TRANSITIVITY ANALYSIS OF ONLINE NEWS FOOTBALL
MATCH REPORT: HOW THE WRITERS WRITE DIFFERENTLY
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Agustinus Dias Suparto
112011024
English Department
Faculty of Language and Literature
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
TRANSITIVITY ANALYSIS OF ONLINE NEWS FOOTBALL
MATCH REPORT: HOW THE WRITERS WRITE DIFFERENTLY
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Agustinus Dias Suparto
112011024
English Department
Faculty of Language and Literature
Approval
TRANSITIVITY ANALYSIS OF FOOTBALL MATCH REPORT:
HOW THE WRITERS WRITE DIFFERENTLY
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Agustinus Dias Suparto
112011024Approved by:
Dian Toar Sumakul , M.A. Christian Rudianto, S.Pd, M.AppLing
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Transitivity Analysis of Online News Football Match Report: How the Writers Write Differently
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Table of Content
3. Types of Circumstance in the Texts……….16
h. Discussion………19
1. The Most Dominant Actor in Each Text………..19
2. Mental Process in Text C……….22
i. Conclusion………..24
j. The Role of Transitivity Analysis in Text………..25
k. Acknowledgement……….26
l. References………..27
2. Appendix B...……….………...37
List of Tables
Table 1: Process types in text A, B and C………...………11
Table 2: Participants in text A, B, and C………..………..15
Table 3: Circumstances of the texts ...18
Table 4: Some actors that represent the side of the text...20
List of Figures
Figure 1: Participant, process and circumstance in a clause………....5
Figure 2: Material processes in a sentence……….12
Figure 3: Material process in a clause………13
Figure 4: Material process in a clause………13
Figure 5: Participants of material process in a clause………14
Figure 6: Participants of mental process in a clause………...…14
Figure 7: Circumstance in a clause………....17
Figure 8: Circumstance in a clause………17
Figure 9: Match data...19
Figure 10: Mental process in text C...23
TRANSITIVITY ANALYSIS OF ONLINE NEWS FOOTBALL
MATCH REPORT: HOW THE WRITERS WRITE DIFFERENTLY
Agustinus Dias Suparto
Abstract
Football news is the way to let the public know what have just happened in football world. However, the report presented in football news may be biased by
the writer‟s view which makes some different perspectives towards a fact which is raised to the public. To analyze some certain perspectives that might be used by
the writers, transitivity of Halliday‟s Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) can be used. This metafunction looks at the participants, processes and circumstances in the texts. This paper showed how transitivity can reveal the perspectives used by the writers. This paper examined three match reports of the match between Manchester City FC and Chelsea FC on September 21st, 2014 from three different websites. This paper revealed which match report was taking a side or neutral related with the participants, processes and circumstances involved. This paper also related the using of transitivity components with the purpose of the texts. By analyzing the actors involved, the point of view of the writers could be recognized. In the end, this paper showed that two of three texts took sides while one was neutral. Finally, this paper showed that transitivity analysis in SFL can be
a tool to measure whether a text is biased by its writer‟s opinions or not.
Key words: transitivity analysis, systemic functional linguistics, football match reports
Introduction
be used in many different ways in order to reinforce and manipulate a message” (p.3). Hence, like common newspaper articles, football match reports also can be a source of creating perspective toward the readers who most of them are football fans. Mineshima (2009) has found that even when the writing is not too biased,
the reader may not be aware to accept some writer‟s perspectives about a fact.
Some of the facts are just viewed from a certain point of view which is usually directed to the target readers. Thus, language is not seen as the reflection of our reality anymore and becomes the central of creating reality (Taiwo, 2007). Therefore, whether the messages which are presented are on purpose or not by the writer, it makes a certain point of view which differ one to the others.
News stories which work for forming ideologies or perspectives and are directed to the readers can be analyzed using Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). Teo (2004) claimed that „Transitivity‟, acomponent in Halliday‟s SFL, can reveal the attribution of agency to participant in texts and he also added that it is an analytic tool which foregrounds agency and makes salient “who does what to
whom” (p.25). White (2006) added that the bias of opinion may occur because of
the grammatical choices which participants are represented as agentive or as affected/acted upon. Thus, the effect of the degree of agency assigned may influence the amount of blame designated to one participant rather than another (p.3). Therefore, this study will be conducted by using Transitivity analysis to investigate the point of view taken by the writers of the texts.
texts will be examined using analytical resources of SFL components which focus on the concepts of Transitivity or Experiential Metafunction.
Systemic Functional Linguistics
Halliday (1990) claims that language, or any other semiotic systems, can be seen as a system of choices which is called Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). He claimed that SFL is particularly suitable for the type of investigation that
“… enables us to analyse any passage and relate it to its context in the
discourse, and also to the general background of the text: who it is written for, what is its angle on the subject matter and so on (p. 34)”.
In other words, Halliday‟s SFL emphasizes on how language is used to express meaning. Some linguists agreed that it is a systematic way to analyze how language works or functions in communication. Bloor and Bloor (1995) also agreed that SFL is semantic means that it concerns with the meaning and also function which means it concerns with how the language is used (p.2). Therefore, White (2000) concluded that SFL is a popular tool to investigate how linguistic items and grammatical patterns are used to express different semantic values.
