GRAMMATICAL COMPLEXITY AND
ｌｅｘｉｃ
ｾｾ ｌ＠
DENSIT),' OF ENGLISH TEXTS
IN CONTEMPORARY THEOLOGY
A THESI
Submitted
t'J
the Graduate Program of English Applied Linguistics
in Partial Fulfilment For
the
Degree of
{AGISTER HUMANI ORA
ENGLISH APPLIED LINGUISTICS
RADUATEPROGRAM
A THESIS
Grammatical Complexity And Lexical Density
Of English Texts In Contemporary Theology
Arranged by:
ROTUA ELFRIDA
Reg. No. 035010089
English Applied Linguistics
Graduate Program of State University of Medan
Has been defended before Thesis Examination Committee
on February 24\\ 2006
And declared to have fulfilled the requirement for the degree of
Magister Humaniora
Approved by:
The Board of Commission
First Consultant,
ｾ
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ｾ］＿］ｓＯ
］］ｩ＠ｾｾ ｡ｩ ＺＺＺ｢ｾ｡ｨＭｯｾ＠
Dr. Lince Sihombing, M.Pd
NIP: 1 3 0 0 9 5 8 9 0
NIP: 1 3 1 5 7 2 4 2 6
Head of English Applied
Director of
e Program
Linguistics,
of State Uni
of Medan
ｾ
ＱＺＮｾ｟＠
Prof. Dr. Jawasi Naibaho
Prof. Dr. Belferik Manullang
ｾ＠
Name: Rotua Elfrida
Approved on: February 24
th ,2006
Prof. Dr. Jawasi Naibaho
Dr. Lince Sihombing, M.Pd.
Prof. Amrin Saragih, M.A., Ph.D.
Dra. Meisuri, M.A.
Dr. Berlin Sibarani, M.Pd.
Approved by:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Writing a thesis as an academic task requires an insight into the problem that
will be raised as the topic for research. The research is then presented for the
confirmation of theories and practice. To achieve this purpose, an ability to think in
terms of scientific investigation is a necessity. Without such a quality on the part of
the writer, there would be a lot of difficulties in completing this thesis.
Through painstaking efforts, the writer finally has completed this strenuous
task with the assistance of many people who have been involved in the work. In this
case, the writer feels that her knowledge about the world particularly the area of
linguistics has been improved and widened up. Such a realization has made her think
again about the importance of cooperation and understanding on both sides - the
people who are willing to help her and the writer as the producer of this thesis. With
the constant help and monitor of the people who have paid attention to her academic
progress, this thesis has come to its present form.
On this special occasion, she would like to thank Prof. Dr.
J.
Naibaho, thewriter's first research consultant who has provided her with relevant information and
given her the professional consultation to complete this thesis. His academic attitude
in handling the various problems dealing with the thesis is highly appreciated. His
encouragement has been conducive to the completion of the research .
Next, she ought to thank Dr. Lince Sihombing, M.Pd., her second
consultant, who has continuously followed the progress of this thesis until it was
completed in due time. Her guidance and ｡､ｶｩ｣ｾ＠ have motivated the writer to
Then, she wishes to thank Prof. Dr. J. Naibaho, acting as Head of the
Graduate Program for his invaluable infonnation about the institution. Also,
Dra. Meisuri, M.A, Secretary to the English Applied Linguistics Department,
deserves the writer's thanks and gratitude for her friendly and cooperative attitude in
helping the writer cope with administrative procedures.
Further, she is obliged to thank her dear husband Rev. HAS. Andreas
Kembaren. S.Th., M.A for his constant love and encouragement without which the
writer might have felt discouraged to complete her studies at the State University of
Medan, and her beloved daughters, Rutb, Yohana, Eunike Kembaren, for their love
and prays. Also, her beloved parents Drs. Bintang Pangaribuan and Erestina
Silalahi deserve her gratitude for their love and advice in encountering the reality of
life. Her brothers Robert Pangaribuan, S.H, Ir. Hamonangan Pangaribuan,
Poltak Pangaribuan,S.H, Denny P.,S.E and sisters-in-law Rina and Henny
Kembaren should receive her thanks and appreciation for their sincere attention. The
same thanks go to her parents-in-law, the late Rev. P. S. Kembaren and Poibe
Sitorus for their moral support in her life. Her best friend Tiurmaya Sitompul
should also receive her thanks for the long-lasting friendship in life.
Finally, she ought to thank all her lecturers, whose names are not mentioned
here one by one, for their efforts to teach her to understand English Applied
Linguistics better and appreciate the meaning of language in everyday life.
May this thesis contribute something to the understanding of reading texts for
teaching purposes in classroom.
Medan, February 2006
ROTUA ELFRIDA
1iiiiiiiIiiiiI
ABSTRACT
ELFR1DA, ROTUA.
Grammatical Complexity and Lexical
Density of English Texts in Contemporary Theology.
