ANALYZING THE LEXICAL STRUCTURES OF A PHILIPPINE CONSUMER-FINANCE CONTRACT

Rachelle Ballesteros Lintao, Marilu Rañosa Madrunio

DOI Number
-
First page
359
Last page
370

Abstract


From the perspective of a Hallidayan grammar, the meaning of a text is realized from the interlacing of words or lexicon that progresses to the structuring of phrases and clauses that make up a particular text. This study has attempted to analyze the lexical features of a Philippine consumer-finance contract, particularly a bank’s credit card terms and conditions document, in the hope of determining the material’s comprehensibility to its target users. Specifically, it focused on identifying certain linguistic features in the document that could explain the thorny and problematic state of the consumers in comprehending the document. Both the vocabulary used as responses given by the participants during the cloze testing and the actual vocabulary of the document were examined vis-à-vis Cutts’s (2011) reference material as framework. Findings show that a significant number of words in the document warrant further scrutiny and must be replaced as they considerably keep the consumers from getting a clear grasp of the material. 


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References


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