The Three Metafunctions
classify the various options available and choices by the speakers. He later claimed that:
“Language has developed in response to three kinds of social-functional
needs. The first is to be able to construe experience in terms of what is going on around us and inside us. The second is to interact with the social world by negotiating social roles and attitudes. The third and final need is to be able to create messages with which we can package our meanings in
terms of what is new or given.” (Halliday, 1994 : 11)
From his statement, the Ideational or Experiential relates to the way languages is used to express the perceptions of the world and explains how the language is
used to describe „doings‟ and „happenings‟. The Interpersonal Metafunction refers
to language as medium for interaction, expressing attitudes and obligation. Then, the Textual Metafunction refers to „the enabling function, the speaker‟s text -forming potential expressing the relation of language to its environment and weaving together the Experiential and Interpersonal meanings‟ (Plemenitas, 2004, p. 26). However, Transitivity analysis in this paper only examines the texts from Experiential Metafunction perspectives which only focus on the process, actors and circumstances of the texts.
Transitivity
itself, participants in the process (e.g. Actor, Goal, Beneficiary) and circumstances attendant on it (Plemenitas, 2004, p. 27). The following clause, Figure 1 taken from text A, shows an example of how the Participants, Process and Circumstances work.
Figure 1: Participant, process and circumstance in a clause Two second-half
substitutes
scored as the points were shared after a keenly contested match in Manchester
Halliday (1976) claimed that Transitivity represents process or experiences like actions, events, processes of consciousness, and relations that covers “all phenomena and anything that can be expressed by a verb: event, whether physical
or not, state or relations” (p. 159). Hence, Transitivity basically presents how the
world is perceived in three dimensions: the material world, the world of consciousness and the world of relations (Cunanan, 2011, p. 73). Thus, those three terms can be considered in the following manner:
1. The Material World
experiences in the external world, but Behavioral processes relate more to psychological and physiological behavior (Butt, 2000, p. 51).
2. The World of Consciousness
The verbs in this term can be categorized as Mental and Verbal. Mental verbs refer to cognition, emotion, intention and perception (Matthiessen & Halliday, 1997). These verbs encapsulate the inner mind and consciousness. Verbal Processes are verbs of “saying” and encode the physical act of speaking (Thompson, 2004, p.100).
3. The World of Relations
The verbs in this term also can be sub-divided into Existential and Relational verbs. Existential Processes are identified by the use of is, are, was, were and signal the existence of a relationship between two concepts (Thompson, 2004, p.96). The function of Relational verbs is to “identify one entity in favor of another” (Thompson, 2004, p.96). The use of was, were, have, felt and belong to are typical of these processes.
Existent. And Relational process is further divided into Identifying with participants Token and Value, and Attributive with participants Carrier and Attribute, optional Beneficiary. (Plemenitas, 2004, p. 30)
Circumstances are the indispensable part of each process type. These circumstances are comprehended by prepositional and adverbial phrases. These circumstances can be classified as: Extent and Location, Manner such as means, quality and comparison, Cause such as reason, purpose and behalf, Contingency such as condition, concession or default, Accompaniment such as comitative or additive, Role such as guise and product, Matter and Angle
Previous Study on Transitivity Analysis
Text analysis is one area of linguistic investigation that uses of extensive application of SFL theory. Mineshima (2009) conducted a Transitivity analysis from two political texts which are from an article from the Guardian newspaper titled The Other Extradition, written by Norman Stone in November 1998 (Text A) and an article titled Will Castro Be Next in the Dock?, was published by the New Statesman magazine, also in November 1998 and written by Maurice Walsh (Text B). He later found that text A is predominantly material-oriented where the subject is the actor whereas the other text is rational-oriented where the subject is the sayer. In other words, Text A foregrounds Ocalan as a dynamic and dangerous
figure whereas Text B depicts Castro as a loud but harmless character. Text B‟s
Mineshima did and he concluded that the use of material and verbal process can assist the writers to position the reader (p 15). Thus, this study will try to attempt the similar approach to reveal the point of view of the reader using Transitivity analysis.
The Study
Research Question
This study tried to answer the following research question: What are the differences between the three match reports in terms of transitivity to show the point of view of the texts?
Context of Study
This qualitative study attempted a text analysis which is one area of linguistic investigation which requires the application of SFL. The study tried to reveal the perspective or side of the writer as Bell (1999) claims that journalists do not write articles; on the other hand, they write stories (p.236). This text analysis was using one of three Metafunctions in SFL, which is Transitivity, to analyze three match reports retrieved from three different websites.
Object of Study
matchday 5 of English Premier League which was held on Sunday, September 21, 2014. The match reports were retrieved from www.chelseafc.com (Text A) which is the official website of Chelsea Football Club, www.mcfc.co.uk (Text B) which is the official website of Manchester City Football Club and the last one is from www.premierleague.com (Text C) which is the official website of English Premier League. The texts were chosen due to the uniqueness of the match because the legend of Chelsea FC, Frank Lampard scored for Manchester City after 13 years playing for Chelsea. Text A consists of 1264 words in 3 sections which are about team news; first half highlight and second half highlight. Text B only consists of 497 words and only reports about the match. Text C consists of 701 words with featuring the post-match interviews from both managers from Manchester City FC, Manuel Pellegrini, and Chelsea FC, Jose Mourinho. The data acquired from the text were the main clauses in the texts which contain process types. In the following section the process types used in the texts were highlighted.
