1. Halliday’s Theory

2. Systemic functional grammar (SFG) or systemic functional linguistics (SFL) is a model of grammar that was developed by Michael Halliday in the 1960s.[1] It is part of a broad social semiotic approach to language called systemic linguistics. The term "systemic" refers to the view of language as "a network of systems, or interrelated sets of options for making meaning";[2] The term "functional" indicates that the approach is concerned with meaning, as opposed to formal grammar, which focuses on word classes such as nouns and verbs, typically without reference beyond the individual clause.
Systemic functional grammar is concerned primarily with the choices that the grammar makes available to speakers and writers.[1] These choices relate speakers' and writers' intentions to the concrete forms of a language. Traditionally the "choices" are viewed in terms of either the content or the structure of the language used. In SFG, language is analyzed in three different ways, or strata: semantics, phonology, and lexicogrammar.[3] SFG presents a view of language in terms of both structure (grammar) and words (lexis). The term "lexicogrammar" describes this combined approach.

3. Systemic-Functional Linguistics (SFL) is a theory of language centered around the notion of language function.
SFL accounts for the syntactic structure of language.
It places the function of language as central (what language does, and how it does it), in preference to more structural approaches, which place the elements of language and their combinations as central.
SFL starts at social context, and looks at how language both acts upon, and is constrained by, this social context.

4. A central notion is 'stratification', such that language is analyzed in terms of four strata: Context, Semantics, Lexico- Grammar and Phonology-Graphology.
Context concerns the Field (what is going on), Tenor (the social roles and relationships between the participants), and the Mode (aspects of the channel of communication, e.g., monologic/dialogic, spoken/written, +/- visual- contact, etc.).
Systemic semantics includes what is usually called 'pragmatics'. Semantics is divided into three components:
a) Ideational Semantics (the propositional content);
b)Interpersonal Semantics (concerned with speech- function, exchange structure, expression of attitude, etc.);
c)Textual Semantics (how the text is structured as a message, e.g., theme-structure, given/new, rhetorical structure etc.

5. 3. The Lexico-Grammar concerns the syntactic organization of words into utterances. Even here, a functional approach is taken, involving analysis of the utterance in terms of roles such as Actor, Agent/Medium, Theme Mood, etc. (See Halliday 1994 for full description).

6. Four Stratification of Hallidays Theory:
1. Discourse  need contexts: (1) Socio-culture and (2) situation
2. Semantics  represented in metafunction (three meaning): ideational, interpersonal, and textual
3. Lexico-grammar
4. Phonology Graphology.

7. The context of situation is made up of all the phenomena which affect the discourse. In face-to-face interaction, the context of situation includes the immediate and wider environment in which the text actually occurs, like the classroom in the case of a teaching discourse, the shop or market in a sales transaction, the workshop in the case of a discussion about a gearbox replacement.

8. The context of culture is an intricate complex of various social phenomena involving historical and geographical settings but also more general aspects like the field of the activity: education, medicine, provision of goods and services in exchange for money. Car maintenance discourse in a highly hierarchical society may be different from that which takes place in a relatively egalitarian society. Classroom discourse takes place within a wider cultural context of, say, university education or secondary school education, or slightly more specifically African university education, or Kenyan University education.

9. The discipline in question also plays a part in the context of culture: thus a physics lecture takes place within the cultural practices and traditions of the field of physics at large as well as in a particular education system or institution.

