Cover not available

Introduction In: SFL Appliability, Visibility and Accessibility
Edited by Claudia E. Stoian, Jorge Arús-Hita and Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen
[Language, Context and Text 7:2] 2025
► pp. 175–199

Introduction

SFL appliability, visibility and accessibility

ORCiD logo with link | Politehnica University Timișoara, Romania
ORCiD logo with link | University Complutense of Madrid, Spain
ORCiD logo with link | Sona College of Technology, India
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Article outline
  • 1.The appliable nature of Systemic Functional Linguistics
  • 2.SFL and visibility
    • 2.1The importance of visibility and the historical sources of SFL’s invisibility
    • 2.2Contemporary indicators of visibility and invisibility
  • 3.SFL and accessibility
    • 3.1Defining accessibility in a multi-dimensional way
    • 3.2Visibility without accessibility: A latent risk
  • 4.SFL Visibility and accessibility to/across languages, linguistic disciplines and academic profiles
    • 4.1Across languages
      • 4.1.1Translations and multilingual dissemination
      • 4.1.2Communities
    • 4.2To/across linguistic subdisciplines
      • 4.2.1Engagement and non-engagement with neighbouring theories
      • 4.2.2Citation profiles and diffusion patterns
      • 4.2.3Collaborative and transdisciplinary pathways
    • 4.3To/across academic profiles
      • 4.3.1Students and early-career researchers
      • 4.3.2Tools, repositories and digital infrastructures
      • 4.3.3Community support and mentoring mechanisms
    • 4.4Summary: Challenges and opportunities for strengthening visibility and accessibility
  • 5.Summary of contributions
    • 5.1Articles focused primarily on appliability
    • 5.2Articles linking appliability with visibility
    • 5.3Articles linking appliability with accessibility
    • 5.4Articles linking appliability with visibility and accessibility
    • 5.5Book reviews: Extending the reach of SFL scholarship
  • Notes
  • References
References (71)
References
Acevedo, Claire, David Rose & Rachel Whittaker (eds.). 2023. Reading to learn, reading the world: How genre based literacy pedagogy is democratizing education. Sheffield: Equinox.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Arús-Hita, Jorge & Elena Bárcena. 2024. Toward an integrated framework for CLIL-based blended teaching. In M. Dolores Ramírez-Verdugo (ed.), Interdisciplinary research and innovation in bilingual and second language teacher education, 173–189. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Arús Hita, Jorge & Christian M. I. M. Matthiessen. 2024. Systemic Functional Linguistics: Accessibility and visibility across languages, academic profiles and disciplines. Epos: Revista de Filología 401. 3–34. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Banks, David. 2018. Thoughts on publishing the research article over the centuries. Publications 6(1): 10. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bartlett, Tom & Gerard O’Grady, eds. 2017. The Routledge handbook of Systemic Functional Linguistics. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bateman, John, Daniel McDonald, Tuomo Hiippala, Daniel Couto-Vale & Eugeniu Costetchi. 2019. Systemic Functional Linguistics and computation: New directions, new challenges. In Geoff Thompson, Wendy L. Bowcher, Lise Fontaine, and David Schönthal (eds.), The Cambridge handbook of Systemic Functional Linguistics, 561–86. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bod, Rens, Jennifer Hay & Stefanie Jannedy (eds.). 2003. Probabilistic linguistics. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Caffarel, Alice, J. R. Martin & Christian M. I. M. Matthiessen (eds.). 2004. Language typology: A functional perspective. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chen, Wenge, Tom Bartlett & Huiling Peng. 2021. The erasure of nature in the discourse of oil production: Part I of an enhanced Eco-Discourse Analysis. Pragmatics and Society 12(1). 6–32. (15 May, 2025.)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Connell, Raewyn. 2007. Southern Theory: The global dynamics of knowledge in social science. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
de Beaugrande, Robert. 1994. Cognition, communication, translation, instruction: The geopolitics of discourse. In Robert de Beaugrande, Mohamed H. Heliel & Abdullah Shunnaq (eds.), Language, discourse and translation in the West and Middle East, 1–22. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
de Sousa Santos, Boaventura. 2014. Epistemologies of the South: Justice against epistemicide. Boulder: Paradigm.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Degaetano-Ortlieb, Stefania & Elke Teich. 2026. “Register revisited: Information Theory as a bridge between functional description and cognitive explanation.” In Rebekah Wegener, Anne McCabe, Akila Sellami-Baklouti & Lise Fontaine (eds.), Routledge handbook of transdisciplinary Systemic Functional Linguistics, 325–343. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Evans, Nicholas. 2022. Words of wonder: Endangered languages and what they tell us. 2nd edn. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Faraclas, Nicholas G., Anne Storch & Viveka Velupillai (eds.). 2025. Hospitable linguistics: Alternative, Indigenous and critical approaches to language research and language encounters. Bristol & Jackson: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Francke, Helena & Björn Hammarfelt. 2022. Competitive exposure and existential recognition: Visibility and legitimacy on academic social networking sites. Research Evaluation 31(4). 429–437. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Halliday, M. A. K. 1959. The language of the Chinese “Secret History of the Mongols”. Oxford: Blackwell. (Publications of the Philological Society 17.) In M. A. K. Halliday, 2006, Studies in the Chinese language, volume 81 in the collected works of M. A. K. Halliday, 3–171. Edited by Jonathan J. Webster. London & New York: Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1975a. Learning how to mean: Explorations in the development of language. London: Edward Arnold. