METAFUNCTIONS IN LITERACY

Abstract

This paper presents literacy in the context of metafunctions ,

expanding the scope of the notion ‘literacy’ to include not only written but
also spoken language.
A systemic-functional model of language is taken to identify how
metafunctions support literacy. The systemic-functional model of language
offers a means of organizing the many uses of language in a systematic
manner and of showing how we use language to express meaning. The
systemic-functional model of language uses metafunctions to isolate the
features of meaning in a context (field, mode, and tenor) and the kinds of
meaning in wording (textual, interpersonal, and ideational).
This allows language students to understand better of how text
relates to context in spoken and written language and helps them what to
include in language to determine its appropriateness .

Introduction
A literate person has the ability to talk, read and write. Literacy
therefore is to be defined as ‘ mastery of spoken language and reading and
writing’ (Pratt and Garton,1998). Literacy is directly involved with written
language and we also expect literate people speak fluently. The
development of written language skills influences spoken language ability, as
language structures and functions are learned for writing which in turn are
adopted for speaking.
In connection with literacy, systemic-functional model of language
retrieves language in three distinct senses : First, functional sense to account
for how the language is used , Secondly, the fundamental components of
meaning in language are functional components (metafunctions), Thirdly,

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element in a language is explained by reference to its function
(Halliday,1994).
This paper takes a look at the theoretical concept of Halliday’s
Functional Grammar, in understanding how to distinguish spoken and
written language, how to make writing more effective and flexible .
Systemic-Functional Linguistics
Systemic-Functional Linguistics (SFL) is a theory of language
centred around the notion of language function. While SFL accounts for the
syntactic structure of language, it places the function of language as central
(what language does, and how it does it), in preference to more structural
approaches, which place the elements of language and their combinations as
central. SFL starts at social context, and looks at how language both acts
upon, and is constrained by, this social context. A key concept in
Halliday's approach is the "context of situation" which
obtains "through a systematic relationship between the social
environment on the one hand, and the functional organization of
language on the other" (Halliday & Hasan, 1985:11).
A central notion is 'stratification'- the stages in coding process from
meaning to expression (Halliday, 1994), such that language is analysed in
terms of three strata: Semantics, Lexico-Grammar and Graphophonic
(Cusworth,1994). First of all, a text operates as a whole at the semantic
level to make meaning. To make meaning , however , we depend on the
lexicogrammatical (lexis /vocabulary + grammar) level of language, or the
way words are structured in sentences and clauses. It is at this second level,
then, that grammar fits into functional approach to language. This level is in
turn expressed through the third or graphophonic level – the sound and
symbols of the language system.

Metafunctions

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 Halliday developed a theory of the fundamental functions of
language, in which he analysed lexicogrammar into three broad
metafunctions: ideational, interpersonal and textual. Each of the
three metafunctions is about a different aspect of the world, and is
concerned with a different mode of meaning of clauses. The
ideational metafunction is about the natural world in the broadest
sense, including our own consciousness, and is concerned with
clauses as representations. The interpersonal metafunction is about
the social world, especially the relationship between speaker and
hearer, and is concerned with clauses as exchanges. The textual
metafunction is about the verbal world, especially the flow of
information in a text, and is concerned with clauses as messages
(Wilcock,2001).
Metafunctions are understood in terms of the idea of the clause
as message, the clause as exchange, and the clause as
representataion. The analysis of clause structures can be summarized as
follow (Edict):

All clauses have these elements of meaning in some way.

THE CLAUSE AS MESSAGE
Basic information structure: topic / comment (also called theme - rheme)
The theme occupies the first position in a clause:-
once upon a time
very carefully
on Monday
A phrase may introduce a theme:-
as for, regarding etc
thematic equative A = B
e.g what he said to me was the truth

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Themes may also be verb themes:
eg Forget it I won't
and whole clauses can act as themes

Choice of theme
Themes are marked or unmarked - this refers to which clause element is
chosen for foregrounding, and which is most usual (unmarked ).
What is marked (NOT normally chosen) depends on mood:-
Declarative: the theme is typically the same as the Subject
e.g I blame you. (unmarked)

Marked theme - in declarative mood, this is typically an adverbial or

prepositional phrase
e.g suddenly, at night, without pity
The most marked theme is a complement:
e.g nature I loved, blue the color is

Interrogative mood: this is the basic question form.

