TEXTS WORDS ANALYSIS

Introduction

Written English texts are interpreted according to many aspects of functional grammar framework. The interpretations vary according to the contexts. English grammar are of may characteristics which could be analyzed in order to learn about the writer, the topic and many things else. In this TMA we are going to perform a register analysis upon two newspaper editorials about the same topic but one posted in Gulf Times and the other was posted in Washington Post. We will analyze the texts according to the functional grammar framework: field, tenor and mode in order to find out the differences between the two texts.

Task1

 (selection of texts)

Choose two newspaper Editorials on the same event/topic one from a newspaper/magazine published in English in Britain or the United States and one from an Arab newspaper/magazine published in English (e. g. Kuwait Times, Gulf Times, etc.).

Two texts were chosen and signed.

Task2(500 words)

Perform a register analysis of the two texts.  In other words, you should show how the social roles and relationships (tenor), subject matter (field) and the nature of the text as a communicative event (mode) influence particular aspects of grammar and vocabulary in each text.

Text 1

Clauses are underlined.

 GULF TIMES

Beckham  setting up new MLS team in Miami? 10:55 PM 0:55 PM

30October2013

Retired England soccer star David Beckham has chosen Miami for a new US Major League Soccer expansion team, a source familiar with the negotiations said on Tuesday.

 The former England captain, who retired earlier this year after stints with Manchester United, Real Madrid and the MLS club LA Galaxy, had been considering several locations and toured Miami this summer, meeting with city and county leaders. His MLS player contract included an option to create a new team for $25 million. Beckham was still putting together a team of investors, the source said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because Beckham’s plans have yet to be officially announced.

 His representatives are already looking at sites for a purpose-built soccer-only stadium, according to a well-placed source in Miami’s business community. “They have people looking real hard. They want to be in the urban core,” the person said.

 A fan group, which has been campaigning for a team to come to the city, welcomed the news. Julio Caballero, spokesman for the group, which calls itself MLS Miami Bid, posted: “It’s our time,” on the group’s Facebook page. MLS confirmed it was in discussions with Beckham but declined to confirm if a deal had been struck. “We are continuing our discussions with David Beckham regarding future ownership of an MLS expansion team,” said Dan Courtemanche, a spokesman for MLS.

Miami officials also reacted cautiously to the news. “We’ve not had any official notification that David Beckham has chosen Miami for a new Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said in a statement.

“That said, I join the hundreds of thousands of soccer fans throughout South Florida who are ready and eagerly waiting for an MLS team to be established in Miami. A world-class community like Miami-Dade County, also known as the Gateway to the Americas, would be a fitting home for the world’s most popular sport.”

The greater Miami area has a large and growing Latin American population and local sports bars always draw large crowds during the World Cup soccer tournament every four years. More than 70,000 fans attended an International Champions Cup match in Miami between Real Madrid and Chelsea in August. The city briefly had an MLS team, the Miami Fusion, which played in neighbouring Fort Lauderdale. It joined MLS in 1998 but was closed by the then struggling league after four seasons. The only professional team in the area is the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, which plays in the second-tier North American Football League.

Words "Content"	250
Clauses	16
Lexical Density	15,6

The text lexical density is strong because it is a written text. The text was written in an Arabic newspaper by an Arabic writer. The field of this text shows specific social content. It is addressing Arab audience and presenting the information they want to listen to. Its communicative purpose is to inform Arab people about David Beckham who the Arabs in the Gulf area admire and wait for his news. The writer tells news from a source he did not mention referred to as a "source" which imposes on the reader uncertainty feelings which confirms the writer has read the text in another newspaper and rewrite it, the writer did not use the pronoun "he" to refer to David but used pronouns as his, they, we to express not being responsible for the information. The mode in this text represents lack of knowledge about the event which makes the reader refer to other texts in native newspaper, vocabulary were used in a formal way that shows how the writer is not native such as : retired, investors, declined, single sentence paragraphs and using capital letters, fitting and using "to be +p.p" many times.  The text's tenor is clear through the implicit messages to be sent to the readers through expressions like "The only professional team in the area is the Fort Lauderdale Strikers' which expresses the writer's opinion and tries to convince the reader with such opinion. The text lacks coherence as it seems to be of not connected sentences.

Text2

Clauses are underlined

  Washington post

Person with knowledge of situation to AP: Beckham picks Miami for MLS franchise ownership

By Associated Press, Published: October 29 

LONDON — With his playing career over, former England captain David Beckham has decided his next move: starting a Major League Soccer team in Miami.

Since leaving the Los Angeles Galaxy in December, and retiring from the game after a subsequent five-month stint at Paris Saint-Germain, Beckham has been mulling over the location for his MLS franchise.

Beckham has now made up his mind and he would pay a discounted rate of $25 million to start an MLS expansion team in Miami, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because plans for the team aren’t being publicly discussed yet.

The option of becoming a team owner was included in the MLS contract Beckham signed when joining the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007.

“We know that Miami is one of the most passionate soccer markets in North America,” MLS Executive Vice President Dan Courtemanche told the AP. “We have met with David Beckham regarding ownership of an expansion team, and we look forward to David one day owning an MLS club.”

There are currently 19 MLS teams, and league commissioner Don Garber hopes to expand to 24 teams by the 2020 season. A 20th team is already in place to begin playing in 2015 after Premier League club Manchester City and its partner, the New York Yankees, paid an expansion fee of $100 million to launch New York City FC.

