Preface
Systemic functional linguistics (SFL) is an approach to the study of language as a social semiotic system (Halliday, 1978). It is an appliable linguistics in the sense that it can be used to solve real problems in society. Its problem-solving power derives from its robust theory of language use in context and its comprehensive descriptions of the grammatical systems of language that support text analysis. One of the areas to which SFL has been productively applied is language and literacy education, where it provides fresh insights into textual/semiotic practices that help educators better understand and tackle issues related to language/literacy teaching and learning. As such, SFL is also a socially accountable linguistics.
The book demonstrates the relevance of SFL to English literacy education, showing how SFL theory and praxis can be recontextualized to support literacy teaching and learning in a foreign language education context such as China, where English is widely promoted as a school subject from elementary through tertiary education and highly valued in many sectors of society. Specifically, it draws on key SFL principles and concepts to reenvision the role of grammar in English literacy education (Chapter 1), to guide efforts to reform curriculum and innovate pedagogy in English education (Chapter 3), to assess text complexity and text difficulty for the purpose of reading instruction (Chapter 4), to scaffold close reading of academic texts (Chapter 5), to promote critical literacy in disciplinary learning (Chapter 6), to develop a deeper understanding of and greater expertise in academic writing (Chapter 7), to enhance writing instruction across academic content areas (Chapter 8), and to evaluate student writing (Chapter 9). It also provides a concise account of functional grammar that is accessible to and useable by classroom teachers (Chapter 2) and describes evidence-based ways of empowering teachers that enable them to better scaffold students' language/literacy learning and facilitate their growth as critical readers, powerful writers, and proficient language users (Chapter 10).
The book promotes a "linguistically informed, responsive, and embedded pedagogy" (Fang, 2020) that explicitly addresses the hidden curriculum of schooling; facilitates access to socially privileged forms of knowledge, ideology, and habits of mind; and engenders more effective participation in academic/disciplinary discourse communities. The pedagogy embraces a language-based theory of learning (Halliday, 1993), viewing literacy as a language-based semiosis and knowledge as mediated primarily through language. It situates language and literacy development work within authentic units of instruction, demonstrating how language learning, literacy development, and knowledge building can co-occur in meaningful contexts, where students are exploring questions significant to their discipline or issues relevant to their personal interests.
The book provides teachers with a basic understanding of SFL theory and functional grammar, as well as their applications in language and literacy education. It describes major SFL-informed approaches and associated strategies for promoting language learning and literacy development that also help with building content knowledge and developing disciplinary habits of mind. The book should be of primary interest to English language/literacy teachers and teacher educators in colleges and universities, as well as scholars and graduate students in English applied linguistics and English education who are concerned with the pedagogical applications of an abstract linguistics theory such as SFL. Scholars and teachers in other disciplines who are seeking ways to infuse meaningful language and literacy work into content instruction will also find the ideas and strategies presented in the book relevant and useful. Secondary English teachers and teacher educators who are searching for an alternative to traditional grammar instruction that truly enhances language learning and literacy development will, likewise, find the book appealing and valuable.
A few words about terminology use are in order. Over the past three decades or so, the term "literacy" has been generalized to cover all forms of discourse (spoken, written, visual) and to refer to effective participation of any kind in social processes. In this book, however, the term "literacy" is defined narrowly. Consistent with Halliday (1996), it is used in the traditional sense of reading and writing practices, referring to the forms of language, and ways of meaning, that are typically associated with reading and writing as distinct from listening and speaking. Additionally, the terms "tertiary education", "postsecondary education", and "higher education" are used interchangeably, despite the nuances of these phrases, to refer to education after high school. Further, following Christie and Macken-Horarik (2011), the phrase "subject English" is used to denote English as a discipline of study for the English major in postsecondary education that includes specializations in literature, linguistics, Western cultures, and translation.
To facilitate understanding of SFL and classroom applications of functional grammar, traditional grammar terms are used as much as possible when they are relatively similar to SFL terms. Although the book presents a functional linguistics approach to literacy teaching and learning, for the most part it draws on traditional grammatical terms, except in the discussion of notions like Theme and Rheme that have no corresponding terms in traditional grammar. While the functional and traditional terms do not always express precisely the same notions, for pedagogical purposes these minor terminological differences are inconsequential (c.f., Schleppegrell, 1998). The decision to use traditional grammar terms is influenced by the reality that English teachers in China (and perhaps elsewhere) are generally much more familiar with traditional grammar than any other type of English grammar.
