A Systemic Functional Linguistics Analysis of Mood and Modality in Anies Baswedan's Speech at Oxford University

This study presents an analysis of mood and modality in Anies Baswedan’s 2023 speech at Oxford University on ASEAN through the lens of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). Although previous SFL studies have examined mood and modality in political, literary, news, and educational discourse, few have jointly analysed mood, modality type, temporal orientation, and judgment in an international academic speech delivered by an Indonesian political figure. This study addresses that gap and offers novelty by linking grammatical choices to diplomatic self-positioning in ASEAN discourse. The study focuses on interpersonal meaning as realised in the speaker’s grammatical choices, especially declarative, imperative, and interrogative mood, as well as modality types that indicate probability, obligation, and inclination. A descriptive qualitative design was employed. The data source was a video recording of the speech, while the primary data consisted of the speech transcript. Data were collected through non-participant observation and note-taking, then analysed by segmenting the transcript into clauses and identifying the mood structure and modality of each clause. The findings show a strong dominance of declarative mood, indicating that the speech is primarily informative and explanatory. Modality is dominated by probability, which reveals the speaker’s cautious optimism and diplomatic stance. Overall, the speech constructs Anies Baswedan as knowledgeable, careful, future-oriented, and persuasive in presenting Indonesia and ASEAN in an international academic forum. The study contributes theoretically by extending SFL interpersonal analysis to Indonesian international political speech and practically by informing political communication and language teaching.