met a function in literacy

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METAFUNCTIONS IN LITERACY

Abstract

This paper presents literacy in the context of metafunctions ,

expanding the scope of the notion literacy to include not only written but

also spoken language.

A systemic-functional model of language is taken to identify how

metafunctions support literacy.The systemic-functional model of language

offers a means of organizing the many uses of language in a systematic

manner and of showing how we use language to express meaning. The

systemic-functional model of language uses metafunctions to isolate the

features of meaning in a context (field, mode, and tenor) and the kinds of

meaning in wording (textual, interpersonal, and ideational).

This allows language students to understand better of how text

relates to context in spoken and written language and helps them what to

include in language to determine its appropriateness .

Introduction

A literate person has the ability to talk, read and write. Literacy

therefore is to be defined as mastery of spoken language and reading and

writing (Pratt and Garton,1998). Literacy is directly involved with written

language and we also expect literate people speak fluently. The

development of written language skills influences spoken language ability, as

language structures and functions are learned for writing which in turn are

adopted for speaking.

In connection with literacy, systemic-functional model of language

retrieves language in three distinct senses : First, functional sense to account

for how the language is used , Secondly, the fundamental components of

meaning in language are functional components (metafunctions), Thirdly,

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element in a language is explained by reference to its function

(Halliday,1994).

This paper takes a look at the theoretical concept of Hallidays

Functional Grammar, in understanding how to distinguish spoken and

written language, how to make writing more effective and flexible .

Systemic-Functional Linguistics

Systemic-Functional Linguistics (SFL) is a theory of language

centred around the notion of language function. While SFL accounts for the

syntactic structure of language, it places the function of language as central

(what language does, and how it does it), in preference to more structural

approaches, which place the elements of language and their combinations as

central. SFL starts at social context, and looks at how language both acts

upon, and is constrained by, this social context. A key concept in

Halliday's approach is the "context of situation" which

obtains "through a systematic relationship between the social

environment on the one hand, and the functional organization of

language on the other" (Halliday & Hasan, 1985:11).

A central notion is 'stratification'- the stages in coding process from

meaning to expression (Halliday, 1994), such that language is analysed in

terms of three strata: Semantics, Lexico-Grammar and Graphophonic

(Cusworth,1994). First of all, a text operates as a whole at the semantic

level to make meaning. To make meaning , however , we depend on the

lexicogrammatical (lexis /vocabulary + grammar) level of language, or the

way words are structured in sentences and clauses. It is at this second level,

then, that grammar fits into functional approach to language. This level is in

turn expressed through the third or graphophonic level the sound and

symbols of the language system.

Metafunctions

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Halliday developed a theory of the fundamental functions of

language, in which he analysed lexicogrammar into three broad

metafunctions: ideational, interpersonal and textual. Each of the

three metafunctions is about a different aspect of the world, and isconcerned with a different mode of meaning of clauses. The

ideational metafunction is about the natural world in the broadest

sense, including our own consciousness, and is concerned with

clauses as representations. The interpersonal metafunction is about

the social world, especially the relationship between speaker and

hearer, and is concerned with clauses as exchanges. The textual

metafunction is about the verbal world, especially the flow of

information in a text, and is concerned with clauses as messages

(Wilcock,2001).

Metafunctions are understood in terms of the idea of the clause

as message, the clause as exchange, and the clause as

representataion. The analysis of clause structures can be summarized as

follow (Edict):

All clauses have these elements of meaning in some way.

THE CLAUSE AS MESSAGE

Basic information structure: topic / comment (also called theme - rheme)

The theme occupies the first position in a clause:-

once upon a time

very carefully

on Monday

A phrase may introduce a theme:-

as for, regarding etc

thematic equative A = B

e.g what he said to me was the truth

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Themes may also be verb themes:

eg Forget it I won't

and whole clauses can act as themes

Choice of theme

Themes are marked or unmarked - this refers to which clause element is

chosen for foregrounding, and which is most usual (unmarked ).

What is marked (NOT normally chosen) depends on mood:-

Declarative: the theme is typically the same as the Subject

e.g I blame you. (unmarked)

Marked theme - in declarative mood, this is typically an adverbial or

prepositional phrasee.g suddenly, at night, without pity

The most marked theme is a complement:

e.g nature I loved, blue the color is

Interrogative mood: this is the basic question form.

1. Polar (yes / no), themes in the finite verb, 2 part themes

unmarked:-

two themes th1 th2can you

should old acquaintance

2. WH - thememarked:-e.g In your house who does the cooking?Thematic structures in the interrogative:-

theme - rheme

who --------

how many --------with whom --------

Imperative mood:

Verb theme - sing a song of sixpence

t r

THE CLAUSE AS EXCHANGE

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This concerns dialogue - the interaction that takes place between speakersand speech roles, what we do when we exchange goods, services, and information.

In exchange of information the most complicated linguistic structures may beinvolved.

Inspeech acts such as offers, instructions, requests and so on, language functions toachieve an end.

Grammatical resources are highly developed for exchange functions, and the

system which is most closely linked with interactive meaning and specific

speech roles is the system ofmood.

MOOD -> S + finite

*Thefinite- this is a point of reference tohere and now, and is realised

through the grammatical systems oftenseandmodality.

THE CLAUSE AS REPRESENTATION

This refers to the semantic structure of clauses - the process,

participants and circumstances. This semantic structure expresses our

deepest experience of reality - of being, doing, feeling, existing, happening.

Clause structure organises experience as a semantic configuration.

eg. He opened the bottle hurriedly with a knife

participant process participant circumstance participant/circumstanceactor patient instrument

Processes are typically verb phrases, participantsnounphrases,and circumstancesprepositional or adverbial phrases.

Written and spoken texts can be examined with respect to each of

these metafunctions in register analyses. Registers are stylistic-functional

varieties of a dialect or language. These may be narrowly defined by

reference to subject matter (field of discourse e.g. jargon of fishing,gambling, sports, etc.), to medium (mode of discourse e.g. printed material,

written letter, message on tape, etc.), or to level of formality, that is style

(manner of discourse).

A register is also determined by the medium or mode of discourse.

The main distinction is between speech and writting. But within speech one

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may have such distinctions as conversation, discussion, debate talk, and

lecture. And in writing we may have distinctions like a personal letter, a

memoir, a biography, a poem to be read, a speech to be read aloud, and a

play to be performed on stage. (Varshney,1985)

According to the role of the speaker, a young lecturer, for example

will speak in different ways when communicating with his wife, his children,

his father, his colleagues, his students, or when shopping.

The ideational metafunction

The ideational metafunction is divided into two: experiential and

logical metafunction.The experiential metafunction organises our experience

and understanding of the world. It is the potential of the language to

construe figures with elements (such as screen shots of a moving picture or

pictures of a comic novel) and its potential to differentiate these elements

into processes, the participants in these processes, and the circumstances in

which the processes occur. There are six major process types : Material,

Mental, Verbal, Relational, Behavioral and Existential. The logical

metafunction works above the experiential. It organises our reasoning on the

basis of our experience. It is the potential of the language to construe logicallinks between figures; for example, "this happened after that happened" or,

with more experience, "this happens every time that happens". There are in

every language systems of logical relations: relations such as 'and' and 'or'

and 'if ... then' and 'because ... so', which construe the links between one

piece of the discourse and another. These systems are realized not by

configuration but by iteration: one clause bonded with another clause, or

one group or phrase with another group or phrase. The characteristic feature

of these relationships is that they do not create closure; each element (each

clause, each group, and so on) can always be followed by another one of the

same. We refer to these structures as complexes: clause complexes, group

complexes, and so on. Each bond in such a complex is called a nexus.

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The ideational metafunction relates to the fieldaspects of a text, or

its subject matter and context of use. Field is divided into three areas:

semantic domain, specialisation, and angle of representation. Within the

semantic domain, SFG proponents examine the subject matter of a text

through organising its nominal groups (nouns / noun phrases) and its lexical

verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. These are the words that carry lexical

meaning in a text, as opposed to function words, whose purpose is purely

grammatical that is, their purpose lies only in relation to otherwords in the

vicinity. Specialisation is partially determined through attention tojargon or

other technical vocabulary items. Examining the angle of representation

involves a close look at types of processes, participants, and circumstances.

The interpersonal metafunction

The interpersonal metafunction relates to a text's aspects

oftenoror interactivity. Like field, tenor comprises three component areas:

the speaker/writer persona, social distance, and relative social status. Social

distance and relative social status are applicable only to spoken texts.. Note

- this is not so, looking at the text of OHalloran we are told that we no

longer have the option to contrast the various speakers but we can examine

"how the individual authors present themselves to the reader", therefore, we

are able to look at social distance and relative social status in texts where

there is only one author.

The speaker/writer persona concerns the stance, personalisation and

standing of the speaker or writer. This involves looking at whether the writer

or speaker has a neutral attitude, which can be seen through the use of

positive or negative language. Social distance means how close the speakers

are, e.g. how the use ofnicknames shows the degree to which they are

intimate. Relative social status asks whether they are equal in terms of

power and knowledge on a subject, for example, the relationship between a

mother and child would be considered unequal. Focuses here are on speech

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acts (e.g. whether one person tends to ask questions and the other speaker

tends to answer), who chooses the topic, turn management, and how

capable both speakers are ofevaluating the subject.

The textual metafunction

The textual metafunction relates to mode; the internal organisation

and communicative nature of a text.This comprises textual interactivity,

spontaneity and communicative distance. Textual interactivity is examined

with reference to disfluencies such as hesitators, pauses and repetitions.

Spontaneity is determined through a focus on lexical density, grammatical

complexity, coordination (how clauses are linked together) and the useofnominal groups. The study of communicative distance involves looking at

a texts cohesionthat is, how it hangs together, as well as any abstract

language it uses.

Cohesion is analysed in the context of both lexical and grammatical as well

as intonational aspects with reference to lexical chains and, in the speech

register, tonality, tonicity, and tone. The lexical aspect focuses on sense

relations and lexical repetitions, while the grammatical aspect looks atrepetition of meaning shown through reference, substitution and ellipsis, as

well as the role of linking adverbials.

Systemic functional grammar deals with all of these areas of meaning

equally within the grammatical system itself.

The Three features of the context of situation

A functional model uses the concepts of field, tenor and mode to

describe how a text makes meaning within the context of a particular

situation which influence the way language is used in the text. They have

their counterpart in three broad functions of language. Which are reflected in

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the choices from the language system ideational, interpersonal, and textual

metafunctions.

Halliday and Hasan (1985) explained field, tenor and mode as

follow :

1. The field of discourse refers to what is happening, to the nature of the

social action that is taking place : what is it that the participants are

engaged in, in which the language figures as some essential

component ?

2. The tenor of discourse refers to who is taking part , to the nature of the

participants, their statuses and roles : what kind of role relationship

obtain among the participants, including permanent and temporary

relationships of one kind or another, both the types speech role that

they are taking on in the dialogue and the whole cluster of socially

significant relationship in which they are involved ?

3. The mode of discourse refers to what part the language to do for them

in that situation : the symbolic organization of the text, the status that

it has, and its function in the context, including the channel (is it

spoken or written or some combination of the two ?) and also the

rhetorical mode, what is being achieved by the text in terms of such

categories as persuasive, expository, didactic, and the like.

The example of field, tenor, and mode in a text (Halliday, Hasan,

1985) :

Transfer of whole (Freehold or Leasehold)

Title number SY 43271604

Property 14 Twintree Avenue, Minford

In consideration of ten thousand five hundred pounds the receipt whereof is

hereby acknowledged

I, Herbert William Timms, of (address)

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as beneficial owner hereby transfer to :

Matthew John Seaton, of (address)

The land comprised in the title above mentioned. It is hereby certified that the transaction hereby effected

does not form part of a larger transction or series of transactions in respect of which the amount or value

or aggregate amount or value of the consideration exceeds twelve thousand pounds.

Signed, sealed and delivered by the said Herbert William Timms in the presence of (witness)

Situational description :

Field :

Verbal regulation of social interaction through sanctions of the legal system :

codification of exchange of property (deed of transfer), including

certification that transaction falls within particular class of transactionsdefined by value of commodity exchanged

Tenor :

Members (individual) addressing collective (society) using formula

prescribed by collective for purpose in hand

Mode :

Written to be filed (i.e. to form part of documentary records) ; text givesstatus (as social act) to non-verbal transaction ; text is formulaic (i.e.

general, with provision for relating to specific instances) . Performative (i.e.

text constitutes, or, realises, act in question).

The three headings of field, tenor, and mode enable us to give a

characterization of the nature of this kind of a text, one which will do for

similar text in any language.

Spoken and written language can be analysed at a number of levels,

from discourses and texts, sentences, and words, down to individual sounds

and letters. Knowing features of meaning in context and kinds of meaning in

wording will develop competence in spoken and written language. It is not

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only important for language students academic discipline, but also for their

future professions.

References

Cusworth, Robyn (1994 ) What Is a Functional Model of Language ? Australia:

Primary English Teaching Association, Newtown,Australia

Garton Alison & Pratt Chris (1998) Learning to be Literate : The development

of spoken and written language, Blacckwell Publisher,UK

Edict.com,FunctionalGrammar.11Feb.2010

http;//www.edict.com.hk/vlc/funcgrammar/Fungra/Introduction.htm

Halliday, M. A. K (1994 ) An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London:Edward Arnold

Halliday, M.A.K & Hasan Ruqaiya (1985) Language, context, and text : Aspect

of language in a social-semiotic perspective, Deakin University Press

Systemic functional grammar. 11 Feb. 2010

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systemic_functional_grammar.html

Varshney Radhey L. An introductory Textbook of Linguistics & Phonetics,

University of Gurukul Kangri,Hardwar

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