Thesis. TheGraduate Department of English Applied Linguistics, UNIMED (State University of Medan). Medan. 2006
This descriptive qualitative study deals with grammatical complexity and lexical density of five reading texts on contemporary theology in English. The data are analyzed by
applying the concept of density and complexity (intricacy). It is
found out that there are 458 sentences in all. There are 299 simple clauses and 166 clause complexes which are used to detennine the grammatical complexity which is the proportion of clause complexes and simple clauses. Then, the index of grammatical complexity is 299 divided by 166 which equals 1.75. This means that the infonnation is intricate (interwoven). The lexical density is the ratio between the lexical items and number of clauses (4143 lexical items divided by 672 clauses) which is 6.16. This means that the texts are dense (using the scale of 0 - 10) in tenus of the vocabulary words. Thus, readers should possess a larger size of vocabulary to understand the texts. The highest lexical density is in Text 3 (7.4 I) because it employs common words rather than technical tenns of theology. The lowest lexical density is in Text 1 (density 4.66) which means that this is easy to understand in terms of vocabulary . Each text has a different level of difficulty or intelligibility. By considering the style and genre, Text 5 is the most difficult one to understand because it employs long sentences and
technical tenns of theology. It is suggested that a similar research
should be conducted to have precise density. Each reader should be familiar with this concept so that he can anticipate the level of difficulty. Teachers may use this concept to select appropriate
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT S ABSTRACT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER [
CHAPTER If
CHAPTER Iff
CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER V
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
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: fNTRODUCTION
1.1 The Background of the Study .. .... .... .... ... .. .. .. . I
1.2 The Problem of the Study ... .... ... ... ... 5
1. 3 The Scope of the Study .... ... ... ... .. 5
1.4 The Objective of the Study .. .... ... ... ... ... .. 6
1.5 The Significance of the Study .. .... ... ... ... . 6
REVIEW OF LIT ERATURE 2.1 Grammatical Complexity ... ... ... .. .... ... ... ... 7
2.2 Lexical Density ... ... ... ... .. .... ... .. ... .... .. .. .. 9
2.3 Texts ... .. .... ... . .. ... .. ... .... ... ... ... ... .. 11
2.4 Theology .... .... ... .. ... .. ... ... ... .. ... 16
2.4.1 Characteristics of Language of T heology .. 20
2.4 .2 Contemporary Theology .. ... .... ... .. .... . 21
2. 5 Clarification ... .. ... .... .. ... ... ... ... ... 25
METHOD OF RESEARCH 3.1 Research Design ... .... ... .... .... .... ... .. ... .... .... . 26
3.2 Population and Sample .. .. ... .. ... .. ... .... . 26
3.3 The Technique for Collecting Data .... ... .... .. . 27
3.4 The Technique of Anal yzing the Data .... ... 27
: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH FINDINGS 4.1 The Data Analysis .. .... ... ... ... .. ... .. .... .. ... 28
4.2 The Research Findings .... .. ... .. ... ... ... ... 29
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS 5.1 The Conclusion .. ... ... .. ... .. ... ... .... ... . 32
5.2 The Suggestions .. .... .. .. ... ... .... ... 32
.... .. ... ... ... ... .... ... ... .. ... .... ... .... ... .. ... .. ... 34
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1. The Background ofthe Study
English is used internationally and extensively for the purpose of global
communication. Both in its spoken and written fonn, the language pervades all
sciences . It is used to describe thoughts and ideas. One can talk about or write a
scientific article. Thus, there is no more borderline between theology and physics.
Each science uses English to express specific concepts. Everyone who wants to be an
expert in a field of theology should be familiar with the particular vocabulary used for
the purpose of communicating the concepts to readers in general.
The fact that English can be used for all sciences creates a situation in which
people today choose the appropriate genre. English is diverse in its application. For
instance, an engineer is supposed to know his professional jargon in English. A
doctor is required to write a scientific report about his research findings . An educator
is expected to produce a book on teaching and learning processes. All people with
different educational background and personal interests such as engineers, doctors,
educators, and so on use English to show other people that they have achieved
something in their individual field of science. From this reality it can be concluded
that people need ESP (English for Specific or Special Purposes).
The needs for ESP have reached the level where English should be
distinctively categorized . There is English for engineers which may not necessarily be
understood by doctors in the sense that the vocabulary is specifically used for
common readers unless they have learned medical science or obtained general
information on health. The English for theologians will be different in its special
jargon and vocabulary.
Since theology always attracts people to learn more about hwnan existence
and perception of the universe , the lessons on theology become more important to
human life. People have wondered how human species inhabited the planet Earth.
They seek answers through theology. Their knowledge about the universe should be
improved. For instance, the Christian teaching of knowledge is emphasized. In
Proverbs 3: 13-18 (Bible) it is said that" Happy is the man who becomes wise - who
gains understanding .. wisdom is more valuable than jewels.. wisdom offers long life,
wealth and honor..". By reading the different views on the aspects of human
existence in terms of spiritual understanding, the students are expected to be able to
explain some of the mysteries that shroud the human mind.
Theology, either as a branch of philosophy or an independent subject in itself
surely attracts the attention of truth seekers. Through the written texts of a particular
religion , the students of theology will be able to explain rei igious concepts
concerning the hwnan understanding of God' s existence and manifestation.
Theology is one of the thousands of sub-fields of science, estimated to be
1,700 sciences in the United States (Bush, 1967:23) This spiritual science is the most
controversial subject. This is due to the fact that theology incorporate ideas from
other different sciences such as philosophy, psychology, anthropology , history and
even natural sciences. This is reasonable because theology was born out of the needs
to understand the mystery of human life and nature. 1t is this situation that makes
ｾ＠
is expected to provide answers to the questions about perennial existence of hwnan
beings in the planet Earth.
Reading texts of theology in English as teaching materials for students of
religious studies have never been evaluated from a hnguistic point of view. For so
long such materials have been criticized in tenus of their content such as the validity
and intelligibility of the statements or texts. There has never been a critical analysis
on the theology texts themselves in tenus of their grammatical complexity and lexical
density which can cause a certain level of difficulty for the students of theology to
understand the total meaning of a text. The texts are seen only as the sources of ideas
of theology rather than the linguistic construction of sentences that contain implicit
meanings. Theologians who have written the texts may not be aware of this linguistic
reality - that there is an influence of grammatical complexity and lexical density to
the level of difficulty. The grammatical complexity and lexical density are both
concerned with the intricacy of the information presented.
In a text there are words used and arranged according to grammatical rules of
the language. Each of the words has a certain meaning. If the meanings do not make
sense to the readers, the text is said to be difficult. It is also a fact that the
grammatical rules produce implicit meanings which are incorporated with the
meanings of individual words. Thus, if the meanings of words and grammar are not
familiar, the difficulty of the text is obvious.
Naturally there are questions about theology itself. Is it a pure science? Can it
really answer all questions about human existence? The answers depend on how its
teaching affects human behavior. This religious study in reality has expanded from
"1iiiiiiiJ
undergone its development from the simple concept to a modern one. In this case, the writer who is a Christian follower and believer, discusses Christian theology that has been spread throughout the world in the forms of ministry and evangelism .
It should be clear that there are divIsions of Christian theology. There are five maIn types of theology such as biblical, systematic, historical, dogmatic, and contemporary theology (Enns, 1989:viii). Each ofthese types has sub-divisions which require detailed explanation. Since the writer belongs to the Assemblies of God Church, she chooses the reading texts of Contemporary theology which includes her church denomination.
