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Introduction Language is structured according to its functions in human life. In fact, language has three functions: ideational, interpersonal and textual functions. These are known as metafunctions. Ideational function divides into the experiential and logical functions. The present essay treats the experiential function of language; that is, the use of language as a representation of experience. To serve this purpose, language is grammatically structured in a configuration known as transitivity, and this is coded in a unit of experience known as clause. A clause, in its turn, is constituted by three elements: process, participant(s) and, optionally, circumstance(s). This paper is divided into three parts. The first one provides a theoretical account of discourse, discourse analysis, critical discourse analysis, critical media discourse analysis, and transitivity structure. The second part discusses the methodology of conducting the study. The third part is mainly practical in which an online-newspaper article will be analyzed in order to either undermine or support the ideas presented in the theoretical part. I. The literature review A. Discourse It is difficult to give one comprehensive definition for the term discourse, since it has taken numerous senses. Originally, the word discourse comes from Latin discursus which denoted conversation or speech. From a formalist perspective, discourse normally refers to a unit of language which is larger than a sentence such as paragraphs, conversations, and interviews (Richardson, 2007: 22). From a functionalist perspective, however, it is a general term for examples of language use, i.e. language which has been produced as the result of an act of communication (op. cit.: 24). There is no agreement among linguists as to the use of the term discourse in that some use it in reference to texts, while others claim it denotes speech. According to Cook (1990:7) novels as well as short conversations might be equally called discourses. Since it is not easy to unambiguously clarify what a discourse is, it seems reasonable to describe its features. To use Saussurean concepts, language can be divided into langue which is understood as a system that enables people to speak as they do and parole which is a particular set of produced statements. Discourse, according to this division, relates more to parole, for it

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always occurs in time and it successively develops while langue is abstract. Discourse is always produced by somebody whose identity is significant for the proper understanding of the message. On the other hand langue is impersonal that is to say more universal. Furthermore, discourse always happens in either physical or linguistic context and within a fixed time, whereas langue does not refer to anything (Gee, 1999). Beaugrande and Dressler (1981) has suggested that for a text, written or spoken, to be qualified as a discourse, it has to fulfill seven criteria which are: cohesion (grammatical relationship between parts of a sentence); coherence (statements should relates to one another by sense); intentionality (the message has to be conveyed deliberately and consciously); acceptability (a communicative product needs to be approved by the audience); informativeness (a text has to included some new information); situationality (circumstances in which the remark is made are important); and intertextuality (reference to the world outside the text or the interpreters' schemata). Depending on form linguists distinguish various kinds of discourses. Discourse might be either written or spoken (Crystal, 1995: 291). It can also be divided into formal and informal communicative products. The choice of either formal or informal and written or spoken language is greatly influenced by the relationship between the producer and receiver of the message, the amount of addressees, and whether the occasion is public or private (Cook, 1990: 50). Further, discourse analysts distinguish three types of discourse depending of the aspect of language emphasized in the text: informative, narrative, and argumentative discourse. Within every discourse, written or spoken, there occurs some pattern. McCarthy (1991) mentions that among the most frequent ones, there are: claim-counterclaim, problem-solution, question-answer, and general-specific arrangements. These sequences are often accompanied by two additional parts, namely the introduction and the conclusion (Salkie, 1995). McCarthy (1991: 161) points out that one text might contain several patterns occurring consecutively. He states that the structure of patterns is fixed, but the number of sentences or paragraphs in a particular part of a given arrangement might vary. B. Discourse analysis Discourse analysis is the study of how sentences in spoken and written language form larger meaningful units such as paragraphs, conversations, interviews, etc. for example,