Instruments of Data Collection
The instrument of data collection is Experiential Metafunction of SFL which is the fundamental instrument of Transitivity analysis.
Data Collection Procedure
Then, opening the match reports from www.mcfc.co.uk and www.premierleague.com was necessary to obtain the similar match reports, so the data were from three different sources and writers. Lastly, the websites displaying match reports from those websites were saved and analyzed to get the finding.
Data Analysis
Findings and Discussion
This study looked at the 3 elements of Transitivity to answer the research question which is revealing the point of views of the texts trough Transitivity analysis. The analysis focused on the dominant types in each element. This was done to determine the reason why the writers wrote in such a way that may contain a purpose and their point of views and the reason why they took a certain point of view. Therefore, firstly, this is essential to know which Process, Participant and Circumstance which are dominant.
The Most Dominant Process Type
In order to determine which processes were dominant of the texts, which the texts chosen were all football match reports which have been mentioned before, the processes were placed into several categories mentioned below. The dominant process type would determine the dominant participants that would later be discussed.
Table 1: Process types in text A, B and C
Chelsea FC (Text A)
identifying
Existential 6 7.2% 2 8.7% 0 0% Verbal 3 3.6% 0 0% 2 6.9% Total 84 100% 23 100% 29 100%
The table shows that all the texts use Material process greatly above the other processes. This type of process was dominantly found in all texts. For example, the following sentence below shows the Material process works in the sentences in text A.
Figure 2: Material processes in a sentence
After the whistle Lampard went to the Chelsea end
And applause was shared
Location Actor Material Goal conj. Goal Material
In the sentence above the process can be seen from the verbs „went to‟ and „was
shared‟. Those belong to material category as “Material types are processes of
doing, representing the processes of the external world” which describes the actual activities about what happened in the match at that time (Plemenitas, 2004, p.30). The verb „went to‟ shows that the participant is doing an activity of moving
to somewhere and the verb „were shared‟ represents the activity of using or
Figure 3: Material process in a clause
Figure 4: Material process in a clause
Neither side could find a breakthrough before half-time
Actor Material Goal Location
In those figures, both verbs „scored‟ and „could find‟ are also categorized as Material process because those verbs represent the actual activities of the external world. Therefore, the using of those verb groups may caused by the function of the text which is football match report which is directed to describe the actual event, which is about football match, which have just happened.
match is fulfilled because those three texts use Material processes more than any other processes.
The Most Dominant Participant Type
Plemenitas (2004) stated that „agents‟ or participants are interpreted as the
function which typically has the power to determine whether or not the process will occur or in other words, it is the controller of the process (p.35). Halliday (1994) earlier has mentioned that Transitivity also features of causation which the process comes to exist. Therefore, the evaluation of kind of participants cannot be separated from the process type that is involved. Figure 5 and 6 will show how participants are tied with the kind of the process type involved.
Figure 5: Participants of material process in a clause
Jose Mourinho‟s
side
Took six points off city
Actor Material Goal Location
Figure 6: Participants of mental process in a clause Mourinho will rue the missed
opportunity
to have gone eight points clear of one of their rivals for the title
From Figure 5 and 6, kind of participants are determined by the process type that presents. Like in Figure 5, when the process type is Material, the participants that probably involved are Actor and Goal. Similar to Figure 5, Figure 6 also shows that the participants that are involved are Senser and Phenomenon because its process type is Mental. However, determining the active and passive participant is very important. As we know that there are two kinds of participant in Material process, Thompson (2004) distinguished between those Material processes that represent action related only to the actor and those that “also affect or are „being done‟ to another participant”, in this case categorized as the goal (p.90).
Next, in Table 2, the participants involved in the texts are calculated which will be determining the most dominant participants which are explained in the texts.
Table 2: Participants in text A, B, and C
Identifier 7 5.1% 1 2.8% 1 2%
Existent 6 4.4% 2 5.6% 2 4%
Sayer 3 2.2% 0 0% 2 4%
Target 3 2.2% 0 0% 0 0%
Receiver 1 0.7% 0 0% 0 0%
Verbiage 0 0% 0 0% 2 4%
Total 137 100% 36 100% 50 100%
The table shows that actor is the most dominant participant in those three texts which also shows that goal is also dominant as the Material process dominates all the three texts. As it has been explained before, the actions which are involved in the texts mostly are caused by the function of the texts which are giving the actual descriptions about the match. Plemenitas (2004) assumed that actors are „agents as the real instigators or controllers of the process‟ (p.35). In other words, actors are participants which are active in determining the process, which is the Material process and the using of actors supports the texts to give information about “who
was doing” in the match.
Types of Circumstance in the Texts
analysis in terms of the purpose of the text or the kind of text. Figure 7 and 8 will show how circumstances help the writer to describe the situation at that time in the match.