The \witer has observed that students of Christian theology need a kind of text which can provide easy access to the comprehension of the ideas as well as the indoctrination of the theological concepts. In other words, the text should be easy to read but at the same time capable of explaining even the complex ideas in theology. For that purpose she has to analyze the current existing texts in terms of the grammatical complexity and lexical density so that materials for teaching can be designed to meet the students' needs in the future. The students of theology are expected to know other sciences to help them understand the theology texts in tenns of the grammatical complexity and lexical density.
Grammatical complexity refers to the sentence patterns that are employed in the text. A compound complex sentence is more difficult than a simple sentence in its grammatical complexity. Lexical density refers to the infonnation load which is the ratio between separate words (content words) and the total number of words in a ｴ･ｸｾ＠
number of content words and number of clauses (Halliday, 1985 :63). By applying the
two approaches to the lexical density the writer expects to discover the problems of
writing a reading text for students of theology.
In choosing the theology texts to be analyzed the writer has limited the scope
of theology to contemporary theology. The contemporary theology is chosen because
this has appeared for over a hundred years up to the present time. This is a long span
of time. Thus, she needs to select the texts according to the relevant needs of the
students at the present time. There should be also another consideration. The
availability of the texts may be a problem due to the lack of sources of information . In
such a case, the writer will have to choose those texts available in the library.
1.2 Tbe Problem of the Study
The problems in this study are fonnulated in the following questions:
1) What is the f:,rrammatical complexity (intricacy) of the given texts of
contemporary theology?
2) What is the lexical density of the given texts of contemporary theology ?
1.3 The Scope of the Study
This study is restricted to the analysis of the contents of theology texts in English
deal ing with the sentence types and number of lexical items in the texts of Christian
contemporary theology. The ratio between the simple sentence and complex
sentences and the ratio between lexical items and clauses are the focus of the
1.4 The Objective of the Study
Thi s study aims at findin g out:
1) the grammatical complexity (intricacy) of the given texts of
contemporary theology in English .
2) the lexical density of texts of contemporary theology in English .
1.5 The Significance of the Study
The findings in this study will be useful for text writers of ESP especially in
the field of Christian theology. Those who wish to design a text for students of
theology will also benefit from the analysis of the texts provided in this study. Also,
students of English Department will gain a better understanding of linguistic
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.1 Grammatical Complexity
Grammatical complexity refers to how often a clause complex appears In a
text in comparison with simple clauses . It is accepted that any text has a different
level of complexity (intricacy). This
is
all related to how much infonnation isintroduced in a clause complex which can contain more than one simple clause. A
clause like Hegel's influence extended to biblical criticism and theolo[!Y is less
complex than the clause Th ere is another phenomenon which is familiar to the
Christian experience, namely, that to the ey e of unbelie(th e Bible may be dull and
dry-as-dust, or it may pe rhaps be of academic and literary interest, but it is not seen
as the dynamic and authoritative Word of God in the sense that the latter presents
more infonnation. This is due to the fact that English allows for the formation of
clause complex , which is embedded in a sentence.
In this case, there are types of sentences (clauses ) that are related to the
grammatical complexity. The term " complexity" suggests that there is more
infonnation presented in a sentence by the application of a clause complex. Frank
( 1972:220) divides sentences (clauses) into 4 types based on the complexity:
1. Simple Sentence ( it has only one Subject and one Predicate or it has only one
Finite Verb : e .g. John bought bananas.
2. Compound Sentence (it is made up of two or more Principal or Main Clauses):
3. Complex Sentence ( it consists of one Main Clause and one or more Subordinate
Clauses): e.g. John came in when Mmy was preparing tea.
4 . Compound-Complex Sentence (it contains two or more Main or Independent
Clauses and one or more Subordinate or Dependent Clauses): e.g. John bought
bananas and Mary prepared tea so that they could enjoy the party.
This classification of sentences (clauses) is applicable to the detennination of
grammatical complexity (intricacy) of a text. If in a text there are more clause
complexes than simple clauses, it can be said that the text is more complex in the
sense that it presents more information in a condensed way . The level of complex.ity
can be found by finding the ratio between the simple clauses and clause complexes
In the real analysis, a simple clause may be regarded as consisting of a predicate and
the clause complex containing two simple clauses for the purpose of the count.
Every type of clause has a different level of difficulty . This is true of the
clauses which contain a different amount of infonnatlOn. Various studies showed that
clause complexes , for instance, are more difficult to process than simple clauses,
reflecting their relatively greater complexity as defined by transfonnational grammar
(Slobin, 1979 53). In relation to understanding clauses in a reading text , it is clear that
many levels of knowledge and skill must constantly be called upon in the apparently
simple and effortless course of understandi ng the message.
Grammatical complexity is important to be uncovered because a text is said to
be difficult because of the intricacy of infonnation. A simple clause is easier to
understand in the sense that the amount of information presented is less than that of a
contai ns more information than a simple clause. To understand the total meaning of a
text, the types of clauses in English must be familiar to the students.
It often occurs that students cannot understand a clause complex as they
cannot identify the subject and predicate. They are much puzzled by the length of the
clause which is full of lexical items. In fact, no matter how long a clause is, they
should be able to recognize the subject and predicate because there two elements of
!:,rrammar which create certain meanings.
It is commonly known that a clause is actually composed of a proposition.
The proposition contains the concepts of relation, events, attributes and things. It
means that every clause must have a subject (what is being explained) which IS
described by showing its relation to other things or events. In other words, if the
subject is a person, the students should be able to explain more about the person's
activities, ideas, and perceptions in relation to the environment. A man, for instance,
can learn English because the language is very important. He then studies it at a
course and reads many books to get infonnation. This man as the subject of the
sentence should be described in details, which means that there is complexity of
infonnation.
