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Article published In: Mapping “Language" in Education: Special issue of the Journal Language, Context and Text 5:2 (2023)
[Language, Context and Text 5:2] 2023
► pp. 282–385

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Exploring the “language” part of language education

 | University of Sydney
Published online: 4 January 2024
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https://doi.org/10.1075/langct.00055.hal
Abstract
This paper is based on a series of lectures Halliday presented in the Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong in 2005. As Amy Tsui indicates in her companion paper in this issue, it was to have been the first chapter in a book that would also include chapters by other scholars discussing the educational use of some of Halliday’s theoretical and practical proposals, but for various reasons the book did not eventuate. (See also the first sentence of the paper.) One distinctive feature of the paper is its reach over a very large range of concepts in Halliday’s theory. Another is its accessibility for educators looking to find a general introduction to aspects of systemic functional linguistic theory relevant to education. The final section illustrates the analytical use of the theory in various educational contexts through examples of discourse analyses.1
1.
Article outline
  • 1.Toward an “appliable” linguistics
  • 2.The “architecture” of language
  • 3.Elaborating the theory
    • 3.1Paradigmatic composition: The system network
    • 3.2Stratification: The relation of realisation in language
    • 3.3Metafunction: Modes of meaning in language
    • 3.4Instantiation: The relation of system to instance
    • 3.5Syntagmatic composition: The rank scale
  • 4.Construing complexity in language
  • 5.The dimension of history in language
  • 6.From grammar to discourse
    • 6.1The interpersonal metafunction: Appraisal
    • 6.2The interpersonal metafunction: Gaining insights into the theme of a literary text
    • 6.3The textual metafunction: Theme and Rheme
    • 6.4The experiential metafunction: Analysing verbal art
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
  • Addendum
References (61)
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Addendum
Some introductions to (systemic) functional grammar
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