Figure 7: Circumstance in a clause
Costa Thumped a post from distance
Actor Material Goal Location
Figure 8: Circumstance in a clause Frank
Lampard
denied former club Chelsea a victory over Manchester City
with a late equalizer in an entertaining 1-1 draw at Etihad stadium
Actor Material Goal Means
gave better descriptions about the match since those circumstances provides information about how it was going and what that would happen because of the occurrences during the match. However, in Text C, there were more matter circumstances than the other text which shows that Text C tried to explain about the match and consequences about the match that Text A and B did not provide. Therefore, those three texts can be categorized as match repots which could report the way of the match clearly because the circumstances mostly are presented in dependent clauses which provide more information than just in form of prepositional and adverbial phrases.
The Most Dominant Actor in Each Text
As Table 2 reveals that Actor is the most dominant participant, it is necessary to identify which side which has more dominant actors and goals described in the texts. Figure 9 shows the data of the match which was taken from Text A to show the side and participants who may represent their side or be in neutral side.
Figure 9: Match data
Man City (4-4-2): Hart; Zabaleta, Kompany (c), Mangala, Kolarov (Lampard
76); Milner, Toure, Fernandinho (Navas 72), Silva; Aguero, Dzeko (Sagna 70).
Scorer Lampard 85
Manager Manuel Pellegrini
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry (c),
Hazard; Diego Costa (Drogba 85).
As Actor is the most dominant participant, the actors involved in the texts will be broken down into its side which determines the side of the text. Table 3 will show the example of kinds of actors which represent the side of the text which involving Manchester City FC as the host of the match, Chelsea FC as the visitor team and neutral sides such as the referee or something that represent both sides such as the match itself.
Table 4: Some actors that represent the side of the text
It (the match)
Table 4 shows many kinds of actor which actually represent the same side of the text. Mostly, Actors of both sides were represented by the people who were directly involved in the match such as the players‟ names and managers or
explicitly using the club‟s name or the home or visitor side because the match was
done in Manchester City‟s stadium as the side who was doing something.
Table 5: The number of actors and their side
Text A Text B Text C
% % %
Man. City side
17 34.7% 8 53.3% 7 46.7%
Neutral 8 16.3% 2 13.4% 1 6.6%
Chelsea side
24 49.0% 5 33.4% 7 46.7%
Table 5 clearly shows that Text A which is from Chelsea FC official website described Chelsea or actors which belong to Chelsea more than their opponent in that match report. The match report from Manchester City official website or Text B was also the same that they put more Actors which belong to them more than their opponent. The decision to put more participant of their own side may be influenced by the fact that the audiences of their website are their own fans. Thus the writer and the audiences may also prefer to know more that their side was doing than the other side which was their opponent. Therefore, it can be concluded that the writer from each side took a point of view from their side to describe the match by using more Actors as the active participant from their side.
Mental Process in Text C
The gap-difference between text C and the other two texts also shows that
something “uncommon” was occurred in Text C. As we know that Mental verbs
refer to cognition, emotion, intention and perception, it is unusual to find such many kind of this verb group in a match report which is aimed to give description of a match (Matthiessen & Halliday, 1997). Text C used more Mental processes than text A and B to show more the perspective side of the match in which Figure 10 and 11 shows how Mental processes are used in Text C.
Figure 10: Mental process in text C Jose
Senser Mental Phenomenon Location
Figure 11: Mental process in text C
Lampard refused to celebrate
Senser Mental
The verb groups such as “looked set to repeat” and “refused to celebrate” are
existed instead of just describing of what was happening. The writer assumed that the participant was having something in mind related to the event instead of describing what was happening. In the first verb group “looked set to repeat” can
be replaced with other verb groups from material process type such as “could not
repeat” or “failed to repeat” to describe the reality of the match. Another
example of the writer‟s perspective is that the writer used “refused to celebrate”
instead of “did not celebrate” to shows the writer‟s assumption about what was
going on in the participant‟s mind. Therefore, Text C involves more opinions of
the writer than text A or B because of those features. However, there is no reliable source or explanation about the reason why neutral texts have these kinds of feature of deploying more opinions than just giving descriptions about the facts of the match which shows that there is no relation between neutral text and more opinion involved.
Conclusion
From the first discussion, it shows that actors who are involved in the texts
can assist the writer to take aside and influence the readers to see the writer‟s
opponents. For example, when Chelsea was attacking in the match, the writer would describe on how actors in Chelsea side attacked Manchester City side more than Manchester City side defended against Chelsea side. When Chelsea side was defending, the writer also described more on how Chelsea was defending than how Manchester City side was attacking. Thus, the reader of text A will also be influenced that Chelsea was doing good or not in that match. Similar to text A, the writer of Text B also focused more on actors belonged to Manchester City. Text B also used more description about Manchester City side in the match than their opponent. Therefore, both text A and text B took one side perspective to report the match.
Unlike Text A and B, text C described the actors from both sides evenly. However, there were many mental processes involved in the text compared with the number of mental processes in text A and B. Mental processes used by the writer in text C shows that the writer wanted to display what were happened in the
participants‟ minds related to the occurrences in the match. Rather than reporting
the fact, it shows that the writer wanted to influence the readers by using his opinions about what happened in the match. However, there is no relation about neutral text to deploy more opinions than facts.
