Noticing, exploring and practicing: functional grammar in the ESL classroom

This book introduces six general procedures for teaching grammar to learners of English as a second language. The procedures are designed to encourage learners to notice, explore and practice grammar in context. Each description and discussion of a procedure is followed by two sample lesson plans together with sample texts and worksheets. Teachers can either use these 'as is' or adapt them for their own students. The lessons are suitable for a wide range of students from beginning learners to advanced learners. A final chapter provides examples of lessons in which several procedures are combined. In addition, before each sample lesson plan, the grammar focus of the lesson is briefly explained for the teacher. These procedures all illustrate how grammar can be taught through texts, and they are based on an understanding of the latest research on pedagogical grammar and the role of language awareness and discovery in second language learning and provide teachers with principles they can apply in developing their own teaching materials and activities. The grammar explanations preceding each teaching plan provide a fresh look at English grammar drawing on work in systemic functional linguistics.

Adeno-associated virus-8-Mediated intravenous transfer of myostatin propeptide leads to systemic functional improvements of slow but not fast muscle

Myostatin is a member of the transformating growth factor-_ (TGF-_) superfamily of proteins and is produced almost exclusively in skeletal muscle tissue, where it is secreted and circulates as a serum protein. Myostatin acts as a negative regulator of muscle mass through the canonical SMAD2/3/4 signaling pathway. Naturally occurring myostatin mutants exhibit a ‘double muscling’ phenotype in which muscle mass is dramatically increased as a result of both hypertrophy and hyperplasia. Myostatin is naturally inhibited by its own propeptide; therefore, we assessed the impact of adeno associated virus-8 (AAV8) myostatin propeptide vectors when systemically introduced in MF-1 mice. We noted a significant systemic increase in muscle mass in both slow and fast muscle phenotypes, with no evidence of hyperplasia; however, the nuclei-to- cytoplasm ratio in all myofiber types was significantly reduced. An increase in muscle mass in slow (soleus) muscle led to an increase in force output; however, an increase in fast (extensor digitorum longus [EDL]) muscle mass did not increase force output. These results suggest that the use of gene therapeutic regimens of myostatin inhibition for age-related or disease-related muscle loss may have muscle-specific effects.

University large lectures in MICASE: a systemic functional analysis

Se analizan las estrategias y la estructura discursiva de las conferencias del corpus MICASE (El corpus de inglés académico oral de la Universidad de Michigan) desde una perspectiva dual: el enfoque sistémico-funcional y el estudio de Young sobre conferencias. Los resultados demuestran que las conferencias son un género complejo que no solo incluye el contenido ideacional sino diversas evaluaciones de los profesores sobre los temas tratados. Los profesores usan fuentes académicas, convenciones formales y un estilo idiosincrático. También muestran su punto de vista mediante el uso de marcadores modales y adverbios que varían en función de las distintos tipos de conferencia (Biología/ Ciencias de la Salud, Arte y Humanidades, Ciencias Sociales/ Educación).

Disciplinary talk:a systemic functional exploration of university seminar discussions

Despite the growth of spoken academic corpora in recent years, relatively little is known about the language of seminar discussions in higher education. This thesis compares seminar discussions across three disciplinary areas. The aim of this thesis is to uncover the functions and patterns of talk used in different disciplinary discussions and to highlight language on a macro and micro level that would be useful for materials design and teaching purposes. A framework for identifying and analysing genres in spoken language based on Hallidayan Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) is used. Stretches of talk sharing a similar purpose and predictable functional staging, termed Discussion Macro Genres (DMGs) are identified. Language is compared across DMGs and across disciplines through use of corpus techniques in conjunction with SFL genre theory. Data for the study comprises just over 180,000 tokens and is drawn from the British Academic Spoken English corpus (BASE), recorded at two universities in the UK. The discipline areas investigated are Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences and Physical Sciences. Findings from this study make theoretical, empirical and methodological contributions to the field of spoken EAP. The empirical findings are firstly, that the majority of the seminar discussion can be assigned to one of the three main DMG in the corpus: Responding, Debating and Problem Solving. Secondly, it characterises each discipline area according to two DMGs. Thirdly, the majority of the discussion is non-oppositional in nature, suggesting that ‘debate’ is not the only form of discussion that students need to be prepared for. Finally, while some characteristics of the discussion are tied to the DMG and common across disciplines, others are discipline specific. On a theoretical level, this study shows that an SFL genre model for investigating spoken discourse can be successfully extended to investigate longer stretches of discourse than have previously been identified. The methodological contribution is to demonstrate how corpus techniques can be combined with SFL genre theory to investigate extended stretches of spoken discussion. The thesis will be of value to those working in the field of teaching spoken EAP/ ESAP as well as to materials developers.

