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Systemic-Functional Grammar: An Outline, Sintesi del corso di Lingua Inglese

Università degli Studi di Messina (UNIME)Lingua Inglese

Riassunto del libro Systemic functional grammar and multimodal studies per esame di inglese I

Tipologia: Sintesi del corso

2020/2021

Caricato il 13/06/2022

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CHAPTER 1
An outline of systemic-functional grammar
1.0 formal vs functional grammar
There are different kind of approaches to grammar.
- One of this is the FORMAL APPROACH that focuses on the form, in grammar
and its structures: syntactic, lexical, verbal.
- Another one is the FUNCTIONAL APPROACH, that focuses on the meaning and
the uses of language form. It tries to understand why, in certain situation, we use
past simple for example- study a language according to its function and role.
According to Chomsky, rules and structures (such as sub+ verb + obf) generate a
language.
- Every sentence is formed by a NP (NOUN PHRASE) followed by a VP (VERB
PHRASE)
ex. Mark was reading.
-A noun can be replaced by a pro-noun
ex. The students -> They
-A noun can be preceded optionally by a suffix indicating the plural.
ex. Those book-s
The context allows us to choose between different options (ex. active/passive).
The TRANSFORMATIONAL - GENERATIVE APPROACH, invented by
Chomsky, is the most formal approach to grammar. The main characteristics are:
- universal grammar: every language has some of the same laws
- transformational rules: serve the purpose of showing the relationships between
sentences with the same meaning, but different forms from a grammatical
standpoints.
- possible vs impossible: Chomsky holds that grammar should not generate
ungrammatical sentences, in fact generative grammar is concerned with what is
possible in language.
- innatism: Chomsky affirms that each individual was born with an innate
predisposition to speak and learn languages, and for this reason a speaker can
produce and understand a language.
But a CONTEXTUAL APPROACH considers also the context in which the event
takes place,and for this reason we can know why the author of a text used the
present perfect and not the past simple (maybe the action has some effects in the
present or we don't know when the action happened) .
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CHAPTER 1

An outline of systemic-functional grammar 1.0 formal vs functional grammar There are different kind of approaches to grammar.

**- One of this is the FORMAL APPROACH that focuses on the form, in grammar and its structures: syntactic, lexical, verbal.

  • Another one is the FUNCTIONAL APPROACH, that focuses on the meaning and the uses of language form. It tries to understand why, in certain situation, we use past simple for example- study a language according to its function and role. According to Chomsky, rules and structures (such as sub+ verb + obf) generate a language.
  • Every sentence is formed by a NP (NOUN PHRASE) followed by a VP (VERB PHRASE) ex. Mark was reading. -A noun can be replaced by a pro-noun ex. The students -> They -A noun can be preceded optionally by a suffix indicating the plural. ex. Those book-s The context allows us to choose between different options (ex. active/passive). The TRANSFORMATIONAL - GENERATIVE APPROACH, invented by Chomsky, is the most formal approach to grammar. The main characteristics are:
  • universal grammar: every language has some of the same laws
  • transformational rules: serve the purpose of showing the relationships between sentences with the same meaning, but different forms from a grammatical standpoints.
  • possible vs impossible: Chomsky holds that grammar should not generate ungrammatical sentences, in fact generative grammar is concerned with what is possible in language.
  • innatism: Chomsky affirms that each individual was born with an innate predisposition to speak and learn languages, and for this reason a speaker can produce and understand a language. But a CONTEXTUAL APPROACH considers also the context in which the event takes place,and for this reason we can know why the author of a text used the present perfect and not the past simple (maybe the action has some effects in the present or we don't know when the action happened).**