1. Polar (yes / no), themes in the finite verb, 2 part themes
unmarked:-

two themes th1 th2

can you
should old acquaintance
2. WH - theme
marked:-
e.g In your house who does the cooking?
Thematic structures in the interrogative:-
theme - rheme
who --------
how many --------
with whom --------
Imperative mood:
Verb theme - sing a song of sixpence
t r
THE CLAUSE AS EXCHANGE

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 This concerns dialogue - the interaction that takes place between speakers
and speech roles, what we do when we exchange goods, services, and information.
In exchange of information the most complicated linguistic structures may be
involved.
In speech acts such as offers, instructions, requests and so on, language functions to
achieve an end.
Grammatical resources are highly developed for exchange functions, and the
system which is most closely linked with interactive meaning and specific
speech roles is the system of mood.

MOOD -> S + finite

* The finite - this is a point of reference to here and now, and is realised
through the grammatical systems of tense andmodality.

THE CLAUSE AS REPRESENTATION

This refers to the semantic structure of clauses - the process,
participants and circumstances. This semantic structure expresses our
deepest experience of reality - of being, doing, feeling, existing, happening.

Clause structure organises experience as a semantic configuration.

eg. He opened the bottle hurriedly with a knife

participant process participant circumstance participant/circumstance

actor patient instrument

Processes are typically verb phrases, participants noun

phrases,and circumstances prepositional or adverbial phrases.

Written and spoken texts can be examined with respect to each of

these metafunctions in register analyses. Registers are ‘stylistic-functional
varieties of a dialect or language’. These may be narrowly defined by
reference to subject matter (field of discourse e.g. jargon of fishing,
gambling, sports, etc.), to medium (mode of discourse e.g. printed material,
written letter, message on tape, etc.), or to level of formality, that is style
(manner of discourse).
A register is also determined by the medium or mode of discourse.
The main distinction is between speech and writting. But within speech one

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may have such distinctions as conversation, discussion, debate talk, and
lecture. And in writing we may have distinctions like a personal letter, a
memoir, a biography, a poem to be read, a speech to be read aloud, and a
play to be performed on stage. (Varshney,1985)
According to the role of the speaker, a young lecturer, for example
will speak in different ways when communicating with his wife, his children,
his father, his colleagues, his students, or when shopping.

The ideational metafunction

The ideational metafunction is divided into two: experiential and
logical metafunction. The experiential metafunction organises our experience
and understanding of the world. It is the potential of the language to
construe figures with elements (such as screen shots of a moving picture or
pictures of a comic novel) and its potential to differentiate these elements
into processes, the participants in these processes, and the circumstances in
which the processes occur. There are six major process types : Material,
Mental, Verbal, Relational, Behavioral and Existential. The logical
metafunction works above the experiential. It organises our reasoning on the
basis of our experience. It is the potential of the language to construe logical
links between figures; for example, "this happened after that happened" or,
with more experience, "this happens every time that happens". There are in
every language systems of logical relations: relations such as 'and' and 'or'
and 'if ... then' and 'because ... so', which construe the links between one
piece of the discourse and another. These systems are realized not by
configuration but by iteration: one clause bonded with another clause, or
one group or phrase with another group or phrase. The characteristic feature
of these relationships is that they do not create closure; each element (each
clause, each group, and so on) can always be followed by another one of the
same. We refer to these structures as complexes: clause complexes, group
complexes, and so on. Each bond in such a complex is called a nexus.

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 The ideational metafunction relates to the field aspects of a text, or
its subject matter and context of use. Field is divided into three areas:
semantic domain, specialisation, and angle of representation. Within the
semantic domain, SFG proponents examine the subject matter of a text
through organising its nominal groups (nouns / noun phrases) and its lexical
verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. These are the words that carry lexical
meaning in a text, as opposed to function words, whose purpose is purely
grammatical‚ that is, their purpose lies only in relation to other words in the
vicinity. Specialisation is partially determined through attention to jargon or
other technical vocabulary items. Examining the angle of representation
involves a close look at types of processes, participants, and circumstances.

The interpersonal metafunction

The interpersonal metafunction relates to a text's aspects
of tenor or interactivity. Like field, tenor comprises three component areas:
the speaker/writer persona, social distance, and relative social status. Social
distance and relative social status are applicable only to spoken texts.. Note
- this is not so, looking at the text of O´Halloran we are told that we no
longer have the option to contrast the various speakers but we can examine
"how the individual authors present themselves to the reader", therefore, we
are able to look at social distance and relative social status in texts where
there is only one author.

The speaker/writer persona concerns the stance, personalisation and

standing of the speaker or writer. This involves looking at whether the writer
or speaker has a neutral attitude, which can be seen through the use of
positive or negative language. Social distance means how close the speakers
are, e.g. how the use of nicknames shows the degree to which they are
intimate. Relative social status asks whether they are equal in terms of
power and knowledge on a subject, for example, the relationship between a
mother and child would be considered unequal. Focuses here are on speech

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acts (e.g. whether one person tends to ask questions and the other speaker
tends to answer), who chooses the topic, turn management, and how
capable both speakers are of evaluating the subject.