The Role of Transitivity Analysis in Texts
Language used for communication sometimes has something to influence
people‟s perceptions and attitudes toward the information that is explained. When
written to interpret that information in certain ways to influence the audiences. However, there is a mixing between report and articles which can manipulate the data and information with certain purposes and agendas. Ruddick (2007) noted
that “texts are not simply there but are infused with ideologies and agendas”
which can promote meaning according to the writer‟s agendas (p.15). Therefore,
the analysis above shows that Transitivity components in Halliday‟s Systemic
Functional Linguistics can be a potent tool to reveal “the stratagems that writers
use to convince the audiences about their point of view” (Ruddick, 2007, p.15).
The analysis of the number of active participants involved in the texts can show
how audiences are dragged into a side of the writer‟s take side and the type of
process in the texts shows the purpose of the texts that are presented to the audiences.
Finally, herein the importance of studying Functional Linguistics especially transitivity system which highlights the linguistic choices made by three writers to show how those choices assign agency. By using transitivity analysis which examines the processes, participants and circumstances of the text, the positions of the reader to accept positive or negative point of view of the participants of the texts are likely able to be figured out.
Acknowledgment
Toar Sumakul and Mr. Christian Rudianto to finish my thesis writing. Thank you for Mr. Toar Sumakul as I have been guided from searching my topic until finishing the conclusion in my thesis writing. I would like to thank Mr. Toar Sumakul for giving me some suggestions and enjoyable supervisions which are very useful for me to finish this assignment. I am also very grateful because Mr. Christian Rudianto is my examiner who taught me Transitivity Analysis in his Discourse Analysis class. I would like to thank my parents and sister who always pray for me to finish my study on time. Lastly, I would say thank you to my friends, especially Ruth who is my best friend in my collage life.
References:
Bloor and Bloor. (1995). The Functional Analysis of English- A Hallidayan Approach. London: Arnold.
Butt, C. et al. (2000). Using Functional Grammar- An Explorer’s Guide.Macquarie University, Sidney: Natinal Centre for English Language Teaching and Research.
Cunanan, B.T. (2011). Using Transitivity as a Framework in Stylistic Analysis. Asian EFL Journal. Vol. 54(1). (pp. 69-79)
Ghannam, D. (2011). Newspaper Ideology: A Critical Discourse Analysis of An Event Published in Six Lebanese Newspapers. Johannesburg: University of the Witwatersrand
Halliday, M.A.K. (1994). An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Edward Arnold.
Lukin, A. (2005). Mapping Media Bias: A Multidimensional Affair. Australian Journalism Review. Vol. 27(1). Pp. 139-155
Mineshima, M. (2009). Discourse Analysis of News Texts by the Application of Systemic Functional Grammar. Niigata Institute of Technology. Pp. 101-123
Plemenitas, K. (2004). Some Aspects of the Systemic Functional Model in Text Analysis. Ljubljana: Birografika Bori.
Ruddick, M. (2007). A Comparative Analysis of Two Texts using Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics. University of Birmingham.
Taiwo, R. (2004) “Speech as Headline in Nigerian Newspapers”, in Segun Awonusi and E. A. Babalola, eds. The Domestication of English in Nigeria (pp.323 –335). Lagos: University of Lagos Press 2004
Thompson, G. (2004). Introducing Functional Grammar (2nd ed.). London. Arnold.
White, P. R. R. (2006). Evaluative Semantic and Ideological Positioning in Journalistic Discourse- A New Framework for Analysis. In Larsen, I (ed.). Mediating Ideology in Text and Image: Ten Critical Studies. John Benjamins, Amsterdam. Pp. 37-69
Appendix
Appendix 1: Football Match Report from Chelseafc.com (Text A)
Highlited : Processes Red: Process Types
Underlined font: Participants Blue: Participants Types Ita lic font: Circumstances Green: Circumstances Types
Match report: Manchester City 1 Chelsea 1
NEWS Sun, 21 Sep 2014
1. Two second-half substitutes (actor) scored (material) as the points were shared after a keenly contested match in Manchester (cause).
2. Andre Schurrle (actor) appeared to have set (material) the Blues (goal) on our
way to a consecutive league win on this ground with 20 minutes to go when as at
Burnley (location), he finished a fine move. (projected clause)
3. The home side (actor) had only just been reduced(material) to 10 men with
Pablo Zabaleta dismissed to increase Chelsea hopes (cause), but after Diego
Costa had gone within a whisker of extending the lead, instead striking woodwork
(location), it (actor) left (material) the way clear (goal) for Frank Lampard
(beneficiary) to rescue Man City(cause), doing what he has done so many times
in the darker blue, arriving at the right moment in the box to score. (means)
4. The first half (carrier)had been (relational attributive) one of more bookings than
clear-cur chances (attributive), the second period (carrier)was(relational
attributive) more open (attributive), and it (identified) was (relational identifying) a
5. Cesar Azpilicueta(actor) returned (material) in place of Filipe Luis (goal) in one of
two changes with the other the expected selection of Diego Costa up front.