1.1 Language and social man According to Halliday's initial thinking a social environment is made up of people and constituted by language. Language is thus a functional tool for development which grows through the accumulation of everyday experiences. Language shapes experience and helps people connect and establish relationship with other people and with the world. Without language there will be no social man, but without social man there will be no language. INTER-ORGANISM PERSPECTIVE: Language can and should be studied in context; needs to be analyzed in specific examples, in a specific place and at a specific time and produced by a speaker or by a community of speakers. INTRA-ORGANISM PERSPECTIVE: Language could be analyzed outside a context, as an inner property, considering the internal make-up of a person's brain, their cerebral processes. Halliday believes that language is a system: a tripartite language disciples are related to it: 1)PHONETICS; 2)LANGUAGE CHANGE; 3)LANGUAGE VARIETIES We find also other fields of inquiry related to language: 1)LANGUAGE AS ART: Literature and literary studies ;2)LANGUAGE AS BEHAVIOUR: Directed towards a situational route; 3)LANGUAGE AS KNOWLEDGE: Directed towards the conceptual routeLanguage is the key factor in determining the acquisition of social role on the part of individual. Individuals do not occupy just one role during their lives but a multiplicity of roles. It is through language that all these roles may be taken up by individuals and negotiated with a multiplicity of other social roles. The development of these multiple roles is what Halliday calls “personality” which is thus adquired in consequence of being a member of society. Halliday's thinking come to the notion that language is functional: language is seen as a form of interaction and learnt thought interaction. It is learnt by children through the acquisition of a range of possibilities made available by language, what Halliday calls “meaning potential”.

1.1.3 Register There are an infinite number of possible situations which are reduced to a smaller and manageable set of situation types. In every possible situation type, there are three variables:

  1. what kind of communicative event is taking place
  2. who is taking part
  3. what role is played by language These variables taken together result in the REGISTER which is important to understand what situational factors determine what linguistic features. Register may be subdivided into three different categories:
  4. FIELD OF DISCOURSE: refers to the setting in which communication takes place, the topic or the subject matter and the participants involved.
  5. MODE OF DISCOURSE: the role played by the language activity in the situation. This distinction refers primarily to the spoken or written discourse types.
  6. TENOR OF DISCOURSE: the relationships established and maintained among participants. So register is a product of the interplay between these three categories. Each situation calls up a different register, as it is a variety established by USE. Halliday also made reference to dialects, which he considers as central to the relationship of language and social man. Unlike registers, dialects are varieties established by the USER. 1.1.4 Context of culture and context of situation
  • CONTEXT OF CULTURE: defines the potential or possibilities which language makes available to the community of speakers.
  • CONTEXT OF SITUATION is defined by the notions of field, mode and tenor, which help establish the real choices operated by speakers. FIELD : choices from the experiential system
  • External: actions that we make
  • Internal: internal processes that we make to organize actions TENOR : social and role relationships, interpersonal choices MODE: symbolic organization of texts, organization of the information flow.

• METAFUNCTION

  • FUNCTION: La funzione è la funzione comunicativa che troviamo nel quadro europeo la funzione è quello che descrive degli usi linguistici nel contesto (livello più basso di astrazione, quello che Saussure chiama PARÒLE)
  • METAFUNCTION: funzione più astratta, opera a un livello più alto e astratto, che interpreta e organizza la lingua non nella lessico-grammatica, ma nella socio- semantica (META=funzione nella funzione).
  • 3 DIFFERENT METAFUNCTIONS
  1. IDEATIONAL : experiential (the “understanding/interpreting component” is making sense of the word, understand what happens in the external and internal world)+ logical (is about sentences, how to connect sentences)
  2. INTERPERSONAL : ”doing component” Doing + understanding components it helps us to understand what is the focus of the action and how this action is developing (the way in which the action is developed) o Language plays a dual role:
  • It constructs the human experience
  • It enacts social relationships
  1. TEXTUAL: creates a connection between EXPERIENCES and RELATIONSHIPS (WHAT HAPPENS and WHAT WE INTERPRET)- creates a link between the two (IDEATIONAL and INTERPERSONAL). The theory of grammar includes categories such as unit, structure, class and system.
  • UNITS: carry grammatical pattern o RANK is the scale on which units are arranged. In English there are five units:
    1. SENTENCE: more than 1 verb, is made up of one ore more complete clauses
  1. CLAUSE: chank of language where we have 1 verb, made up of one or more complete groups
  • Finite: there’s a verb in a complete form (ex. Present simple, perfect etc.)
  • Non-finite: there’s a verb in a incomplete form (ex. Past participle)
  1. GROUP (PHRASE), made up of one or more complete words
  2. WORD, made up of one or more complete morphemes
  3. MORPHEME

The inclusion of an object, makes the clause transitive, but when the object is absent, we have an intransitive verb.

