Context of situation and the role of language

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy L. Bowcher
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Systemic Approach ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
Field System ◽  
Context Of Situation ◽  
The Way

Abstract ‘Role’ is typically defined according to the part and/or function that something or someone contributes to a situation. This two-fold perspective is also inherent in discussions of the role of language: the ‘amount’ of language that is involved in a situation and the ‘function’ of language in a situation, with both perspectives relating to the non-linguistic systems that may be involved in the conduct of the situation relative to language. It is the latter of these perspectives, however, that has typically received most attention in discourse analysis, with the former (the ‘amount’) being left implicit and unproblematised. This paper considers the role of language from various discourse analytical perspectives before critically examining the concept within Systemic Functional Linguistics. Using system networks as the representational and analytical platform, the paper redefines ‘role of language’ in contextual Mode as comprised of two sub-systems: degree of involvement and type of involvement. degree of involvement accounts for the compositional contribution that language makes in a situation; type of involvement accounts for the way in which language may function in a situation. Using an illustrative dataset, the paper also demonstrates the effectiveness of the systemic approach in accounting for overlapping and differing contextual configurations by showing how features within the role of language configure and how these in turn configure with options in the Field system-network of action. These configurations are essentially hypotheses that can be more comprehensively tested through empirical research.

scholarly journals The role of a common european framework in the elaboration of national language curricula and syllabuses

2010 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos A. M. Gouveia
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Teaching Practices ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
National Language ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Political ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
The One

Following the Systemic Functional Linguistics based theory and methodology of Positive Discourse Analysis, this paper discusses some of the political, cultural and educational propositions motivating the Council of Europe’s document Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. A close reading of the text clearly shows that while attempting to promote a plurilingual approach to the learning of languages in Europe, the document also calls for a change in teaching practices aiming at a transformation in the dynamics of language relations in Europe. Some of the issues focused upon in the paper derive directly from the document’s stated objectives, namely questions of levelling, standardization, democracy and hegemony, on the one hand, and questions of plurality, independence, empowerment and difference, on the other.

scholarly journals From 'Politics in Command' to 'Economics in Command': A Discourse Analysis of China's Transformation

2005 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 65-87
Author(s):  
Li Xing
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Driving Force ◽  
Chinese Communist Party ◽  
Discourse Theory ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
Chinese Revolution ◽  
Political Project ◽  
The Way

This article proposes a framework for understanding the way the Chinese Revolution emerged, developed and achieved power (1921-49), then further consolidated in the period of socialist 'uninterrupted revolution' (1949-77) and was finally abandoned by the post-Mao regime (1977 to the present). This analysis is based on a perspective of discourse theories framed in historically new forms of political, social and ideological relations. In other words, it attempts to conceptualize the transformation of China and the Chinese Communist Party by analysing the role of ideological discourses (arguments and interpretations) and the cognitive elements (beliefs, goals, desires, expertise, knowledge) as the driving-force behind societal transformations. The discourse theory applied here – logocentrism and econocentrism – also serves both as a political arena of struggle to confer legitimacy on a specific socio-political project and as a distinctive cog ni tive and evaluative framework for understanding societal transformations. The conceptualization of the paper is informed by the work of David Apter and Tony Saich on discourse theory.

Las metafunciones de Halliday en traducción

Babel ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 484-504
Author(s):  
Eirini Chatzikoumi
Keyword(s):  
State Of The Art ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
The State ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
Research And Teaching ◽  
Translator Training

Abstract This article addresses the contribution of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) to translation and, specifically, the use of Halliday’s metafunctions in translation studies research. The aim is to provide the state of the art of the main findings and proposals of these studies regarding the role of metafunctions in translation and translation teaching, thus evaluating their relevance and applicability in this field. In order to achieve this, six studies were reviewed, three of them dedicated to metafunctional shifts and three to the use of metafunctions in translation teaching and evaluation. This critical bibliographic review allowed for the corroboration of the contribution of SFL to the field of translation, and for the deduction of relevant aspects for future research and teaching proposals. More precisely, the relevance of the incorporation of semantic metafunctions in translator training and evaluation is confirmed, and the possibility of a distinction between obligatory and optional metafunctional translation shifts is suggested.

Beyond Contestation

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-246
Author(s):  
Holly Snape
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
The State ◽  
The Way

This paper draws on empirical research undertaken in mainland China spanning five years to examine the role of a quiet, incremental, and holistic approach adopted by grassroots ngos as they attempt to carve out greater governance and service provision roles for themselves and influence the state. In light of this approach, it also questions the way we conceptualize the autonomy of ngos and the search for contestation between ngos and the state which clouds our view of more subtle yet powerful interaction. It goes on to suggest that by adjusting the lens through which we interpret the transformation of the state-society relationship, we may be able to form a clearer understanding of the wave-like development of civil society in China as the space for social organizing expands and contracts on an upward trajectory.

scholarly journals Printed t-shirts in the linguistic landscape

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Caldwell
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
Social Semiotics ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Unique Mode ◽  
Landscape Research ◽  
A Site

Abstract While the printed t-shirt remains a prominent form of communication in our contemporary linguistic landscape, little research to date has examined the semiotics of this unique mode of communication. In response to the interdisciplinary ‘invitation’ from Shohamy and Ben-Rafael (2015), this paper draws on principles and methods from social semiotics (van Leeuwen, 2005) and Systemic Functional Linguistics (Halliday, 1989) to explore the meaning-making potential of English words on printed t-shirts. The paper begins by applying Halliday’s concept of mode to the printed t-shirt and then presents a linguistically motivated taxonomy of words on printed t-shirts. In addition to foregrounding the printed t-shirt as a site for future exploration, this paper aims to present a close textual discourse analysis – an examination of the ‘perceived space’ (Malinowski, 2015) – to complement, inform and engage with current trends and methods in linguistic landscape research and pedagogy.

Sites and parasites of meaning: Browning’s ‘My Last Duchess’

2006 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-140
Author(s):  
Robin Melrose
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Linguistic Analysis ◽  
Speech Act Theory ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
The Right

Robert Browning’s so-called dramatic lyric ‘My Last Duchess’ has been interpreted differently by different critics, some seeing the Duke as shrewd and others seeing him as witless. This article attempts to account for these differing interpretations by analysing indeterminacies in the language of the poem. Starting out with the work of Derrida on speech act theory, and findings on the role of the right hemisphere in language processing, it goes on to propose techniques of linguistic analysis based on systemic-functional linguistics and the concept of particle-waves of language first discussed in Melrose (1996). The article then analyses a number of these so-called particle-waves in ‘My Last Duchess’, and concludes that opposing interpretations of the Duke can be traced to the indeterminacies of language in the particle-waves.

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