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discourse analysis deals with studies how the choice of articles, pronouns, and tenses affects the structure of the discourse. It, also, studies the relationship between utterances in a discourse and the moves made by speakers to introduce a new topic and change the topic. Whereas grammar refers to the rules a language uses to form grammatical units such as clause, phrase, and sentence, discourse analysis involves the investigation of larger units of language such as paragraphs, conversations, and interviews. Thus, discourse analysis is nothing more than a deconstructive reading and interpretation of a text (Richards and Schmidt, 2002). Sometimes the study of both written and spoken discourse is known as discourse analysis; some researchers however use conversation analysis to refer to the study of spoken discourse and text linguistics to refer to the study of written discourse. Conversation analysis studies the social organization of natural conversation. It is concerned with how meanings and pragmatic functions are communicated in both ordinary conversation and such institutional varieties of talk as interviews and court hearings. Conversation analysts investigate such topics as the ways talks are organized, the ways on new topics, the ways the beginning and end of discussions are indicated, how turn taking differs from one culture to another, and the way people repair communicative problems. Text linguistics studies written texts, e.g. a descriptive passage, a scene in a play, a conversation. It is concerned, for instance, with the way the parts of a text are organized and related to one another in order to form a meaningful whole (McCarthy, 1991: 24-37). C. Critical discourse analysis One cannot talk about a discipline like critical discourse analysis without mentioning some of its key figures. Titscher et al. (2000: 146) summarize the general principles of critical discourse analysis in a few points as follows: it is concerned with social problems, and it studies power in discourse and power over discourse; it aims at demonstrating how discourse shapes society and how society shapes discourse, as well; it scrutinizes ideological use of language; it examines language use in relation to its context of usage; and it studies text in relation to their social conditions, ideologies, and power relations.

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(cited in Richardson, 2007: 26-7) In critical discourse analysis, discourse is used to indicate not only any kind of talk but also the meanings and values embedded in talk. In this sense, a dominant discourse refers to an institutionalized way of thinking and talking about things. It is, also, an approach to the analysis of language use which focuses on the role that language plays in assigning power to particular groups within society. Critical discourse analysis is based on the study of texts and the way texts are interpreted and used. The assumption is the relation between form and function in discourse is not arbitrary or conventional but is determined by cultural, social, and political factors (Richards and Schmidt, 2002). D. Critical media discourse analysis It is a type of critical discourse analysis in the sense it critically analyzes media discourse in particular. Critical media discourse analysis can be approached as a way of critically thinking about social problems covered in newspapers. It does not provide absolute answers to a specific problem, but it enables us, instead, to understand the conditions behind a specific "problem". The main aim of it is to unveil the hidden politics within media texts or talks. Critical media discourse analysis takes a critical stance towards how language is used by media and analyzes. It aim is to identify the ideology and values underlying media discourse. It seeks to reveal the interests and power relations through analyzing the way media use language. Critical discourse analysis can be applied to all types of media texts, spoken or written. Examples of spoken media are news programs, talk shows, etc. Written media include newspapers, magazines, journals, etc. Written media can be in hard copies or in soft copies. These soft copies are usually available on the internet such as online-newspapers, onlinemagazines, and online-journals. Though this last type of media is relatively new, it proven itself to be the most widely consumed sort of media. For this reason, and many others, this essay chose to work on an online-newspaper for its analysis of transitivity, but before that, let us find out what transitivity is. E. Transitivity: Clause as representation

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This sections main objective is to discuss transitivity theories which might be applied to the study of the experiential function of language. That is, it seeks to identify processes, participants, and circumstances and classify them. 1. Process The core of an experience in a clause is the process. Processes are divided into two categories: the primary categories covering material, mental and relational processes and the secondary categories covering the behavioral processes which are considered to be between the material and mental, verbal processes which are considered to be between the mental and the relational processes, and existential processes which are considered to be between the relational and material processes. Material processes indicate activities or events, which occur outside human beings. They also refer to physical experiences of human beings. Syntactically, the tense associated with material processes is the present continuous. This is to say that material processes are normally acceptable in the present continuous tense. For example, the verbs run, buy, and write are material processes. Mental processes refer to verbs indicating perception, cognition, affection, and desire. Semantically, a mental process involves sense, which is inside the human being. A mental process is related to psychological matters. Syntactically, the tense associated with this type of process is the simple present tense. Therefore, one of the participants must be human being. To exemplify, the verbs know, like and hear are mental processes. Another feature of mental process is that the participants in a clause are reversible. For instance, the clause I like the story may become the story pleases me whereby the mental process like is substituted by please. Relational processes demonstrate and relation among entities through identification, attribution, and possession. The process occurs outside and inside human being. Syntactically, a relational process belongs to the copula construction. The common verbs which belong to this type of processes are be, become, seem, cost, weigh, etc. Verbal processes show activities related to information. Specifically, verbal processes include those of saying, commanding, asking, and offering. Syntactically, a verbal process can project another clause. The verbs say, tell, and ask are verbal processes.