Bridging the gap between stylistic and cognitive approaches to authorship analysis using systemic functional linguistics and multidimensional analysis

In the present state of the art of authorship attribution there seems to be an opposition between two approaches: cognitive and stylistic methodologies. It is proposed in this article that these two approaches are complementary and that the apparent gap between them can be bridged using Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) and in particular some of its theoretical constructions, such as codal variation. This article deals with the theoretical explanation of why such a theory would solve the debate between the two approaches and shows how these two views of authorship attribution are indeed complementary. Although the article is fundamentally theoretical, two example experimental trials are reported to show how this theory can be developed into a workable methodology of doing authorship attribution. In Trial 1, a SFL analysis was carried out on a small dataset consisting of three 300-word texts collected from three different authors whose socio-demographic background matched across a number of parameters. This trial led to some conclusions about developing a methodology based on SFL and suggested the development of another trial, which might hint at a more accurate and useful methodology. In Trial 2, Biber's (1988) multidimensional framework is employed, and a final methodology of authorship analysis based on this kind of analysis is proposed for future research. © 2013, EQUINOX PUBLISHING.

Para uma pedagogia das literacias: das conceções e práticas docentes aos conceitos e competências discentes. Um estudo da aula de língua portuguesa no 2º ciclo do ensino básico

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências da Educação (Especialidade em Literacias e Ensino do Português)

O portfólio na formação inicial do professor reflexivo de inglês como língua estrangeira: uma análise sistêmico-funcional

This research deals with the insertion of the portfolio as a resource to the development of the reflective action in training teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Its goal is to characterize linguistic marks that show the reflective process in learning narratives collected in portfolios following the considerations of the ideational metafunction of the Systemic-Functional Grammar (SFG) by Halliday (1994). Within the scope of analysis offered by SFG, the system of transitivity was chosen attempting to observe and study the lexicogrammatical choices made by participants to produce their learning narratives. The corpus was composed of twenty-six learning narratives produced by thirteen participants into two distinct modules, designated here as "First Assessment" and "Final Assessment. The analysis were performed using procedures related to Corpus Linguistics, with the aid of the computer resource WordSmith Tools 5.0 (Scott, 1999). The results seems to indicate that preservice teachers, when asked to reflect on activities written on the classroom, use in their narratives a significant majority of mental processes instead of material processes that are common in narratives from other nature. Meanwhile, the use of a portfolio in teacher training in EFL, can be considered as a trigger reflection tool, which allows future teachers' effective monitoring of all their learning process

A linguagem da reflexão de uma professora de Língua Inglesa: um estudo de caso sob a perspectiva do sistema de avaliatividade