2.2 Lexical Density
Lexical density is the proportion of lexical items to the running words. It is
the information load which is the ratio between separate words (content words) and
the total number of words in a text (Richards,et.c.1.1985 :163). This is also called the
type-token ratio which is expressed in percentage. This is now considered an
Further, Halliday (1985 63) explains that density is a kind of complexity that
arises in the use of words. There are two ways of finding the lexical density:
I) the ratio between the numher of content words and the lolal number of . .
running words: Lexical items are often called "content words". Grammatical
items are function words. If there are 12 lexical items and 8 grammatical
items, this gives the proportion of lexical items to the total as 12 out of 20 ,
which has the lexical density of 60 per cent or 0.6.
2) the ratio between the number of content words and the numher ofclauses: A
more revealing measure of lexical density is counting the number of lexical
items as a ratio of the total number of clauses . For example, the following text
(Halliday, 1985 :66) :
[he hasic "stuff" of livmg organisms is protoplasm. There is
no set composition ofthis and it varies hetween one individual
and the next.
consi sts of :
Clause 1 : five lexical items: hasic, stuff. living, organisms, protoplasm (5 items)
Clause 2: two lexical items: sel, composition (2 items)
Clause 3: two lexical items: varies, individual (2 items)
A text contains both types of words: content (lexical items) and function
words (grammatical items). The content words are noun, verb, adjective and adverb
(adjective +ly).. A phrasal verb like ..."land up, take over, call off and so on is
considered a single content word in the count of the running words. The function
words are preposition , conjunctions, pronouns, interjections, and modal adverbs
For instance, if in a text there are 100 lexical items and 200 grammatical items, then
the total number of words is 300. The lexical density is the ratio between the lexical
items ( 100) and total number of words (300) which is 100 : 300 x 100% = 33 .33 % .
The second technique is more precise in tenns of the density. The text above
which consists of 9 lexical items and 3 clauses has a mean lexical density of 3.0 (9
lexical items: 3 clauses = 3.0 ).
Density has to do with how closely packed the infonnation is . This is why the
possibility of the item is important: a word of low probability carries more
infonnation . But words are not packed inside other words; they are packaged in larger
grammatical units - sentences, and their component parts. It is this package into
larger grammatical structures that really detennines the infonnational density of a
passage of text.
There is one that clearly stands out as the unit where mearungs are organized
and wrapped together, and that is the clause. The clause is the grammatical unit in
which semantic constructs of different kinds are brought together and integrated as a
whole. The implication is that the hi gher the lexical density of a text is, the more
information there is and the more difficult it is to understand by readers.
The Hallidayan approach to the finding of lexical item is more practical in
tenns of determining the complexity of the infonnation in a text. It is clear that a
clause can be identified within a clause complex . The function words are counted
according to their frequency of occurrences, not on the basis of the same type of
word . For instance, there can be many articles of the. This is not counted as one
function word, but rather the frequencies detennine the number. Therefore, in a text
2.3 Texts
This is a familiar term in linguistics. The lext may be associated with
discourse. Text refers to reading materials which contain elements of language to be
comprehended or analyzed. Stubbs (1983:9) explains that a text is an abstract
theoretical construct which is real ized in discourse. This means that a text is the result
of the thinking of an author. ldeas and thoughts should be understood to make the text
intelligible.
A reader must be aware of the various ways of expressing thoughts by the
author. For instance, the same meaning can be expressed in different ways or
sentences. There are different types of sentences (clauses) in a text. Each of the
clauses carries a meaning that should be grasped by the reader.
A text , or also called a discourse may be as long as a hundred sentences. But
it is also assumed that a text can be a sentence because the sentence contains the
author 's ideas. Thus, there is no limitation on the length of a text.
General texts are those that are used by readers to improve their general
knowledge or knowledge of the world. These reading materials contain information
on various topics. The topics show the reader the different fields of science that
employ the sentences to explain scientific concepts. In other words, the reading
materials cover many different topics which are interesting to the reader. The
infonnation load is not heavy because of the limitation of general topics.
There are various texts for readers in general. The topics are also varied
depending on the purpose of the texts. For instance, the texts about general science
to provide sufficient motivation for the reader to continue the reading so that she or
he can comprehend the content of the text.
Texts of foreign language like English have been classified according to the
purpose. There is a text of general purpose where the reader is expected to understand
the general vocabulary related to the improvement of his proficiency. When the
reader is a specialist or an expert of a certain science, the text must be designed as
such so that the reader can express ideas and thoughts in his field or profession. The
ESP (English for Specific/ Special Purposes) texts are provided for the reader to
understand the science as well the vocabulary used in that profession.
Tischer, et.al. 1994, 23) defines a text is as "a communicative event" that
must satisfy several conditions, namely the seven text criteria such as :
I) cohesion: Cohesion concerns the components of the textual surface, that is the
"text-syntactic" connectedness. The linear sequence of linguistic elements in a
text is in no way accidental, but obeys grammatical rules and dependencies.
Some of the means to achieve cohesion are recurrence, anaphora and
cataphora, eLlipsis and conjunctions.
2) coherence: Coherence constitutes the meaning of a text. For example,
causality is a relationship: this affects the manner in which an event or
situation may influence other events or situations . In the sentence "Jack fell
down and broke his crown ", the word fall is the cause of the event break. A
text creates no sense in itself but only in connection with knowledge of the
world and of the text. According to this definition a traffic sign, a newspaper
article, an argument, and a novel are all texts that correspond to the differing
-3) intentionality: Intentionality relates to the attitude and purpose of text
producers.
4 ) acceptability: Acceptability is a mirror of intentionality. A text must be
recognized as such by recipients in a particular situation . This concerns the
degree to which hearers and readers are prepared to expect a text that is useful
and relevant.
5) informativity: Informativity refers to the quantity of new or expected
information in a text. This addresses simultaneously not only the quantity but
also the quality of what is offered : how is the new material structured and
using what cohesive means .
6) situationality: Situationality means that talk- constellation and speech
situation play an important role in text production . Onl y particular varieties or
types of text , speech styles or fonns of address are both situationally and
culturally appropriate.
