Agentless Passive in English Novels
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Abstract
This study examined the use of agentless passive constructions in English novels. Although there are numerous previous studies that paid attention to the studies of agentless passive, most of them focused on the data of EFL and ESL writing. This current study, on the other hand, aims to contribute to the view of English novels how to interpret agentless passive voice semantically. The source of data was collected from English novels based upon their best seller (www.amazon.com). The dataset was gathered from seven English novels; Little Woman (Alcott, 2019), the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Doyle, 2019), Frankenstein (Shelley, 2019), Northanger Abbey (Austen, 2019), Treasure Island (Stevenson, 2019), Mrs Dalloway (Woolf, 2021) and a Protrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Joyce, 2021). In regard to the data collection, as a total of approximately 350,000 words, there are 30 tokens, referring to sentences of agentless passive. Descriptive statistical analysis was applied in this study and the qualitative data analysis follows Swan (2016). The results of the analysis were sent to three English linguists to verify their accuracy and validity. The results show that most agentless passive used in English novels are known as known agents at 56.67 percent. In addition, the unknown agents and unimportant agents were found at 33.33 percent and 10 percent, respectively. It is expected that the results of this study will increase English language learners’ notion of agentless passive constructions. Also, it will be useful for learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) and learners of a Foreign language (EFL) regarding the use of agentless passive in writing English novels and shorts stories effectively and appropriately.
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