The MLS still has to give Beckham the go-ahead to make Miami the location of the franchise.

Beckham is looking to raise several hundred million dollars of investment to fund the setup costs, including putting together the squad of players and building a stadium.

Beckham’s business partner Simon Fuller, the “American Idol” creator who is the driving force in franchise negotiations, will be a significant shareholder, the person familiar with the situation said.Beckham is looking to sell stakes in the team to other investors, and has already had expressions of interest from businessmen globally.

Beckham hopes the team to debut in three years, which would likely require the franchise to initially play in an existing venue.

In June, Beckham toured the Sun Life and Florida International University stadiums and met with Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez.

University officials delivered a presentation to Beckham and Marcelo Claure, president and CEO of Brightstar Corp. and a member of the FIU Board of Trustees, explaining the draw of a professional team in Miami.

Before deciding on Miami as the franchise location, Beckham explored options in other cities, including Montreal, San Diego and Orlando, the person said.

Miami has had a Major League Soccer team before. The Miami Fusion held matches in Fort Lauderdale from 1998 to 2001, before shutting down because of poor attendance.

As a former Manchester United, Real Madrid and AC Milan midfielder, Beckham hopes his star power will make a team work there.

Beckham’s management team said it is not ready yet to make an announcement about Beckham’s franchise ownership option.

Words "Content"	275
Clauses	19
Lexical Density	14,4

Text2 density is less than the density of text 1. Number of relative clauses are little. The field here is representing a social content which find it easy to deal with such information and the subject matter is all about the sports event not only the player. The text is informative and vocabulary are more suitable for the topic. The writer is certain from the information source, the pronoun "he" is used many times to refer to Beckham whom the activity is all about. Experience of the writer is all clear within expressions such as : "retiring from the game after a subsequent five-month stint at Paris Saint-Germain." The mode here depends on noun phrases rich with information and specific details that tell the writer has much information about the event. The language is flowing which ensures the writer is native. Examples: move, mull over, team owner, soccer markets. Its communicative purpose is to state some sports event related to USA. Grammatical contexts are not complicated as relative clauses use is not too much, using the passive voice is simplifying the text and there are not many quotations in the text. The tenor is representing coherent text with American style ,the writer didn't impose his own opinions so the readers are free in their decisions on the event. Information is stated truly with confidence. As the writer is addressing American audience, he used simple grammar and vocabulary used in everyday speech such as :discounted rate, retiring from the game, shutting down and poor attendance.

Task3

In this task you should compare the two editorial texts suggesting reasons for, and effects of, the differences (i.e. differences in views, ideas, positions, attitudes, assessment, etc. of the same event/topic).

The two texts are about the same event yet there are differences between them in many points. There are differences in the opinions and views of the two writers. Writer of text1 is writing for Arab people in the Gulf so he is writing for pleasing them with news about their beloved Beckham. He also states his own opinions in the report.Text2 writer is writing for Americans so he tries to give more information about America and American players benefits. Writer of text1 seems to writing just for presenting sport information but writer of text2 seems to wish the event for the sake of America and for getting the best for American soccer teams so reasons for writing are different. Writer of text1is not giving detailed information which means that his Arabian background imposes conservative attitudes on him while writer of text2 is more free in writing with referring to his source as if the source is completely true which reflects a sense of press professionalism more than writer of text1.Text1 is more favorable for sports lovers and for those who are eager to listen to sport news but text2 could be read by any American who is interested in America's benefits and welfare, it also could be interesting for businessmen who seeks sports business which is not found in text1 as it is presented for Arabs.Text1 gives information about the social media sites like Facebook which gives a sign of Arab love and addiction to  Facebook while this is not mentioned in text2 because interest in facebook is higher in Arab areas especially for sport lovers. Text2 seems to lack trust in Beckham without businessmen from America as the writer mentioned the name of Beckham's business partner besides mentioning that he was the creator of the famous American program "American Idol" which was of no need in the context but to tell that Simon Fuller is the driving force of the Franchise negotiations. Text2 did not mention the information at all which proves that the information is not of big importance in the event as a sports event not a business one. Being not native is completely clear when writer of text1 talked about Miami and wrote many information about it as a city that is an area with Latin American population and information about 70,000 fans attended a match there between Real Madrid and Chelsea in August and other information that any native American knows. This information is not mentioned in text2 as readers are for sure not in need for this information. Ideas of second text2 are more clear with more detailed information, numbers, statistics and names of businessmen, soccer teams and soccer players. The two writers assessed the event according to the social background each is coming from, their assessments were enough but text1 was more hesitated when stating information the fact that the not native social background left its effect on the writer while writing, this will also leave its impressions on the readers of each report.

Appendix

Scheme for register analysis

Aspects of Situation	Text1	Text2
Field	Beckham is going to make business in USA	Beckham is going to do sports activities in America
Tenor	America is going to give Beckham a chance for doing good business, American businessmen help Beckham	Arabs can enjoy sports event happening in Miami and America as a beautiful country.
Mode	American feedback can present much information and details about the event	Information are little with a non- native background.

References

• Arab Open University, Reader1 and 2. Book2. Inside English: Interpreting texts.
• http://www.columbia.edu/~pm257/language/ftmweb.htm
• http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1634&context=artspapers