The 10-chapter volume is based primarily on the work I have done in both the United States and China over the past decade. Chapter 1 is based on a brief commentary I wrote (in Chinese) on the future of English education (方志辉、孙迎晖，2018) at the invitation of Professor Jigang Cai (蔡基刚，Fudan University) to commemorate 40 years of reform and opening up in China. Chapter 2 is based on the lecture notes I accumulated over several years of teaching a course on SFL in education at the University of Florida. Chapter 3 is a substantially updated version of an article I wrote for Annual Review of Functional Linguistics (Fang, 2011) almost a decade ago at the invitation of professors Guowen Huang (黄国文) and Chenguang Chang (常晨光), both of Sun Yat-sen University. Chapter 4 is a revised version of an article I wrote for Australian Journal of Language and Literacy (Fang, 2016). Chapter 5 draws on a keynote address I presented at the International Forum on Systemic Functional Linguistics hosted by Peking University (Fang, 2020) and a chapter I wrote for a book on teaching English language learners in the U.S. (Fang & Chapman, 2015). Chapter 6 is a revised version of an article I wrote for English Teaching: Practice & Critique (Fang, Adams, Gresser & Li, 2019). Chapter 7 is based on a short essay I wrote (in Chinese) for an issue of Chinese Journal of ESP guest edited by Professor Feng Jiang (姜峰，Jilin University) (方志辉、李晶、景婧，2020) and on an empirical research article published in Reading and Writing (Fang & Park, 2020). Chapter 8 is a significantly expanded version of a chapter I wrote for a book on teaching English language learners in the U.S. (Fang, Adams, Li, Gallingane, Jo, Fennessy & Chapman, 2017). Chapter 9 builds on and extends two articles I wrote for Australian Journal of Language and Literacy (Fang & Wang, 2011) and Writing & Pedagogy (Fang, Ferdig, Wang & Trutschel, 2014). Chapter 10 draws on my prior work with preservice and inservice teachers in the U.S., as well as on the work of other language/literacy scholars around the world. Taken together, the 10 chapters form a coherent whole that will hopefully reshape, in some way, the landscape of English language and literacy education in China.(https://www.daowen.com)
The book would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of many scholars whose work I admire and whose friendship I treasure. Professor Mary J. Schleppegrell (University of Michigan) has been a role model for me. Her work on making SFL relevant to and useable by classroom teachers is both groundbreaking and inspiring. I have learned a great deal about what an SFL scholar in education means from her work and from my collaboration with her. With scholarship spanning the domains of application, discovery, integration, and teaching, she is the perfect embodiment of an engaged scholar as envisioned by American educator Ernest Boyer (1990).
I have also benefited tremendously from my interactions with many distinguished SFL scholars in China. Professor Wei He (何伟，Beijing Foreign Studies University) has been a steadfast supporter of this book project. She recognized the need for such a book in China many years ago and was instrumental in helping me bring the project to fruition. Despite her heavy workload and hectic schedule, she graciously agreed to write a reading guide for this book. I truly appreciate her wisdom, advice, time, and friendship. Professor Xinzhang Yang (杨信彰，Xiamen University) introduced me to SFL during my graduate work at Xiamen University many years ago. His knowledge and humility left an indelible impression on me. Professor Guowen Huang (黄国文，now at South China Agricultural University) and Professor Chenguang Chang (常晨光，Sun Yat-sen University) invited me to write for the two journals they edited (Foreign Languages in China and Annual Review of Functional Linguistics) about a decade ago. Those two pieces became my first formal foray into the SFL circle in China. I am grateful to them for their continuing interest in and support of my work in the years that followed.
I owe a special debt of gratitude to the faculty in the Center for Functional Linguistics at Beijing Normal University (BNU) — Professors Xiaotang Cheng (程晓堂), Yanmei Gao (高彦梅，now at Peking University), Xingwei Miao (苗兴伟), Xuanwei Peng (彭宣维，now at Shenzhen University), Yinghui Sun (孙迎晖), Guisen Tian (田贵森，now retired), and Hui Yu (于晖). These SFL scholars and their students have shown an abiding interest in the educational uses of SFL. I have paid many visits to BNU over the past decade, and every visit there left me more energized and optimistic about the future of SFL in English education in China. I salute them for the very meaningful work they have been doing to reaffirm the pedagogical value of SFL.
I would also like to thank my former mentors at Purdue University —Professors Beverly Cox (now retired), Deborah Dillon (now at the University of Minnesota), Jill May (now retired), and David O'Brien (now at the University of Minnesota) — who taught me much about literacy processes, literacy development, and literacy pedagogies, and have continued to support my growth as scholar and person since my doctoral work. Their friendship often reminds me of the essence of academic mentoring.
I acknowledge with gratitude the support from the University of Florida (UF), which awarded me a sabbatical year (2019-2020) that enabled the completion of this book. I would be remiss if I do not mention my wonderful colleagues, students, and visiting scholars in the literacy and language education division at UF. They are often the sounding board for, and the first audience of, my writing. I can't thank them enough for their feedback and friendship and for their generosity in allowing me to reproduce some of our collaborative work in this book. It has truly been an honor and a pleasure working with them.
Finally, I thank Changcheng Duan (段长城) and her team, especially Na Zhou (周娜), at Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press for their meticulous work with proofreading and for their professionalism in shepherding the book through the publication process. I appreciate their patience and hard work during this process.