The students will acquire a range of skills for the analysis, within the functional model, of naturally occurring language in a variety of contexts of use. Students will also obtain a solid grounding in the concept of language as Social Semiotic while another aim of the module is to enable students to employ the key principles of functional linguistics in their own textual analyses. To this extent, and as is consistent with this tradition in linguistics, the analytic skills imparted in FL are transferable and can be brought to bear on many types of data. It is intended therefore that techniques in FL analysis can be used for discourse analysis in the general sense but also with a narrower focus on topics in language study which include gender, identity, migrant discourses, translation, education, corpus analysis and global English(es).

(LO1) Students will be able to demonstrate the broad understanding in Hallidayan linguistics that language functions as a Social Semiotic.

(LO2) Students will be able to show awareness of the three key metafunctions (experiential, interpersonal and textual) in language organisation across different registers and genres of discourse.

(LO3) Students will be able to apply a systematic understanding of scales, hierarchies and categories in language and show an ability to deliver in a structured way a textual analysis displaying these features.

(LO4) Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the potential applications of Functional Linguistics to other branches of language study.

(LO5) Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of the system of Appraisal within FL.

(S1) Students will acquire the skill to undertake a functional analysis of naturally occurring language capturing the different levels and links between categories.

(S2) Students will be able to demonstrate the ability to organise a functional linguistic analysis, from clause constituency up to generic structure potential.

(S3) Students will acquire the skill to set out visually, using the appropriate annotation method, system networks for the 3 key metafunctions.

(S4) Students will show that they have the ability to identify developments and applications in functional linguistics and to relate these developments to the design and development of an original piece of research.

(S5) Students will demonstrate the ability to apply the functional framework to new kinds of data, such as CMC, and to suggest modifications to existing frameworks if the data warrants it.

(S6) Students will be able to demonstrate their ability to present their ideas clearly and confidently.

This module will develop the following topics:
• Overview of Functional Linguistics and the Neo-Firthian Tradition: History, Theory and Problems.
• The lexicogrammar: scales of rank and delicacy, and the categories of units, structures and systems.
• The experiential metafunction and the system of transitivity.
• The interpersonal metafunction and the systems of mood, modality and polarity.
• The textual metafunction: the components of Theme and Rheme, and the system of cohesion.
• Registers and Genres of Discourse.
• Appraisal Theory: meaning-making resources and the language of ‘evaluation’.

Teaching method: face-to-face teaching in small groups
Description: interactive workshops and practical seminars.
(Seminars once every fortnight)