7 ) intertextuality.: lntertextuality has two types of meaning. On the one hand it
suggests that a text always relates to preceding or simultaneousl y occurring
discourse, and on the other hand it also implies that there are formal criteria
that link texts to each other in particular genres or text varieties such as :
a) Narrative text varieties (tales, stories, etc. ) rely on temporal ordering
principles.
b) Argumentative text varieties (explanations, scientific articles, etc) use
contrastive devices.
c) Descriptive text varieties employ predominantly loca l (that us, spatial or
temporal) elements (as in descriptions, portrayals , etc.) .
d) Instructive text varieties (such as textbooks) are both argumentative and
enumerative .
A text should be understood for its purpose. The information is processed in
the mind of the reader. Linguistic knowledge is combined with the general and
particular knowledge of the topic . The reader begins from the linguistic encoding to
the comprehension of the total meaning. Halliday & Hasan (1985 : 45) explain that to
be able to read a text effectively and with understanding, it must be interpreted in
terms of the metafunctions (the part of the system of a language). The reader has to :
l) understand the processes being referred to, the participants in these processes,
and the circumstances - time, cause, etc - associated with them (experiential
function or interpersonal and ideational functions) .
2) understand the relationship between one process and another, or one
participant with another, that share the same position in the text (logical
function)
3) grasp the news value and topicality of the message, and the coherence
between one part of the text and every other part (textual function)
According to the functional grammar by Halliday, any unit of language (a
sound, a word, a phrase, a clause, a sentence) is said to be functional in relation to the
context. The meaning of a word, for instance, should be realized to its context. In this
case, functional grammar proposes three kinds of function of language (function
carries meaning) namely:
1) [deafional function: this function is to represent what speakers ha'l e in mind .
Language users want to describe their experience. Later on, it is mentioned that
-2) Interpersonal function: th.is function is to exchange infonnation. What one knows
can be transmitted to another through the use of language . This is the same as the
function of interaction and transaction .
3) Textual function: this function assumes that the ideas should be organized in such
a way that the meaning is well understood . Organization refers to the structure of
language which influences meanings
In
reference to the understanding or comprehension of a text , the reader has touse all the infonnation that he has to interact with the text. This kind of interactive
reading is important to ensure the level of understanding between the author and the
reader.
2.4 Theology
This is also a familiar tenn. It refers to the science of knowing God . TheoloblJ'
is an intellectual discipline that aims at setting forth in an orderly manner the content
of a religious faith (Encyclopedia, 1991: 633) . This definition implies that religious
faith is the center of theology. To explain the meaning of theology, the religious faith
has to be explored.
Indeed, religious faith is a total hwnan attitude, including such elements of
feeling and emotion as trust and awe, and of willing, such as striving and obedience,
as well as of belief. Prior to theology is faith, an orientation if the whole person, or
even of the whole community that shares a particular faith .
Faith is the response to revelation . A revelation is not a body of ready-made
this were some easy way to truth , in contrast with the hard-won discoveries of natural
sCience.
A revelation is rather a profound experience in which there comes about a
whole new way of perceiving the world and understanding the place of human life in
it. Revelations have been received in many forms: e.g. 1) mystical experience, 2)
theophany , or vision of a divine Being, either directly or under some visible symbolic
form, 3) historical events. A theologian acknowledges revelation as his
presupposition. The evidence of the presupposition is the existence of scripture and
tradition as the media of revelation.
Theolob'Y has several approaches:
1) rationalistic : Natural theology (basic truths concerning the existence of God and
the destiny of man that are supposed to be discoverable by reason alone. The proofs
of the existence of God in natural theology:
a) ontological : purely rational and made no appeal to experience. It
claimed that all men already have the idea of God and that this idea
implies the existence of a corresponding reality.
b) St Thomas Aquinas ' " five ways" of establishing the existence of God.
2) revelational : The proponent was Karl Barth. The breakdown of natural theology
was caused by the new view that natural theology is misleading. The business of
theology is not to provide a framework for the revelation, but rather to let the
revelation create it own framework and shape theologian 's thinking. The
revelational theology still depends on natural theology for the everyday
3) humanistic approach : this is the mixture of natural and revelation theology . Paul
Tillich, the 20l.h century Protestant theologian began with the analysis of human
situation . Theology is just as much a doctrine of man as a doctrine of God .
Theology should have dialogues with other sciences such as philosophy,
existentialism, logical analysis, metaphysics, human sciences (psychology, sociology,
anthropology) , and natural sciences (physics).
Theology is therefore inseparable from thinking which is one of the tools to
acquire knowledge . Hospers (1970: 122) includes thinking as one of the sources of
knowledge. Knowledge can be acquired through :
1) Sense / experience: the condition in which people learn from their five
senses and experience.
2) Reasoning the process in which people think about this world .
3) Authority what experts say about a certain issue.
4) Intuit ion feeling as a response to environment from the
inspiration.
5) Revelation : what people perceive and conclude through their deep
understanding of the mystery of the universe.
6) Faith : what people believe to be true although there IS no
evidence for their belief.
Naturally, theology is needed not just for the understanding of God as an
abstract concept. This science deals more with the mystery of life. There are things
not known to human logic or intellectual power. Santayana (1962 : 11 ) explains that
every living and healthy religion has a marked idiosyncracy. Its power consists in its
People of di fferent religions have the same purpose of uncovering the mystery of the
universe.
Other sciences also attempt to uncover the mystery of God . Metaphysics can
explain the existence of God throu gh its analysis of abstract ideas. Plato said that God
was just an idea. On the other hand , religion has certain dogma about the existence of
God. Santayana (1962 : 11 ) concludes that the great difference between religion and
metaphysics is that religion looks for God at the top of life and metaphysics at the
bottom ; a fact which explains why metaphysics has such difficulty in finding God,
while religion has never lost him .
The purpose of studying theology or embracing a religion cannot be
underestimated. For thousands of years human beings have tried to search for the
truth about life and their existence . There must be other things or forces that control
their life . Wars can happen because humans have a ditferent understanding about life
and their existence. When an American talks about peace , this perception is changed
into an ideology. A soldier can kill enemies for the sake of preserving the ideology .
The ideology is part of the religion they have embraced .
Thus, Smart (1973 : 11) comments that to understand human history and
human life it is necessary to understand religion, and in the contemporary world one
must understand other nations ' ideologies and faith in order to grasp the meaning of
life as seen from perspectives often very di fferent from our own .
