An introduction to systemic functional grammar

Аубакирова Мадина Рамазановна

КГУ «Кушокинская СОШ»

Карагандинская область

There is a lot of misunderstanding among the ELT community about functional

grammar. I won’t go through these ideas in any detail here; the main thing I want to

do in this post is to show its usefulness for language teachers, no matter what kind of

program you are teaching in, no matter what level your learners are, and no matter

what methodology you subscribe to. So, what is functional grammar?

Defining Functional Grammar

Put simply, Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) is a grammar based on the view

that language is a system for making meaning. Systemic refers to the fact that when

we use language, we make choices from sets of available options. This is contrary to

the traditional view of grammar as sets of rules. Functional assumes that every time

we make a choice from the available options, we are doing so in order to fulfill a

communicative purpose. And Grammar simply refers to the fact that there is an

overall organisation to all of these possible options.

History of SFG in Language Teaching

Now by itself, this brief explanation may not be revealing anything especially new

for teachers who teach both form and function of language. Indeed, those who do

may not know that these terms originated in the work of Michael Halliday, the

founder of SFG, and whose work was pivotal for the early moves to Communicative

Language Teaching. Michael Halliday’s work in linguistics was highly influential

around the time that language teaching was starting to shift its emphasis on mastery

of language structures to mastery of communicative competence. Halliday himself

developed his interest in linguistics and grammar through language teaching, first by

teaching Chinese to English speakers, and later on teaching English and Russian to

Chinese speakers. Indeed, Halliday’s functional grammar and theory of systemic

functional linguistics has been a foundation for communicative language teaching; it

also underpins the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for

languages.

The theory behind SFG

But it’s not all just form and function to express meanings. SFG helps teachers and

their learners work with whole stretches of language in order to develop their

potential to communicate in the target language. This is made possible by the

linguistic theory underpinning SFG, known as Systemic Functional Linguistics

(SFL). Different cultural and social contexts lead speakers and writers to choose

differently from the repertoire of language that they have at their disposal. SFG is an

extremely useful tool to help teachers make sense of how language works in different

social and cultural contexts, and thus be better equipped to help their learners

understand these differences. This can refer to spoken or written texts (as SFG is

based on the notion of text), and can range from everyday casual talk, through to a

formal interview, a short email message, or an academic paper. In a nutshell, SFG

helps us describe how language is used between people, which contrasts with

traditional grammar that prescribes rules for using language.

Text and Context

By using systemic functional grammar (SFG), the teacher has a powerful tool with

which to mediate her/his explanations of language, and thus mediate the learner’s

understandings of how to use the language they are in the process of learning. This

tool is the bridge between context and text – between the sociocultural setting in

which the speaker is conducting her/his activity and the language that is a part of that

activity. The tool is called Register, and gives the teacher the ability to pick away at

the context of language use and identify:

the field: what is going on in the activity

the tenor: who is taking part in the activity

the mode: the part language plays in the activity.

So, each time you present a text to your learners, you can start with establishing the

context, as above, and then proceed to highlight whatever grammar is important in

each of the three areas.

An integrated grammar

Looked at individually, it is possible to, for example, identify the kinds of vocabulary

that is relevant to the field, the kinds of interpersonal language that is appropriate for

the tenor, and the kinds of textual features (say, cohesive devices) that are going to

help the spoken or written text along. The Field might be a group of friends talking

about the Australian Open tennis tournament, and therefore the vocabulary is mostly

related to tennis things, people and actions. The Tenor is close friends who see each

other regularly and thus have a lot of common understandings. The interpersonal

language will be informal, without much language of power or authority, and

possibly banter and joking. The Mode is likely face to face spoken language with

speakers able to give each other immediate feedback.

Taken together, SFG provides a rubric for language teachers to plan their teaching

around (be they spur of the moment explanations, or whole lessons) and for language

learners to sort out in their own minds where, when and how language can be used to

successfully communicate across social and cultural settings.

