Ideational meaning in IELTS sample essay introductions in light of systemic functional grammar

Abstract

It is shown that IELTS, which is recognized and accepted by more than 10,000 organizations in the world, has proved its significant role in education and occupation nowadays. In this article, M.A.K Halliday (2004)’s Systemic Functional Linguistics theory of ‘Clause as Representation’ is applied to investigate how ideational meanings are expressed in IELTS sample essays. By focusing on the transitivity system of the structure of the clauses, particularly the study of process types and the logico-semantic relation, this paper sheds light on the ideational meaning in the introductions of IELTS sample essays. The findings of this article are expected to enable IELTS candidates to take into account the relationship between the transitivity choice of processes, logico-semantic relation and the salient features of high-quality IELTS academic writing introductions to produce their own appropriate introductions, which, in turn, increase their scores in the test.