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Behavioral processes involve human physiological behaviors. Syntactically, a behavioral process shares the characteristics of mental, verbal, and material processes. However, it differs from the other three types in some respects. As in a mental process, at least one participant should be a human being; however, unlike mental and verbal processes, the behavioral process is associated with the present continuous tense like material processes. In addition, a behavioral process cannot project a clause as verbal processes do. The verbs of smile, watch, listen are behavioral processes. Existential processes, as their name indicate, show existence. This process shares some features with relational processes in the sense that the verb be, which is a relational process, is also an existential process. Other verbs such as go, come, and toil are existential processes, as well. Syntactically, an existential process is preceded by there. 2. Participants As the nucleus, the process controls the participants. The capacity of a process to attract participants is known as valency. The participants are labeled according to the process types. A process which has a capacity bind one participant such as in John slept is called monovalent. Further, processes which bind two and three participants such as shown in the clauses Ali hit the cat and Ali sent his son a letter are respectively called bivalent and trivalent. A process may bind no participant at all such as in the clause It rained where rained attract no participant is called avalent. The participants divide into one that does the activity and one that the process is done or addressed to. These participant functions are directly related to the process. Process types the labels for participants are summarized in table 1. However, there are other participant functions which are preceded by a preposition in a sentence; these are categorized as beneficiary, range and target. Types of Process Material Mental Relational (a) Identification (b) Attribution (c) Possession Behavioral Verbal Existential Participant 1 Actor Sensor Token Carrier Possessor Behaver Sayer -Participant 2 Goal Phenomenon Value Attribute Possessed -Verbiage Existent

Table 1: Process and Participants

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The beneficiary is a participant to whom/which or for whom/which the process is said to give benefit. The participant functions may occur with material, verbal and occasionally in relational processes. The range divides into two, namely one in which the range is part of process and the other one in which the process is part of the range. In a clause where the range is a part of process, the range is deletable leaving the clause grammatically correct as in She smiled (a nice smile). When a process is a part of a range, the process is deletable and transferred into a range. For example, in He took a bath becomes He bathed. The range may occur in material, behavioral, mental and verbal process. The target is the Participant to whom/which the verbal process is directed or addressed. For instance, in The man praised me, me is the Target. 1. Circumstances Circumstances are less centrally involved in the process than participants. In the clause My son bought a car yesterday, yesterday is the circumstance. Specifically, circumstances divide into nine types, each of which may also be delicately subdivided. Table 2 summarizes these types and provides examples for each. II. Methodology The data to be analyzed in this study is a news article which is taken from an online newspaper entitled Magharebia (Maghrebian). The website of the e-newspaper is www.magharebia.com. The article is entitled Moroccan forces, Sahrawis clash in Layoune (see index). It is written by Mawassi Lahcen on 10/11/10. Among many articles that deal with the topic, this one was chosen for many reasons. The first reason is that it is posted on an online and this makes it easy to have access to by a wide Circumstances Extent temporal Spatial Location temporal Spatial Manner Cause Contingency Probe for how long? how far? Examples for three hours for six miles

when? in September where? in the market how? quickly why? because of you in what in the event of rain circumstances? Accompaniment together with? with(out) his friends Role what as? as a concerned parent Matter what about? about this Angel says who? according to the him Table 2: Circumstances