Research about teacher education, carried out in the area of Applied Linguistics (AL), reveals the importance of reflective practices in the professional development of teachers. With the aim of contributing to this area, we present this case study conducted at a technical school in Natal, RN. The corpus of the study is formed mainly from the teacher‟s discourse, generated during a stimulated recall session and the instruments used to collect the data: an initial questionnaire, a video recording of a class and the text transcript of the stimulated recall session. The central objective is to understand the way in which the reflection-on-action (SCHÖN, 1983, 1987) can contribute to raise the awareness of an English as a Foreign Language teacher (EFL) about her actions in the classroom. With this proposal, we begin our discussion presenting the origins, the presuppositions and characteristics of the concept of reflection according to Schön (1983, 1987), and supported by other authors (PERRENOUD, 2002; GÓMEZ, 1995; IMBERNÓN, 2009, among others); of critical reflection (LISTON e ZEICHNER, 1993; PIMENTA, 2002; DUTRA e MELLO, 2004, among others); and of the process of critical reflection (SMYTH, 1992). To evidence the reflections that emerge in the teacher‟s discourse, we found support in the theories and methods of Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG), which was initially proposed by Halliday (1985, 1994), Halliday and Hasan (1989), Halliday and Matthiessen (2004) and followers, such as, Eggins (1994), Thompson (1996), among others. We focus mainly on the subsystem of Attitude, an integral component of the system of discourse resources, Appraisal, presented by Martin (2000), Martin and Rose (2003, 2007), Martin and White (2005). The results reveal that the actions of the teacher in the classroom reflect not only her professional experiences, but also her values and concepts about teaching/learning languages. The results also show the teacher‟s awareness of the need for changes in her practices. Faced with these findings, we believe that this study reveals important concepts that can direct teacher educators to rethink new ways of approaching teacher training courses. In addition, it also reveals the importance of discourse analysis based on a systemic functional approach.

"Eu pensei que ia sair daqui falando inglês": um estudo sistêmico-funcional sobre papéis sociais atribuídos por alunos de um curso de Letras/Inglês

Research in the area of teacher training in English as a Foreign Language (CELANI, 2003, 2004, 2010; PAIVA, 2000, 2003, 2005; VIEIRA-ABRAHÃO, 2010) articulates the complexity of beginning teachers classroom contexts aligned with teaching language as a social and professional practice of the teacher in training. To better understand this relationship, the present study is based on a corpus of transcribed interviews and questionnaires applied to 28 undergraduate students majoring in Letters/English emphasis, at a public university located in the interior of the Western Amazon region, soliciting their opinions about the reforms made in the curriculum of this Major. Interviews and questionnaires were used as data collection instruments to trace a profile of the students organized in Group 1, with freshmen and sophomore undergraduates who are following the 2009 curriculum, and Group 2, with junior and senior undergraduates who are following the 2006 curriculum. The objectives are to identify, to characterize and to analyze the types of pronouns, roles and social actors represented in the opinions of these students in relation to their teacher training curriculum. The theoretical support focuses on the challenge of historical and contemporary routes from English teachers initial education programs (MAGALHÃES; LIBERALLI, 2009; PAVAN; SILVA, 2010; ALVAREZ, 2010; VIANA, 2011; PAVAN, 2012). Our theoretical perspective is based on the Systemic Functional Grammar of Halliday (1994), Halliday and Hasan (1989), Halliday and Matthiessen (2004), Eggins (1994; 2004) and Thompson (2004). We focus on the concept of the Interpersonal meaning, specifically regarding the roles articulated in the studies by Delu (1991), Thompson and Thetela (1995), and in the Portuguese language such as Ramos (1997), Silva (2006) and Cabral (2009). Moreover, we ascribe van Leeuwen s (1997; 2003) theory of Representation of Social Actors as a theoretical framework in order to identify the sociological aspect of social actors represented in the students discourse. Within this scenario, the analysis unfolds on three levels: grammatical (pronouns), semantic (roles), and discursive (social actors). For the analysis of interpersonal realizations present in the students opinions, we use the computational program WordSmith Tools (SCOTT, 2010) and its applications Wordlist and Concord to quantify the occurrences of the pronouns I, You and They, which characterize the roles and social actors of the corpus. The results show that the students assigned the following roles to themselves: (i) apprentice to express their initial process of English language learning; (ii) freshman to reveal their choice of Major in Letters/English emphasis; (iii) future teacher to relate their expectations towards a practicing professional. To assign the roles to professors in the major, the students used the metaphor of modality (I think) to indicate the relationship of teacher training, while they are in the role of a student and as a future teacher. From these evidences the representation of the students as social actors emerges in roles such as: (i) active roles; (ii) passive roles and (iii) personalized roles. The social actors represented in the opinions of the students reflect the inclusion of these roles assigned to the actions expressed about their experiences and expectations derived from their teacher training classroom

