COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS

GRADUATE SCHOOL
Normal Road, Baliwasan, Zamboanga City
Second Semester 2018-2019

Name: Kristine E. Dumosmog

Course: Master of Arts in English Language Studies (MAELS)
Subject: TESL
Title: Functional Grammar and Its Application
Professor: Dr. Melchor D. Jalon
Date: January 19, 2019

Functional Grammar and Its Application

Functional Grammar (FG)

is a structural-functional theory of language, of which Simon C. Dik was the initiator and main
developer. The theory arose in the 1970s as a response to the prevalence of transformational generative
approaches in the Dutch linguistic debate, and was expanded in a series of volumes through the 1980s and
1990s. An international community of linguists from Europe and South America is involved in the practice and
development of FG, which has its power base at the University of Amsterdam, Dik's former affiliation.

Functional grammar, based on systemic linguistics, emphasizes the way spoken and written language operates
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. It takes
on a descriptive approach and focuses on groups of words that function to make meanings.

In his classic book An Introduction to Functional Grammar, Halliday (1994) 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:

1. Interpretation of texts- Functional grammar is designed to account for how the language is used. Every
text (everything that is said or written) unfolds in some context of use. Over tens of thousands of
generations of constant use, language has shaped into a system which can satisfy human needs.
Therefore, “A functional grammar is essentially a ‘natural’ grammar, in the sense that everything in it can
be explained, ultimately, by reference to how language is used” (Halliday, 1994, p. xiii)

2. The system- The fundamental components of meaning in language are functional components.
According to the analysis of Halliday, all languages are organized around two kinds of meanings, the
‘ideational’ (to understand the environment), and the ‘interpersonal’ (to act on the others in it).
Combined with these two is a third component, the ‘textual’, which breathes relevance into the other
two. These three components are called metafunctions in the terminology of FG theory.

3. The elements of linguistic structures- Each element in a language is explained by reference to its
function in the total linguistic system. Accordingly, “a functional grammar is one that construes all the
units of a language its clauses, phrases and so on. In other words, each part is interpreted as functional
with respect to the whole” (Halliday, 1994, p. xiv).

In many ways, Halliday’s functional grammar seems to be very well suited to language teaching and
learning. Functional grammar is all about language use. It’s about communicative grammar that learners can
use in the typical situations that they find themselves in as they go about their daily lives. Moreover, it’s an
approach in which grammar is not seen as a set of rules, but rather as a communicative resource.

Based on Halliday’s model, Thompson (1996) explains the three metafunctions of functional grammar in an
informal way as follows:

1) We use language to talk about our experience of the world, including the world in our minds, to
describe events and states and the entities involved in them.
2) We also use language to interact with other people, to establish and maintain relation with them, to
influence their behavior, to express our own viewpoint on things in the world, and to elicit or change
theirs.
 3) In using language, we organize our messages in ways which indicate how they fit in with the other
messages around them and with the wider context in which we are talking or writing.

Similarly, Martin, Matthiessen and Painter (1997) define functional grammar as a way of looking at
grammar in terms of how grammar is used. In the field of linguistics, formal grammar, which is an alternative to
functional grammar, is concerned with the ways our genes constrain the shape of our grammar, and thus
constrain what a person can and cannot say. Contrastively, functional grammar is not genetically oriented to
our neurophysiology in this way. Rather, it focuses on the development of grammatical systems as a means for
people to interact with each other – functional grammar sees grammar as shaped by, and as playing a
significant role in shaping, the way we get on with our lives. Its orientation is social, in other words, rather than
biological (Martin, Matthiessen & Painter, 1997, p. 1).
Therefore, functional grammar, based on cultural and social contexts, is very useful for describing and
evaluating how language can be used to write and speak more appropriately and effectively. Using functional
grammar can help us to read more carefully and critically.

Traditional Grammar vs. Functional Grammar

There are two different overall methods for teaching grammar, called traditional and functional
grammar.
1. Traditional grammar focuses on explicitly teaching students about structuring sentences and the
different parts of speech, whereas functional grammar has a strong focus on the context of a text
(Winch et al., 2010). While traditional grammar used to be the commonly taught form of grammar until
the 1960s, many studies have found it to be ineffective when taught to children, and some even
considered it to be detrimental to the grammar understanding of students in the sense that it is taught in
place of more effectively educational topics (Derewianka, 2012). This debate surrounding the
effectiveness of teaching grammar caused a lot of confusion surrounding how grammar should be
taught, if at all.
In traditional grammar, there is a strong focus on teaching the eight types of word, with an emphasis on
students learning to identify these as they apply in a sentence. These word types are; noun, adjective, verb,
adverb, pronoun, conjunction, exclamation and preposition. While traditional grammar can describe how
language works at the sentence level, it does not necessarily provide a good platform for students to learn
about how to apply grammar in life outside of the classroom, nor does it teach students about how grammar
may be changed depending on the context of the sentence in which it is being used (Winch et al., 2010).
2. Functional grammar has a strong focus on the context of the text being studied, with an emphasis on
how language is used to express meaning. The context of a text, as it is expressed by functional
grammar, might be separated into several components.

From reading the literature on the differences between functional and traditional grammar, it might be
tempting to assume that functional grammar should take precedence, while traditional grammar teaching
should be avoided. While it seems that, for the most part, functional grammar is superior due to its focus on
teaching students how and why grammar is used rather than simply what grammar looks like, elements of
traditional grammar can still be effectively taught in the classroom. For example, a teacher might chose to
incorporate the concept of nouns or verbs into a grammar lesson in a way which shows how these can be
used effectively in a text, giving a name to the concepts and thereby providing the teacher with a tool for
discussing grammar. By looking at the Australian Curriculum (AusVels n.d.) it is clear that there is still a strong
focus on traditional aspects of grammar, especially nouns, adjectives and verbs etc. The challenge for
teachers today is to teach these concepts in a manner which is meaningful for their students.

Why is it important to learn FG?

according to Denewianka

1. To achieve different social purposes

2. To share their ideas about their experience of the world

3. to make connections between ideas

4. to interact with others through language

5. to construct a coherent and cohesive text in both spoken and written modes.
References:

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1077136.pd

https://news.collinselt.com/tag/functional-grammar/

http://www.glottopedia.org/index.php/Functional_Grammar

https://teachinggrammartoupperandmiddleprimary.weebly.com/traditional-vs-functional-grammar.html