Portfolio Entry #6: SFL Systemic Functional Linguistics

Systemic Functional Linguistics is a theory of language which explains what language is. It is also an approach to language that considers it as a social semiotic system. Language is used to make sense of the world by making exchanges that need interaction among people in a particular situation and cultural context.

The exchanges follow instructions that are analyzed by the metafunctions of language. The first function is "interpersonal", which means it needs to enact social relationships to negotiate and construct meaning. The second one is "textual function", which is used to analyze the link among complex ideas in order to make them cohesive and coherent. The last one is "Ideational function", which includes talking about experiences, place, relationships, and circumstances in which events occur.  

The SFL  is also analyzed at the level of discourse which implies considering Genre, Register, and Text. Besides, in the book Genre, Text, Grammar are included  other two elements which are Context and Grammar to study the language :

·         Genre contemplates the social context and the relations in which texts are produced. It defines the individual characteristics of a text as determined by its context.

·         Register deals with the language processes we use to construct products.

·         Texts can be any meaning-producing event such as films, conversations, etc. It analyzes the choices and limitations language users have when putting words together in texts.

·          Context is the environment of a language event (text).

·         Grammar examines generic, textual, and syntactical perspectives to describe how particular texts are put together.

As we could see before, discourse and text do not mean the same. Discourse is a sequence of utterances while Text is a discourse in verbal communication. A text is created in a cultural context, with a social purpose, a set of beliefs, social practices, social relations, and values. Additionally, it needs a situational context which implies considering Field, Tenor, and Mode. The three of them are related to the metafunctions of language (ideational, interpersonal, and textual) :

o   Field refers to the subject matter or topic (ideational function)                    

o   Tenor refers to the roles of the participants in interaction (interpersonal function)

o   Mode refers to the channel of communication (textual function)

Furthermore, we should take into account that even though we consider texts as any meaning producing event, speech, and writing are not the same. Both of them share one essential characteristic that is they are used to communicate. However they have many differences. On the one hand, speech is produced by sounds.  It is temporal, immediate, sequential and it can be edited just with time fillers. On the other hand, writing is visual and it exists in time. Moreover, it is written in a hierarchical form, it can be edited, and it shows language development.

To sum up, SFL is a system with essential properties,  it has terms mutually exclusive, it is finite, the meanings are connected to each other and it implies interaction among people. Furthermore, it recognizes that while language is produced by individuals, the shape and structure of the language is to a large degree socially determined. From my point of view, it is highly important to consider this idea since an extreme individualistic/ creative view eliminates teaching but an extreme social/ structuralistic view eliminates the individual. Consequently, the perspective of language as social progress, allows us to explain and analyze arrangements of language ad grammatical structures or constructions that are formed by individuals in social contexts to serve specific social needs and requirements.

Porfolio 6, step 2. lee iv de luzfernndez9

VIDEOS:

Systemic Functional Linguistic theory considers language as a social process that contributes to the realization of different social contexts. It explores how people use language in different contexts and how language is structured as a semiotic system. Besides, it provides tools to analyze written and spoken texts with particular attention given to the context in which they are produced.

It is useful to use it in the classroom because English language learners have lack of empathy and teachers believe that content is not their responsibility. However, SFL accommodates ELLs by providing metalanguage and helping them determine how writers create meaning in texts.

SFL theory distinguishes between context of culture and contexts of situation, both imply Genre and Register (Field, Tenor, and Mode). The Context varies, for instance, if you are reading you should consider who wrote the text,  when, where, and why was it written, and what kind of text is it. But if you are writing you should take into account the audience. Thus you should explain, demonstrate, and give examples.

It is notably important to implement SFL in classrooms. The educational applications of SLF are generally designed to teach students how to operate in social contexts relevant to their educational, social, and cultural needs. In order to implement it, we, as future teachers have to explore the content with the students, provide clear instructions, grant guided practice but also independent study. By doing so we could carry out SFL in the classroom.

Interactive board

http://linoit.com/users/elianasolgonza/canvases/LEE%20IV?inner=1

Metacognitive Analysis:

This lesson shares a lot of information and luckily, I could understand each word, that is why I consider I learnt a lot about it  The most important thing is that I could recognize the theory and how to apply it in order to implement it in the classroom, for instance, by exploring the content with the learners, providing them clear instructions, granting them guided practice and also independent study.  Besides, I believe it is particularly interesting to understand a little bit more about how language works and also bear in mind all its perspectives while planning, teaching, correcting, and giving feedback. Furthermore, I discovered two applications that I will add to the ones I have been using in order to improve my classes. Due to the fact that  I have neither made a questionary with a google form, nor an interactive board up to now, both of them were new for me. Fortunately, now I know how to use them and I will do it in future classes.