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.

Análise funcional dos evidenciais e modalizadores no discurso da autoajuda da saúde

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Who is in charge? An L2 Discourse Intonation Study on Four Prosodic Parameters to Exert the Pragmatic Function of Dominance and Control in the Context of L2 Non-specialist Public Speaking

This paper reports the findings from a study of the learning of English intonation by Spanish speakers within the discourse mode of L2 oral presentation. The purpose of this experiment is, firstly, to compare four prosodic parameters before and after an L2 discourse intonation training programme and, secondly, to confirm whether subjects, after the aforementioned L2 discourse intonation training, are able to match the form of these four prosodic parameters to the discourse-pragmatic function of dominance and control. The study designed the instructions and tasks to create the oral and written corpora and Brazil’s Pronunciation for Advanced Learners of English was adapted for the pedagogical aims of the present study. The learners’ pre- and post-tasks were acoustically analysed and a pre / post- questionnaire design was applied to interpret the acoustic analysis. Results indicate most of the subjects acquired a wider choice of the four prosodic parameters partly due to the prosodically-annotated transcripts that were developed throughout the L2 discourse intonation course. Conversely, qualitative and quantitative data reveal most subjects failed to match the forms to their appropriate pragmatic functions to express dominance and control in an L2 oral presentation.

El proceso de codificación sintáctica de la causalidad en las lenguas románicas medievales

En esta comunicación vamos a examinar los patrones que sigue la codificación sintáctica en los conectores causales resultantes de procesos de gramaticalización. Tal como observó Givón (1979:107), la dirección de los procesos de codificación puede producirse desde el discurso a la sintaxis. Esta idea se ha retomado en teorías más recientes como, por ejemplo, la Teoría de la Relevancia, desarrollada en distintos trabajos de Sperber y Wilson, entre otros. La aplicación de esta teoría en el ámbito de los conectores discursivos ha sido llevada a cabo por distintos autores, entre los cuales destaca Blakemore. El propósito de nuestro trabajo residirá en integrar las ventajas de un análisis pragmático discursivo como la citada Teoría de la Relevancia con una teoría sintáctica formal de la gramaticalización, concretamente la que proponen dentro del marco de la gramática generativa Roberts y Roussou (2003). Esto permitirá profundizar, por un lado, en el tipo de codificación de las instruccions lingüísticas que aportan los conectores (información procedimental) y, por otro, en la relación lógico-discursiva entre las proposiciones y en la propia estructura del nexo

El proceso de codificación sintáctica de la causalidad en las lenguas románicas medievales

En esta comunicación vamos a examinar los patrones que sigue la codificación sintáctica en los conectores causales resultantes de procesos de gramaticalización. Tal como observó Givón (1979:107), la dirección de los procesos de codificación puede producirse desde el discurso a la sintaxis. Esta idea se ha retomado en teorías más recientes como, por ejemplo, la Teoría de la Relevancia, desarrollada en distintos trabajos de Sperber y Wilson, entre otros. La aplicación de esta teoría en el ámbito de los conectores discursivos ha sido llevada a cabo por distintos autores, entre los cuales destaca Blakemore. El propósito de nuestro trabajo residirá en integrar las ventajas de un análisis pragmático discursivo como la citada Teoría de la Relevancia con una teoría sintáctica formal de la gramaticalización, concretamente la que proponen dentro del marco de la gramática generativa Roberts y Roussou (2003). Esto permitirá profundizar, por un lado, en el tipo de codificación de las instruccions lingüísticas que aportan los conectores (información procedimental) y, por otro, en la relación lógico-discursiva entre las proposiciones y en la propia estructura del nexo

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

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

Multifuncionalidade e gramaticalização de Já no português falado culto

Pós-graduação em Estudos Linguísticos - IBILCE

Gramaticalização e (inter)subjetivização na modalização em português: um estudo de pode ser

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

A relação adverbial temporal na lusofonia sob a perspectiva da gramática discursivo-funcional

Pós-graduação em Estudos Linguísticos - IBILCE

A manifestação das diferentes modalidades no emprego do verbo auxiliar poder em português e em espanhol: análise do discurso de autoajuda

This paper aims to investigate the behavior of the modal verb poder as an auxiliary verb in text written in both two Romance languages, Brazilian Portuguese and Iberian Spanish. This research follows a functionalist language approach, more precisely the Dutch Functional Grammar tradition, based on the modality classification proposed by Hengeveld (2004). This author considers two main criteria: target of evaluation, and semantic domain of evaluation. Considering this classification, we analyze the use of the auxiliary verb poder in a corpus of self-help discourses, which currently enjoy enormous popularity in various parts of the world. Although in Portuguese the auxiliary verb poder is essentially an epistemic modal (cf. Neves 1999-2000) —which, according to the Hengeveld (2004), corresponds to the event-oriented epistemic modality—. However, our analysis show that, given the essentially optimistic nature of the discourse analyzed, the self-help discourse, the previously mentioned modal verb (poder) behaves predominantly as a participant-oriented facultative modal. This result demonstrates the importance of considering the context of occurrence of the verb poder in order to evaluate the effects of meaning associated with its use.

Interrogativas encaixadas vs. relativas sem antecedente: contribuições da Gramática Discursivo-Funcional

This work deals with the distinction between embedded questions and headless relatives, that was already pointed out as problematic in several studies based on generative approach. The purpose is to examine to what extent functional aspects, as proposed by the theory of Functional Discourse Grammar (HENGEVELD; MACKENZIE, 2008) to describe the two types of clauses can contribute to the explanation of the differences and similarities between them. Based on representative occurrences of spoken Brazilian Portuguese, we demonstrated that the approach of Functional Discourse Grammar provides important parameters for defining the nature of these two types of clauses, in both formal and functional (semantic-discursive) terms, contributing thus to the existing proposals for the distinction between these clauses.

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

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Motivating film title translation: a cognitive análisis

This proposal is a non-quantitative study based on a corpus of real data which offers a principled account of the translation strategies employed in the translation of English film titles into Spanish in terms of cognitive modeling. More specifically, we draw on Ruiz de Mendoza and Galera’s (2014) work on what they term content (or low-level) cognitive operations, based on either ‘stands for’ or ‘identity’ relations, in order to investigate possible motivating factors for translations which abide by oblique procedures, i.e. for non-literal renderings of source titles. The present proposal is made in consonance with recent findings within the framework of Cognitive Linguistics (Samaniego 2007), which evidence that this linguistic approach can fruitfully address some relevant issues in Translation Studies, the most outstanding for our purposes being the exploration of the cognitive operations which account for the use of translation strategies (Rojo and Ibarretxe-Antuñano 2013: 10), mainly expansion and reduction operations, parameterization, echoing, mitigation and comparison by contrast. This fits in nicely with a descriptive approach to translation and particularly with skopos theory, whose main aim consists in achieving functionally adequate renderings of source texts.