10. Language as a resource for making meaning; language in actual use and focus on texts and their contexts

11. The Context – Text Connection
All meaning is situated:
In a context of situation
in a context of culture

12. Context of situation: through the use of the register variables :
Field : what’s going on
Activity focus
Object focus
Tenor : social relationship between those taking part
Status or power (agent roles, peer or hierarchic relations
Affect (degree of like, dislike or neutrality)
Contact (frequency, duration and intimacy of social contact
Mode : how language is being used
The channel of communication is spoken or written
Language is being used as a mode of action or reflection

13. Types of meaning/Functions :
Ideational : meanings about phenomena (things, what’s going on, circumstances)
participants
process
circumstances
Interpersonal : meanings which express a speaker’s attitudes and judgments
mood
modality
Textual : meaning as expressed the relation of language to its environment (verbal and non verbal (co-text) and situational (context)
theme
cohesion
Influenced by the
field of discourse
Influenced by tenor
of discourse
Influenced by the
mode of discourse

14. Context and text connection
Semantics (meanings)
Lexicogrammar (wordings)
Field (what’s going on)
Tenor (social relations)
Mode (contextual coherence
ideational
interpersonal
textual
transitivity
Mood and modality
Theme, cohesion

15. Stages: distinctive beginnings, middles and ends
Context of culture
GENRE
Genre: a culturally specific text-types which results from using language (written or spoken) to help accomplish something
purposes
Stages: distinctive beginnings, middles and ends
Linguistic feature

16. Types of genre Genre Social function/purpose Generic structure/stages
Linguistic feature
1. narrative
To amuse, entertain and to deal with actual or vicarious experiences in different ways
Orientation
evaluation
Complication
Resolution
Re-orientation
Focus on specific participants
use of material process
Use relational process
Use temporal conjunction and temporal circumstances
Use of past tense

17. Social function/purpose Generic structure/stages
genre
Social function/purpose
Generic structure/stages
Linguistic feature
2. spoof
3. recount
To retell event with humorous twist
To retell events for the purpose of informing or entertaining
Orientation
events
twist
orientation
re-orientation
Focus on specific participants
use of material process
circumstances of time and place
Use of past tense
focus on specific participants
Use of material processes
Circumstances of time and place
Focus on temporal sequences

18. A representation of the model of language
Context of
SITUATION
CULTURE
Context of
A culture will determine the kinds of genres which are valued and a situation will determine the specific instance of that genre.
The language choices will reflect the specific situation.
LANGUAGE
tenor
field
REGISTER
GENRE

19. Why can we make meaning from them? Do they mean the same to everyone?
Door:
real door
Typical of a specific era – if you were an architect, the era might interest you
symbolic for future possibilities or closed possibilities
understood as a symbol by people in this culture as often used as a metaphor
may be understood by other cultures
Man on top of the world:
not real at all: only symbolic for feeling good, achieving success
Dragon
representative of a cultural group
recognised but not have a close affinity to other cultural groups
choice to use this symbol would be to align to this cultural group
Choice of symbol may not attract some
Generally
Visuals are a meaning making system dependent on culture
Reading visual texts are dynamic processes involving not only the text and its author but also the person reading the text
Reading visual texts involves engaging with the purpose of the text, the intention of the author and one’s own knowledge and experience
Thus all visual texts are influenced by the cultures, values, ideologies and world views in and through which they are created and consumed
Certain images are favoured and presented as normal and there may be preferred or dominant interpretations of an image, with which the viewer may not agree, or images which are excluded e.g. a visual of an exclusive high rise apartment may exclude the image of struggling poor who have no where to live
Some images may be so familiar to us that we may forget that they are in fact culturally specific
Implication
Language is also a meaning making system and it too may be influenced by culture
What do they mean?
Why can we make meaning from them?
Do they mean the same to everyone?

20. When I got home last night, I could not believe what ………….. had done.
Possible choices for the missing word would be dependant on the context, relationship, attitude to the “thing / person” , and mode of communication
What choices are possible?
What’s the implication of the choice?

