A Review on Semantic Waves and Its Application in Discourse Analysis

Since the past 10 years, the theory of semantic waves has further progressed. This theory is deeply rooted in the theory of knowledge structures, legitimation code theory, and systemic functional linguistics. In addition, the theory can also be applied in discourse analysis, language learning, language teaching, and many other fields.

Conceptualizing a Radical Visible Pedagogy

This paper contributes to the theorization of radical visible pedagogy by building upon Basil Bernstein’s initial conceptualization and previous efforts to develop it. Alongside Bernstein’s “classification” and “framing” we suggest that incorporating the concepts of “semantic gravity” and “semantic density” from Legitimation Code Theory (LCT)—concepts that were not available to those engaged in earlier efforts to theorize radical visible pedagogy—adds an important dimension to this theorization. Outlining the principles of radical visible pedagogy has the potential to inform equitable classroom practice in a manner that eschews the tendency toward dichotomous conceptions of pedagogy as either “traditional” or “progressive.”

The Janus Face of Professional Knowledge: What Organizational Principles Are behind the Students’ Perceptions of Professional Knowledge in New Norwegian Teacher Education?

Integration of theory and practice is the key element in the research on teachers’ professional knowledge. Traditionally, this topic has created a polarization between practical and theoretical knowledge. The reform in the new Norwegian teacher education has introduced a new and watered-down concept of knowledge and research-based knowledge in education. With the reform, conflicting perceptions have arisen of what we can understand with professional knowledge in teacher education. Based on Maton’s Legitimation Code Theory, and with examples from a study of students’ R&D papers, this paper sheds light on the conflicting concept of professional knowledge in new Norwegian teacher education. The paper refutes a generic concept of knowledge and argues that teachers’ professional knowledge is based on practices that are informed by specialized forms of knowledge in the subject area.

Martin on discourse semantics, genre, educational linguistics

J. R. Martin is a leading scholar who has greatly developed the theoretical framework of systemic functional linguistics (SFL) over the past four decades. Some of these contributions, such as the systems of discourse semantics, the appraisal framework and genre relations have been widely applied in various areas of linguistic studies and language education. The educational linguistic model he and his colleagues have cultivated and developed has attracted the attention of more and more educators from different disciplines around the globe. In this interview, he firstly elaborates on the significance of the concepts of discourse semantics, grammatical metaphor and genre. Then he continues with applications of genre theory in secondary school education, language maintenance, the relation and collaboration between Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) and SFL, and how the two paradigms complement each other. Finally, he introduces some of his recent collaborations with grammarians of different languages.

Stakeholder Struggles in the Uptake and Use of Blended and Online Learning in Higher Education

Recommendations for greater adoption of blended and online learning pedagogies pre-date COVID-19 by many years. However, the uptake and implementation of blended and online learning was largely ignored by lecturers in many contact institutions, despite the introduction of policies and various resources to support such a shift. In this chapter, we critically explore the reluctance of lecturers to adopt blended and online learning pedagogies, drawing on the Epistemic Pedagogic Device (EPD) of Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) and the elements of Archer’s theory of Social Realism to explicate the roles and contestations among the various stakeholders involved in teaching and learning in higher education institutions. In particular, we examine the struggles for legitimacy faced by instructional designers and academic developers in the sites of teaching and learning, sites which have traditionally been controlled by lecturers. We posit that successful, sustainable implementation of online and blended learning requires institutional recognition of multiple stakeholders as legitimate role-players in teaching and student learning.

Coping in complex, changing classroom contexts: An investigation of the bases of pre-service teachers' pedagogic reasoning

Despite its central role in enabling professional judgements and decision-making in teaching, pedagogic reasoning is a slippery concept and difficult to pin down. Although pedagogic reasoning is understood to inform all aspects of teaching practice, we still do not know what pedagogic reasoning looks like. In this article, I present a conceptual tool, using concepts from Legitimation Code Theory (Maton, 2014), to explore analytically the differences between the abstraction and context-embeddedness of ideas expressed in the pedagogic reasoning of a sample of pre-service teachers. I argue that pre-service teachers who are able to draw on specialised concepts associated with context-independent principles, may be in a better position to distinguish the "formal elements" from the "material elements" of teaching (Morrow, 2005, p. 98). Being able to make this distinction is likely, I argue, to set pre-service teachers up to cope in complex changing classroom contexts.

Revealing shifts from mastery of knowledge to problem solving in assessments of a tertiary physics programme

There is an increasing pressure on lecturers to work with two goals. First, they need to ensure that their undergraduate students have a good grasp of the knowledge and skills of the intellectual field. In addition, they need to prepare graduates and postgraduates for careers both within and outside of academia. The problem we address in this paper is the way in which assessments may reveal a shift of focus from a mastery of knowledge to a work-focused orientation. We examine this shift through a case study of physics and the sub-discipline of theoretical physics as intellectual fields. The evidence is comprised of assessment tasks given to students at different points of their studies from first year to doctoral level. By examining and analysing the assessment tasks using concepts from Legitimation Code Theory (LCT), we demonstrate how the shifts in the assessments lead students incrementally from a pure disciplinary focus to one that enables them to pursue employment potentially both within and outside of academia. In doing so, we also highlight the usefulness of LCT as a framework for evaluating the preparation of science students for diverse workplaces.

What is an ecosystem?

In Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) contexts, students are expected to express disciplinary knowledge in a second/foreign language. One construct that has proven useful for the identification and realization of language functions in disciplinary knowledge is Dalton-Puffer’s (2013) model of cognitive discourse functions (CDFs). Additionally, Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) has already been proven useful for distinguishing lexico-grammatical features that characterise different CDFs in CLIL students’ productions (e.g., Nashaat-Sobhy & Llinares, 2020; Evnitskaya & Dalton-Puffer, 2020). In this article, we use SFL to analyse the oral and written realisations of the CDF Define by 6th grade students participating in a CLIL program in Madrid, Spain. A total of 83 students responded to the same prompt (on science) in writing (in the form of a blog) as well as orally (in the form of an interview). In the oral interviews the co-construction of definitions by the students with the interviewer (researcher) and another peer are explored using the notion of Legitimation Code Theory and the concept of semantic waves (Maton, 2013). The analysis of students’ definitions is also related to primary CLIL teachers’ evaluations using comparative judgement.

The Icarus Effect Rephrased: Range of Semantic Gravity and Forms of Knowledge in New Norwegian Teacher Education

In the 2000s, several major education reforms have been implemented in Norway. The reform in the teacher education is heavily inspired by the Finnish model, with introduction of a new research-based content, with the aim of developing a new type of professional knowledge, as a basis for teachers’ professional practice. Drawing on Maton’s Legitimation Code Theory, this paper explores the tensions in the new Norwegian teacher education, between knowledge and ways of knowing, by examining students’ practices, expressed in students’ research and development papers in the new teacher education. The paper refutes a one-dimensional concept of experience-based practical knowledge in the teacher education and argues that professional knowledge is based on practices that are informed by specialized and theoretical knowledge.