A corpus study of verbs in opinion articles of The Jakarta Post and the relation with text characteristics
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12928/eltej.v3i2.2158Keywords:
verbs, opinion, corpus, frequency, text characteristicsAbstract
As one of the text categories, opinion texts have distinctive characteristics compared to any other texts in newspapers, including the choice of verb usage. This study then aims at preliminarily examining the verbs used in opinion articles in The Jakarta Post to find out the relation between frequency and text characteristics. This study collected the opinion articles of The Jakarta Post comprising 47.143 words. This study was assisted by Lancsbox to store the corpus of opinion section texts, to identify the verb lemmas, and to count the frequency of verbs. The verbs found in this study were then classified based on Scheibman’s main verb classification (which is based on Halliday’s and Dixon’s verb types). The results of the study show that there are three most frequent verb types used in opinion texts in The Jakarta Post; they are material, verbal, and feeling verb types. Meanwhile, the lesser frequent ones are perception, possessive/relational, relational, and cognition verbs types. Meanwhile, the least frequent verb types are existential, corporeal and perception/relational verbs types. As opinion text conveys the argument of the writer, it is plausible to find feeling verb type belongs to the third most frequent types, along with material type to show concrete actions and verbal type to report the information. These frequencies exhibit that there is a firm relationship between text characteristics and the tendency of verb choice.References
Akıncı, M., & Yıldız, S. (2017). Effectiveness of Corpus Consultation in Teaching Verb+Noun Collocations to Advanced ELT Students. Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 3(1), 91–108. https://doi.org/10.32601/ejal.461036
Arellano, R. (2018). A corpus linguistics application in the analysis of textbook as national teaching instruments of English as second language in Chile. Actualidades Investigativas E Educacion, 18(1), 1–19.
Astika, G. (2018). Lemmatizing textbook corpus for learner dictionary of basic vocabulary. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 7(3), 630–637. https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v7i3.9813
Baker, M. (2004). Lexical categories. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Baker, P. (2003). No Effeminates Please: A Corpus-Based Analysis of Masculinity via Personal Adverts in Gay News/Times 1973–2000. The Sociological Review, 51(1_suppl), 243–260. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-954X.2003.tb03614.x
Baker, P. (2010). Sociolinguistics and corpus linguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Bednarek, M., & Caple, H. (2012). News Discourse. London: Continuum.
Bell, A. (1991). Language of News Media. Oxford: Blackwell.
Bentz, C., Alikaniotis, D., Samardžić, T., & Buttery, P. (2017). Variation in Word Frequency Distributions: Definitions, Measures and Implications for a Corpus-Based Language Typology. Journal of Quantitative Linguistics, 24(2–3), 128–162. https://doi.org/10.1080/09296174.2016.1265792
Biber, D. (2012). Register as a predictor of linguistic variation. Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory, 8(1), 9–37. https://doi.org/10.1515/cllt-2012-0002
Biber, D. (2006). University language: a corpus-based study of spoken and written registers. Amsterdam ; Philadelphia: J. Benjamins.
Biber, D., & Conrad, S. (2009). Register, genre, and style. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Biber, D., & Gray, B. (2016). Grammatical complexity in academic English : linguistic change in writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Biber, D., & Quirk, R. (Eds.). (2012). Longman grammar of spoken and written English (10. impression). Harlow: Longman.
Bonyadi, A. (2011). Linguistic Manifestations of Modality in Newspaper Editorials. International Journal of Linguistics, 3(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.5296/ijl.v3i1.799
Brezina, V., Timperley, M., & McEnery, T. (2018). Lancsbox.
Burkette, A., & Kretzschmar Jr., W. A. (2018). Exploring linguistic science: Language use, complexity, and interaction (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Carter, R., & McCarthy, M. (2006). Cambridge Grammar of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Clackson, J. (2007). Indo-European Linguistics: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Criado, R., & Sánchez, A. (2012). Lexical frequency, textbooks and learning from a cognitive perspective: A corpus-based sample analysis of ELT materials. VOLUMEN MONOGRÃFICO, 2012, 77–94.
Deng, F., & Li, X. (2017). A Computer Corpus-based Study of FOREIGN in English Newspapers and its Pedagogical Implications. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 13(10), 6799–6806. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/78278
Dixon, R. M. W. (2005). A Semantic Approach to English Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Feltgen, Q., Fagard, B., & Nadal, J.-P. (2017). Frequency patterns of semantic change: corpus-based evidence of a near-critical dynamics in language change. Royal Society Open Science, 4(11), 170830. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.170830
Halliday, M. A. K., & Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (2004). An introduction to functional grammar (3rd ed). London : New York: Arnold ; Distributed in the United States of America by Oxford University Press.
