Systemic Functional Grammar and its pedagogical implications

This paper focuses on the application of systemic Functional Grammar （SFG） to language study. By providing a sample of text analysis from the systemic functional point of view, the paper illustrates how this approach can be helpful to language teaching.

Retrieve Logic Flow in Discourse Analysis of Academic Paper： A Case Study of Law, Law, What Is Law

The present study shall be mainly concerned with logic flow and its expressions in academic paper. It examines Law, Law, What Law？ and intends to focus on two research goals： （1） to identify logic flow among clause complexes; （2） to figure out meanings and intentions of those logic expressions. The description and analysis shall demonstrate how the logic flow is achieved on two aspects of textual cohesive devices： grammatical cohesion and lexical cohesion. Any reader or translator ignores such devices of cohesion may not only get lost in the maze of language but miss subtle touches of irony, hence misreading the author＇s points of view.

A Comparative Analysis of＂The Little Mermaid＂ and ＂The Little Mer-persun＂ An SFG Approach

Informed by the framework of Halliday＇s Systemic Functional Grammar, this paper compares ＂The Little Mermaid＂ （1872） by Hans Christian Andersen and its parodic version ＂The Little Mer-persun＂ （1995） by James Finn Garner. Andersen＇s story creates gender stereotype by under-representing the heroine as an effectual Actor and Sayer but establishing the image of the hero as a powerful Actor and assertive Sayer. Garner＇s story, on the other hand, tends to subvert the traditional gender stereotype by representing the heroine as a more dynamic Actor and Sayer than the hero and by reversing the power relationship between the two. These differing characterizations reflect the two competing literary traditions and embedded ideologies of romanticist fairy tale genre and modem ＂politically-correct＂ parodic satire

Reciprocal Pattern of Power in The Thorn Birds

This paper explores how reciprocal pattern of power is realized in fictional texts.Taking a few episodes from the novel The Thorn Birds and the transitivity process as analytical framework,this paper holds that reciprocal patterns of power may be mutual-targeting or disjoint.A systematic network of both non-reciprocal and reciprocal pattern of power in fictional works is drawn on the basis of the analysis.

Beyond Reading Comprehension--Cultivating Critical Readers through Critical Press News Reading

English newspapers, which have already been widely used as supplementary readings in an input-poor Chinese EFL context, are chosen and modified as needed for the proficiency levels of the class and used with suitable activities and exercises that engage students in an active and purposeful construction of the meaning of the text in extensive reading instruction. However, critical reading of the press news, which requires readers moving beyond comprehension, is rarely involved. This article, using Fairclough＇s critical discourse analysis （henceforth, CDA） as the theoretical framework, and Halliday＇s systemic functional grammar （henceforth, SFG） as the analytical tool in the analysis of the news texts, makes a sample analysis of the critical news reading from China Daily on China＇s response to the US-led campaign against terrorism after the September 11 events, 2001. The analysis made is undertaken in three stages： （1） the Transitivity analysis of the headlines, （2） the textual meaning of the clauses in terms of Themes, and （3） the explanations made to give grounding for the preceding analysis. The paper concludes with the hypothesis that integrating critical news reading into extensive reading instruction will not only improve students＇ reading skills, but also increase their adequate comprehension to the reading materials, as well as cultivate their critical reading competence.

The Realisation of Interpersonal Meaning through Modality in British Political Manifestoes

This study investigates the language strategies adopted by the major British political parties in their 2010 general election man-ifestoes to persuade and influence the public in order to win their support.The way in which interpersonal meanings are expressed in thetexts is examined in accordance with the three aspects of modality as outlined in Halliday's Systemic Functional Grammar:orientation,value and type.Corresponding with these three aspects,it is found that subjective orientation,median value,and obligation are used ex-tensively by all three parties for persuasive purposes.This demonstrates that modal choices are conditioned or determined by the writers' communicative intentions and by non-linguistic factors such as their social positions and political stances.

Literature Review on Martin's Appraisal Theory

The paper first conducts a general background of Appraisal Theory, then elaborates a detailed review of literature on Appraisal Theory and finally explores the further trends.