21. What is implied about what a language system has to encapsulate?
Culture
Genre
Topic
Relationships
Mode
What is the broad and specific context?
How does that impact on the text?
What is the specific purpose of the text?
How is it organised to achieve this?
What is being discussed / written about?
Who is taking part? What is the nature of their relationship? What are their statuses and roles?
Is it spoken, written or multimodal?
Culture impacts on the types of genres which are generated
Genre can be any regularly occurring text
Topic, relationship, mode impact simultaneously on the text and is reflected in the language choices

22. What’s the context of the text? What accompanies the language?
What kind of a text is it? (genre)
What are the stages of the text?
What is it about? (field)
Who is involved? (tenor)
Mode of communication? (mode)
A: Yes Please
B: Can I have those two?
A: Yes. One’s forty five. One’s twenty five.
B: And have you got …………………..
A: Yes. How many would you like?
B: I’ll take two
A: Right. That’s four dollars twenty altogether.
B: Here you are.
A: Thankyou.
B: Thankyou.
Context? Shopping in a shop - western culture (no bartering), not in “furniture store” because prices are low and the customer is buying multiple amounts.
What kind of a text? (genre) transaction with a formulaic structure
What is it about? (field) we don’t know, but regardless we can still tell a lot about this text
Who is involved? (tenor) a shop keeper and customer – and expected relationship is embedded in speech functions and level of poilteness
Mode of communication? (mode) face to face – can be seen by shortness of utterances

23. What’s the context of the text? What accompanies the language?
Data reveals that the greatest consumer spending traditionally occurs during the pre Christmas period. A consequence of this spending is debt. The publicity and expectation of a gift laden Christmas has lead some families to incur debts beyond their means of immediate repayment, leading to the additional and spiralling cost of interest fees. A substantial education program is required to reverse this trend.
What’s the context of the text?
What accompanies the language?
What kind of a text is it? (genre)
What are the stages of the text?
What is it about? (field)
Who is involved? (tenor)
Mode of communication? (mode)
Mode of communication? (mode) distant audience – written communication
Who is involved? (tenor) a writer (probably not an official consumer watch dog authority – more likely to be a student researcher) to a distant audience which may not be aware of the debt issue
What is it about? (field) debt resulting from Christmas spending
What kind of a text? (genre) might become an argument for an education program
Context? Western context where Christmas is celebrated, and where speaking “for the oppressed” is also the norm

24. The role of language in education according to Halliday
Knowledge is transmitted in social contexts, through relationships, like those of parent and child, or teacher and pupil, or classmates, that are defined in the value systems and ideology of the culture. And the words that are exchanged in these contexts get their meaning from activities in which they are embedded, which again are social activities with social agencies and goals.

25. Halliday's  theory of "language as a social semiotic" is a very sophisticated, elaborate, "extravagant" (Halliday 1994) sociocultural theory of language, which really builds upon, extends, earlier theories of language and culture and language as social interaction. Its sophistication is in the way Halliday specifies the semiotics of the culture at the level of grammatical constituent, at the level of clause.  

26. The ideational, or cognitive function of language is realized by choices of process (verb) type; subject and object choices are to do with "participants" and their semantic roles; and "circumstances"  are to do with adverbial choice:
For example
Question:
Is there a relation of Case Grammar theory to Functional Grammar?

27. For example, the words which function as the processes of a clause were classified traditionally as verbs, and the meaningful unit which they predicated was classified as a clause; something/s, person/persons, or ideas or facts or utterances or thoughts, were directly involved in the process: these are classified as 'participants' in functional grammar and they are to do with choices in Subject or Object roles in the clause. The circumstances of the processes were classified traditionally as adverbs

28. The interpersonal function is to do with the kinds of communication roles chosen, together with ways of assessing usuallity and probability: For example, our choice of making a statement, asking a question or giving an order is the foundation of the communication roles. Speakers and writers also position themselves in relation to their statement, question or command by assessing usuallity, obligation, probability. These functions are realised by such modals as: sometimes, ought, perhaps.

29. The textual function of language; because word order is central in the structure of English the first word or phrase (or clause in a clause complex) in the clause/clause-complex will be the message of the clause/clause complex. The thematic organization of clauses is the foundation of organization of language into meaningful extended texts, whether those texts are conversational or academic.