An introduction to systemic functional grammar

Аубакирова Мадина Рамазановна

КГУ «Кушокинская СОШ»

Карагандинская область

There is a lot of misunderstanding among the ELT community about functional

grammar. I won’t go through these ideas in any detail here; the main thing I want to

do in this post is to show its usefulness for language teachers, no matter what kind of

program you are teaching in, no matter what level your learners are, and no matter

what methodology you subscribe to. So, what is functional grammar?

Defining Functional Grammar

Put simply, Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) is a grammar based on the view

that language is a system for making meaning. Systemic refers to the fact that when

we use language, we make choices from sets of available options. This is contrary to

the traditional view of grammar as sets of rules. Functional assumes that every time

we make a choice from the available options, we are doing so in order to fulfill a

communicative purpose. And Grammar simply refers to the fact that there is an

overall organisation to all of these possible options.

History of SFG in Language Teaching

Now by itself, this brief explanation may not be revealing anything especially new

for teachers who teach both form and function of language. Indeed, those who do

may not know that these terms originated in the work of Michael Halliday, the

founder of SFG, and whose work was pivotal for the early moves to Communicative

Language Teaching. Michael Halliday’s work in linguistics was highly influential

around the time that language teaching was starting to shift its emphasis on mastery

of language structures to mastery of communicative competence. Halliday himself

developed his interest in linguistics and grammar through language teaching, first by

teaching Chinese to English speakers, and later on teaching English and Russian to

Chinese speakers. Indeed, Halliday’s functional grammar and theory of systemic

functional linguistics has been a foundation for communicative language teaching; it

also underpins the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for

languages.

The theory behind SFG

But it’s not all just form and function to express meanings. SFG helps teachers and

their learners work with whole stretches of language in order to develop their

potential to communicate in the target language. This is made possible by the

linguistic theory underpinning SFG, known as Systemic Functional Linguistics

(SFL). Different cultural and social contexts lead speakers and writers to choose

differently from the repertoire of language that they have at their disposal. SFG is an

extremely useful tool to help teachers make sense of how language works in different

social and cultural contexts, and thus be better equipped to help their learners

understand these differences. This can refer to spoken or written texts (as SFG is

based on the notion of text), and can range from everyday casual talk, through to a

formal interview, a short email message, or an academic paper. In a nutshell, SFG

helps us describe how language is used between people, which contrasts with

traditional grammar that prescribes rules for using language.

Text and Context

By using systemic functional grammar (SFG), the teacher has a powerful tool with

which to mediate her/his explanations of language, and thus mediate the learner’s

understandings of how to use the language they are in the process of learning. This

tool is the bridge between context and text – between the sociocultural setting in

which the speaker is conducting her/his activity and the language that is a part of that

activity. The tool is called Register, and gives the teacher the ability to pick away at

the context of language use and identify:

the field: what is going on in the activity

the tenor: who is taking part in the activity

the mode: the part language plays in the activity.

So, each time you present a text to your learners, you can start with establishing the

context, as above, and then proceed to highlight whatever grammar is important in

each of the three areas.

An integrated grammar

Looked at individually, it is possible to, for example, identify the kinds of vocabulary

that is relevant to the field, the kinds of interpersonal language that is appropriate for

the tenor, and the kinds of textual features (say, cohesive devices) that are going to

help the spoken or written text along. The Field might be a group of friends talking

about the Australian Open tennis tournament, and therefore the vocabulary is mostly

related to tennis things, people and actions. The Tenor is close friends who see each

other regularly and thus have a lot of common understandings. The interpersonal

language will be informal, without much language of power or authority, and

possibly banter and joking. The Mode is likely face to face spoken language with

speakers able to give each other immediate feedback.

Taken together, SFG provides a rubric for language teachers to plan their teaching

around (be they spur of the moment explanations, or whole lessons) and for language

learners to sort out in their own minds where, when and how language can be used to

successfully communicate across social and cultural settings.

