A Contrastive Study Of Conclusions In English Linguistics Master Theses In Terms Of Transitivity System

The abstract and conclusion, which weigh much in determining the quality oftheses, have received extensive concern in recent years. Conclusions, as beinginformative, scientific and inclusive, directly affect the level of theses. Studies ofconclusions in theses are conducted from different perspectives of linguistics. Thisthesis introduces the transitivity system in Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) tothe study of conclusions. Transitivity system, as one of the most effective tools toreveal the ideational function of discourses, has been widely applied into the analysesof literary texts, research texts and public texts. Under the framework of transitivitysystem, a contrastive research method is utilized in order to analyze the transitivityfeatures of conclusions in theses written by native English linguistics masters andChinese English linguistics masters.Data analyzed in this thesis are selected from PQDD and CNKI. In order toguarantee the reliability of the analysis, all the conclusions are chosen from theseswritten by English linguistic masters in universities that enjoy a great fame and thepublishing time of the theses ranges from 2009---2011, and the data we collect will bedivided into two databases, the Chinese English Linguistic Master Database (CED)and the Native English Linguistic Master Database (NED). The analyses oftransitivity features of conclusions are carried on from macroscopic and microcosmiclevels. The distribution of transitivity types is clear with the aid of an effective toolUAM Corpus Tool inherent in SFL and of adequate use to transitivity analysis. Thistool can accurately work out proportions of each process within specified textualsection, thus credibility of the thesis is highly improved. From microcosmicperspective, transitivity metaphors are discussed as an important feature of realizingideational function and distinguishing the differences in the application of transitivityby native English linguistics masters and Chinese English linguistics masters.This thesis aims to find answers to these questions: 1. What process types occur in conclusions in English linguistics theses written byChinese English linguistics masters and native-English linguistics masters, and whatis the proportion of each process type?2. Are there any differences in processes, participants and circumstantial elementsbetween conclusions written by Chinese English linguistics masters and nativeEnglish linguistics masters? If any, what are they?3. How do Chinese English linguistics masters and native English linguisticsmasters utilize transitivity metaphor respectively?Through qualitative and quantitative analysis, it is obvious that great differencesreally exist between native English speakers and non-native English speakers intransitivity application. Two types of transitivity processes account for the majority:material and relational processes, between which material process occupies the mostprominent position. All of the processes except behavioral processes appear inconclusions. At the same time, differences are found by comparing transitivity systemused by Chinese and native English speakers in conclusions, for example, thepercentage of material processes in RA conclusion written by native English speakersis obviously higher than that written by Chinese, while the reverse happens inrelational process. These kinds of differences are caused by the diversity in emphasisof a conclusion. Chinese researchers are more concerned with what they haveachieved in their studies while native English researchers spend more energy in thepurpose and significance of their studies and what the relationship between theirpresent study and further research is. At the same time, more detailed differences arerevealed by research on participants and circumstantial elements which contribute toreveal the features of conclusions written by native English speakers and non-nativeEnglish speakers. Both Chinese authors and native English authors have the intentionto utilize transitivity metaphor, but native English authors can use transitivitymetaphors flexibly, which refers to the diversity in form and content in transitivitymetaphors.In summary, the research enriches the study of transitivity system in SFL andcould be used as a reference to the writing of English conclusions for Chinese students and scholars. At the same time, the analysis of transitivity system in thisthesis can provide some implications in English reading and writing teaching.