  • TRANSITIVE: a verb that carries an object (ex. Verbs like create, develop etc.) i.e. The lion caught the tourist
  • The lion = actor
  • Caught = material process
  • The tourist = goal
  • INTRANSITIVE: a verb that doesn’t carry any object i.e. The lion sprang
  • The lion = actor
  • Sprang = material process OPERATIVE (ACTIVE) VS RECEPTIVE (PASSIVE) VOICE
  • OPERATIVE The lion caught the tourist o The lion= actor o Caught= material process (active)
  • RECEPTIVE The tourist was caught by the lion o The tourist= goal o Was caught= material process (passive) o By the lion= actor 1.2.1 Material Processes
  • MATERIAL PROCESS
  • Represents what participants do, what happens in the world and what participants make happen -> The material process clause builds the world around and inside us The ACTOR is the one who brings out change - non si deve obbligatoriamente associare al soggetto (sono 2 cose diverse)- ACTOR is different from SUBJECT It may also be an object or an entity The GOAL is the one which the action is directed at I.e - Ireland (PARTICIPANT) beats (MATERIAL PROCESS) one of the favourites (GOAL) in stunning fashion (CIRCUMSTANCE)
  • Sharp (PARTICIPANT/ACTOR) produced (MATERIAL PROCESS) ‘Galapagos’ tablet PC (GOAL)

Material process can be subdivided in more delicate categories:

Creative material processes: an actor or goal that is brought to existence as the process being talked to unfolds in time (ex. Shakespeare wrote poems and plays) Transformative material processes: a pre-existing actor o goal that is changed in the process (The car has been damaged in the accident) (not all processes are creative or transformative) ADDITIONAL PARTICIPANTS in material clauses are:

  • Recipient: did Frank give you (recipient of the goal) some flowers?
  • Client: heal the world, make it a better place, for you and for me and the entire human race.
  • Attribute ERGATIVE VERBS:
  • They alternate between transitive and intransitive patterns (they can be both transitive or intransitive): I.e Ford increased the sales of automobiles last year (TRANSITIVE) The sales of automobiles increased last year (INTRANSITIVE) **1.2.2 Mental processes
  • MENTAL PROCESSES They deal with the internal processes of human experience. They are clauses of SENSING - not only emotions, but also all cognitive processes, all what happens in our brain. They cannot be described as having “doing” or “happening” qualities (ex. I am fascinated by this landscaping)
  • The participant who feels is the SENSER, the nominal group that describes what is felt is the PHENOMENOM I.e. I (SENSER) am fascinated (MENTAL PROCESS) by this landscape (PHENOMENOM) o The SENSER is always a human participant o The PHENOMENOM may be a thing, an action or a fact (i.e. an action that has become another preposition) Mental clauses can project another clause = IDEA CLAUSES**

The winners are always (are represented by) those in perfect shape

  • in identifying clauses, there is always reversibility (Ann is my sister, my sister is Ann)
  • In attributive clauses, reversibility is normally not allowed (Italian I am) 1.2.4 Behavioral processes These are processes of physical and psychological behaviour, expressed by verbs such as breathing, coughing, smiling, dreaming, laughing, etc.
  • the participant who is behaving is called the BEHAVED, while the behaviour (usually not present) is not a real participant, but just a detail about the process 1.2.5 Verbal processes They express processes of “saying”
  • The SPEAKER, which is labelled ‘SAYER’, is the participant who speaks and in general it is human, but can also be non-human and/or implicit in special cases I.e. i was asked for some extra help. (Who asked?) An important characteristic is that Verbal process verbs can project other clauses (Discorso indiretto), i.e. she said that…. The verbal clause displays three other participants: o VERBIAGE = is what is said o RECEIVER/RECIPIENT = is the person to whom what is said is directed o TARGET= is the entity which is targeted by the process of saying 1.2.6 Existential process They represent something which simply “is” or “exist” (there is, there are in tutte I possibili tempi verbali).

