A Study on the Meaning and structure of an
Default fairy-tale: a systemic functional analysis

Nguyễn Thị Lan

Trường Đại học Ngoại ngữ
Luận văn ThS. Chuyên ngành: Linguistics; Mã số: 60 22 15
Người hướng dẫn: Prof. Dr. Hoang Van Van
Năm bảo vệ: 2011 Abstract: In this thesis I will study the meaning and structure of a chosen -tale as seen
from the systemic functional perspective. Systemic functional grammar is a powerful
analytical tool for analyzing a text with the transitivity system, the mood, the thematic
pattern and the cohesion. Also, a fairy-tale may be very familiar with a lot of people
because they are told so many times when they are just little boys and girls and until they
are mature already; therefore the analysis of the meaning and the structure of a fairy-tale
is useful in some ways.

Keywords: Tiếng Anh; Ngữ nghĩa; Cấu trúc; Ngữ pháp Content
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale of the study
There are many different approaches to describe the grammar of a language. One
approach sees grammar as a set of rules which specify all the possible grammatical structures of
the language where grammatical and ungrammatical sentences are distinguished clearly and so,
its main concern is the forms of grammatical structures rather than with their meanings or their
uses in contexts, therefore, the analysis of sentences isn’t connected to real world sources.
Another approach sees language as a system of communication and analyses grammar to

1.5. Design of the study
This thesis is divided into 4 chapters:
- Chapter 1: Introduction – presents the rationale of the study, the aims, the scope, the
methods and the design of the study.
- Chapter 2: Literature Review provides the theoretical background of the study. Its
focus is on introducing important concepts in systemic functional linguistics relevant to
the topic of the study and knowledge surrounding the kind of fairy tales.
- Chapter 3: The meaning and structure of an English fairy tale Cinderella – analyzes the
fairy tale as seen from the systemic functional point of view
- Chapter 4: Conclusion – summarizes the results of the study, suggests some implications
for discourse analysts, students and teachers of discourse analysis and then presents some
suggestions for further research.

REFERENCES
English
1. Bloor, Thomas and Meriel (1995), The Functional Analysis of English. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
2. Brown, G & G. Yule. (1983), Discourse Analysis. Cambridge: CUP.
3. Grimm, J. L. C. & W. C (1993), Grimm’s fairy tales. Herfortshire: Wordsworth Editions
Limited.
4. Halliday, M. A. K, (1994), An introduction to Functional Grammar, Second Edition, London:
Edward Arnold,
5. Halliday, M. A. K., and Hasan (1985), Language, Context and Text: Aspect of Language in
Social-Semiotic Perspective. Geelong, Victoria: Deakin University Press,.
6. Halliday, M. A. K., and Hasan (1976), Cohesion in English, London: Longman.
7. Halliday, M. A. K. (2004), Dâ
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