Religions can create conflict among people who have different perspectives
about the absolute truth . The problem is that when the people believe that there is
only on reli gion that is true. In reality, religion is intended to explain what is
comprehension of human logic. Theology oiTers various infonnation on the topics
that can cause the conflict.
A religious framework is needed in life. lohar & Marshall (2000: 292) state
that this " religious" framework is a guide for living the lives as in the thought of
great teachers, the deeds of saints, the behavioral cues of an ethical code. Most of the
people thrive on holding some very deep, basic beliefs. A great many of them would
be lost without religion. Indeed, the existence of a "God spot" in the neurologicai
make-up of human brains indicates that the capacity for some fonn of religious
experience and / or belief confers an evolutionary advantage on human species. It
plugs people into meaning and value in an accessible way, causes them to strive,
gives them sense of purpose, a sense of context.
It can be concluded that theology is a necessary science not only for students
of theology but also for everyone who wants to know deeply about his existence and
the existence of God. There are many issues in life that should be related to theology.
From other sciences, there are topics that are related to theology . For example, the
existence of human species becomes a debate among scientists and theologians. If
God created human beings, then, how is it possible that humans have different races.
The tenns in religious books should also be clarified by other sciences. Theology
then should be open to scientific criticisms.
2.4.1 Characteristics of Language of Theology
Every field of science has its own unique genre and register. Its vocabulary is
detennined by how the scientists want to express their concepts and ideas about a
-
For example, the word interest can be used in economics (referring to money), in
education (psychological condition), in politics (what is being at issue) and in other
sciences which connote another meaning. Similarly, theology has its 0\VI1 language in
the sense that it has certain or definite characteristics. As it is clear from the previous
explanation, theology is concerned with things like spirituality, supernatural forces
and human quest for absolute truth . It can be deduced that the vocabulary of the
language of theology will be more directed towards the concepts of those aspects of
the subject matter.
The Chnstian theology in this case, contemporary theology, shows the
characteristics as follows (Conner & Malmin, 1976:64) :
I) The lan guage shows key words called the " amplitication". The keys words
must be well interpreted from different aspects of knowledge.
2) The language shO\vs the gaps of history, culture and geography. This is
obvious because the texts describe events in the past with prominent figures
who lived in a different periods of time and with different perceptions of life.
A certain figure in the Bible depicts the different values held by his
community at a time in the past.
3) The language shows technicalities of religion . Concepts of human salvation
are depicted in words like atonement, resurrection and kingdom afGod.
2.4.2 Contemporary Theology
The ｴ ｾ ｲｭ＠ "contemporary" has nothing to do with "modem" or "present day" but this is a category of Christian theology by theologians. Contemporary theology on
Theology is a science of God. The discussion of God and human existence is
elaborated in reI igion . The religious framework has changed from the ancient time to
the modem times although the topic is just the same. People allover the world want
to know profoundly about the nature of humans in relation to the creation of the
universe .
Starting from the ancient bel ief in the power of things (animism) to the power
of gods (polytheism) and finall y to the existence of supreme Being, religion has
changed its format. defines religion as rather concerned with the quest for a final
synthesis, and identifies the normative consciousness postulated by the various realms
of value with God or the holy , conceived as a transcendent reality in which all values
are realized in what ought to be coincides with what it is. From this definition, it is
clear that reli gion has changed from the ancient theoloblJ' to the modem etrucs.
Further, Macquarrie (1988: 83) adds that the major development in the history of
religion is not the transition from polytheism to monotheism, but the transition from
natural to ethical religion .
As religion is defined differently, so is theology. Railey, Jr & Aker (in
Horton's, ed. 1994: 40), for instance, explain that although religion can be defined in
various ways , one of the simpler definitions is that religion is the search for the
ultimate. Human beings almost universally acknO\vledge that there is something, or
someone, beyond themselves and that in some way, or ways, they are responsible to
that something or someone. The recognition that human race is not alone in the
universe and is dependent, at least to some extent, on the ultimate which is beyond is
This definition of religion indicates the role of human reasomng In
understanding the existence of God . A theology is then named according to the
theme that it discusses and the dogma it introduces. Thus, there are 5 major
theologies (Enns,1989: 545) such as bihlieal, systematic, historical, dogmatic, and
contemporary. From each defining name it is easy to predict the focus of each
theology.
Contemporary theology has been influenced by philosophies in the
Renaissance in Europe dating from 1350 to 1650. The span of300 years had seen the
different approaches of human understanding of God. This kind of theology adopts
the two periods of philosophy such as 1) The Enlightenment, and 2) Idealism.
During the Enlightenment period, three prominent philosophers contributed to
the birth of contemporary theology.
Locke (1632 - 1704) introduced subjectivism by teaching that knowledge
comes from experience. Locke taught that man has sensation, in which he becomes
aware of his external surroundings, then through reflections, man contemplates the
meaning. Thus, Locke argued that mail has nothing in his mind that is not first in his
senses. Although Locke acknowledged some aspect of divine revelation he
nonetheless rejected the tenets of the Christian faith that contradicted experimental
reason .
Berkeley (1685-1753 ) bui It upon the sense-orientation of Locke sati ng that "to
be is to be perceived. " Berkeley declared that things are " exactly what they are
experienced to be. The experienced qualities make up the essence of the object " All
Hume (1711 - 1776) was a Scottish skeptic who carried the ideas of Locke
and Berkeley to their logical conclusion by denying spiritual realities . Hume attacked
the miracles of the Bible, denyin g that it was possible to know objective truth.
The Age of Enlightenment brought agnosticism , skepticism , as well as an
emphasis on rationalism and the scientific method as bases for proving all truth . All
those factors contributed to the rejection of the Bible and the supernatural.
In the Age of Idealism, two prominent philosophers contributed to the birth of
contemporary theology . Idealism was the philosophy that reality does not lie in the
physical realm but in the mind. Behind all reality is a divine mind, moving the world
toward good .
Kant (1724 - 1804) argued that one ' s concept of God must come from reason ;
he therefore attacked the proofs for the existence of God, denying their validity.