Apreciações de alunos de inglês sobre sua produção oral: um estudo com base no sistema de avaliatividade

O vasto número de pesquisas sobre produção oral no ensino de Inglês como Língua Estrangeira (ILE) ao redor do mundo (p. ex. LITTLEWOOD, 1981; BROWN; YULE, 1983; BROWN, 1994; UR, 1996; CARTER; MCCARTHY, 1997; BROWN, 1994; 2004; ELLIS, 2008), assim como estudos sobre aspectos cognitivos e de aquisição da produção oral (SWAIN, 1985; 1995; LEVELT, 1989; SWAIN; LAPKIN, 1995; SKEHAN; FOSTER, 1997; 1999; ROBINSON, 2001; BYGATE, 2001; D‟ELY;WEISSHEIMER, 2004; GUARÁ-TAVARES, 2007; WEISSHEIMER, 2007; BERGSLEITHNER, 2009; dentre outros) têm revelado aspectos para um ensino de ILE mais eficaz e motivador. Com a proposta de contribuir para esse avanço, o presente estudo está inserido no paradigma qualiquantitativo de pesquisa no campo da Linguística Aplicada (LA), primordialmente com base nos estudos de Moita Lopes (1996; 2006), para quem a LA está centrada na resolução de problemas de uso da linguagem, cujo foco está na linguagem de natureza processual. O estudo tem como objetivo verificar as percepções de 34 alunos, de quatro turmas distintas de um curso de ILE, em uma escola privada de línguas, acerca de sua produção oral, ao participarem de atividades orais. O corpus da pesquisa foi gerado pelas respostas dos alunos a questionamentos sobre sua produção oral, em duas fases, no início e no meio do curso, além de uma entrevista semiestruturada realizada com dez dos alunos, ao final do curso, com o intuito de verificar suas percepções sobre sua produção oral. As discussões relacionadas à produção oral em sala de aula de ILE têm respaldo teórico nos trabalhos de Littlewood (1981), Brown e Yule (1983), Almeida Filho (1993), Brown (1994), Ur (1996), Carter e McCarthy (1997), Nunan (1999), Brown (2004) e Ellis (2008), que explicam fenômenos que exercem influência na produção oral, tais como afeto, interação, características de atividades orais, dentre outras variáveis em relação a aspectos cognitivos da produção oral analisadas pelos estudos de Swain (1985; 1995), Levelt (1989), Swain e Lapkin (1995), Skehan e Foster (1997; 1999), Robinson (2001) e Bygate (2001). A análise e discussão dos dados tem como base a Gramática Sistêmico-Funcional proposta por Halliday (1985; 1994) e posteriormente desenvolvida por Halliday e Hasan (1989), Halliday e Mathiessen (2004) e Eggins (2004), dentre outros. O foco desta pesquisa são os mecanismos de Apreciação, um dos domínios avaliativos do subsistema de Atitude, que por sua vez, é parte integrante do Sistema de Avaliatividade, desenvolvido por Martin (2000), Martin e Rose (2003) e Martin e White (2005). Para análise das escolhas linguísticas feitas pelos alunos, utilizamos a ferramenta computacional WordSmith Tools 6.0 (SCOTT, 2010), cuja função Wordlist (lista de palavras) foi utilizada na busca pelos tipos de processos, assim como epítetos, entre outras marcas linguísticas mais recorrentes que caracterizassem suas percepções. Os resultados revelam que nas percepções dos alunos acerca de sua produção oral, ao longo das três fases da geração dos dados para a pesquisa, eles gradativamente deixaram de mencionar aspectos afetivos quanto ao desenvolvimento de sua produção oral e passaram a perceber aspectos mais estruturais de composição da língua