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range of people around the world. The second reason is that this e-newspaper tends to claim that it covers the issue of western sahara objectively. The present study will try to find out whether this claim is fulfilled or not. The analysis will follow from-general-to-specific pattern. That is, it will start by providing the reader with a general idea about the types of sentences used to convey the writers message to his readers. Afterwards, the study will move to discuss the types of clauses which prevail in the text. Towards the end, the analysis will shift to the main concern of the essay which is the investigation of experiential function of language by analyzing transitivity structure in the text using technical labels. This objective will be achieved by identifying processes, participants, and circumstances in the texts. The analysis of transitivity structure can be done in so many ways; for instance, one can analyze processes, participant, and circumstances all at once, or may study each one of the three components separately. For the sake of clarity and simplicity, this essay will study each component on its own. This essay, in other words, contains three sections, each of which is devoted to investigation of one, and only one, aspect of transitivity structure. That is, the section of processes will be concerned only with processes, the section of participant, only with participant and so on. In the section of processes, the types of processes will be dealt with one by one. Similarly, participants section will devote itself to the analysis one or a pair of participants at a time. III. Text Analysis The first thing that attract one attention about any news paper article is the headline. Indeed, the headline is believed to be a concise and precise summary of the information it contains. The headline of the text under analysis is Moroccan forces, Sahrawis clash in Layoune. It includes one process (clash), two participants (Moroccan forces and Sahrawis), and one circumstance (in Layoune).. Normally, the process should be put between the participants in one of two ways: (i) Moroccan forces clash with Sahrawis in Layoune or (ii) Sahrawis clash with Moroccan forces in Layoune

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To elucidate this point, one should refer to Chomskys Transformation Generative Theory. He argues that each sentence has two structures: the surface and the deep structure. The former refers to the original form of a sentence whereas the latter refers to the form which results from the process of transformation. To exemplify, the form of the headline of the article is the surface structure and (i) or (ii) above is the deep structure. The question that raises here is why the author has chosen the present form over the other two ones. Actually, the writer has not randomly opted for this form; he, rather, has carefully put this headline the way it is. Undoubtedly, the writer has used this form to achieve objectivity. If, otherwise, he used the surface structure, he would be judged as being subjective. Moreover, each of the two possible deep structures has a different possible meaning. That is, Moroccan forces clashed with Sahrawis in Layoune gives the impression that it was the Moroccan forces that started the fight. Sahrawis clashed with Moroccan forces in Layoune, however, gives the impression that it was the Sahrawis that started the fight. Being aware enough of these different structures and the distinct meanings they result in, the journalist, aiming to be impartial, decided to use of the surface structure since it has one meaning and does not give any indication about who started the fight. Besides the written text, the writer has also included a picture in his article. The picture shows big clouds of black thick smoke rising in the sky and what is lift of the camp after it was destroyed by brutal Moroccan forces. The pictures demonstrate that these forces are not satisfied by just evacuating the protesters, but they still want to make sure to destroy every single tent and start fire in them. The title of the picture is also very much significant. It literally says Moroccan security forces broke up the Gdaim Izik encampment on the outskirts of Layoune. This seems not to be an objective statement since it does not report the riot acts done by the rebellious dissidents. The inclusion of the picture in the article is very much significant. The picture is used as a proof to back up the piece of news hi is trying to communicate to his audience. It is also subtly put inside the text to attract the attention of people, so that if somebody is just surfing the net and has no intention of reading the article will be very curious to know what has happened. Moreover it is quite important in that even people who are not familiar with English will be able to know what that newspaper article is about.

