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Article published In: Register Studies
Vol. 2:2 (2020) ► pp.209–240

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Guiding towards register awareness in an undergraduate EFL curriculum in Italy

The special case of verbal art

ORCiD logo with link | University of Bologna
ORCiD logo with link | University of Bologna
Published online: 6 November 2020
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/rs.19003.mil
Abstract
This contribution adds to ever-growing research on ‘pedagogical stylistics’, (e.g., Burke, M., Csábi, S., Week, L., & Zerkowitz, J. (Eds.) (2012). Pedagogical stylistics. London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). We present a case study describing a register approach to teaching literature, or verbal art ( (1985/1989). Language, linguistics and verbal art. Geelong, Vic.: Deakin University Press/Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), to undergraduate EFL students in a Systemic Functional Grammar (FG)-based perspective (Halliday, M. A. K., & Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (2004). An introduction to Functional Grammar (3rd ed.). London: Arnold.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). Our research is guided by two main goals: enhancing the students’ sensitivity to the peculiar functions of language in literature, as part of a wider curriculum on teaching register awareness, and setting up good practices to monitor and assess the effectiveness of our approach. Thus, we present a set of activities based on Hasan’s ( (1985/1989). Language, linguistics and verbal art. Geelong, Vic.: Deakin University Press/Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, (2007). Private pleasure, public discourse: Reflections on engaging with literature. In D. R. Miller & M. Turci (Eds.), Language and verbal art revisited. Linguistic approaches to the study of literature (pp. 13–40). London: Equinox.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) framework for the analysis of verbal art as a ‘special’ register, which is rooted in FG. We then discuss quantitative and qualitative data related to student perceptions of our pedagogical approach, gathered through specifically designed questionnaires, which were followed by semi-structured interviews when possible. The data illustrate the largely positive impact of the approach on students’ engagement, though not unequivocally: problematic issues and implications for future research are also discussed.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Bringing FG-based pedagogical stylistics into the classroom: Context and methods
    • 2.1Our take on linguistics
    • 2.2Our stakeholders
    • 2.3What we do and how we do it
  • 3.Additional relevant theory and research
    • 3.1More on stylistics and its pedagogy
    • 3.2Our pedagogical model of verbal art: A brief overview of Systemic Socio-Semantic Stylistics (SSS)
    • 3.3The (very condensed) case for slotting Jakobson into SSS
  • 4.Teaching a register unlike any other: SSS+ as pedagogical stylistics
    • 4.1A sample 3rd year SSS+ workshop
      • 4.1.1The text
      • 4.1.2Class work
    • 4.2Monitoring our practices
      • Likability
      • Utility
      • Difficulty
      • Model validity
    • 4.3Post-incongruous data action research
      • 4.3.1Discovery interviews
  • 5.Discussion and parting thoughts
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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