic functional analysis of two texts, i.e., a donation request letter and a page from a textbook, both concerning the topic of endangered animals. The aims of the analysis were (a) to determine the relationships between each text and the cultural context; and (b) to unravel the impact of each text’s situational context on its register variables (field, mode,  tenor).  Using  Halliday’s  systemic  functional  linguistic  approach,  a  textual analysis  was employed to identify how various language choices have construed the social purposes of each text. Findings show that the two texts, despite having a similar topic, were heavily shaped by their cultural and situational contexts, resulting in the different way the topic is presented and treated by each text. Highly influential to the register variables of texts were the context of situations, in particular the key purpose and audience. Recommendations for how such findings could have some pedagogical implications in the English language teaching for EFL learners are provided. This includes, but not limited to, raising learners’ awareness of the inextricable relationships between language use and contexts, which in turn could help them communicate in the English language more effectively.