IDEATIONAL MEANING IN MOTIVATIONAL SPEECH VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE : A SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

This research analyses the ideational meaning of a video on YouTube titled Do You Have a Networking Mindset? delivered by Klementina Sula. The objectives of the study were to identify how ideational meaning is realized through the transitivity system, and find out what process type dominantly used in the speech. This study used a descriptive qualitative approach based on Systemic Functional Linguistics proposed by Halliday and Matthiessen. Data were based on the transcript of the speech and examined within a document analysis framework concerning processes, participants, and contexts. The results revealed that there were all six process types: material, mental, relational, verbal, behavioral and existential processes. Material process (average voice over per utterance) was the most frequent type, reflecting how much content of motivational messages conveyed with concrete actions / experiences. “You” was also frequently used in mental and relational processes to express beliefs, aspirations, and ideas pertaining to networking. Thus, the study shows how motivational speech successfully constructs ideational meaning through experiential representations to provide persuasion and inspiration.