2.0 what is multimodality? Multimodal studies are based on approaches that provide a method of analyzing texts that include a range of sets of semiotic resources (the means we use for communicative purposes, also the meaning potential of material resources. i.e. language, images, gesture, music..).

  • All kind of texts presents an array of features that cannot be ascribed to just one semiotic resource -> no text is monomodal.
  • A semiotic resource can produce meanings, if there is a deliberate attempt at making it meaningful, and a community which ‘agrees’ as regards interpreting such intended meanings.
  • Multimodality is connected to semiotics, not with technology REMEMBER: Multimodality ≠ multimediality 2.1 Text and textuality Texts involve different interacting systems-> texts are more than language They are inseparable part of the meaning-making (i.e. producing meaning) activities in which they take part Texts recontextualize meanings and practices in one modality to some other modality -> these modalities are considered meaning-making activities I.e. A film version of a novel is a recontextualization of other semiotic modalities
  • Meaning making: it’s something we all recognise as a “symbol”, that we human being share socially (un significato che condividiamo socialmente)
  • Multimodality: recognising that communication is more than language -Following Halliday, a text is meaning making event whose functions are defined by their use in particular social contexts
  • In any text, there will always be some expected and easily predictable patterns and some unexpected ones. CI SONO DELLE COSTRUZIONI CHE NOI CI ASPETTIAMO, MA, A CAUSA DEGLI ”UNEXPECTED PATTERNS” NON POSSIAMO MAI SAPERE COSA ACCADRA’ REALMENTE AL 100% (es. un poliziesco con un colpo di scena) 2.2 Multimodal text analysis Texts can thus be selected and analyzed from a multimodal perspective. The main theoretical frameworks used will be those provided by Baldry and Thibault on the one hand, and by Kris’s and van Leeuwen, on the other.
  • What are the characteristics that can be selected to account for a text as a multimodal phenomenon? According to Baldry and Thibault, CLUSTERS are prefabricated multimodal units, made up of different resources. They are indicators of the effects of the resource integration principle. Etymology of the word ‘text’: ‘wording of anything written’. -> so text is thus strongly linked with ideas of written documents even in current times. However, the multimodal turn has helped to expand this notion, also including other phenomena, such as: language of music, photos, moving images… We need to be alerted to the fact that viewing and appreciating an image, a drawing or a photo cannot be translated into language in automatic and objective ways; interpretations may be vary. 2.3. Texts and images Kress and van Leeuwen claim that visual grammar describes how visual elements combine to create VISUAL STATEMENTS. Their operation stands in opposition to traditional views of grammar, which with their normative procedures were devoid of social implications.
  • their core concepts also draw on the multimodal notion of resources (called semiotic modes).
  • they also contend that meanings belong to culture and are not intrinsically bound to semiotic modes. Meaning are mapped across semiotic modes according to systems established by culture: some meanings can be expressed both visually and verbally, others only verbally and others only visually and this depends on culture.

Kress and van Leeuwen argue that visual communication has developed with less constraints than language. However, visual language is controlled today by the empires of mass media production.

  • But how is the theory of visual representation configured is Kress and van Leeuwen’s grammar of visual design? They start from a social semiotic theory of representation, where the central notion is constituted by the SIGN, pointing out that forms (signifiers), as well as the ways in which they are shaped, produce meanings (signified). So this process is focused on the process of sign-making in which the signifier (the form) and the signified (the meaning) are relatively independent of each other until they are brought together by sign-maker. Signs are motivated (not arbitrary) conjunctions of signifiers and signified. This view is rather innovative as it highlights the uniqueness of the individual contribution in sign-making. So Kress, van Leeuwen, Baldry and Thibault amply draw from the three metafunctions to describe certain patterns of verbal/visual interpretation.