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A. Sentences in the text The text is constructed by different sentences. Complex sentences predominate in the text and after them simple, compound, and compound complex sentences respectively. Semantically speaking, the choice of using a type of a sentence other that another depends on what (meaning) one intends to convey and how (manner) to convey it. If, for example, the writer wants to be empathic about something, he uses short simple sentences like Even the UN was unclear about the action. To demonstrate that two actions are equally important, the writer uses compound sentences such as the tense situation calmed down by the end of the day, but isolated incidents were reported in different neighbourhoods. When he want to clarify something by relating it to another event, that writer uses complex sentences like Morocco says that eight security officers and one Sahrawi were killed B. Clauses in the text It is common knowledge that there are two types of clauses: dependent and independent ones. In this text, independent clauses outweigh dependent ones for the reason that independent clauses carry the main ideas and they are more emphatic whereas dependent clauses bring additional information and the meaning of which is not complete if it is not related to that of the main clause. As an example, let us take this sentence: Some demonstrators carried Polisario flags, while others held Moroccan flags in support of the union. It comprises the two types of clauses the clause that carries the main idea is some demonstrators carried Polisario flags, but that clause that carries the subordinate idea is while others held Moroccan flags in support of the union. C. Transitivity structure in the text 1. Processes The writer has used two main kinds of processes depending on the number of participants they take; these are: monovalent processes (e.g., the crisis began, Moroccan forces intervened, things did not end there) and bivalent processes (e.g., forces finished the evacuation of the camp, some demonstrators carried Polisario, others held Moroccan flags). However, the other two types of processes, avalent and trivalent ones, are not found in the text.

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From another perspective, the text contains almost all types of processes, each of which is going to be studied in details. To start with, the writer has relied mainly on the use of material processes which are meant to describe different events. Some of these material processes are: used, had finished, attacked, carried, deployed, intervened, reeling, disperse, were killed, placed, was impeding, preventing, stormed, began, disperse, did not end, broke out, calmed down, coincided, and agreed. In addition to material processes, the writer has also used the some verbal processes such as: claimed, urged, warned, said, stated, and told. These processes are mainly used to indicate what some important figures from both sides have said in reaction to the deadly events in Layoune and what some sources have told Magharebia. Two types of relational processes are found in the text. First, those of identification such as became and verb be in the present tense is and in the past tense was. Second, there is one relational process of possession which is had. These processes demonstrate that the two participants they link are equal in terms of value, importance, and so on. Relational processes of attribution, on the other hand are hardly found in the text. As to mental processes, there is only one example in the text, and it is wanted. The most probable reason for the rarity of this type of processes is that the concern of the news article is to narrate a series of real events. In other words, the journalist is not trying to describe an experience which takes place in his or somebodys mind; instead, he is reporting an incidence which is outside the human being. It is very interesting to notice that almost all the aforementioned processes are used to tell how cruel the Moroccan forces were to the helpless citizens for speaking about their rights. These processes show, also that Moroccan forces know only how to use force against innocent Sahrawi people. This text reports the event as a clash between well-equipped Moroccan forces against unarmed, empty-handed Sahrawi civilians who were peacefully demonstrating for their desire for independence and freedom in their country, the Western Sahara, which is occupied by Morocco. It is worth noting that there are no behavioral processes or existential processes in the text since the topic being tackled in the article does not make the writer feel in need for these kinds of

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process whose role is mainly to describe the habits that take place and show the existence of somebody or something repetitively. 2. Participants One can identify many types of participants in the text, but they cannot be discussed without reference to the processes controlling them. The material processes mentioned above distribute the actor participant to some nominal groups occurring before them in the clause such as: the Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie forces, the security forces, protestors, demonstrators, Moroccan authorities, Moroccan forces, the crisis, and security forces. Also, material processes distribute the goal participant to the following nouns or noun phrases which occur after them in the clause: helicopters, loudspeakers, the evacuation of the camp, vehicles, the city municipality headquarters, regional investment centre, headquarters of the southern provinces, Layoune television station, several banks, Polisario flags, and army forces. Relational processes of attribution, on their part, assign carrier participant to: the visible aftermath of violence, action, the UN, the intervention of the security forces, a death toll, and the actual circumstances surrounding the military action. The same processes give the attribute participant to: easy to see, less clear, unclear, and necessary. The relational process of possession had, in The Sahrawis had a different, gives the possessor participant to the Sahrawis and the possessed participant to a different explanation. Verbal processes distribute two participant roles depending on their location in the clause. The sayer participant is assigned to someone who performs the action such as Mohamed Dkhissi, Abdellah Ahmiyad, Sahrawi tribal sheikhs, sheikh of Azerkine tribes, and Ait Baamrane tribal sheikh. The second participant type that situated after verbal processes is the verbiage. Verbiages in the text are of two kinds: direct and indirect ones. A direct verbiage is the actual form of somebodys speech like "The information available to us to date as to the reasons for this operation, the level of force employed, the reaction of those in the camp, and the number of casualties among the protesters and security forces is sketchy and contradictory. An indirect verbiage is the reported form of somebodys speech like that the operation that lasted for less than one hour didn't lead to any deaths among the civilians and that ensuring the security and safety of citizens is a matter.