(location)
6. Although naming the same midfield personnel as against Schalke(contingency),
Jose Mourinho (sayer) reordered (verbal) the positioning (target),with Cesc
Fabregas rather than Ramires lining up deep with Nemanja Matic, and the
hard-running Brazilian instead wide on the right with compatriot Willian the central
attacking midfielder. (means)
7. Eden Hazard(actor) remained (material)on the left.(location)
8. Manuel Pellegrini (senser)chose (mental) this big occasion (phenomenon)to
give a debut to his big summer signing at centre-back, Eliaquim Mangala. (cause)
9. Sergio Aguero (actor) came back (material)into the starting line-up to partner
Edin Dzeko with James Milner coming in on their right in a 4-4-2 shape. (location)
10. There were (existential) changes (existent) at full-back with Zabaleta and
Aleksander Kolarov selected. (location)
11. Lampard (actor) started (material)on the City bench. (location)
12. While last year’s league meeting between these sides on this ground surprised
everyone with how open it was, especially in the first period (location), this
rematch (identified) was (relational identifying) a whole lot tighter affair(identifier)
, although given the quality on display (contingency), not one you (actor) could
13. There was (existential) no arguing(existent)Man City made the stronger start,
able to work the ball wide and deliver even if they didn’t create a genuine chance
in the first 10 minutes. (projected clause)
14. Then(location) Milner (actor) managed to hold off (material) the close attentions
of Azpilicueta (goal) as he rang down the wing. (means)
15. The England international’s ball(actor) led to (material) a Dzeko shot (goal) that
was deflected for a corner. (projected clause)
16. From the delivery(location) Yaya Toure (actor) headed (material)on target for
the first time (location) but it (carrier) was (relational attributive) comfortable
for Thibaut Courtois (attribute).
17. A break in play for treatment to Aguero and Willian (senser), the latter fouled by
Fernandinho at the expense of a booking (location), helped reduce (mental) the
home side’s momentum(phenomenon), and the contest (senser) began to
(mental)really(quality) warm up (phenomenon) with impressive on-the-ball
physical tussles between Matic and Toure followed quickly by Diego Costa and
Kompany.(means)
18. Willian’s shortburstsforwardwith the ball in the middle ground (sayer)were
asking (verbal) questions of Pellegrini’s side(target) but by the midway point in
the half (location), Chelsea (actor) had yet (location) to trouble (material) Joe
Hart. (goal)
19. After a possible break had floundered when Willian and Fabregas weren’t quite
Fernandinho (actor) badly (quality) miscued (material) his shot (goal) and
although Milner turned it into a crossing opportunity
(contingency), Courtois (carrier) was (relational attributive) there to catch
(attribute).
20. David Silva (actor) shot (material) over (goal) as the pressure began to build on
our goal again(contingency) but then(location) Ramires (goal) was found
(material)in space(location) and ran (material)at the City backline(location),
only to be dispossessed (material)well (quality) by Kompany.(actor)
21. A Zabaleta foul on Hazard out wide (actor) resulted (material)in the game’s
second card (goal), and although the Chelsea support called for a penalty for
handball as Fabregas’s free-kick hit Toure’s arm as he battled Gary Cahill
(contingency), there was (existential) nothing doing (existent) according to Mike
Dean. (angle)
22. He (actor) however did book (material) Ramires (goal) soon after for taking down
Aguero.(location)
23. Matic (actor) followed (material)soon after for kicking the ball away (location) and
the card count (actor) ticked on (material)when David Silva fouled Willian deep
inside the Chelsea half. (location)
24. Yaya Toure (identified) then (location) became (relational identifying) the third
player booked (identifier)for fouling Willian to emphasise he was the most
25. He (actor) would walk off (material)at the interval looking pretty bruised.
(location)
26. The half (actor) drew (material) to a close (goal) with successive Chelsea
corners. (accompaniment)
27. One (actor) was headed (material)into the six-yard box by Ivanovic(location) and
Diego Costa (carrier) was not (relational attributive) far away by any means
(attribute)from one of his close-range predatory finishes. (location)
28. It (senser) needed (mental) a good intervention (phenomenon) from Azpilicueta
on Aguero at the other end to ensure the teams went into the dressing rooms
level when the whistle blew. (location)
29. There was (existential) little notable change in the pattern of play (existent) after
the resumption. (location)
30. Both defences (actor) were playing (material)well. (quality)
31. City fans (sayer) failed to persuade (verbal) Mike Dean (receiver) to give them a
penalty (target)when Ivanovic challenged Toure (location), and a few minutes
later(location) Fernandinho (actor) met (material) a Chelsea half-clearance (goal)
sweetly(quality) but hammered (material) his shot (goal) wide. (quality)
32. On 55 minutes(location) they (actor) did get (material) a decent effort on target
(goal) via the boot of Aguero.(means)
33. Courtois (actor) blocked (material) and as the ball ran free (contingency), it
(senser) needed (mental)highly(quality) diligent covering and a sliding challenge
34. It (actor) came (material)at a cost. (cause)
35. The Brazilian (actor) limped on (material)before being replaced by John Mikel
Obi with an hour played, with Schurrle brought on for Willian at the same time.
(location)
36. Fabregas (actor) now played (material)further forward with Schurrle on the right.
(location)
37. The game’s next incident(identified) was (relational identifying) its big talking
point (identifier).