An introduction to systemic functional grammar

Аубакирова Мадина Рамазановна

КГУ «Кушокинская СОШ»

Карагандинская область

There is a lot of misunderstanding among the ELT community about functional

grammar. I won’t go through these ideas in any detail here; the main thing I want to

do in this post is to show its usefulness for language teachers, no matter what kind of

program you are teaching in, no matter what level your learners are, and no matter

what methodology you subscribe to. So, what is functional grammar?

Defining Functional Grammar

Put simply, Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) is a grammar based on the view

that language is a system for making meaning. Systemic refers to the fact that when

we use language, we make choices from sets of available options. This is contrary to

the traditional view of grammar as sets of rules. Functional assumes that every time

we make a choice from the available options, we are doing so in order to fulfill a

communicative purpose. And Grammar simply refers to the fact that there is an

overall organisation to all of these possible options.

History of SFG in Language Teaching

Now by itself, this brief explanation may not be revealing anything especially new

for teachers who teach both form and function of language. Indeed, those who do

may not know that these terms originated in the work of Michael Halliday, the

founder of SFG, and whose work was pivotal for the early moves to Communicative

Language Teaching. Michael Halliday’s work in linguistics was highly influential

around the time that language teaching was starting to shift its emphasis on mastery

of language structures to mastery of communicative competence. Halliday himself

developed his interest in linguistics and grammar through language teaching, first by

teaching Chinese to English speakers, and later on teaching English and Russian to

Chinese speakers. Indeed, Halliday’s functional grammar and theory of systemic

functional linguistics has been a foundation for communicative language teaching; it

also underpins the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for

languages.

The theory behind SFG

But it’s not all just form and function to express meanings. SFG helps teachers and

their learners work with whole stretches of language in order to develop their

potential to communicate in the target language. This is made possible by the

linguistic theory underpinning SFG, known as Systemic Functional Linguistics

(SFL). Different cultural and social contexts lead speakers and writers to choose

differently from the repertoire of language that they have at their disposal. SFG is an

extremely useful tool to help teachers make sense of how language works in different

social and cultural contexts, and thus be better equipped to help their learners

understand these differences. This can refer to spoken or written texts (as SFG is

based on the notion of text), and can range from everyday casual talk, through to a

formal interview, a short email message, or an academic paper. In a nutshell, SFG

helps us describe how language is used between people, which contrasts with

traditional grammar that prescribes rules for using language.

Text and Context

By using systemic functional grammar (SFG), the teacher has a powerful tool with

which to mediate her/his explanations of language, and thus mediate the learner’s

understandings of how to use the language they are in the process of learning. This

tool is the bridge between context and text – between the sociocultural setting in

which the speaker is conducting her/his activity and the language that is a part of that

activity. The tool is called Register, and gives the teacher the ability to pick away at

the context of language use and identify:

the field: what is going on in the activity

the tenor: who is taking part in the activity

the mode: the part language plays in the activity.

So, each time you present a text to your learners, you can start with establishing the

context, as above, and then proceed to highlight whatever grammar is important in

each of the three areas.

An integrated grammar

Looked at individually, it is possible to, for example, identify the kinds of vocabulary

that is relevant to the field, the kinds of interpersonal language that is appropriate for

the tenor, and the kinds of textual features (say, cohesive devices) that are going to

help the spoken or written text along. The Field might be a group of friends talking

about the Australian Open tennis tournament, and therefore the vocabulary is mostly

related to tennis things, people and actions. The Tenor is close friends who see each

other regularly and thus have a lot of common understandings. The interpersonal

language will be informal, without much language of power or authority, and

possibly banter and joking. The Mode is likely face to face spoken language with

speakers able to give each other immediate feedback.

Taken together, SFG provides a rubric for language teachers to plan their teaching

around (be they spur of the moment explanations, or whole lessons) and for language

learners to sort out in their own minds where, when and how language can be used to

successfully communicate across social and cultural settings.