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1975b. The context of linguistics. In Francis P. Dinneen (ed.), Report of the Twenty-fifth Annual Round Table Meeting on Linguistics and Language Study. (Monograph Series in Languages and Linguistics 17). Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. In M. A. K. Halliday. 2003, On language and linguistics, volume 31 in the collected works of M. A. K. Halliday, 74–91. Edited by Jonathan J. Webster. London & New York: Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1978. Language as social semiotic: The social interpretation of language and meaning. London: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1984. Linguistics in the university: the question of social accountability. In James E. Copeland (ed.), New directions in linguistics and semiotics. Houston, Texas: Rice University Studies. 51–67. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1985. Systemic background. In James D. Benson and William S. Greaves (eds.), Systemic perspectives on discourse, 1–15. Norwood, N.J.: Ablex. In M. A. K. Halliday, 2003, On language and linguistics, volume 31 in the collected works of M. A. K. Halliday, 185–198. Edited by Jonathan J. Webster. London & New York: Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2003. The language of early childhood. Volume 4 in the Collected Works of M.A.K. Halliday. Edited by Jonathan J. Webster. London & New York: Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2008. Working with meaning: Towards an appliable linguistics. In Jonathan J. Webster (ed.), Meaning in context: Implementing intelligent applications of language studies, 7–23. London: Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2014. That ‘certain cut’: Towards a characterology of Mandarin Chinese. Functional Linguistics 11. 4–23. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2015. The influence of Marxism. In Jonathan J. Webster (ed.), The Bloomsbury companion to M. A. K. Halliday, 94–100. London: Bloomsbury Academic. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2023. Exploring the ‘language’ part of language education. Language, Context and Text 5(2): 282–385. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Halliday, M. A. K. & Ruqaiya Hasan. 1976. Cohesion in English. London: Longman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Halliday, M. A. K. & Christian M. I. M. Matthiessen. 2014. Halliday’s introduction to functional grammar. 4th ed. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Halliday, M. A. K., & Christian M. I. M. Matthiessen. 1999/2022. 通过意义识解经验—基于语言的认知研究 [Construing experience through meaning: A language based approach to cognition]. Translated by Juyuan Li, Haiye Chen, Zhihui Shang, and Hongyan Li. Hangzhou: Zhejiang Gongshang University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2024. 韩礼德功能语法导论（第4版 [Halliday’s introduction to functional grammar]. 4th ed. Translated by Zhongqing He, Xiaohong Dan, Yameng Liang, and Jing Zhao. Beijing: Commercial Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Harman, Ruth. 2018. Bringing it all together: Critical take(s) on Systemic Functional Linguistics. In Ruth Harman (ed.), Bilingual learners and social equity. Educational linguistics, vol 331. Cham: Springer. (2 May, 2025.)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hunston, Susan. 2013. Systemic functional linguistics, corpus linguistics, and the ideology of science. Text & Talk 33(4–5). 617–640. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jones, Pauline. 2026. “Language in Education.” In Jonathan J. Webster, David G. Butt, Federico Navarro & Carol Webster (eds.), The Bloomsbury Handbook of Systemic Functional Linguistics. New revised edition. London: Bloomsbury. 113–134.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kaplan, Nora & Jorge Arús-Hita. 2021. Estudios de Lingüística Sistémico-Funcional en/del español. Special Issue of Revista SIGNOS 54(105).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kashyap, Abhishek Kumar. 2019. Language typology. In Geoff Thompson, Wendy L. Bowcher, Lise Fontaine & David Schöntal (eds.), The Cambridge handbook of systemic functional linguistics, 767–792. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kertécz, András, Edith Moravcsik & Csilla Rákosi (eds.). 2019. Current approaches to syntax: A comparative handbook. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lecompte-Van Poucke, Margo. 2022. ‘You got this!’: A critical discourse analysis of toxic positivity as a discursive construct on Facebook. Applied Corpus Linguistics 2(1). (7 May, 2025.)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2023. Lockdown scepticism: Australian and American doom discourse on Reddit. Studies in Communication Sciences 23(2). 201–221.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lei, Lei. 2022. Exploring ecological identity from the perspective of systemic functional linguistics. Journal of World Languages 7(3). 487–514. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Levisen, Carsten & Eeva Sippola. 2019. Postcolonial linguistics: The editors’ guide to a new interdiscipline. Journal of Postcolonial Linguistics 1(1). 1–15.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Makadok, Richard. 2022. Guidance for AMR authors about making formal theory accessible. Academy of Management Review 47(2). 193–205. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Martin, J. R. 1992. English text: System and structure. Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2019. Revisiting field: Specialized knowledge in secondary school science and humanities discourse. In Luke Knox & Michael Krause (eds.), Accessing academic discourse, 114–147. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Martin, J. R., Karl Maton & Yaegan J. Doran, eds. 2020. Accessing academic discourse: Systemic Functional Linguistics and Legitimation Code Theory. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Martin, J. R. & David Rose. 2023. Working with discourse: Meaning beyond the clause. 3rd ed. London: Bloomsbury Academic.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Martin, J. R. & Peter R. R. White. 2005. The language of evaluation:Appraisal in English. London & New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Matthiessen, Christian M. I. M. 1995. Lexicogrammatical cartography: English systems. Tokyo: International Language Sciences Publishers.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2025. Empowerment through language description, empowering language description. Recherches Universitaires 19(2), Special Issue “Language Description and Pedagogical Application,” ed. Akila Sellami Baklouti, Fatma Benelhaj, Sabiha Choura, and Nadia Abid. 7–140. [URL]
Matthiessen, Christian M. I. M. & Kazuhiro Teruya. 2024. Systemic functional linguistics: A complete guide. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Matthiessen, Christian M. I. M., Kazuhiro Teruya & Marvin Lam. 2010. Key terms in systemic functional linguistics. London & New York: Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mickan, Peter. 2019. Language and education: Learning to mean. In Geoff Thompson, Wendy L. Bowcher, Lise Fontaine & David Schönthal (eds.), The Cambridge handbook of Systemic Functional Linguistics, 537–560. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Moravcsik, Edith & Jessica Wirth (eds.). 1979. Current approaches to syntax. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mwinlaaru, Isaac, Christian M. I. M. Matthiessen & Ernest Akerejola. 2018. A system-based typology of MOOD in African languages. In Augustine Agwuele and Adam Bodomo (eds.), Handbook of African languages, 93–117. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mwinlaaru, Isaac N. & Winfred W. Xuan. 2016. A survey of studies in systemic functional language description and typology. Functional Linguist 3(8). (29 April, 2025.)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rose, David, & J. R. Martin. 2012. Learning to write, reading to learn: Genre, knowledge and pedagogy in the Sydney School. London: Equinox.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ryshina-Pankova, Marianna. 2019. Systemic functional linguistics and L2 pragmatics. In Naoko Taguchi (ed.), The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and pragmatics, 255–271. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schleppegrell, Mary J. 2004. The language of schooling: A functional linguistics perspective. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Steiner, Erich & Colin Yallop. 2001. Exploring translation and multilingual text production: Beyond content. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Taguchi, Naoko, Loretta Fernández & Yuechun Jiang. 2021. Systemic functional linguistics applied to analyze L2 speech acts: Analysis of advice-giving in a written text. In J. César Félix-Brasdefer and Rachel Shively (eds.), New directions in second language pragmatics, 27–57. Berlin & Boston: De Gruyter Mouton. (7 May, 2025.)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Teich, Elke, Stefania Degaetano-Ortlieb, Peter Fankhauser, Hannah Kermes & Ekaterina Lapshinova-Koltunski. 2016. The linguistic construal of disciplinarity: A data mining approach using register features. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology 67(7). 1668–1678. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Teruya, Kazuhiro (ed.). 2022. Imi ga yoku wakaru yooni naru tame no gengogaku: Taikei gengogaku eno shootai [Linguistics for a better understanding of meaning: An introduction to systemic functional linguistics]. Tokyo: Kuroshio Publishers.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Teruya, Kazuhiro & Christian M. I. M. Matthiessen. 2015. Halliday in relation to language comparison and typology. In Jonathan J. Webster (ed.), The Continuum companion to M.A.K. Halliday, 427–452. London & New York: Continuum. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Thompson, Geoff & Susan Hunston (eds.). 2006. System and corpus: Exploring connections. London: Equinox.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tomasello, Michael. 2003. Constructing a language: A usage-based theory of language acquisition. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Trevarthen, Colwyn. 1987. Sharing making sense: intersubjectivity and the making of an infant’s meaning. In Ross Steele & Terry Threadgold (ed.), Language topics. Essays in honour of Michael Halliday, 177–199. Amsterdam: Benjamins.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Triki, Mounir & Nesrine Triki. 2018. The interface of SFL and pragmatics: Reporting strategies in Poe’s “William Wilson”. In Akila Sellami-Baklouti & Lise Fontaine (eds.), Perspectives from Systemic Functional Linguistics, 68–89. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Unsworth, Len. 2020. Intermodal relations, mass and presence in school science explanation genres. In Michele Zappavigna and Shoshana Dreyfus (eds.), Discourses of hope and reconciliation: On J. R. Martin’s contribution to Systemic Functional Linguistics, 131–152. London: Bloomsbury Academic. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wang, Bo & Yuanyi Ma. 2022. Introducing M.A.K. Halliday. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wegener, Rebekah, Akila Sellami-Baklouti, Anne McCabe & Lise Fontaine (eds.). 2026. Routledge handbook of transdisciplinary Systemic Functional Linguistics. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Xuan, Winfred, Christian M. I. M. Matthiessen & Jorge Arús-Hita. 2025. Broadening the appliability of systemic functional linguistics. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 63(1). 1–18. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue