I.E.S Nº 9-011 “Del Atuel”. English Teaching Training Course.

ENGLISH GRAMMAR lII

Teacher: Piastrellini María Eugenia
Student: Elgueta Rocío

Language through the Eyes of Systemic

Functional Approach
In the teaching and learning of a foreign or second language, how important is

grammar? First of all, it is essential to be aware of the concepts of language and grammar.

The former concept is known as a resource for communication, or in Halliday’s words,

language as “meaning potential”. The second concept is a network of interrelated systems

(Halliday 1973), such as voice, tense and mood, among others. Next, according to

Littlewood, the grammatical system and its creative potential make it possible for

communicative language to be used. From this perspective, we are going to be mainly

concerned with the systemic functional view of language, grammar and teaching.

To start with the explanation, it is important to state that the language we use to

speak or write is composed of meaningful units, called texts. These texts are produced in

particular contexts. When a text’s feature changes, the context evoked by the text also

changes. In addition, texts are made up of grammatical systems. These systems can have

differences between grammatical forms which represent differences in meanings. This is

easy to see in the difference in number and reference in any noun group, which produces

different interpretations of sentences. That is why language learners should be conscious of

the fact that their grammatical choices are meaningful choices. In this case, we have to

make them realize that grammatical features work together to create meaning. This aspect

of meaning, in which the grammatical systems make contributions to acquire the coherent

flow of information in a text, is called textual meaning. Moreover, the learners of English

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I.E.S Nº 9-011 “Del Atuel”. English Teaching Training Course.
ENGLISH GRAMMAR lII
Teacher: Piastrellini María Eugenia
Student: Elgueta Rocío

as a second or foreign language need lots of exposure to samples of language. The samples

should present students with some challenge, but they should not be so difficult so that

apprentices can understand them. This is the need for comprehensible input.

As regards grammar, Hymes, who is one of the linguists that inspired

Communicative Language Teaching, stated that grammatical competence was part of

communicative competence. This last competence is the ability to produce correct

sentences as well as to know when, where, and with whom to use them. In 1980,

grammatical competence was also included as one of the four types of competences which

were included in the definition of proficiency. Then, semantic notions, such as time, place,

quantity and functions of language, composed the following syllabuses’ designs.

Furthermore, according to a review of available evidence, grammar teaching can be

composed of explicit grammar instructions which can help learners to acquire implicit

knowledge, provided that the instructions are directed at features that the learners are able

to acquire. Otherwise it will not succeed (Ellis 1993). Thus, from this perspective, grammar

can be considered to lie at the very heart of communication.

Finally, the teaching a second or foreign language within the framework of systemic

functional linguistics involves teachers in working to set up the optimum social conditions

for providing learners with social interactions so that they can achieve language learning.

During class time, these teachers works consciously and strategically to focus students’

attention on the most noticeable features of language use in order to increase their

experience with language and to expand the meanings they can make with it in a systemic

and comprehensive way. After that, in order to understand more about learning as social

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I.E.S Nº 9-011 “Del Atuel”. English Teaching Training Course.
ENGLISH GRAMMAR lII
Teacher: Piastrellini María Eugenia
Student: Elgueta Rocío

interaction, we can pay attention to Vygotsky’s work. It has been found helpful by systemic

functional linguists because it is also concerned with learning as a social process which has

been constructed through different kinds of social interactions. Vygotsky argued that our

experience of the environment is ‘mediated’ through cultural and psychological tools. By

using these tools, we construct knowledge collaboratively with others in the same social

context. In addition, a teaching and learning cycle appears to help teacher to take students

through a range of activities which address both accurate and fluent language use. This

cycle consists of four types of social interactions which support the learner’s language

development through: context exploration, explicit instruction, guided practice and joint

construction, and independent application of newly acquired knowledge.

To sum up, a foreign or second language cannot be taught without its grammatical

system, since it is the heart of communication. Furthermore, the language should be

presented to learners at text level within a particular context. Then, implicit knowledge can

only be acquire through explicit grammar instructions directed at language features that are

at the learner’s level of understanding. Lastly, we have now a clear picture of the way

apprentices construct their learning of the language through different kinds of social

interactions.