38. Despite the number of cards shown(contingency) it (identified) had been
(relational identifying) feisty and competitive rather than dirty(identifier), and when
Zabaleta slid in hard to win the ball off Diego Costa(location), there were
(existential) follow-up words and contact between the two (existent) but it (carrier)
did not look (relational attributive) too serious. (attribute)
39. Mike Dean (actor) however decided to show (material) both a yellow card (goal)
and that (identified) meant (relational identifying) the end of the game for the City
right-back.(identifier)
40. Four minutes later(location) Chelsea (actor) took (material) the lead. (goal)
41. Dzeko (actor) had just been sacrificed (material)to allow Bacary Sagna to make
up the numbers in defence (cause) and Chelsea (actor) launched (material) a
passing move (goal) from one side of the pitch and back again that pulled the
42. Many royal blue shirts (actor) made (material) a contribution (goal) with Diego
Costa in the centre spinning the ball out to Hazard who had been earlier involved.
(means)
43. The Belgian’s low ball into the danger zone(carrier) was (relational attributive)
perfect (attribute) and as he had done so famously as a sub in the summer for
Germany(contingency), Schurrle (actor) applied (material) the finishing touch
(goal), scoring after a far-post run.(means)
44. Now Mourinho’s men (actor) went (material) for the kill(goal).
45. A Schurrle free-kick (goal) was met (material) by the head of Diego Costa (actor)
but it (actor) was directed (material)at Hart. (location)
46. Then (location) Chelsea (actor) on the break(location) found (material) City
stretched(goal).
47. Diego Costa (goal) was fed (material) by Fabregas (actor) and this time(location)
his shot (actor) beat (material) Hart (goal) but came back (material) off the post
(goal).
48. Such small margins (actor) make (material) a difference (goal) and by now
(location) Lampard (identified) was (relational identification)on the pitch
(location), having replaced Kolarov with just under quarter-of-an-hour to go to
applause from the whole Chelsea section of support. (means)
49. With five minutes left on the clock (location), a long pass forward by City (goal)
50. Lampard (actor) reached (material) it (goal) just before Terry to poke it past
Courtois. (location)
51. Needless to say there was (existential) no celebration from the scorer.(existent)
52. Chelsea’s last chance(identified) was (relational identifying) a long-range
free-kick from another sub, Didier Drogba (identifier), but it (actor) cleared (material)
the target(goal).
53. After the whistle(location) Lampard (actor) went to (material) the Chelsea end
(goal) and applause (goal) was shared (material).
54. Mourinho’s men(actor) had dropped (material) points for the first time (goal) this
season(location) but had taken (material) one back (goal) from the ground of big
rivals. (location)
55. We (actor) extend (material) our lead (goal) at the top of the table to three points.
Appendix 2: Football Match Report from Mcfc.co.uk (Text B)
Highlited : Processes Red: Process Types
Underlined font: Participants Blue: Participants Types Ita lic font: Circumstances Green: Circumstances Types
1. Frank Lampard (actor) scored (material) a dramatic late equaliser (goal) as
ten-man City came from behind to draw 1-1 with Chelsea.(means)
2. The champions (actor) were reduced (material) to ten men (goal) after Pablo
Zabaleta was controversially sent off after 66 minutes (location) and the visitors
(actor) took (material) the lead (goal) within five minutes later. (location)
3. But substitute Lampard (actor) stole (material) the headlines (goal) as he turned
in James Milner’s cross to salvage a draw from a game (means) that City had
dominated for large parts. (projected clause)
4. Chelsea (actor) arrived (material) at the Etihad having won all four of their
opening Premier League games (location), scoring a hatful of goals in the
process. (means)
5. Manuel Pellegrini (actor) elected to give (material) Eliaquim Mangala (beneficiary)
his long-awaited debut (goal) while Zabaleta, Aleks Kolarov and Sergio
Aguero were recalled to the starting line-up.(accompaniment)
6. Last season (location) Jose Mourinho’s side(actor) took (material) six points
(goal) off City (location) – the sky blues (senser) knew (mental) that they could
champions began the day already five points adrift of the West
Londoners.(cause)
7. City (actor) began (material) brightly (quality) and with the visitors camped in their
own half for much of the first-half (accompaniment) and the only real concern to
the hosts (identified) was (relational identifying) the way referee Mike Dean was
dishing out yellow cards (identifier) – four home players (actor) were booked
(material) along with two from Chelsea with more than half of the cautions
questionable at best. (accompaniment)
8. The teams (actor) went (material) into the break still locked at 0-0 (location) with
the debut of the impressive Mangala and the power of Vincent Kompany the main
talking points in the stands and concourses around the Etihad. (accompaniment)
9. There more half-chances (existent)after the break as City continued to pin
Chelsea back (location), but the game (senser) looked (mental) as though it was
heading for a stalemate (phenomenon) until the 66th minute when referee Dean
opted to send off Zabaleta after a tussle with Diego Costa. (location)
10. Chelsea (actor) took (material) just five minutes to use the extra man to their
advantage (location) as sub Andre Schurrle turned in Eden Hazard’s low cross at
the far post with 71 minutes played to leave the Blues with a mountain to climb.