According to Kant, knowledge cannot exist apart from experience that can be proved
through testing. In this Kant combined rationalism and empiricism.
Hegel (1770 - 1831) was a Gennan idealist who taught that " only the mind is
real ; everything else is the expression of mind ... all the reality is an expression of the
Absolute, who is God. All that exists is the expression of divine mind, so that the real
is rational and the rational is real.
The philosophical influences mentioned above shape the contemporary
theology in its current form . The discussion on the existence of God will be based on
the experience and rationality of the believers. Therefore, religion can be seen from a
perspective of the experiences and rationality.
The contemporary theology has also given rise to the various theologies such
catholic theology and conservative th eology. Each of these theologies are rooted in
the philosophical thoughts that experience, mind (rationality) and empiricism cannot
be ignored in the discussion on God .
In this study, texts of contemporary theology are varied according to each of
the above-mentioned theologies. As the purpose of the study is to find out the
grammatical complexity and lexical density, there is not much elaboration of the
nature of each theology. It is suffice to say that contemporary theology is
characterized by the philosophy of subjectivism and idealism as proposed by the
prominent philosophers mentioned above.
2.5 Clarification
In conducting the study, concepts should be c1arifted and feasible .
Grammatical complexity and lexical density are a single variable in the library
research . Grammatical complexity can be determined by identifying the ratio between
simple clauses and clause complexes in texts . Lexical items (content words) can be
identified in the text and distinguished from grammatical items (function words). The
count is based on the number of frequencies of each type {)f item . The ratio is
calculated by the proportion of the number of lexical items to the total number of
CHAPTER [II
METHOD OF RESEARCH
3.1 Research Design
A research design is important so that the study can be easily and explicitly
conducted to serve its purpose. This study is a descriptive qualitative research which
analyzes the grammatical complexity and lexical density of a text. Descriptive
research involves collecting data to answer questions concerning the current status of
the subject of the study (Gay, i 987:220). The qualitative nature of this case study is
concerned with the infonnation of the reading texts relating to the ratio between
simple clauses and clause complexes and the ratio between lexical items and number
of clauses in the texts (Yin, 1989:5).
3.2 Population and Sample
The sample texts for the analysis of grammatical complexity and lexical
density are taken according to the purpose of the study. The texts should be about
contemporary theology . The population of texts in contemporary theology is too
large. Therefore, a purposive sample is needed. There will be 5 texts for the
grammatical complexity and lexical density each containing about 1,000 words .
These are selected from the available texts that have been used by students of
theology in seminary schools or theological institutions.
The reading texts are selected according to the ::ategQry of contemporary
-
3.3 The Technique for Collecting the Data
Each of the five texts is read and marked for the lexical items (content words)
and clause types by using the categories mentioned in the previous chapter. Then , the
words and clauses are tabulated as such to allow for the counting and analysis.
3.4 Technique for Analyzing the Data
After the lexical items, clauses and clause types are counted, they are put into
the ratio such as : 1) lexical density
N umber of Lexical Items
--- x 100%
N umber of Clauses
2 ) grammatical complexity
Number of Simple Clauses
CHAPTER IV
DATA ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH FINDINGS
4.1 The Data Analysis
There are 5 reading texts on contemporary theology taken as the data . Each of
these texts contains roughly around 1,000 words . The texts are :
I) What is Theology (Esme Valerie Eliot, 1971 , London : Horcourt Brace
Jovanovich ).
2) Before 1919 (Hervie M . Conn, 1979, Philipsburg, New Jersey : Presbyterian
and Reformed Publishing) .
3) The Fortunes of Theology from Schleiennacher to Barth and BultmatlJ1
(Stanley N, Gundry and Alan F. Johnson , 1976, Chicago: Moody Press).
4) The Challenge of Postmodemism (David S. Dockery , 2001 . Grand Rapids ,
Michigan : Bridge Point Book)
5) The Creative Task of Theolo gy (Philip E. Hu ghes , 1969, Grand Rapids ,
Michigan : Wm B. Erdmans Publishing).
Each of these reading texts is marked and tabulated for the lexical items
(content words) and clause types . The content words are verb, noun, adjective and
adverb (adjective + -Iy). The noun detenniners such as the, his are not included and
regarded as non-adjectives ( an adjective has the feature of comparative degree). The
phrasal verb is taken as one word or lexical item. The tense is also regarded as
representing one verb. A c1a'Jse complex is considered as two or more simple clauses
and the simple clause consists of one predicate for the ratio in the detennination of
-
The tabulated data show that there are 4143 lexical items in all the five
reading texts on contemporary theology and 672 clauses. In addition, there are 292
simple clauses as contrasted to 166 clause complexes . By using this number or count,
the lexical density and grammatical complexity of the texts can be detennined.
4.2 The Research Findings
Based on the given data, the following findings can be reported :
1) The grammatical complexity of the five texts is the ratio between simple
clauses and clause complexes, which is 292: 199 equals 1.75. This means that
proportion of simple clauses against clause complexes is low (using the scale
of 0 - 10)
2) The percentage of complexity is found by using the clause complexes as the
integer
=
166:292 x 100% = 56% . This means that the texts in terms ofgrammatical complexity or intricacy is complex (using the scale of 0%
-100%).
3) This percentage shows that there are more simple clauses than clause
complexes. The simple clauses take (292:458 x ]00%) or 63 .75%% of the
total number of clauses (458 sentences in all) and the clause complexes take
36.25% of the total number of sentences. This implies that the texts are
condensed in view of the infonnation load.
4) The lexical density of all the five texts is the ratio between the lexical items
(4143 items) in proportion to the number of clauses (672 clauses) equals 6.16 .
of vocabulary words. Thus, there is some correlation between the lexical
density and grammatical complexity.
5) The details of the number of lexical items and clauses in each text are as
follows:
a) Text 1 has the lexical density of 4.66 (756 items divided by 162
clauses) .
b) Text 2 has the
clauses).
c) Text 3 has the
clauses).
d) Text 4 has the
clauses).
e) Text 5 has the
clauses) .
lexical density of 6 .86 (988 items divided by 144
lexical density of 7.41 (727 items divided by 98
lexical density of 6 .32 (904 items divided by 143
lexical density of 6.14 (768 items divided by 125
6) The difference of lexical density is evident because each text contains a
different number of lexical items and clauses The highest lexical density is in
Text 3 (7.41) about various aspects of theology (see Appendix 2).
