“The Instructional

Design of a
Coursebook
Is As It Is Because of
What It Has To Do”
An Application of
Systemic Functional
Theory
Duriya Aziz Singapore
Wala
 Overview: The systemic approach is
increasingly being recognized as providing
a very useful descriptive and interpretive
framework for viewing language as
strategic, meaning- making resource.
 Possible applications of systematic theory:

- Theoretical concerns: to understand the

nature and functions of language
- Historical concerns: to understand how
language evolve through time
- Developmental concerns: to understand how
a child develops language, and how language
may have evolved in the human species
- Educational concerns: to help people learn
their mother tongue…foreign languages
 Systematic functional theory provides us
with tools to help us understand the systems
and networks of choices engaged in and
created in the process of construction of
knowledge through the instructional design
of a coursebook.
 Authentic products of social interaction
(texts), considered in relation to the cultural
and social context in which they are
negotiated.
 To understand the quality of texts: why a
text means what it does, and why it is valued
as it is
 Systematic functional theory can
contribute to the development of a
theoretical model and an analytical
approach to evaluation of
instructional design of a coursebook
which is FUNCTIONAL and MEANING
BASED COURSEBOOK
• Four main theoretical claims about language:
1. That language use is functional
2. That its function is to make meanings
3. That these meanings are influenced by the
social and cultural context in which they are
exchanged
4. That the process of using language is
a semiotic process, a process of making
meanings by choosing
 The Systematic functional
framework will be useful in
uncovering these meanings as it
provides a means of looking at the
instructional design of a coursebook
as a text ‘LANGUAGE that is
FUNCTIONAL and ‘authentic product
of social interaction, considered in
relation to the social and cultural
context in which they are
negotiated’
- How ‘is’ the instructional design?
- What does the instructional
design of the coursebook have to
do?
- And what is the correlation
between the two?
- The coursebook instructional
design can be considered a
communicative act by itself but it
is also a dynamic artefact that
contributes to and creates
meaning together with other
participants in the context of
language teaching.
The instructional design of the coursebook is
structured along various levels to create
meaning through the selection of resources
from various options available to perform
specific functions in specific contexts.

- ‘The particular form taken by the

grammatical system of language is closely
related to the social and personal needs that
language is required to serve’
(Halliday, 1970, p. 142)
For Example:

“The language and form of

an invitation to a party
would depend upon whether
the party is a formal one or
an informal one.”
However, in all cases..
“It would contain
information such as dates,
place, and so on..”
 Evidence of the language/context
relationship: we can deduce/predict context
from text
 Language use is sensitive to context
 Simply not possible to tell how people are
using language if you don’t take into account
the context of use
• The instructional design forms a
response to a complex social need
that is constructed by the
pedagogical situation in which it is
produced.

- The principal constituent of this

pedagogical situation is the
students’ need, or perceived need,
for a simplified compendium of
knowledge.
- Register theory describes the impact of
dimensions of the immediate context of
situation of a language even on the way
language is used.
- Three key dimensions of the situations are
identified as having significant and predictable
impacts on language use.

1) The register variables of mode: amount of

feedback and role of language (differentiate
speak or write)
2) Tenor: role relations of power and solidarity
(differentiate speak to who (boss/lover))
3) Field: topic or focus of the activity
• The concept of genre is used to describe
the impact of the context of culture on
language, by exploring the staged, step-
by-step structure cultures
institutionalize as ways of achieving
goals.
• Examples:
Telling a story (many steps: set the
scene(time, place, participants),
develop the actions, relate the
dramatic events, give the happy
ending, express the judgement on
the outcome, wrap up).
 When we describe the staged, structured
way in which people go about achieving goals
using language we are describing genre.
 Example: explanation texts (statement of
problematic behavior, explanation of
possible causes, suggestion alleviating
actions, statement of outlook)
Four dimensions:
 Set of texts
 Composing processes in creating
these texts
 reading practices to interpret the
text
 social roles performed by readers
and writers
The role of a coursebook
reflects or must reflect
decisions concerning its
primary goal and form, the
relation the coursebook
holds to other sources of
input and the abilities of the
teacher.
 A higher level of context to which
increasing attention is being given
within systemic linguistics is the level
of ideology.
Two Ideological Positions:
1. The values we hold
(consciously or unconsciously)
2. The biases and perspective we
adopt
 Example:
b. That we should write for parents in a very
different way from the way we write for trainee
medical personnel
c. That it is important for the medical text to
foresee the possible negative outcomes of
behavior, while the magazine article foresees
the positive outcomes
WE NEED A WAY OF TALKING ABOUT HOW
LANGUAGE IS NOT JUST REPRESENTING BUT
ACTIVELY CONSTRUCTING OUR VIEW OF THE
WORLD.
 The ‘hidden curriculum’
(Cunningsworth, 1995, p. 90) that
forms part of any educational
programme is unstated and
undisclosed.
 While this aspect of materials
development and evaluation takes a
different perspective from that of
language content or methodology,
- the value system encoded in a
coursebook can influence the
perceptions and attitudes of
learners, generally, and
towards learning English, in
particular
Following the discussion above, in the process of
planning and development of a coursebook or
course materials, materials developers must ask
and answer the following questions:
- How is the instructional design of the
coursebook structured for use?
- What dimensions of context are reflected in the
coursebook design and structure? How? Why?
- What view of the world, of English, of learning
English, of the teacher and of the learner is
presented explicitly and implicitly through
the instructional design of the coursebook?
 LANGUAGE COURSEBOOKS