Sujeitos e atores sociais nas representações discursivas de docentes da rede estadual de ensino em Sergipe: uma análise crítica em tempos de Ideb

According to the studies in Applied Linguistics, this thesis is based on an interdisciplinary perspective (Critical Discourse Analysis, Sociology towards Social Change, Cultural Studies and Systemic-Functional Linguistics). The overall objective of the research was to analyze the discourses of Elementary School teachers in the state of Sergipe, by means of the discursive representations of the social actors, the processes of subjectivity and their fragmented identities in the context of standardized evaluations before the requirements of globalized pedagogical practices, based on the result-based management. The critical analysis of such discourses was motivated by the rapid pace with which the demands of innovation become part of the classroom, aiming at reaching the target in what concerns the indexes of the rankings which characterize the globalized discourse of the national education management, like Ideb (Basic Education Development Index), which makes teachers change their discourses, become silent or keep resistant. The work was initially endorsed by the theoretical lines of the Critical Discourse Analysis (FAIRCLOUGH, 2001, 2006), and poses a proposal for such purpose: the ASCD Discourse Sociological and Communicative Approach (PEDROSA, 2012, 2013). This is an interpretative-qualitative study of the Critical Discourse Analysis (FAIRCLOUGH, 2001, 2003; RAMALHO ; RESENDE, 2011) and to carry it out, semi-structured interviews were used as instruments of data generation (BAUER; GASKELL, 2011; GILL, 2011). Its corpus is composed of thirteen accounts of teachers from the Elementary school who teach Portuguese and work in the fifteen schools which were chosen to be the universe of the research at the Regional Board of Education (02) in the state of Sergipe. Such narratives are related to their impressions, expectations and actions which favor the management of results to which they have to submit themselves. The analytical overview of sociological and discursive line comes from the pan-semiotic categories (Inclusion and Exclusion) which appear in the theory of Representation of Social Actors (VAN LEEUWEN, 1997, 2008). To present the processes of subjectivity of these teachers, this work is based on the socio-analytical proposal of the classification of the subjects, which stems from the individual s work in the Gestão Relacional de Si , which comes from the Applied Sociology (towards) Social Change (BAJOIT, 2006, 2009). The discursive analyses were guided word for word, in their majority, by having the Systemic Functional Grammar as their theoretical basis, specifically by the processes of the Transitivity System postulated by Halliday, (1985); Halliday and Mathiessen, (2004); Eggins (2004); Cunha and Souza (2011). The work makes the field of Cultural Studies emerge towards the dialogue and the presentation of the fragmented identities of the teachers in the context of late modernity (GIDDENS, 2002; HALL, 2011). The thesis promoted a reflection over the teacher s condition, who is immerse in this context of knowledge construction of the present Brazilian educational system, the standardized evaluations, the indexes of development, the targets and the rankings. The considerations and outcomes of such a research dealt with the teachers emerging social practices and the need of planned initial and continuing teacher education towards the new moment which is foreseeable

Histórias de professores universitários sobre ensinar inglês para fins específicos

