This paper aims to examine the similarities and differences in the stylistic features of Philippine and American editorials, particularly the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) and The Washington Post (WP), respectively, using Halliday’s (2000) transitivity method Specifically, the study sought to answer these Questions (1) :hat are the similarities and differences in the transitivity process types employed in the PDI and the WP editorials? and (2) What are the predominant process types employed in the editorials of the two newspapers? The results of the study revealed that the stylistic features of the WP editorials give more emphasis on people’s characters and attributes, which are regarded to be important factors in the argumentative nature of the WP editorials. On the other hand, PDI editorials focus on ‘what is done to someone’ and ‘who does it.’ This study puts forward that the transitivity system could be an effective tool to analyze the stylistic features of editorials. The results also imply that in the application of process types, the stylistic features related to the editorials’ expected or commonly observed style and purposes, i.e., informative, persuasive, argumentative, and purposive, could be realized.
Keywords: Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG), transitivity system, editorial, stylistics, contrastive rhetoricBabii, E., & Ansary, H. (2005). On the effect of disciplinary variation on transitivity: The case of academic book reviews. Asian EFL Journal, 7(3),Artic.
Caffarel, A., & Rechniewski, E. (2009). A systemic functional approach to analyzing and interpreting ideology: An illustration from French editorials. Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses, 22, 27-43.
Connor, U., & Johns, A.M. (1990). Coherence in writing: Research and pedagogical perspectives. Alexandria, VA: Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages.
Crystal, D. (1989). The English language. USA: Penguin Books.
Cunanan, B.T. (2011). Using transitivity as a framework in a stylistic analysis of Virginia Woolf’s “Old Mrs. Rey”. Asian EFL Journal, 54, 69-79.
Gong, J., & Fang, Y. (2005). An ideational functional analysis of argumentative discourse in English courts. Foreign Languages Research, 3, 11-16.
Halliday, M.A.K. (1967). Notes on transitivity and theme in English, Part 1. Journal of Linguistics, 3(1), 37-81.
Halliday, M.A.K. (1971). Linguistic function and literary style: An inquiry into the language of William Golding’s “The Inheritors”. In S. Chatman (Ed.), Literary style: A symposium (pp. 45-47). New York: Oxford University Press.
Halliday, M.A.K. (1976). Types of process. In G.R. Kress (Ed.), Halliday: System and function in language (pp. 159-173). London: Oxford University Press.
Halliday, M.A.K. (1981). Language as social semiotic: The social interpretation of language and meaning. American Anthropologist, 83(3), 659-661.
Halliday, M.A.K. (1985). Ch.3 dimensions of discourse analysis: Grammar. In T.A. van Dijk (Ed.), Handbook of discourse analysis: Vol. 2. Dimensions of discourse (pp. 29-56). London: Academic Press. Halliday, M.A.K. (2000). An introduction to functional grammar (2nd ed.). London: Edward Arnold/Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
Halliday, M.A.K. (2001). Language as social semiotic: The social interpretation of language and meaning. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
Halliday, M.A.K. (2004, 2008). An introduction to functional grammar (3rd ed.). London: Edward Arnold/ Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
Halliday, M.A.K., & Martin, J.R. (1993). Writing science: Literacy and discursive power. London: The Palmer Press.
Halliday, M.A.K., & Matthiessen, C.N.I.M. (2004). An introduction to functional grammar. London: Hodder Arnold.
Hopper, P., & Thompson, S.A. (1980). Transitivity in grammar and discourse. Language, 56(2), 251-299. Hu, Z.L. (1994). Discourse cohesion and coherence. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.
Kaplan, R. (1966). Cultural thought patterns in inter-cultural education. Language Learning: A Journal of Research in Language Studies, 16(1-2), 1-20.
Kress, G. (1985). Linguistic processes in sociocultural practice. Victoria: Deakin University Press.
Jin, C.S. (1996). Language arts and disciplines. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Langacker, R.W. (1987). Foundations of cognitive grammar. USA: Stanford University Press.
Le, E. (2010). Editorials and the power of media: Interweaving of socio-cultural identities Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Lehtoaro, L.K. (2013). Editorials, elections and persuasion: Semantic representation in ideologically polarized discourse in The New York Post and The New York Times. University of Eastern Finland.
Liu, S.S. (1998). Outlines of western stylistics. Jinan: Shandong Education Press.
Martinez, I. (2001). Impersonality in the research article as revealed by analysis of the transitivity structure. English Ior 6peci¿c 3urposes, 20(3), 227-247.
Philippine Primer. (2016). Major broadsheets in the Philippines. Retrieved from http://primer. com.ph/business/2016/02/20/major-broadsheets-in-the-philippines/
Renstrom, C. (2012). Discourses in the news: The case of occupy wall street in the New York Times and the New York Post. Department of English, Stockholms Universitet.
Richardson, J.E. (2007). Analyzing newspapers: An approach from critical discourse analysis. USA: Palgrave Macmillan.
Short, M.H. (1976). Why we sympathize with Lennie. Mal Journal, 1, 1-9.
Thompson, G. (2000). Introducing functional grammar. London: Arnold/Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
Wales, K. (1989). A dictionary of stylistics. USA: Longman. Yang, X.Y. (2001). A study of the style of editorial English. Foreign Language Teaching and Research, 33(5), 367-373. Yang, X.Y. (2004). The stylistic characteristics of international politics news English. Foreign Languages Research, 3, 31-37.
Yuli, S., & Yushan, Z. (2012). A comparison of transitivity systems in English and Chinese. cross cultural & communication, 8(4), 75-80.
Zheng, S., Yang, A., & Ge, G. (2014). Functional stylistic analysis: Transitivity in English Medium medical research articles. International Journal of English Linguistics, 4(2), 12-25.