CONTENT Semantics Syllabus

(meanings) (objectives/outcomes
)

Lexicogrammar Scope, Sequence and

(words and structures) Methodology

EXPRESSION Phonology/Graphology A multimodal code of

Sounds/Letters instructional design
including language
and visual elements

Application of Eggins (1994:21) to course book analysis by Singapore Wala

Source: (Adapted from Eggins, 1994, p. 21 in Singapore Wala, 2003).
The Context of Culture:
The Genre of the
Coursebook
A narrative text for
example, at its simplest can
be said to have the following
stages or schematic
structure: Setting, Problem,
Complication, Climax,
Resolution, Ending.
The typical schematic
structure is as
follows:
TITLE^
INTRODUCTION^
LEARNING TASK^
LEARNING TASK^(SERIES OF
LEARNING TASKS)^
CLOSING.
 The overall purpose of language can be
described as a semantic one, and each text
we participate in is a record of the meanings
that have been made in particular context.
 Systemic analysis seeks to demonstrate that
linguistic texts are typically making not
just one, but a number of meanings
simultaneously.
 Three Main Kinds
Of Meaning
“METAFUNCTIONS”
1. Ideational Metafunction
- based on the informative
properties inherent in language by
representing the values and
knowledge shared by
communicators
- This is the realization of the
‘field’ of discourse circumscribing
what the speakers are ‘engaged in
doing’ (Halliday, 1978, p. 222).
- Curriculum developers want that the content
covers all the items listed in the syllabus
- Teachers want that the content is sufficient
to teach language effectively to prepare
learners for the exam
- Publishers want that the range of topics,
themes, items and other features covered is
one that will meet approval from both,
curriculum developers/reviewing authorities, as
well as teachers
- Writers want that in addition to content
prescribed by the syllabus, they are able to
include their own favourite topics, themes or
items or at least those that they are convinced
will be useful to the teacher and learner
2. Interpersonal Metafunction
- Comprised use of language
representative if “SOCIAL AND
PERSONAL RELATIONS”
The learner is expected to respond to the
coursebook by following the instructions and
accepting informations given in the unit
- How do the creators of the coursebook
position the teacher and the learner?
-Who do they address?
-How do they address them?
These roles and relationships become
evident when we analyse the structure
and composition of the instructional
design. We are interested to explore
these patterns of interactivity and the
interpersonal relationships they
exemplify for several reasons: to find out
if they are consistent with or
contradictory to the ideational meaning
created and thereby if they facilitate or
impede effective language learning; to
explore how they
can be improved.
- Does the coursebook ‘tell’ the teacher and
learner what to learn or do or does it allow
discovery and exercising of options and making
choices?
- Does the coursebook engage the learner as an equal,
allowing him or her to participate in the creation
of knowledge or is it a passive knowledge reception
model along which the coursebook operates?
- Do the tasks and activities address the learner
directly using the imperative form or is the third
person used?
- What does the use or absence of illustrations say
about how the coursebook positions the learner?
- How does the coursebook design and layout position
the learner?
3. Textual Metafunction
- The ‘textual’ function, finally,
ensures the effectiveness of a
communicative act by providing a
texture incorporating the ‘remaining
strands of meaning potential’ ‘into
the fabric of linguistic structure’
(Halliday, 1973, p. 42).
The textual function
operates in the form of
discourse markers and
cohesive devices within
the coursebook and within
each unit to ensure fluidity
between the interpersonal
and ideational functions
 Ideational meanings: real world
 Interpersonal: expresses the writer’s role
relationship with the reader, and the
writer’s attitude towards the subject matter
 Textual: refers to the way the text is
organized as a piece of writing (or speech)
 A system has the following basic
attributes:
b. It consists of a finite set of choices or
oppositions
c. The choices in the system are
discrete
d. It is the oppositions, not the substance, in
the system that are important
 TO CONSTRUCT THE SEMIOTIC SYSTEM,
WE NEED TO OBSERVE THAT EACH CHOICE
TRIGGERS DIFFERENT BEHAVIORS IN THE
RECEIVERS.
 Signs in a semiotic system are a fusion or
pairing of a content (meaning) and an
expression (realization or encoding of that
meaning)
 Semiotic systems are established by social
convention.
 Semiotic systems are arbitrary
From THEORY to
PRACTICE
English for Life; The Odyssey;Step
Ahead; Eureka; English Expressions
The typical schematic
structure is as
follows:
TITLE^
INTRODUCTION^
LEARNING TASK^
LEARNING TASK^(SERIES OF
LEARNING TASKS)^
CLOSING.
TITLE: This stage labels the
unit. It can either reflect the
thematic focus (English For
Life: Attractions of
Singapore; English
Expressions: Me and My
Friends; Eureka!: Links) or it
may highlight the text-type
focus of the unit (Step
Ahead: Instructions; The
Odyssey: This is a True
-INTRODUCTION: The introduction is the
chapter opening. In the coursebooks
analysed, in all cases it includes an
introductory activity (or activities) based
on the thematic or text-type focus of the
unit. In addition, except English for Life
and Eureka!, it also includes a listing of
the learning objectives for the unit. The
purpose of this stage is to draw attention
to the learning objectives for the unit
and/or to set the stage for learning in the
unit.
-LEARNING TASKS: This is a series of successive
tasks. The purpose of this stage(s) is to provide
the learner with opportunity to do tasks to
achieve the learning objectives of the unit in
the coursebook. It comprises instructions and
statements of knowledge about language
learning. The learning tasks may be organized
discretely with no thematic link but a text-type
focus (Step Ahead) or it may be a series of
successive learning tasks emerging from an early
task and/or text (English for Life, English
Expressions, The Odyssey) or it may be
organized in clusters (Eureka!). This is the real
purpose of the coursebook’s existence.
 CLOSING: This seems to be an optional
stage in the schematic structure. English
for Life and The Odyssey skip this stage
altogether. The other three coursebooks
have a closing stage. In English
Expressions, the activities in this stage are
for enjoyment. In Step Ahead and
Eureka!, there is some reflection to be
done as well. The purpose of this stage
seems to be to provide closure to the unit
and to encourage students to reflect on
their learning.
 COURSEBOOKS COURSEBOOKS
CONTENT Syllabus Predicting the Story
(objectives/outcomes Describing Characters
) Describing settings