Hardjanto, T. D. (2016). Hedging through the use of modal auxiliaries in English academic discourse. Jurnal Humaniora, 28(1), 37. https://doi.org/10.22146/jh.v28i1.11412
Ismail, H., Idrus, M. M., & Syed Sahuri, S. N. (2020). Masculinity through “emotion:†A corpus-assisted discourse analysis on sport news and implications for social workers in sport. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 30(1), 54–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2019.1664358
Kim, H. (2019). The Perception of Teachers and Learners towards an Exploratory Corpus-based Grammar Instruction in a Korean EFL Primary School Context. The Korea Association of Primary English Education, 25(1), 123–152. https://doi.org/10.25231/pee.2019.25.1.123
Kızıl, A. Ş., & Savran, Z. (2018). The integration of corpus into EFL speaking instruction:A study of learner perceptions. International Online Journal of Education and Teaching, 5(2), 376–389.
Kranich, S. (2010). The Progressive in Modern English: A Corpus-Based Study of Grammaticalization and Related Changes. Amsterdam ; New York, NY: Rodopi.
Leech, G. N., & Short, M. (2007). Style in fiction: a linguistic introduction to English fictional prose (2nd ed). New York: Pearson Longman.
Lewis, A. (2014). Oxford Dictionary of English. Oxford.
Lin, M. H. (2016). Effects of corpus-aided language learning in the EFL grammar classroom: A case study of students’ learning attitudes and teachers’ perceptions in Taiwan. TESOL Quarterly, 50(4), 871–893. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.250
Makamani, R., & Mutasa, D. E. (2017). A corpus-based Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of the linguistic encoding of HIV and AIDS discourse by the Kwayedza newspaper in Zimbabwe. South African Journal of African Languages, 37(1), 85–98. https://doi.org/10.1080/02572117.2017.1316933
McEnery, T., & Hardie, A. (2012). Corpus linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Moon, R. (2016). A Corpus-Linguistic Analysis of News Coverage in Kenya’s Daily Nation and The Times of London. International Journal of Communication, 10, 2381–2401.
Motschenbacher, H. (2018). Corpus linguistics in language and sexuality studies: Taking stock and looking ahead. Journal of Language and Sexuality, 7(2), 145–174. https://doi.org/10.1075/jls.17019.mot
Oktavianti, I. N., & Ardianti, N. R. (2019). A corpus-based analysis of verbs in news section of The Jakarta Post: How frequency is related to text characteristics. JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics & Literature), 4(2), 203–214. https://doi.org/10.33369/joall.v4i2.7623
Oktavianti, I. N., & Pramesti, Z. A. (2019). Frequency of verbs in lifestyle column in The Jakarta Post and the relation to text characteristics: A corpus-based analysis. IDEAS: Journal on English Language Teaching and Learning, Linguistics and Literature, 7(2), 233–246. https://doi.org/10.24256/ideas.v7i2.1038
Phoocharoensil, S. (2017). Corpus-based exploration of linking adverbials of result: Discovering what ELT writing coursebooks lack. 3L The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 23(1), 150–167. https://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2017-2301-11
Scheibman, J. (2001). Local patterns of subjectivity in person and verb type in American English conversation. In Frequency and the emergence of linguistic structure (pp. 61–89). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Stake, R. E. (2010). Qualitative research: studying how things work. New York: Guilford Press.
Staples, S., Biber, D., & Reppen, R. (2018). Using Corpus-Based Register Analysis to Explore the Authenticity of High-Stakes Language Exams: A Register Comparison of TOEFL iBT and Disciplinary Writing Tasks. The Modern Language Journal, 102(2), 310–332. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12465
Stefanowitsch, A. (2020). Corpus linguistics: a guide to the methodology Berlin: Language Science Press..
Szudarski, P. (2017). Corpus linguistics for vocabulary: A guide for research (1st ed.). Routledge.
van Gelderen, E. (2017). Syntax: An Introduction to Minimalism. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Wang, H. (2015). A corpus-based contrastive study of online news reports on economic crisis: A critical discourse analysis perspective. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 6(3), 627–632. https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.0603.20
Wright, D., & Brookes, G. (2019). “This is England, speak English!â€: a corpus-assisted critical study of language ideologies in the right-leaning British press. Critical Discourse Studies, 16(1), 56–83. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2018.1511439
Yanto, E. S., & Nugraha, S. I. (2017). The implementation of corpus-aided discovery learning in English grammar pedagogy. Journal of ELT Research, 2(2), 66–83. https://doi.org/10.22236/JER_Vol2Issue2pp66-83
Yilmaz, M., & Ertürk, Z. Ö. (2017). A Contrastive Corpus-based Analysis of the Use of Reporting Verbs by Native and Non-native ELT Researchers. Novitas-ROYAL (Research on Youth and Language), 11(2), 112–127.
