1. Systemic Functional Linguistics as a
Framework for Qualitative Online Studies
Dr Irene Pollach
University of Aarhus, Denmark

2. Outline Systemic functional linguistics What is that?
And what can it be used for?
Meta-functions of language
Offline
Online

3. Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL)
Halliday (1978, 1994)
Proposed for studies of linear written text and oral communication
Not tied to a particular research design
Theoretical framework for qual, quant, or mixed-method
Received next to no attention in online research
Can be applied to online communication

4. 3 Meta-Functions of Language
Categorization of language resources into three functions:
Ideational: "Text is always about something" (mental world)
Interpersonal: "Text is always to and from somebody" (social world)
Textual: "Text always exhibits structure and organization" (physical world)

5. 3 Meta-Functions of Language
Interdependent of each other
Exhibited by all meaning-carrying units in a text
Text
Visual elements
Structural elements
Context

6. Context "Text always occurs in a context"
"the situational, nonlinguistic surroundings of a text"
3 meta-functions not sufficient to understand text
Context needed to understand meaning
Characterized by:
Field: Social activity taking place ( content)
Tenor: Role structure in a particular situation ( to/from somebody)
Mode: the communication channel

7. SFL & Online Research
How have Web media expanded the 3 meta-functions of language resources?

8. 1 :: Ideational Function
Language represents content of a text
Processes & participant: events, relations, participant roles
Circumstances: place, manner, purpose, reason
Time: before-now, now, or after-now
Concept taxonomies: content words and how they cluster and are arranged hierarchically

9. 1 :: Ideational :: Online
Content that was not / could not be produced offline
New genres, text types
Corporate website:
Opportunity for self-presentation
Manifestation of corporate identity to internal and external stakeholders
No gatekeeper, unrestricted publishing
New process types, new participants, new circumstances

10. 2 :: Interpersonal Function
Language as a medium of exchange b/w people
Conveying positional meaning:
express attitudes towards the content
Conveying relational meaning:
construct identity
assign roles to self and others, enact relations
Important concepts:
evaluations, formality, intimacy/distance, status and power, roles

11. 2 :: Interpersonal :: Online
Relational meaning created in new ways:
Construct identity:
Profiles: self-presentation, explicit self
Links: what you want to be associated with
'Buddies': who you want to be associated with
Assign roles to self and others
Not necessarily separation b/w writers and readers
New roles, new relationships
Positional meaning created in new ways:
Rating, commenting, blogging

12. 2 :: Interpersonal :: Online
Blog
Personal journal style
Entries displayed in reverse chronological sequence, makes diachronic dimension explicit
Clearly defined author, whose content is more important than comments
Content posted, option to comment
Blogger's profile
Cues about interests through links

14. 3 :: Textual Function Language structures messages
Texts need to be organized to realize the other 2 functions
Puts emphasis on parts of a text
Creates cohesion within a text
Links text with its context
2 categories of textual resources:
Themes: what sentence is about and how that progresses through the entire text
Cohesion: make one coherent whole of text

15. 3 :: Textual :: Online Organization of the text within a page
Embedment of individual pages within the whole site
New means of meaning making
navigation features (e.g. links to text before)
organization features (not always decided by author)
links to context (e.g. profile, terms of use)
visual consistency, color symbolism

16. 3 :: Textual :: C2C site

17. 3 :: Textual :: C2C site

18. 3 :: Textual :: C2C site

19. Summary Ideational: moved to the Web relatively unscathed
New processes, participants, circumstances
Structural elements create participants
Interpersonal:
Biggest expansion
Explicit self
Implicit meaning, e.g. through association
Structural elements assign roles
Textual:
More meaning in structural elements
May limit ways of expression
Solicits expression

20. Sources
Abbasi, A., & Chen, H. (2008). Cybergate: A design framework and system for text analysis of computer-mediated communication, MIS Quarterly, 32(4),
Fairclough, N. (1989): Language and power. London: Longman.
Fairclough, N. (1992): Discourse and social change. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Halliday, M.A.K. and Hasan, R. (1976): Cohesion in English. London: Longman.
Halliday, M.A.K. (1978): Language as social semiotic: The social interpretation of language and meaning. London: Edward Arnold.
Halliday, M.A.K. (1994): An introduction to functional grammar. 2nd ed. London: Edward Arnold.
O'Halloran, K. (2008). Systemic functional-multimodal discourse analysis (SF-MDA): Constructing ideational meaning using language and visual imagery, Visual Communication, 7(4),
Stillar, G.F. (1998): Analyzing everyday texts. Discourse, rhetoric, and social perspectives. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Schmidt, J. (2007). Blogging practices. An analytical framework. Journal of computer-Mediated Communication, 12(4), article 13.

21. Systemic Functional Linguistics as a
Framework for Qualitative Online Studies
Dr Irene Pollach
University of Aarhus, Denmark