Republic of the Philippines

Sultan Kudarat State University

COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES

ACCESS, EJC Montilla, Tacurong City

MTE 613 – Grammatical Theories and Analysis

FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR ENGLISH TEACHING AND

LEARNING

Zhiwen Feng

Maureen Mae J. Perez

Reporter

Amira Mae Gumanoy, PhD.

Professor
Abstract

Functional Grammar describes grammar in a useful terms in which a language is

interpreted as a system of meanings. The language system consists of three macro-
functions known as meta-functional components: the interpersonal function, the
ideational function, and the textual function, all of which make a contribution to the
structure of a text. In spite of controversies about its functions and applications into
classroom teaching, this new grammar model has its own advantage and can facilitate
students to achieve academic success. In addition, this paper analyses the following
issues: the nature grammar and functional grammar, and the implications for English
teaching and learning. The concepts discussed in Functional Grammar aims at giving
contribution to the understanding of a text and evaluation of a text, which can be applied
for text analysis. Using the concepts in Functional Grammar, English teachers may help
the students learn how various grammatical features and grammatical systems are used
in written texts so that they can read and write better. The reason of this paper is to
assist teachers and have an overall understanding of the hypothesis and key concepts
of functional grammar as well as the positive role functional grammar plays in school
contexts.

Key Words: Functional Grammar, meta-functional components, EFL teachers,

EFL students

Introduction

In 1960, Michael Halliday develop this grammar known as Functional grammar

which gain attention in some researchers. In spite of controversies about its functions
and applications into classroom teaching, this new grammar model has its own
advantage and can facilitate students to achieve academic success. Functional
grammar, based on systematic linguistics, emphasizes the way spoken and written
language operate in different social situations. Also it serves as the communicative
purpose of EFL students’ learning the English language and provides the opportunity for
EFL students to recognize the linguistic features of the language, which they need to
learn for success at school (Schleppegrell, 2004).

The purpose of this paper is to help teachers have an overall understanding of

the theory and key concepts of functional grammar, and to realize its importance for
students to achieve success in school contexts or academic registers.

Discussion

Functional grammar, based on systemic linguistics, emphasizes the way spoken

and written language operate in different social situations. In particular, it is very useful
in showing how texts work beyond the level of the sentence, how different texts are
structured, and how language varies to suit the purpose of the users.

Based on the book Halliday (1994) An Introduction to Functional Grammar, He

points out that functional grammar is so-called because its conceptual framework is a
functional one rather than a formal one. It is functional in three distinct senses: in its
interpretation (1) of texts, (2) of the system, and (3) of the elements of linguistic
structures.

I. Key Concepts in Functional Grammar

In traditional grammar, there are 10 parts of speech: noun, verb, adjective,

adverb, pronoun, number, article, preposition, conjunction, and interjection. Then each
of these ten classes can be divided into subcategories based on their functions. In
functional grammar, these classes of words do not disappear. However, functional
grammar places English words into four big groups: noun group, verb group, adjective
group, and prepositional group (See Example 1). In addition, traditional grammar
analyzes a sentence structure into subject, predicate, object, attributive, adverbial, and
complement, while functional grammar gives a clause different functional labels
depending on three kinds of metafunctions (See Example 2).
Example 1:

Traditional grammar

Her great grandmother paint this painting in France.

Pron. Adj. N. V. Pron. N. Prep. N.

Functional grammar

His great grandmother paint this painting in France.

Nominal group Verbal group Prepositional group

Example 2.

Traditional grammar

Abang Suizo Elemetary School was establish in the year 1964.

Subject Predicator Prepositional

phrase

Functional grammar
 Abang Suizo Elemetary School was establish in the year 1964.

Theme Rheme

Functional grammar

Abang Suizo Elemetary School was establish in the year 1964.

Goal Process
Time

I.1 Functions and systems

The term “functional” is used because it describes the approach which sees
grammatical categories in terms of their communicative functions. Its system network is
like a computer program. When we start to run the program, the computer presents us
with a “menu” of possible functions which the program can perform. After we select one
of these functions, we will have sets of options to choose from. Let’s take the following
language “menu” as an example.

I.2 Hierarchy of Linguistic Units

Functional grammar relates grammatical categories to the communicative functions

which they serve. These functions are seen to operate at different levels of organization
in the language, and may be identified in terms of the constituent parts which go to form
larger units. This implies a segmental principle of organization, in which larger units may
be seen as being formed from smaller units and smaller units being combined to form
the larger units.

Thus, in functional grammar, a clause is the highest grammatical unit, made up of

one or more groups; each group is made up of one or more words, and each word is
made up of one or more morphemes, the morpheme being the minimal unit. This rank
scale is the fundamental concepts in functional grammar.