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Mental processes, though rare, give the sensor participant to people and the phenomenon participant to go out of the camp. Moreover, there is only one example of the range participant in article, and it is fire in the sentence Protestors allegedly set fire. In this example, the process is part of the range. As far as the participant roles of behaver and existent are concerned, they are completely absent from text since, as mentioned in the previous section, there are no behavioral and existential processes in the text that may assign them. 3. Circumstances There are various kinds of circumstances in the text. The writer has carefully used them to convey his intended meanings. In fact the circumstances of time, place, cause, and manner prevail in the text for the reason that the chief goal of the writer is to show when, where, why, and how the intrusion of the Moroccan forces took place. Some examples of circumstances of time that show temporal location (when) are: after all serious dialogue attempts, by the end of the day, early Monday, and three weeks ago. There is only one circumstance of temporal extent (how long), and it is two days. The text, moreover, includes some expressions which show spatial location (where) like at the tent camp of Gdaim Izik, the city of Layoune, in Western Sahara, among the protesters, in the camp, outside the camp, among the civilians, and in different neighborhoods. However, circumstances of spatial extent (how far) are not found in the text at all. The writer could not do without circumstances of manner which show how both parts of the conflict acted and reacted to each other. One, for example, may mention expressions like via the buses; preventing and threatening the people who wanted to go out of the camp; with violence; and using live ammunition, teargases, sticks, stones and water cannons. Circumstances of cause are common the text. They, basically, justify why the clash between Moroccan forces and Sahrawis has started. Some examples of this type of circumstances: to protest against Morocco's social policy, to evacuate the place, and to find a solution to the situation. Though rarely, the author has, also, made use of circumstances of matter. These circumstances are used to display what all this conflict is about. examples of circumstances of

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matter are about what the Moroccan military forces were doing in the camp and about the action. Conclusion To conclude, one of the functions of language is to represent ones experience. Realization of language as experience is seen in the clause which is considered as a unit of experience. Moreover, the clause is made of three elements: process, participant(s) and circumstance(s). A process refers to activity done. Participants are persons or things that are involved in a process. A circumstance indicates situations or surroundings in which processes occur. Each of the three elements is subdivided in their turn. The application of the theory of transitivity to the analysis of media text, like the one dealt with in this essay, seems to yield reliable results about the real meanings and intentions of people writing them. In fact, transitivity structure is one of the efficient techniques that may be used to analyze newspapers articles to find out whether those who write them and claim to be objective are really so or not.

