2. Social theory of language (with a GENRE, TEXT and GRAMMAR
model of language.
Developed by MICHAEL HALLIDAY
Lang. seen as a set of exchanges (Lang functions)
It explores how people use language in different contexts.
Mision: To provide students with the ability to use the codes of
writing (genre and grammar) effectively and efficiently
Systemic functional linguistics
MEANING-
FOCUSED
01
SYSTEM OF CHOICES .
TERMS MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE
5 basic principles
• Language as a SOCIAL SEMIOTIC SYSTEM (System of signs used for social contact)
• Language as a RESOURCE (To make meaning. Not a set of rules)
• TEXT rather than sentences (Text as the basic unit through which meaning is negotiated)
• Texts and SOCIAL CONTEXT (Every text is unique due to this dynamic relationship)
• Construing MEANING (No conduiting)
KEY COMPETENCY:
UNDERSTANDING OF
BOTH FUNCTIONAL
AND FORMAL ASPECTS
OF GRAMMAR
3. Text:
(lexis grammar etc) Language is processed and understood in the forms of
texts.
• Discourse in verbal communication.
• Any meaning-producing event.
Register:
(social context, cultural and social factor)
• Recognizable configurations of linguistic resources in context.
• 3 main dimensions: Field (It refers to the subject matter), tenor (the roles
of the participants) and mode (the channel of communication)
• Different register = different patterns of lang.
Genre:
classification of real life, everyday texts according to their social purpose
Ideology:
(Martin´s model) Level at which texts are contested socially. It determines
who has the access to the powerful genres. Redistribution of power in social
context.
"GRAMMAR AS A STUDY OF MEANINGS AND
HOW THESE ARE EXPRESSED RATHER THAN
A STUDY OF FORMS AND WHAT THE FORMS
MEAN"
IDEATIONAL
WHAT
IT HIGHLIGHTS THE
IDEAS BEHIND
LANGUAGE, WHAT IS
BEING TALKED OR
WRITTEN
INTERPERSONAL
WHO
IT HIGHLIGHTS THE
INTERPERSONAL
RELATIONSHIPS
TEXTUAL
HOW
IT HIGHLIGHTS THE TEXT,
CONNECTING IT ALL
TOGETHER. MODE AND
MEDIUM OF LANGUAGE
03
Around 3 levels/metafunctions
DISCOURSE:
4. • Formed in the processes
of social interactions
• Seen as a core of generic
processes rather than
products.
• Students can understand
the multi-generic purpose
of their texts.
• Close relationship
between social purpose
and available
grammatical resources
(Genres have particular
demands on the
grammatical choices we
have when producing a
text.
• whithout genre, grammar
is too abstract to be
teachable.
Generic processes.
• DESCRIBING (Through the
process of ordering)
• EXPLAINING (""
sequencing)
• INSTRUCTING ("" logically
sequencing)
• ARGUING("" expanding
and persuading)
• NARRATING (""
sequencing people and
events in time and space)
About genre...
IT GIVES STUDENTS A SENSE OF WHAT IS APPROPIATE IN
CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES AND WHAT IS NOT. CODES.
About language and
the model in general:
• While language is
produced by
individuals, the
shape and
structure of it is
socially
determined.
WE REMAKE
AN EXISTING
SYSTEM TO
MAKE
MEANING
04
INDIVIDUAL & SOCIAL
NATURAL& CULTURAL
Speech Writing
Sound Visual
Temporal Exists on
time
Immediate Deferred
Little editing Can be edited
(Time fillers)
5. 05
IMPORTANT: TO PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH EXPLICIT FOCUS ON LANGUAGE. IF NOT,
INEQUALITY IS PERPETUATED. SOME STUDENTS KEEP ON BEING PRIVILEDGED.
PROBLEM... Content are a teachers find themselves working with
students whose native language is not the spoken one in that country,
and they think it is not their responsability. They aren´t trained for it.
SO... SFL provides metalanguage and helps determine how writers
create meaning in texts.
• EXPOSURE TO TEXT
• INSTRUCTIONS
• GUIDED PRACTICE/JOINT
CONSTRUCTION
• INDEPENDENT STUDY
IMPLEMENTATION OF SFL IN
THE CLASSROOM:
• INVESTIGATING ABOUT THE CONTEXT IN WHICH THE TEXT WAS WRITTEN
(AUTHOR ETC)
• WRITING ABOUT FAMILIAR TOPICS
• EXPOSING THE STUDENTS TO TO DIFFERENT GENRES AND
UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR USE
• CONSIDERING THE PURPOSE OF THE TEXT
• LEARNING TO USE DIFFERENT REGISTERS (EG FORMAL AND INFORMAL)
• UNDERSTANDING THE SUBBJECT-MATTER OF THE TEXT
Eg:
1 - Write a script in small
groups
-Identy different contexts,
tenors, registers and genres
-After it, they can act out the
lines they wrote
2. Identify registers and explain
differences of two letters
3. Watching a movie
BUILLDING BLOCKS
TECHNIQUE
Participant+ Process+
Circumstance
Marina Daniela Villaverde