I.3 Clauses and Sentence

A clause is the highest unit of functional grammar. Based on the definition of

Halliday (1994), a clause is a composite entity, which is constituted not of one
dimension of structure but of three (subject, actor, and theme). Each of the three
functions construes a distinctive meaning. He labels them ‘clause as message’, ‘clause
as exchange’, and ‘clause as representation’. Therefore, the concept of a clause is quite
different from that of a sentence. Example: He came in, sat on a chair, and read a
newspaper.

I.4 Theme
The system of theme belongs to the textual metafunction of the language. It is
concerned with the organization of information within individual clauses and through
this, with the organization of the larger text. Besides, every clause is organized as a
message related to an unfolding text. The system of theme organizes the clause to
show what its local context is in relation to the general context of the text it serves in.
This local context or point of departure is called theme. The rest of the message of the
clause is what is presented against the background of the local context—it is where the
clause moves after the point of departure. This is called Rheme. The clause as
message is thus organized into Theme + Rheme. (And) the theme is realized by initial
position in the clause and Rheme that follows.

Examples: Theme Rheme

My mom baked a cake last night.

Last week a dog was lost in the woods.

I.5 Mood

The mood system is the part of grammar which is most inherently linked with the
roles which speakers adopt in the use of language. We can think of the way we use
language interactively as a form of exchange, and we can understand the function of
language in the following two ways: 1) where language serves as a means of
exchanging goods and services, and influencing the behavior of others; 2) where
language is itself the medium of exchange in the form of information. The role the
speaker decides to take will determine which mood he will use in a dialogue or
conversation.

I.6 Transitivity

The system of transitivity belongs to one mode of the ideational metafunction, that is,
the experiential one. It is a resource for construing our experience in terms of
configuration of a process, participants and circumstances. It refers to a system for
describing the whole clause, rather than just the verb and its object. It does, though,
share with the traditional use a focus on the verbal group, since it is the type of process
which determines how the participants are labeled.

Differences in Nature between Functional Grammar and Traditional Grammar

Functional grammar focuses on the way language is put together so that

meaning is communicated for particular purposes, and looks at a language as a system
of meaning, while traditional grammar is concerned with the ways words are organized
within sentences and looks at a language as a set of rules. In other words, functional
grammar is different from traditional grammar in that it focuses on language as a
meaning-making resource rather than as a set of rules (Schleppegrell, 2004).

In analyzing sentence and word, Halliday (1994) points out that traditional
grammar stops at the sentence and there is a sense in which this does form an upper
bound. However, for functional grammar, in terms of rank, there is no fixed upper limit. It
treats the clause as the basic unit, while traditional grammar regards the sentence as
the basic unit. The fundamental difference is that functional grammar is a meaning-
based, descriptive one, and traditional grammar is a form-based, prescriptive one. In the
field of language teaching and learning, their purposes and applications are thus quite
different.

Implication for English Teaching and Learning

Functional grammar is more sociological in orientation. It is concerned with

understanding the ways in which language is used for different purposes and in different
situations, serving a communicative purpose of language learning. Through text
analysis, functional grammar can offer EFL students “a way of seeing how meaning and
form are related in the different options available in the grammatical systems of the
English language, and know how knowledge is construed in school” (Schleppegrell,
2004, p. 1).

Conclusion

Functional grammar, the meaning resources for constructing discourse and the
metalanguage employed by teachers and students to talk about written texts, can help
students master English grammar from a semantic perspective based upon their former
knowledge of traditional grammar, and apply it to language tasks to realize meanings in
various structures. As English teachers, it is necessary for us to have a good knowledge
about functional grammar because it can greatly help our students to better understand
functions of grammar and also it may bring a great change to our teaching and learning
process. Pedagogically, functional grammar, in spite of its controversies in its
applications, has its own advantages and can facilitate students to achieve success in
academic registers if English teachers like us can find a good way to teach its concepts
in order. Also, it can help our students to achieve success in other subject areas like
history and science. Besides its significance in teaching and learning, functional
grammar has opened a wide research field in linguistics. With functional grammar,
language teaching and learning will be more interesting and meaningful.

References

Feng, Z. (2013) Functional Grammar and Its Implications for English Teaching and
 Learning. Retrieved from September 4, 2013 from
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1077136.pdf

Knapp, P., & Watkins, M. (2005). Genre, Text, Grammar: Technologies for Teaching
and

Assessing Writing.Sydney: UNSW Press.

Schleppegrell, M. J. (2004). The Language of Schooling: A Functional Linguistics

Perspective. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers.