Material Process

Aimed at fulfilling the duties of Systemic Functional Grammar:

Lecturer: Miss Vera Millah

Compiled by:

Group 1

Rifa Nursyifa Zulfa 1222040177

Sylvia Nurfaiza 1222040204

Syafa Nur Z 1222040202

Sephia Nur Azizah 1222040191

Siti Octaviani Nurhabibah 1222040198

Saffanah Mumtaz N. 1222040185

Tengku Faris 1222040207

Class 2 E

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

FACULTY OF TARBIYAH AND TEACHER TRAINING
SUNAN GUNUNG DJATI STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY BANDUNG
2023
 Foreword

Praise and gratitude we pray to the presence of Allah SWT who has bestowed His
blessing and mercy so that we can complete a paper entitled Material Process. The
purpose of writing this paper is to fulfill a structured assignment with the supporting
lecturer Mrs. Vera Pena Millah, M.Pd. In addition, this paper also aims to increase
knowledge in accordance with the field of study that we are engaged in.

We thank Mrs. Vera Pena Millah, M.Pd as a lecturer in the Systemic Functional
Grammar course who has provided assignments and guidance so that we can complete
this paper.

We realize that the paper we are writing is still far from being perfect. Therefore, we
also expect criticism and suggestions from lecturers and readers for the perfection of
this paper.
Table Contents

Foreword 2
Table Contents 3
Chapter I 3
Background 3
Formulation of the Problem 5
Purpose of Writing 5
Benefit Theoretically 6
CHAPTER II 6
A. Theory of Material Process by Halliday 6
Actor and Goal 6
Transitive Intransitive in Material Clause 7
Types of Doing and Happening 8
Different types of material clauses and additional participants 10
B. Theory of Material Process by Geoff 13
Material Participants 13
Creative and Transformative 13
Passive 14
Chapter IV 14
Conclusion 14
Suggestion 16
 Chapter I
Preliminary

Background
This course introduces students to systemic functional grammar, in which
language is regarded as “a resource for making meaning”. Language is thus seen as a
vehicle for communication between people in social and cultural contexts. Students
will be introduced to the framework for analyzing grammar and meaning along three
dimensions: of how language represents states and activities, of how language
functions in interaction between people, and of how information is structured in
sentences and texts. Through both theoretical introductions and practical exercises,
students will raise their awareness of how language users convey meaning through
their choice of words and grammatical structures in specific situations. The
coursework includes analyses of authentic texts.

In the course, there is a submaterial on transitivity: Material Process which we

will then study through liturgic studies. Transitivity system, according to Halliday, is a
set of grammatical system which construes the world of experience into a manageable
set of Process Types (Halliday, 1994:106). There are six principle processes types in
transitivity system: Material, Mental, Relational, Behavioural, Verbal, and Existential.
All figures consist of a process
unfolding through time and of participants being directly involved in this process in
some way; and in addition there may be circumstances of time, space, cause, manner
or one of a few other types. These circumstances are not directly involved in the
process; rather they are attendant on it. All such figures are sorted out in the grammar
of the clause. Thus as well as being a mode of action – or rather of interaction: of
giving and demanding goods-&-services and information, the clause is also a mode of
reflection, of imposing linguistic order on our experience of the endless variation and
flow of events. The grammatical system by which this is achieved is that of
TRANSITIVITY (cf. Halliday, 1967/8). Transitivity is a system of the clause,
affecting not only the verb serving as Process but also participants and circumstances.
Material clauses construe figures of ‘doing-&-happening’. They express the notion
that some entity ‘does’ something – which may be ‘to’ some other entity.
Formulation of the Problem

1. What is Material Process by Halliday

2. How is Material Process by Geoff Thompson

Purpose of Writing

The writing of this paper aims to test the correctness of the pronunciation written in
the book with the state of the field and tested on native speakers.

Benefit Theoretically

The benefits obtained academically can measure our ability to communicate orally and
use the theory of English pronunciation directly to native speakers so as to achieve
learning objectives not only in theory but also in practice

Practically

The practical benefits gained are real experience regarding the theory discussed and
proves that in verbal communication articulation is more important than focusing only
on how to pronounce it.
 CHAPTER II

A. Theory of Material Process by Halliday

Actor and Goal

Material, mental and relational are the main types of process in the English
transitivity system (they are, among other things, the most frequent types, with
‘material’ and relational’ being significantly more frequent than ‘mental’
(Matthiessen, 1999, 2006a). Material clauses in general, the source of the energy
bringing about the change is typically construed as a participant – the Actor. The
Actor is the one that does the deed – that is, the one that brings about the change. In a
‘material’ clause, there is always one participant – the Actor. This participant brings
about the unfolding of the process through time, leading to an outcome that is different
from the initial phase of the unfolding. This outcome may be confined to the Actor
itself, in which case there is only one participant inherent in the process. Such a
‘material’ clause represents a doing and we can call it transitive.
Transitive Intransitive in Material Clause

In both clauses, the Actor (realized by the nominal group the lion) is an
inherent participant. The implication is that in both cases the lion did something; but
in (a) the doing was confined to the lion, whereas in (b) it was directed at, or extended
to, the tourist. This is the Goal. ‘intransitive’, from which the term ‘transitivity’ is
derived. According to this theory the verb spring is said to be intransitive (‘not going
through’) and the verb catch is said to be transitive (‘going through’ – that is,
extending to some other entity). What did the lion do? What did the lion do

to the tourist? Looked at from the tourist’s point of view, on the other hand, the
process is not one of doing but one of ‘happening’; so we can also say What happened
to the tourist? Consequently if there is a Goal of the process, as well as an Actor, the
representation may come in either of two forms: either operative (active), the lion
caught the tourist (Figure 5-8), or receptive (passive), the tourist was caught by the
lion.
Types of Doing and Happening

The most general contrast is between (i) ‘creative’ clauses, where the Actor or
Goal is construed as being brought into existence as the process unfolds, and (ii)
‘transformative’ ones, where a pre-existing Actor or Goal is construed as being
transformed as the process unfolds: see Figure 5-10. Examples are given in Table 5-4.

(i) In a ‘creative’ clause, the outcome is the coming into existence of the Actor
(‘intransitive’) or the Goal (‘transitive’). The outcome is thus this participant itself,
and there is no separate element in the clause representing the outcome. The Process is
realized by a verb such as form, emerge, make, create, produce, construct, build,
design, write, compose, draw, paint, bake. For example:

(a) intransitive

‘An icicle formed in the cold air of the dining vault.’ [ACE_P]

In addition, the iodo amino acid formed in largest quantity in the intact thyroid
is di-iodotyrosine. [BROWN1_J]

(b) transitive

Well, he was making a cubby house a minute ago. [Text 76]

I started writing short stories while I was at Yale.[Text 7]

(ii) In a ‘transformative’ clause, the outcome is the change of some aspect of an

already existing Actor (‘intransitive’) or Goal (‘transitive’). Thus while she painted a
portrait of the artist as ‘creative’ since the outcome is the creation of the portrait, she
painted the house red as ‘transformative’ since the outcome is the transformation of
the color of the house. In the limiting case, the outcome of the final phase is to
maintain the conditions of the initial phase, as in hold it vertically in your hand – that
is, so that it does not fall or change position
The ‘transformative’ type of ‘material’ clause covers a much wider range than the
‘creative’ type. As always, it is difficult to find an appropriate term for the
grammatical category. We have to understand it in the context of the relevant systemic
contrast. Thus ‘transformative’ means that the Actor (‘intransitive’) or Goal
(‘transitive’) exists prior to the onset of the unfolding of the process, and is changed in
some way or other through the unfolding of the process. The outcome of the
transformation is an (1) elaboration, (2) extension or (3) enhancement of the Actor
(‘intransitive’) or Goal (‘transitive’), as represented in the system network in Figure
5-1013

; for example:

(1) elaboration

Beat the butter and sugar to a cream [LOB_E]

Be careful || that they do not boil dry || and catch. [LOB_E]

The breeding flock was reduced to 30 ewes [LOB_E]

(2) extension

when he first sees light machine-guns being assembled, || his stomach goes cold.
[LOB_K]

Too many books and articles are just assembled || by putting one word after another.
[BROWN1_C]

I’ve got some cake here; || look, she gave me that. [Text 10]

(3) enhancement

He threw green stuff on it, || and a thin blue column of smoke rose. [BROWN1_F]

I’ll put him in the shower [Text 76] I limped back to the door [LOB_N]
Ferris’s face turned a deep red || as his blood pressure rose. [ACE_N]

Different types of material clauses and additional participants

We have met two participant roles in material clauses – the Actor and the Goal.
The Actor is an inherent participant in both intransitive and transitive material clauses;
the Goal is inherent only in transitive clauses. In addition to these two roles, there are
a number of other participant roles that may be involved in the process of a ‘material’
clause; these are: Scope, Recipient, Client and (more marginally) Attribute. For
example:

Scope:

Then cross Hyde Park and the Domain to the Art Gallery of N.S.W. [Text 22]

the administration was not optimistic of reaching a final deal before George W. Bush
becomes president on Jan. 20. [Text 108]