(means)
11. Costa (actor) hit (material) the foot (goal) of the post soon after with a low drive
(location) and it (carrier) was (relational attributive) hard to see a way back for the
numbers (location) and looking fairly comfortable (quality)– but there was
(existential) to be a twist in the tale (existent)– the sort only football seems to
throw up from time. (projected clause)
12. With the Chelsea fans still singing his name (accompaniment), substitute
Lampard (actor) arrived (material) right on cue (location)– as he has countless
times in the past (projected clause)–to turn home Milner’s cross and send the
home fans wild. (means)
13. It (carrier) was (relational attributive) perfectly-timed (attribute), too, with just five
minutes of normal time remaining (contingency) and was (relational attributive)
nothing less than Pellegrini’s men deserved. (attribute)
14. Lampard (actor) almost (quality) scored (material) again three minutes later as he
arrived on the edge of the box to hit a low shot goal-wards but it was deflected to
safety (location) and the heavyweight Premier League clash of the campaign
Appendix 3: Football Match Report from Premierleague.com (Text C)
Highlited : Processes Red: Process Types
Underlined font: Participants Blue: Participants Types Ita lic font: Circumstances Green: Circumstances Types Match report
1. Frank Lampard (actor) denied (material)former club Chelsea a victory over
Manchester City (goal)with a late equaliser in an entertaining 1-1 draw at
the Etihad Stadium. (means)
2. Jose Mourinho's men (senser) looked set to repeat (mental) the 1-0 Barclays
Premier League victory they earned (phenomenon) at City last season after
Pablo Zabaleta was sent off and Andre Schurrle netted from a brilliant
counter-attack. (location)
3. But substitute Lampard (senser) ensured (mental) the points were shared
between the two title contenders (phenomenon) as he netted late on. (cause)
4. Lampard (beneficiary), who scored 208 goals in 626 matches for Chelsea before
departing in July, had his name (goal) sung (material) by the visiting fans (actor)
5. Those tributes (goal) were soon replaced (material) by silence (actor), however,
as the 36-year-old, who is on loan at the Etihad Stadium from New York City,
grabbed an equaliser for the 10-man hosts. (cause)
6. The goal (actor) ended (material) Chelsea's 100% start to the league season
(goal), and Mourinho (senser) will rue (mental) the missed opportunity
(phenomenon) to have gone eight points clear of one of their rivals for the title.
(matter)
7. Manuel Pellegrini (actor) took (material) the surprise step (phenomenon) of
handing Eliaquim Mangala his debut in place of Martin Demichelis as one of four
changes from Wednesday's defeat by Bayern Munich. (matter)
8. Diego Costa's hamstrings (actor) held up (material) enough for him to lead
Chelsea's line (matter), bumping Didier Drogba back to the bench after their
UEFA Champions League draw with Schalke. (cause)
9. The Spain striker's first contribution to the contest (identified) was (relational
identifying) a full-blooded battle (identifier) with Vincent Kompany in which he
came off second best after Yaya Toure had forced the first save of the game out
of Thibaut Courtois. (accompaniment)
10. Although Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic's influence (actor) in midfield for
attributive) unable to stem the flow of City attacks (attribute) and were (relational
attributive) fortunate to see Fernandinho fail to connect properly (attribute) with
Kolarov's cut-back as well as Sergio Aguero half-volley an Edin Dzeko
knockdown over the crossbar. (accompaniment)
11. Neither side (actor) could find (material) a breakthrough (goal) before half-time
(location), despite Aguero and Costa getting brief glimpses at goal just prior to
the break. (contingency)
12. City (actor) picked up (material) where they left off following the restart. (location)
13. Aguero (actor) tested (material) Courtois (goal) early on with a left-footed shot
from the edge of the box moments before just failing to control a cross into the
box. (location)
14. The Argentinian (identified) again was (relational identifying) at the heart of things
when his snapshot forced another Courtois save as Ramires was on hand to
clear the rebound with Dzeko lurking. (location)
15. City's hopes of making the most of the ascendancy (actor) received (material) a
significant blow (goal) with just over an hour gone (location), as Zabaleta
received a red card after a clip of Costa's heels brought a second yellow card.
16. That (senser) forced (mental) Pellegrini (phenomenon) into a reshuffle (matter),
with Dzeko making way for Bacary Sagna (means) but the addition of another
defender (actor) could not prevent (material) Chelsea taking the lead. (goal)
17. The visitors (actor) broke (material) incisively (quality) from an opposition corner
before Costa played Eden Hazard into space on the right (location) and the
Belgian (actor) sent (material) in a delightful low cross (location) that Schurrle
turned in at the back post.(projected clause)
18. Costa (actor) thumped (material) a post (goal) from distance (location) but the
hosts (senser) responded (mental) to rescue an unlikely point (phenomenon) as
Lampard, Chelsea's record goalscorer, turned home James Milner's smartly
volleyed cross from the left. (means)
19. Lampard (senser) refused to celebrate (mental), but then (location) almost
(quality)secured (mental) a winner. (phenomenon)
20. Nevertheless, Chelsea's fine early progress (senser) was checked (mental) for
the first time. (extent)
21. Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini (sayer): "When I sent Lampard
on I told him to go and score. I was so sure he'd play well against Chelsea
because he's a very good professional and he always wanted to be involved in
he wanted to be involved, he's a very good player and a great professional so I
am very happy for him." (verbiage)
22. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho (sayer): "[It's] one point won because we
arrive here as leaders with two points more than second [place] and we leave the
stadium with three points lead. I don't look to direct opponents, to City, or to other
clubs in a special way, I look to the table. We are leaders with three points. We
come to a super difficult stadium and a super difficult opponent and we leave in a