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Appendix

Moroccan forces, Sahrawis clash in Layoune

By Mawassi Lahcen for Magharebia in Casablanca - 10/11/10 The visible aftermath of violence is easy to see at the tent camp of Gdaim Izik and the Western Sahara city of Layoune, still reeling from two days of deadly clashes with Moroccan troops. Less clear is a death toll or the actual circumstances surrounding the military action. The crisis began early Monday (November 8th), when Moroccan forces intervened to disperse a tent camp near Layoune set up three weeks ago [Reuters/Handout/MAP] Moroccan security to protest against Morocco's social policy in forces broke up the Gdaim Izik encampment Western Sahara. on the outskirts of Layoune. Morocco says that eight security officers and one Sahrawi were killed. Other sources put the death toll at 11 Sahrawi civilians, with as many as 700 hundred injured. Even the UN was unclear about the action. "The information available to us to date as to the reasons for this operation, the level of force employed, the reaction of those in the camp, and the number of casualties among the protesters and security forces is sketchy and contradictory," UN spokesman Martin Nesirky stated on Monday. Local sources told Magharebia that the Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie forces used helicopters and loudspeakers in the early hours of Monday morning to urge protestors to evacuate the place via the buses they placed outside the camp. "Security forces intervened because a group of elements was impeding the evacuation of the camp by preventing and threatening the people who wanted to go out of the camp," Laayoune province Governor Mohamed Jalmous said. "The intervention of the security forces became necessary after all serious dialogue attempts to find a solution to the situation failed. However, the intervention of the security forces was met with violence by the trouble-making elements that were armed with knives and Molotov cocktails," he added. The Sahrawis had a different explanation about what the Moroccan military forces were doing in the camp.

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"[They] stormed hundreds of homes and shops and destroyed carsusing live ammunition, teargases, sticks, stones and water cannons against peaceful and unarmed civil population of more than 26 000 persons, mostly women, children and elderly," a Polisario official told the Sahara Press Service. The operation to storm the camp led to the arrest of about 65 people. Al-Dakhla city security chief Mohamed Dkhissi claimed that the operation that lasted for less than one hour didn't lead to any deaths among the civilians. However, things did not end there. No sooner had the security forces finished the evacuation of the camp than riots broke out in different neighborhoods across Layoune. Protestors allegedly set fire to vehicles and attacked the city municipality headquarters, regional investment centre, headquarters of the southern provinces development agency, Layoune television station and several banks. Some demonstrators carried Polisario flags, calling for independence, while others held Moroccan flags in support of the union. The Moroccan authorities deployed army forces to the city. The tense situation calmed down by the end of the day but isolated incidents were reported in different neighbourhoods. The Moroccan military operation coincided with the Monday launch of the UN-brokered informal talks between Morocco and the Polisario in Manhasset, New York. The talks, aimed at paving the way for direct negotiations between the parties, ended without a breakthrough but the parties agreed to meet again. In response to the Laayoune events, some Sahrawi tribal sheikhs urged the people to denounce violence and exercise self-restraint. For his part, Mohamed Nafii Belguassem, sheikh of Azerkine tribes, warned against the hidden hands which were behind the skirmishes and tried to thwart the peace process. Ait Baamrane tribal sheikh Abdellah Ahmiyad said that ensuring the security and safety of citizens is a matter "above all other considerations". He warned against stirring discord and trouble and called for calm and resorting to wisdom.

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References Beaugrande, R. & Dressler,W. (1981). Introduction to text linguistics. London: Longman. Cook, G. (1990). Discourse. Oxford: OUP. Crystal, D. 1995. The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge: CUP. Gee J. P. (1999). An Introduction to discourse analysis: Theory and method. London: Routledge. Richardson. J. E. (2007). Analyzing newspapers: an approach from critical discourse analysis. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. McCarthy, M. (1991). Discourse analysis for language teachers. Cambridge: CUP. Richards, J. C. and Schmidt, R. (2002). Longman dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics (3rd Ed). London: Pearson Education. Salkie, R. 1995. Text and discourse analysis. London: Routledge. Titscher et al. (2000). Methods of Text and Discourse Analysis. London: Sage. Trappes-Lomax, H. (2004). Discourse analysis, in The handbook of applied linguistics. 135-64. Further Readings Eggins, S. (1994). An Introduction to systemic functional finguistics. London: Pinter. Gerot, L. and Wignell, P. (1994). Making sense of functional grammar. Sydney: Gerd Stabler. Halliday, M.A.K. (2004). An introduction to functional grammar. (3ed) London: Edward Arnold.