Zarifi, V., & Mukundan, J. (2013). Phrasal Verb Combinations in Corpus-Based Studies: A Critical Review. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature, 2(4), 212–217. https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.2n.4p.212
Arellano, R. (2018). A corpus linguistics application in the analysis of textbook as national teaching instruments of English as second language in Chile. Actualidades Investigativas E Educacion, 18(1), 1–19.
Astika, G. (2018). Lemmatizing textbook corpus for learner dictionary of basic vocabulary. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 7(3), 630–637. https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v7i3.9813
Baker, M. (2004). Lexical categories. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Baker, P. (2003). No Effeminates Please: A Corpus-Based Analysis of Masculinity via Personal Adverts in Gay News/Times 1973–2000. The Sociological Review, 51(1_suppl), 243–260. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-954X.2003.tb03614.x
Baker, P. (2010). Sociolinguistics and corpus linguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Bednarek, M., & Caple, H. (2012). News Discourse. London: Continuum.
Bell, A. (1991). Language of News Media. Oxford: Blackwell.
Bentz, C., Alikaniotis, D., Samardžić, T., & Buttery, P. (2017). Variation in Word Frequency Distributions: Definitions, Measures and Implications for a Corpus-Based Language Typology. Journal of Quantitative Linguistics, 24(2–3), 128–162. https://doi.org/10.1080/09296174.2016.1265792
Biber, D. (2012). Register as a predictor of linguistic variation. Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory, 8(1), 9–37. https://doi.org/10.1515/cllt-2012-0002
Biber, D. (2006). University language: a corpus-based study of spoken and written registers. Amsterdam ; Philadelphia: J. Benjamins.
Biber, D., & Conrad, S. (2009). Register, genre, and style. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Biber, D., & Gray, B. (2016). Grammatical complexity in academic English : linguistic change in writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Biber, D., & Quirk, R. (Eds.). (2012). Longman grammar of spoken and written English (10. impression). Harlow: Longman.
Bonyadi, A. (2011). Linguistic Manifestations of Modality in Newspaper Editorials. International Journal of Linguistics, 3(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.5296/ijl.v3i1.799
Brezina, V., Timperley, M., & McEnery, T. (2018). Lancsbox.
Burkette, A., & Kretzschmar Jr., W. A. (2018). Exploring linguistic science: Language use, complexity, and interaction (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Carter, R., & McCarthy, M. (2006). Cambridge Grammar of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Clackson, J. (2007). Indo-European Linguistics: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Criado, R., & Sánchez, A. (2012). Lexical frequency, textbooks and learning from a cognitive perspective: A corpus-based sample analysis of ELT materials. VOLUMEN MONOGRÃFICO, 2012, 77–94.
Deng, F., & Li, X. (2017). A Computer Corpus-based Study of FOREIGN in English Newspapers and its Pedagogical Implications. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 13(10), 6799–6806. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/78278
Dixon, R. M. W. (2005). A Semantic Approach to English Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Feltgen, Q., Fagard, B., & Nadal, J.-P. (2017). Frequency patterns of semantic change: corpus-based evidence of a near-critical dynamics in language change. Royal Society Open Science, 4(11), 170830. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.170830
Halliday, M. A. K., & Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (2004). An introduction to functional grammar (3rd ed). London : New York: Arnold ; Distributed in the United States of America by Oxford University Press.
Hardjanto, T. D. (2016). Hedging through the use of modal auxiliaries in English academic discourse. Jurnal Humaniora, 28(1), 37. https://doi.org/10.22146/jh.v28i1.11412
Ismail, H., Idrus, M. M., & Syed Sahuri, S. N. (2020). Masculinity through “emotion:†A corpus-assisted discourse analysis on sport news and implications for social workers in sport. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 30(1), 54–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2019.1664358
Kim, H. (2019). The Perception of Teachers and Learners towards an Exploratory Corpus-based Grammar Instruction in a Korean EFL Primary School Context. The Korea Association of Primary English Education, 25(1), 123–152. https://doi.org/10.25231/pee.2019.25.1.123
Kızıl, A. Ş., & Savran, Z. (2018). The integration of corpus into EFL speaking instruction:A study of learner perceptions. International Online Journal of Education and Teaching, 5(2), 376–389.
Kranich, S. (2010). The Progressive in Modern English: A Corpus-Based Study of Grammaticalization and Related Changes. Amsterdam ; New York, NY: Rodopi.
Leech, G. N., & Short, M. (2007). Style in fiction: a linguistic introduction to English fictional prose (2nd ed). New York: Pearson Longman.
Lewis, A. (2014). Oxford Dictionary of English. Oxford.
Lin, M. H. (2016). Effects of corpus-aided language learning in the EFL grammar classroom: A case study of students’ learning attitudes and teachers’ perceptions in Taiwan. TESOL Quarterly, 50(4), 871–893. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.250
Makamani, R., & Mutasa, D. E. (2017). A corpus-based Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of the linguistic encoding of HIV and AIDS discourse by the Kwayedza newspaper in Zimbabwe. South African Journal of African Languages, 37(1), 85–98. https://doi.org/10.1080/02572117.2017.1316933
McEnery, T., & Hardie, A. (2012). Corpus linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Moon, R. (2016). A Corpus-Linguistic Analysis of News Coverage in Kenya’s Daily Nation and The Times of London. International Journal of Communication, 10, 2381–2401.
Motschenbacher, H. (2018). Corpus linguistics in language and sexuality studies: Taking stock and looking ahead. Journal of Language and Sexuality, 7(2), 145–174. https://doi.org/10.1075/jls.17019.mot
Oktavianti, I. N., & Ardianti, N. R. (2019). A corpus-based analysis of verbs in news section of The Jakarta Post: How frequency is related to text characteristics. JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics & Literature), 4(2), 203–214. https://doi.org/10.33369/joall.v4i2.7623
Oktavianti, I. N., & Pramesti, Z. A. (2019). Frequency of verbs in lifestyle column in The Jakarta Post and the relation to text characteristics: A corpus-based analysis. IDEAS: Journal on English Language Teaching and Learning, Linguistics and Literature, 7(2), 233–246. https://doi.org/10.24256/ideas.v7i2.1038
Phoocharoensil, S. (2017). Corpus-based exploration of linking adverbials of result: Discovering what ELT writing coursebooks lack. 3L The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 23(1), 150–167. https://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2017-2301-11
Scheibman, J. (2001). Local patterns of subjectivity in person and verb type in American English conversation. In Frequency and the emergence of linguistic structure (pp. 61–89). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Stake, R. E. (2010). Qualitative research: studying how things work. New York: Guilford Press.
Staples, S., Biber, D., & Reppen, R. (2018). Using Corpus-Based Register Analysis to Explore the Authenticity of High-Stakes Language Exams: A Register Comparison of TOEFL iBT and Disciplinary Writing Tasks. The Modern Language Journal, 102(2), 310–332. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12465
Stefanowitsch, A. (2020). Corpus linguistics: a guide to the methodology Berlin: Language Science Press..
Szudarski, P. (2017). Corpus linguistics for vocabulary: A guide for research (1st ed.). Routledge.
van Gelderen, E. (2017). Syntax: An Introduction to Minimalism. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Wang, H. (2015). A corpus-based contrastive study of online news reports on economic crisis: A critical discourse analysis perspective. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 6(3), 627–632. https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.0603.20
Wright, D., & Brookes, G. (2019). “This is England, speak English!â€: a corpus-assisted critical study of language ideologies in the right-leaning British press. Critical Discourse Studies, 16(1), 56–83. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2018.1511439
Yanto, E. S., & Nugraha, S. I. (2017). The implementation of corpus-aided discovery learning in English grammar pedagogy. Journal of ELT Research, 2(2), 66–83. https://doi.org/10.22236/JER_Vol2Issue2pp66-83
Yilmaz, M., & Ertürk, Z. Ö. (2017). A Contrastive Corpus-based Analysis of the Use of Reporting Verbs by Native and Non-native ELT Researchers. Novitas-ROYAL (Research on Youth and Language), 11(2), 112–127.
Zarifi, V., & Mukundan, J. (2013). Phrasal Verb Combinations in Corpus-Based Studies: A Critical Review. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature, 2(4), 212–217. https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.2n.4p.212
Downloads
Published
2020-09-01
How to Cite
Oktavianti, I. N., & Adnan, A. (2020). A corpus study of verbs in opinion articles of The Jakarta Post and the relation with text characteristics. English Language Teaching Educational Journal, 3(2), 108–117. https://doi.org/10.12928/eltej.v3i2.2158
Issue
Section
Articles
License
Authors who publish in ELTEJ agree to the following terms: Authors retain copyright and grant the ELTEJ right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-SA 4.0) that allows others to share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) and adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material) the work for any purpose, even commercially with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in ELTEJ. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in ELTEJ. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