The textual metafunction

The textual metafunction relates to mode; the internal organisation
and communicative nature of a text. This comprises textual interactivity,
spontaneity and communicative distance. Textual interactivity is examined
with reference to disfluencies such as hesitators, pauses and repetitions.

Spontaneity is determined through a focus on lexical density, grammatical

complexity, coordination (how clauses are linked together) and the use
of nominal groups. The study of communicative distance involves looking at
a text’s cohesion—that is, how it hangs together, as well as any abstract
language it uses.

Cohesion is analysed in the context of both lexical and grammatical as well

as intonational aspects with reference to lexical chains and, in the speech
register, tonality, tonicity, and tone. The lexical aspect focuses on sense
relations and lexical repetitions, while the grammatical aspect looks at
repetition of meaning shown through reference, substitution and ellipsis, as
well as the role of linking adverbials.

Systemic functional grammar deals with all of these areas of meaning

equally within the grammatical system itself.

The Three features of the context of situation

A functional model uses the concepts of field, tenor and mode to

describe how a text makes meaning within the context of a particular
situation which influence the way language is used in the text. They have
their counterpart in three broad functions of language. Which are reflected in

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the choices from the language system – ideational, interpersonal, and textual
metafunctions.

Halliday and Hasan (1985) explained field, tenor and mode as

follow :

1. The field of discourse refers to what is happening, to the nature of the

social action that is taking place : what is it that the participants are
engaged in, in which the language figures as some essential
component ?

2. The tenor of discourse refers to who is taking part , to the nature of the
participants, their statuses and roles : what kind of role relationship
obtain among the participants, including permanent and temporary
relationships of one kind or another, both the types speech role that
they are taking on in the dialogue and the whole cluster of socially
significant relationship in which they are involved ?

3. The mode of discourse refers to what part the language to do for them
in that situation : the symbolic organization of the text, the status that
it has, and its function in the context, including the channel (is it
spoken or written or some combination of the two ?) and also the
rhetorical mode, what is being achieved by the text in terms of such
categories as persuasive, expository, didactic, and the like.

The example of field, tenor, and mode in a text (Halliday, Hasan,

1985) :

Transfer of whole (Freehold or Leasehold)

Title number – SY 43271604

Property – 14 Twintree Avenue, Minford

In consideration of ten thousand five hundred pounds the receipt whereof is

hereby acknowledged

I, Herbert William Timms, of (address)

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as beneficial owner hereby transfer to :

Matthew John Seaton, of (address)

The land comprised in the title above mentioned. It is hereby certified that the transaction hereby effected
does not form part of a larger transction or series of transactions in respect of which the amount or value
or aggregate amount or value of the consideration exceeds twelve thousand pounds.

Signed, sealed and delivered by the said Herbert William Timms in the presence of (witness)

Situational description :

Field :

Verbal regulation of social interaction through sanctions of the legal system :

codification of exchange of property (‘deed of transfer’), including
certification that transaction falls within particular class of transactions
defined by value of commodity exchanged

Tenor :

‘Members’ (individual) addressing ‘collective’ (society’) using formula

prescribed by collective for purpose in hand

Mode :

Written to be filed (i.e. to form part of documentary records) ; text gives

status (as social act) to non-verbal transaction ; text is formulaic (i.e.
general, with provision for relating to specific instances) . Performative (i.e.
text constitutes, or, ‘realises’, act in question).

The three headings of field, tenor, and mode enable us to give a

characterization of the nature of this kind of a text, one which will do for
similar text in any language.

Spoken and written language can be analysed at a number of levels,

from discourses and texts, sentences, and words, down to individual sounds
and letters. Knowing features of meaning in context and kinds of meaning in
wording will develop competence in spoken and written language. It is not

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only important for language students academic discipline, but also for their
future professions.

References

Cusworth, Robyn (1994 ) What Is a Functional Model of Language ? Australia:

Primary English Teaching Association, Newtown,Australia

Garton Alison & Pratt Chris (1998) Learning to be Literate : The development
of spoken and written language, Blacckwell Publisher,UK

Edict.com,FunctionalGrammar.11Feb.2010
http;//www.edict.com.hk/vlc/funcgrammar/Fungra/Introduction.htm

Halliday, M. A. K (1994 ) An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London:

Edward Arnold

Halliday, M.A.K & Hasan Ruqaiya (1985) Language, context, and text : Aspect
of language in a social-semiotic perspective, Deakin University Press

Systemic functional grammar. 11 Feb. 2010

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systemic_functional_grammar.html

Varshney Radhey L. An introductory Textbook of Linguistics & Phonetics,

University of Gurukul Kangri,Hardwar

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