Theory

2. Systemic functional grammar (SFG) or systemic functional
linguistics (SFL) is a model of grammar that was developed by
Michael Halliday in the 1960s.[1] It is part of a broad social semiotic
approach to language called systemic linguistics. The term "systemic"
refers to the view of language as "a network of systems, or interrelated
sets of options for making meaning";[2] The term "functional" indicates
that the approach is concerned with meaning, as opposed to formal
grammar, which focuses on word classes such as nouns and verbs,
typically without reference beyond the individual clause.
Systemic functional grammar is concerned primarily with the choices that
the grammar makes available to speakers and writers. These choices
relate speakers' and writers' intentions to the concrete forms of a
language. Traditionally the "choices" are viewed in terms of either the
content or the structure of the language used. In SFG, language is
analyzed in three different ways, or strata: semantics, phonology, and
lexicogrammar. SFG presents a view of language in terms of both
structure (grammar) and words (lexis). The term "lexicogrammar"
describes this combined approach.

3. Systemic-Functional Linguistics (SFL) is a theory
of language centered around the notion of language
function.
SFL accounts for the syntactic structure of language.
It places the function of language as central (what
language does, and how it does it), in preference to
more structural approaches, which place the
elements of language and their combinations as
central.
SFL starts at social context, and looks at how
language both acts upon, and is constrained by, this
social context.

4. Halliday’s theory is stated as ‘four stratification’. The
notion 'stratification’, stated that language is analyzed in
terms of four strata: Discourse-Context, Semantics, Lexico-
Grammar and Phonology-Graphology.
1. Discourse:
In discourse, context plays an important role. Context is
divided into 2: socio cultural and situational. Socio-cultural
context refers to context which occurs in social background
of the participants and the typical culture of the
participants. The situational context includes 3: the Field
(what is going on), Tenor (the social roles and relationships
between the participants), and the Mode (aspects of the
channel of communication, e.g., monologic/dialogic,
spoken/written, +/- visual-contact, etc.).

5. The context of socio-culture is an intricate complex of
various social phenomena involving historical and
geographical settings but also more general aspects like
the field of the activity: education, medicine, provision
of goods and services in exchange for money. Car
maintenance discourse in a highly hierarchical society
may be different from that which takes place in a
relatively egalitarian society. Classroom discourse takes
place within a wider cultural context of, say, university
education or secondary school education, or slightly
more specifically African university education, or
Kenyan University education.

6.  The context of situation is made up of all the
phenomena which affect the discourse. In face-to-face
interaction, the context of situation includes the
immediate and wider environment in which the text
actually occurs, like the classroom in the case of a
teaching discourse, the shop or market in a sales
transaction, the workshop in the case of a discussion
about a gearbox replacement.

7.  The discipline in question also plays a part in the
context of culture: thus a physics lecture takes place
within the cultural practices and traditions of the field
of physics at large as well as in a particular education
system or institution.

8. 2. Semantics
Systemic semantics includes what is usually called
'pragmatics'. Semantics is divided into three components:
a) Ideational Semantics (the propositional content);
b) Interpersonal Semantics (concerned with speech-
function, exchange structure, expression of attitude, etc.);
c) Textual Semantics (how the text is structured as a
message, e.g., theme-structure, given/new, rhetorical
structure etc.

9. 3. The Lexico-Grammar
Lexico-Grammar concerns the syntactic organization
of words into utterances. Even here, a functional
approach is taken, involving analysis of the utterance
in terms of roles such as Actor, Agent/Medium,
Theme Mood, etc. (See Halliday 1994 for full
description).

10. Language as a resource
for making meaning;
language in actual use
and focus on texts and
their contexts

11. All meaning is situated:
•In a context of situation
• in a context of culture

12. Context of situation:
through the use of the register variables :
Field : what’s
going on
• Activity focus
• Object focus
Tenor : social
relationship between
those taking part
• Status or power
(agent roles, peer
or hierarchic
relations
• Affect (degree of
like, dislike or
neutrality)
• Contact
(frequency,
duration and
intimacy of social
contact
Mode : how
language is being
used
• The channel of
communication is
spoken or written
• Language is being
used as a mode of
action or reflection

13. Types of meaning/Functions :
• participants
• process
• circumstances
Ideational : meanings about
phenomena (things, what’s
going on, circumstances)
• mood
• modality
Interpersonal : meanings
which express a speaker’s
attitudes and judgments
• theme
• cohesion
Textual : meaning as
expressed the relation of
language to its
environment (verbal and
non verbal (co-text) and
situational (context)
Influenced by the
field of discourse
Influenced by tenor
of discourse
Influenced by the
mode of discourse

14. Context and text connection
Field (what’s
going on)
Tenor (social
relations)
Mode
(contextual
coherence
ideational
interpersonal
textual
transitivity
Mood and
modality
Theme,
cohesion
Semantics
(meanings)
Lexicogrammar
(wordings)
context text

15. Context of culture
Genre: a culturally specific text-types which results from
using language (written or spoken) to help accomplish
something
purposes
Stages:
distinctive
beginnings,
middles and
ends
Linguistic
feature
GENRE

16. Types of genre
Genre Social
function/purpose
Generic
structure/stages
Linguistic feature
1. narrative To amuse, entertain
and to deal with
actual or vicarious
experiences in
different ways
-Orientation
- evaluation
-Complication
-Resolution
-Re-orientation
-Focus on specific
participants
- use of material
process
-Use relational
process
-Use temporal
conjunction and
temporal
circumstances
-Use of past tense

17. genre Social
function/purpose
Generic
structure/stages
Linguistic feature
2. spoof
3. recount
To retell event with
humorous twist
To retell events for
the purpose of
informing or
entertaining
-Orientation
- events
- twist
- orientation
- events
- re-orientation
-Focus on specific
participants
- use of material
process
- circumstances of
time and place
-Use of past tense
- focus on specific
participants
-Use of material
processes
-Circumstances of
time and place
-Use of past tense
-Focus on temporal
sequences

18. GENRE
REGISTER
LANGUAGE
field tenor
mode
A representation of the model of language

19. What do they mean?
Why can we make meaning from them?
Do they mean the same to everyone?

20. When I got home
last night, I could
not believe what
………….. had
done.
What choices are possible?
What’s the implication of the choice?

21. What is implied about what a language
system has to encapsulate?
Culture
Genre
Topic
Relationships
Mode
What is the broad and specific context?
How does that impact on the text?
What is the specific purpose of the text?
How is it organised to achieve this?
What is being discussed / written
about?
Who is taking part? What is the nature
of their relationship? What are their
statuses and roles?
Is it spoken, written or multimodal?

22. A: Yes Please
B: Can I have those two?
A: Yes. One’s forty five. One’s twenty
five.
B: And have you got …………………..
A: Yes. How many would you like?
B: I’ll take two
A: Right. That’s four dollars twenty
altogether.
B: Here you are.
A: Thankyou.
B: Thankyou.
What’s the context of
the text?
What accompanies the
language?
What kind of a text is
it? (genre)
What are the stages of
the text?
What is it about? (field)
Who is involved?
(tenor)
Mode of
communication?
(mode)

23. Data reveals that the greatest
consumer spending traditionally
occurs during the pre Christmas
period. A consequence of this
spending is debt. The publicity and
expectation of a gift laden
Christmas has lead some families to
incur debts beyond their means of
immediate repayment, leading to
the additional and spiralling cost of
interest fees. A substantial
education program is required to
reverse this trend.
What’s the context
of the text?
What accompanies
the language?
What kind of a text
is it? (genre)
What are the stages
of the text?
What is it about?
(field)
Who is involved?
(tenor)
Mode of
communication?
(mode)

24. The role of language in education according to
Halliday
Knowledge is transmitted in social
contexts, through relationships, like
those of parent and child, or teacher and
pupil, or classmates, that are defined in
the value systems and ideology of the
culture. And the words that are
exchanged in these contexts get their
meaning from activities in which they are
embedded, which again are social
activities with social agencies and goals.

25.  Halliday's theory of "language as a social
semiotic" is a very sophisticated, elaborate,
"extravagant" (Halliday 1994) sociocultural
theory of language, which really builds
upon, extends, earlier theories of language
and culture and language as social
interaction. Its sophistication is in the way
Halliday specifies the semiotics of the
culture at the level of grammatical
constituent, at the level of clause.

26.  The ideational, or cognitive function of
language is realized by choices of process
(verb) type; subject and object choices are to
do with "participants" and their semantic
roles; and "circumstances" are to do with
adverbial choice:
 For example.........
 Question:
 Is there a relation of Case Grammar theory
to Functional Grammar?

27.  For example, the words which function as the
processes of a clause were classified traditionally
as verbs, and the meaningful unit which they
predicated was classified as a clause;
something/s, person/persons, or ideas or facts
or utterances or thoughts, were directly involved
in the process: these are classified as
'participants' in functional grammar and they are
to do with choices in Subject or Object roles in the
clause. The circumstances of the processes were
classified traditionally as adverbs

28.  The interpersonal function is to do with the kinds of
communication roles chosen, together with ways
of assessing usuallity and probability: For example,
our choice of making a statement, asking a question
or giving an order is the foundation of the
communication roles. Speakers and writers also
position themselves in relation to their statement,
question or command by assessing usuallity,
obligation, probability. These functions are realised
by such modals as: sometimes, ought, perhaps.

29.  The textual function of language; because
word order is central in the structure of
English the first word or phrase (or clause in
a clause complex) in the clause/clause-
complex will be the message of the
clause/clause complex. The thematic
organization of clauses is the foundation of
organization of language into meaningful
extended texts, whether those texts are
conversational or academic.