7) Of the 458 sentences (clauses), there are short and long clauses in tenns of the
number of lexical items used. The majority of sentences in Text 5 are
relatively long because of the style or genre of the text. The author tried to
capture the imagination of his readers while explaining the function and task
of theolot,ry . It should be noted, however, that the length of a sentence is not
marked by the use of clauses introduced by relative pronouns (who, which,
that ).
8) Each of the five texts has a different level of difficulty (intelligibility ).
According to the style of writing. Text 5 is most difficult to understand
because there are clause complexes and embedded sentences. This can be felt
by trying to get the proposition in each of the texts. Text 3 is the easiest one to
understand because it employs common words without much technicalities of
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS
5.1 The Conclusion
After analyzing the data in the form of clauses in five reading texts on
contemporary theology, it can be concluded that all the texts have the average lexical
density of 6.16 (4143 lexical items divided by 672 clauses). This means that the texts
are dense in the sense that there is a high proportion of vocabulary items used in
every clause. Thus, readers should have a large size of vocabulary to understand the
texts. Next, the grammatical complexity or intricacy is 1.75 (292 simple clauses in
proportion to J 66 clause complexes). This means that the complexity of the texts in
tenns of !"rrammar is high because the index is lov'.'. The percentage of clause
complexes against simple clauses is 56%. The highest lexical density is in Text 3
(7.41) as it employs common words more often than technical tenns of theology. In
order to understand the texts, readers should have master clause structures
completely _
5.2 Tbe Suggestions
The findings in the study show that lexical density and grammatical
complexity cannot be separated from reading comprehension . It is possible to
anticipate the level of difficulty or intelligibility of the texts through the application of
I) further research for different texts should be conducted to find out if there are
other significant lexical density and grammatical complexity according to
speci fic field of science.
2) Data on the lexical density and f,'Tammatical complexity should be analyzed
by using a modern device like a computer so that the size of the database can
be enlarged for precise detennination .
3) Anyone interested in understanding a specific text (English for Specific
Purposes) should be familiar with lexical density and grammatical complexity
to pinpoint the areas or problems of reading comprehension.
4) Any reading text to be presented, designed or modified should be analyzed for
lexical density and grammatical complexity so that the level of intellib>1bility
can be suited to the students ' reading needs and proficiency.
5) Lecturers, teachers and practitioners should know the problem of density and
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Bush, V. 1967. Science is Il ot F;nuugh : Reflectiolls fur the Present and Future. New
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Conner, KJ & Malmin, K . 1976 . Interpreting the Scriptures : A r extbuok 011 how to
interpret the Rible. Portland, O regon: Bibl.e Temple
Enns, P. 1989. The Moody Handbook of Th eology. Chicago : Moody Press
Frank , M . 1972, Modern English: A Practical Ref erence Guide. Englewood Cl iffs,
New Jersey: PrenticeHall.
Good News Bible, 1976. London : United Bible Societies
Halliday, M .A .K. 1985 . Spoken and Wriifen Lang uage. Victoria: Deakin University
Press
Halliday, M.A.K & Hasan, R 1985 . Lang uage, context, and text: Aspects oflanguage
in a social-semiotic p ersp ective. Victoria: Deakin University Press
Horton , S.M . (ed.) 1994. Systematic lheolof!Y : A Pentecostal Perspective.
Springfield, Missouri : Logion Press
Hospers, 1. 1970. An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis. London : Routledge and
Kegan Paul
Gay, L.R 1987. Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Applicatiun.
London : Merril Publishing
Macquarrie, 1. 1988. Twentieth -Century Relig ious Th ought. London: SCM Press
Richards, 1. (et.al.) 1985. Longman Dictionary of Applied Unguistics. London :
Longman
Santayana, G . 1962. Reason in Religion. New York: Collier Books
Slobin, DJ. 1979 . Psycholinguistics. Glenview, Illinois : Scott, Foresman and
Company
Smart, N . 1973 . The Religiuus Experience of Mankind. London : Collins
Stubbs, M . 1983 . Discourse AnalysiS: Th e Sociolinguistic A nalys is of Natural
f-an guage. Oxford: Basil Blackwell
Tischer,S . et.aI.1994. Methods v{rext and Discourse Analysis. London:Longman
Yin , R.K . 1989. Case Study I?esearch: Design und Methods. l.ondon : Sage
lohar, D & Marshall , I. 2000. SQ: Spiritual intelligence, The Ultimate In.telligen ce.
APPENDIX I
Grammatical Complexity and Lexical Density of Five Texts on Contemporary Theology
No I Text Sample Sentence No . of No . of Clause
Title Lexical Clauses Type
Item s
,.,
I What is 1) To begin an investigation of 8 .) CC
Theology contemporary theologies we must first
')
have some idea of what we mean by
I theology.
2) As with many questions of this type, the 9 2 CC
I
best way to answer is by an investigation( of the subject under question, that is, the
I works of the theologians themselves.
3) Indeed this is the basic premise of this 15 4 CC
I
book, in which I hope to introduce the reader to the work of various theologians so that the reader can have a better grasp of what theology and theologians are on about.
,.,
.) CC
1 4 ) However, at the beginning it will be
I
7helpful to have some
I
preliminary ideas to structure our
investigation
5) As a starting point then, 1 shall begin 11
2
CCsimply with a consideration of a classical
definition of theology given by St. I
Anselm, a medieval theologian .
6) Just as the right order of things demands 18 5 CC
that we first believe in the mysteries of Christian faith before daring to examine them rationall y, so likewise it seems to me that, once we have been confinned in faith , we would be neglectful if we did not then attempt to understand what we believe.
,.,
.) 1
7) This IS usually expressed In the SC
shorthand formula .
,.,
8) Theology is faithseeKing understanding.
Jl
SC
9) Apart from its brevity, this definition has 5 1 SC
some distinct advantages.
10) Firstl y, it indicates that theolo!:,lJ' is a 4 I SC