This research has as its theoretical and methodological assumptions (1) the Narrative Inquiry (CLANDININ; CONNELLY, 2011), (2) the Systemic Functional Grammar (HALLIDAY, 1985, 1994; THOMPSON, 2002; EGGINS, 1994; HALLIDAY; MATTHIESSEN, 2004) and (3) the English for Specific Purposes Approach (ESP - HUTCHINSON; WATERS, 1987; CELANI, 2005; RAMOS, 2005), and its overall objective is to survey the meanings construed by the participants who are ESP practitioners and have not received a specific education to teach this approach at their undergraduation. The field texts and therefore the analises were divided into two distinct groups: the first with data generated from a questionnaire applied to nine professors from a federal university in the northeast of Brazil, which contains open and closed questions about their training and their experiences in teaching ESP; the second group, focusing this time on the experiences of three professors from the first group who were still teaching ESP, with data generated from interviews with these participants in addition to the data generated from their autobiographies and from the researcher´s as well. The computational tool WordSmith Tools 6.0 (SCOTT, 2012) was used to select, organize, and quantify data to be analyzed in the first group of texts, identifying the types of Processes and Participants through the Transitivity System (HALLIDAY; MATTHIESSEN, 2004). The Processes which were more used by the professors in the questionnaire were the Material, followed by the Relational and then the Mental ones, indicating that most professors reported their actions related to the teaching of ESP, rated or evaluated the approach, their training to teach it and their experiences, hence, rarely showing their thoughts and emotions about teaching ESP. Most of the nine professors say they carry out needs analysis, but not all do it according to the authors cited by them or the ones that are considered a reference in this area, such as the ones used in this research as reference. Similarly, their definitions and conceptions of ESP, in most cases, differed from these authors. All the professors claim not having had specific education to teach ESP at the undergraduation. When examining the stories of the four teachers, in the second group of the field texts, based on meaning composition according to Ely, Vinz, Downing and Anzul (2001), it was revealed that the kind of knowledge they report using when they teach ESP is related to their Personal Practical Knowledge and their Professional Knowledge (ELBAZ, 1983; CLANDININ, 1988). In their autobiographies, metaphors were also identified and they represent their concepts of teaching and being a teacher. Through this research, we hope to contribute to the understanding of what teaching ESP might mean for professors in the researched context and also to the continuing education of ESP practitioners, as well as to a review of the curricula in the English language undergraduate courses and of the role of ESP in the training of these professionals

A transitividade em textos da propaganda política eleitoral gratuita televisionada: uma abordagem funcional

O corpus analisado neste trabalho é composto de cinqüenta textos de discursos proferidos no HPEG televisionado das eleições de 2002 no Estado do Pará. A pesquisa tem como base a Gramática Sistêmico-Funcional, proposta por Halliday (1994), e o estudo sobre o Estilo Comunicativo do HPEG estudado por Albuquerque (1999). A proposta deste trabalho é investigar as escolhas léxico-gramaticais veiculadas nos discursos políticos para observar como o falante constrói as suas experiências de mundo nesses textos ao fazer suas escolhas no sistema de transitividade e de que maneira os tipos de mensagens do Estilo Comunicativo do HPEG se revelam na materialidade do texto. Comprovou-se que os políticos constroem as suas experiências de mundo mais por meio dos processos do ‘fazer’ e do ‘ser’. Essas escolhas são usadas como estratégias de persuasão, posto que, expressam a plataforma de trabalho do candidato e as ações já desenvolvidas em prol da comunidade. Elas também indicam as qualidades e capacidades do candidato, com o propósito de construir uma imagem que agrade ao eleitor.

Parataxe e Tradição Discursiva: orações paratáticas justapostas em sincronias pretéritas do português

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Thematic and Situational Features of Chinese BBS Texts

This study adopts the framework of Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG; Halliday, 1994/2000; Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004) to investigate thematic features in messages sent to an electronic bulletin board system (BBS) in mainland China. As a concept derived from the Prague School, theme in SFG has been identified as “the point of departure of the message; it is that which locates and orients the clause within its context” (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004, p. 64). Thematic features in the Chinese data are found to relate to the situational features of the BBS, the analysis of which is based on the frameworks of Biber (1988) and Herring (2007). The relevant situational features are further generalized into the three components of context: field, tenor, and mode (Halliday & Hasan, 1985) in order to examine the relation between thematic features and situational features. The study’s findings show that thematic features are more closely related to the field (nature of the activity) than to the mode, contrary to Halliday’s (1978/2001) claim that theme, as a realization of the textual meaning, is determined by the mode (medium). In concluding, this discrepancy is explored.