Scope, Sequence and Adjectives

Methodology Phrases
Direct Speech
Simple tense
Punctuations
EXPRESSION Instructional Design Texts, tasks, and
exercises in the units
- What this means is that a materials
developer has to think through and
identify the syllabus objectives and
outcomes he wants to address and
then craft a scope and sequence
around it before moving on to writing
the unit.
The impact of the dimension of
tenor within the context of
situation – role relations
of power and solidarity between
coursebook and teacher/learner
and teacher and
learner is evident in the
coursebooks in different ways and
to different extents.
Step Ahead 1 (p. 37) introduces a reading text thus:

. . . The following passage is from Penny

Pollard’s Letters, a fictional collection of
letters written by a young girl named Penny
Pollard. . . .
Penny uses many casual words in her letter,
and she writes as if she were simply recording
her thoughts.
This style reflects her open and cheerful
personality.
In the following passage, Penny tells her friend
Mrs Bettany about what happened when she
had to take care of baby Lisa for a day. (Jones
and Mann, 2001)
English Expressions 1 introduces a reading task
thus:

Have you ever thought that being crazy could

benefit the world?
A group of comedians in England had this idea
and they started Comic Relief, a
charity to help the poor all over the world. . .
Read their appeal on the Internet in
preparation for Red Nose Day 1999. Red Nose
Day is a ‘crazy’ event organized by Comic
Relief every two years. Look for ways in
which they try to persuade people to take
part. (Davis and Tup, 2001)
Coursebooks use different and
varied resources to create and
manage interpersonal
relations to conduct the learning
experience. The primary mode of
communication of
interpersonal meaning is the
narratorial voice of the
coursebook.
 Conclusion
Extending and applying principles of
systemic functional linguistics in the
analysis of coursebook units reveals the
systems and networks of choices engaged
in and created (wittingly and unwittingly,
voluntarily and involuntarily) in the
process of construction of knowledge
within a coursebook.
- This can serve as a framework for
understanding the ideological underpinnings
of coursebooks and explicating the
positioning, within the coursebook, of the
teacher and the learner, of language learning
as well as of
the coursebook itself
- In short, systemic functional
theory offers useful tools for
examining the kinds of
meaning that a coursebook
embeds in its discourse.
- It offers a different vantage point
from which to explore the materials
development exercise –a
coursebook is as it is because of
what it has to do.