EL320 English Grammar in Context


October 2006 presentation


Text 1 (clauses marked in bold are material processes)


  • (police~goal) Facing fists of fury,

  • police(actor) aren’t ruling out the heavy hand

  • The Korean farmers and unionists (actor) did not use diversionary tactics

  • as they(Korean farmers and unionists ) had on Tuesday when 100 protesters (actor)  jumped into Victoria Harbour just before others rushed the police line (goal)

  • Following yesterday’s march through Wan Chai,

  • police (actor) moved quickly to separate the hardline Koreans (goal)  at the front of the march from the main body.

  • They (police) prevented the larger group from entering the cargo handling area (goal) in Wan Chai

  • stalling them(protestors) in Marsh Road, while stopping the Koreans’ progress(goal) towards the Convention and Exhibition Centre.

  • The Korean group (actor) prepared for the impending clashes (goal)

  • by covering their mouths with scarves and handkerchiefs and stretching cling film over their (protestors) eyes to shield against pepper spray. (goal)

  • Hundreds of police(actor) were already in place with full-body plastic shields

  • creating an impenetrable human wall (goal) across Hung Hing Road.

  • The previous day riot police (actor) had stayed out of view as the marchers entered the protest zone

  • running to block the road only as the protesters left the demonstration area and tried to march on the Convention Centre.

  • Some 9,000 officers(actor) are on duty to deal with crowd control (goal), and security during the WTO conference

  • Exactly how many Police Tactical Unit officers – the riot police –

  • are on hand specifically to control the protesters(goal) has not been revealed.

  • The Koreans (actor) , reacting with military precision to the orders of demonstration leaders,

  • tried repeatedly to push back the police (goal),

  • but seemed unsurprised and unperturbed when they (Koreans) made little progress.

  • However, they (Koreans) managed to seize up to 15 shields from police (goal),

  • which they (Koreans)(actor) returned to the officers (goal) once they (Koreans ) abandoned their protest.

  • Mr Ma said “Our (police~actor) defences were not affected by the snatching of the shields (goal)

  • Our strategy is effective.’ 

  • Text 2


  • Why the Korean protesters are so determined

  • Hong Kong people are justly proud of our peaceful marches.

  • Fortunately, we are not marching for survival,

  • needing rice on the table or clothes for our children

  • We march for democracy,

  • but we will still have our jobs tomorrow

  • Hong Kong does not have much reason to be ‘militant’

  • So it is no surprise that Hong Kong is panicking about the aggression of some protesters against the World Trade Organisation

  • especially among the South Korean farmers. We are not used to seeing such scenes in Wan Chai,

  • except when American or British sailors are in town

  • But, and this is odd, if you have spent any time in South Korea

  • you will know that its people are not by nature aggressive

  • . The streets at night are as safe as those in Hong Kong

  • There is no vandalism

  • hostility at sports events is unheard of

  • and gun and drug-related crime are virtually non-existent

  • South Korea has never invaded or colonised another country

  • So why are the South Koreans here in such numbers and determined

  • to derail the WTO talks

  • How has this peaceful nation produced farmers

  • intent on disrupting the conference

  • After all, South Korea was a battleground for the superpowers in the 1950s

  • after being torn apart by US foreign policy at the end of the second world war.

  • And it was brutalised by Japan from 1910 to 1945.

  • Then, from the 1950s until the 1990s

  • it had US-backed military regimes

  • Does this not tell pro-WTO people in Hong Kong

  • that the organisation might bring cheer to the suited men in the boardrooms of the world’s larger corporations

  • Text 3


  • Fury on the streets turns to gloom

  • After a night of the fiercest violence Hong Kong has seen for decades

  • police (actor) rounded up more than 900 protesters(goal) – mostly Korean farmers –

  • and brought armoured cars on to the streets outside the convention centre in a show of force aimed at deterring further attempts to breach their~ police (actor)~  lines.

  • It proved unnecessary

  • A march by 5,000 to 7,000 protesters(actor)  passed off peacefully

  • As has been the case for the entire week of protests,

  • all the attention was on the Koreans

  • who ~koreans (actor)~ have stirred up a mixture of resentment and grudging respect among locals (goal) for their aggression, determination and strategic nous

  • On Saturday night, this 1,000-strong group (actor)  mounted repeated assaults on police lines (goal)

  • which they ~koreans (actor)~ breached with steel bars, wooden poles and battering rams made from crowd barriers.

  • Security forces (actor) fought back with tear-gas, truncheons and high-pressure hoses

  • Hong Kong officials (actor) said 135 people, including 61 police, had been injured in the clashes

  • One Korean man (actor) remains in a critical condition.

  • . Hong Kong’s chief executive, Donald Tsang (actor), said those responsible for assaults on police would be prosecuted within 48 hours.

  • José Bové, (actor) the fiery French farmer who was involved in the anti-WTO riots in Seattle six years ago

  • called on the authorities to release those being held.

  • They ~koreans (actors)~ aren’t terrorists or criminals

  • They ~koreans (actors)~ are farmers and workers asking for rights,’

  • We’re (actors) not allowed to talk to delegates about rice, about cotton, about anything (goal).

  • That’s why we’re (actor) so angry

  • That’s why we (actor) resist globalization (goal).’

  • Many of the marchers yesterday

  • held placards calling for the farmers to be freed (goal)

  • One group of about 20 local students (actor) began a hunger strike outside a detention centre demanding the prisoners’ release (goal)

  • Yesterday’s march, which included local migrant workers and prostitutes,

  • was a colourful but low-key affair.

  • The 100 or so Koreans (actor) in the crowd were downbeat over the summit’s outcome

  • We’ve no future said, Kim You-jong (actor),whose arm was in a sling after the previous night’s battle

  • Interpretation


                The analysis on the texts provided gave us a detailed and more in depth insight on who is viewed in the negative or positive light. The evidence that we have gathered using the analysis conducted that the grammar does play a major role in aspect to which the agents can be viewed upon: either negative or positive. However, it does not follow that if the participants are viewed as agentive or active are to blame.  Many attributes should be thoroughly considered before making such conclusions.


     



     


     


     


     



    Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com


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