The British brought this rather complex association into being as one nation and ruled
it until 1960 when Nigeria achieved independence. [Text 16]

Recipient:

Did Kerry give you those files there? [Text 72]

Client:

The last phrase he told me was that our fate is to build for our children an assuring
future. [Text 66]

Attribute:
Mr Bannister described how an unarmed black American, Mr William Whitfield, was
shot dead in a New York supermarket on Christmas Day last year when an officer
mistook the keys he was carrying for a gun. [Text 2]

Scope is the most general across different types of ‘material’ clause introduced
in the previous subsection; but they are all more restricted than Actor and Goal. The
two functions of Recipient and Client resemble one another in that both construe a
benefactive role they represent a participant that is benefitting from the performance of
the process, in terms of either goods or services. The Recipient is one that goods are
given to; the Client is one that services are done for. Recipients occur only in
‘transitive transformative’ clauses of the ‘extending’ type; and within that category,
they occur with those clauses that denote a transfer of the Actor’s possession of goods
– transfer to the Recipient. Clients tend to be more restricted than Recipients; in I’m
doing all this for Mary, for Mary is not a Client but a type of circumstance of Cause.

Material clause with Recipient:

I gave my love a ring that has no end

Actor Process Recipient Goal

Most typically the Recipient/Client is realized by a nominal group denoting a human

being; especially a personal pronoun, and most commonly of all a speech role (me,
you,us), Like the Goal, both Recipient and Client are affected by the process; but
while the Goal is the participant that is impacted by the process, the Recipient/Client
is the one that benefits from it. In contrast, the Scope of a ‘material’ clause is not in
any way affected by the performance of the process. Rather it either (i) construes the
domain over which the process takes place (as with the path and some steps which
soon divide in Follow the path and climb some steps which soon divide) or (ii)
construes the process itself, either in general or specific terms.
(i) The Scope may construe an entity which exists independently of the process but
which indicates the domain over which the process takes place. An example is You
will be crossing some lonely mountains, so make sure you have enough petrol.

(ii) The Scope may be not an entity at all but rather another name for the process; for
example:

Has anyone you have known or heard of died ‘a good death’? [Text 24]

So they decide to play this rather elaborate game of murder to pep things up. [Text
119]

the doormouse crossed the court

Actor Process:material Scope: entity

the whole country is paying a heavy price

Actor Process: material Scope: process

As noted above, the Scope typically occurs in ‘intransitive’ clauses, those in

which there is only one direct participant – hence where there is Actor only, no Goal.
As a result it is not always easy to distinguish a Scope from a Goal: both are possible
interpretations of a nominal group following the verbal group serving as Process. As
we have already noted, the Scope cannot be probed by do to or do with, whereas the
Goal can.

B. Theory of Material Process by Geoff

Material Participants

According to Geof Thompson process material consists of physical action. As

we already learned in the first term there are 2 participants (Geof Thompson called it
'doer') in this process. There are actors, who did the process and those that affect or
being done or as a target of the process called Goal.

The goal itself can be an inanimate or abstract entity and of course, it can be human.
The actor may not appear explicitly in the clause but there are ways in which this can
happen by the choice of passive voice clause.

He had been shaving. wood.

The young girl bounded out of the gate.
Edward was sawing the glass.
Her mother smashed

Actor Process: material Goal Circumstance

Creative and Transformative

Material processes form the largest and most diverse categories in transitivity.
One grouping separates processes that bring goals to existence (creative) from those
that are 'done to existing goals (transformatif).

I’ve just made the Christmas puddings. (creative)

My Mum never eats Christmas pudding. (transformative)

Another possible grouping is according to whether the process is intentional or

involuntary. With involuntary processes, the Actor (in italics) often seems like a Goal
in some respects (and in fact there usually is no Goal):

She tripped over the step.

The car accelerated.

Passive

It was noted above in passing that all material processes have an Actor, but that the
Actor may not appear explicitly in the clause. One of the main ways in which this can
happen is by the choice of a passive clause:

The oil is added drop by drop.

Your son didn’t kill himself. He was murdered.

 Chapter III

Conclusion
Process materials are processes that are formed due to activities that generally
involve physical activity. In process materials, the type of word that is often used is a
verb, so Halliday divides into two, transitive and intransitive, and becomes a
distinguishing mark for the verbs doing and happening. Halliday also provides
additional participants involved in addition to goals, there are also clients, recipients
and scopes that become additional participants. Furthermore, Geoff only gave a brief
overview of the material process involving actors and goals, Geof also added passive
voice as an addition. In conclusion, both agree that the material process is an activity
that involves doing and happening and definite participants, namely actors and the
material process itself and goals as additional.