From the formal grammar to the functional grammar

CLIL2018

1. From the formal grammar to the functional grammar Formal grammar : focus on the form Functional grammar : focus on the function KA229 (2018) – ACTIVITY 1 ON BOARD CLIL TO OUTER SPACE - KONSTANTINA ZAVALARI (EFL TEACHER/MED APPLIED LINGUISTICS (OU)), GYMNASIO LOUTRAKIOU , 27-29 NOVEMBER 2018

2. Formal grammar How language is formed How language forms relate to each other How language forms develop from one another Generally, views language in isolation , i.e language forms studied out of context Is rather based on rules of form (the appropriate form), rather than rules of use (the appropriate use) Basically serves the needs of written language

3. FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR How language functions How language forms relate to meaning How language forms can serve different meaning goals Grammar relates to : a) context, b) real-world issues and problems Grammar is viewed as a meaning-making tool

4. Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) – M.A.K Halliday Language as a system of meanings – language usage aims at constructing meaning Meaning construction is determined by : a) the choice of words, b) the choice of grammatical resources [singular vs. plural, negative vs. positive, question types vs. the imperative, active voice vs. passive voice, etc], c) the choice of other linguistic forms, such as tone and emphasis. Language choices lead to the idea that language consists of a set of systems and language users (writers or speakers) have an unlimited choice of ways of creating meaning What determines a language user’s choices are : a) context – the linguistic environment (field), b) the social roles and social distance involved (tenor), c) the way the communication text is produced and transmitted , how interactive and spontaneous it is (mode).

5. An example www.planetsforkids.org « We have nine planets in our solar system . These planets circle around the sun ( as I’m sure you know already ). This is called an orbit. A lot of astronomy people like to think of the Solar System being made up in two parts. We have the Inner Solar System, which has   Mercury ,  Venus ,  Earth   ,and not forgetting Mars. These are closest to the Sun and are called the terrestrial planets, simply because they have very solid rocky surfaces. The Outer Solar System has  Jupiter ,  Saturn ,  Uranus ,  Neptune .   These are sometimes called the gas giants. Out past Neptune, you’ll find the small planet of  Pluto   ,which has a solid, but icier surface. Many (?) don’t class this as a planet anymore ,but you can read this on the  Pluto page . These two systems are separated by the  asteroid belt   .Our solar system also contains comets, moons, dust, gas and some minor planets » .

6. Language choices If we study the previous text in functional terms, we should notice that the writer/speaker makes certain linguistic choices , because his/her meaning potential partially consciously, partially by reflection ( because he/she is an experienced user of the language), serves certain communicative goals, which are determined by: a) the context (field) –(what does he/she want to talk about?), b) the social roles (tenor) – (who is he/she addressing and what is their [inter]social status/relation?), c) the degree of the text interactivity and spontaneity (mode) - (is this a face-to-face conversation? Is this a report ? Or is it a combination of both?)

7. Language choices “We have…” instead of “there are…” “the astronomy people” instead of “the astronomers” “which has…” instead of “where there are…” limited usage of passive forms, only when it is absolutely necessary to do so – or inevitable - [ … are called…, …are separated…, …is called…, …being made up…] [FIELD] The writer/speaker wants to talk about a place and he/she wants to describe it . When we talk about a place, we make certain linguistic choices among the vast linguistic variety of resources at our disposal to address the context of our communication, and we make these choices partially consciously, partially reflectively, to talk about position, rank, number, sites. [TENOR] Contextual linguistic choices are largely determined by the social roles the interlocutors retain for themselves and forward into communication/interaction. In the text, there is : a) second-person address (“you”), b) conversational language (“ as I’m sure you know already”, “ …simply because….”, “… and not forgetting …”), c) word choices ( the astronomy people, …like to think …), all revealing loose and intimate social relationships : an expert addressing young children, a teacher teaching novice Astronomy students, a writer dealing with a wide audience (online) of a specific age group, linguistic awareness and/or level of knowledge. [MODE] Although the text is a report , therefore it is produced to address the communication recipients at a later stage in time and place, because of the tenor, it incorporates instances of linguistic spontaneity and interactivity. IN MEANING PRODUCTION ALL THE REGISTER (CONTEXTUAL) VARIABLES INTERACT AND CO-RELATE SIMULTANEOUSLY

8. An example https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/our-solar-system/in-depth/ « A solar system is a star and all of the objects that travel around it—planets, moons, asteroids, comets and meteoroids. Most stars host their own planets, so there are likely tens of billions of other solar systems in the Milky Way galaxy alone. Solar systems can also have more than one star. These are called binary star systems, if there are two stars, or multi-star systems, if there are three or more stars. The solar system, we call home, is located in an outer spiral arm of the vast Milky Way galaxy. It consists of the Sun (our star) and everything that orbits around it. This includes the eight planets and their natural satellites (such as our moon), dwarf planets and their satellites, as well as asteroids, comets and countless particles of smaller debris. Our solar system extends much farther than the eight planets that orbit the Sun. The solar system also includes the Kuiper Belt that lies past Neptune's orbit. This is a sparsely occupied ring of icy bodies, almost all smaller than the most popular Kuiper Belt Object, dwarf planet Pluto » .

9. Let’s work REGISTER [FIELD] : What is the text about ? [TENOR]: Who is the text generator (what/who does it derive from) and who does it address ? [MODE]: What kind of text is it? How does it ‘work’? What determines the above Register variables ?

10. The SFG Metafunctions Language is used to organize, understand and represent our perceptions of the world and our own consciousness: The ideational metafunction [Field] Language is used to enable us to participate in communicative acts with other people, to take roles and to express and understand feelings, attitude and judgements : The interpersonal metafunction [Tenor] Language is used to relate what I say (or write) to the rest of the text and to other linguistic events. Language is used to organize the text itself : The textual metafunction [Mode] (Bloor and Bloor, 2013, p. 13)

11. The Grammar of Visual Design ( Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen ) Images are texts and as such they are structured on the basis of grammatical rules. But they actually tend to relate more to Functional Grammar , rather than to Formal Grammar. Image texts are rather functional.

12. Signs and semiotic systems Language Images (pictures) How do they relate ? Do images produce language ? Does language produce images ?

13. Signs and semiotic systems Ideational meaning Semiotic modes (texts, images, signs, etc) represent aspect of the world as experienced by humans. (Kress and van Leeuwen , 2006). To do so, they use a series of choices, “of different ways in which objects, and their relations to other objects and to processes, can be represented” ( Krees and van Leeuwen , 2006, p.42)

14. Signs and semiotic systems Interpersonal meaning ‘Any semiotic mode has to be able to project the relations between the producer of a (complex) sign, and the receiver/reproducer of that sign. That is, a mode has to be able to represent a particular social relation between the producer, the viewer and the object represented’ (Kress and van Leeuwen , 2006, p. 42)

15. Signs and semiotic systems Textual meaning ‘Any semiotic mode has to have the capacity to form texts , complexes of signs which cohere both internally with each other and externally with the context in which and for which they were produced. Here, too, visual grammar makes a range of resources available: different compositional arrangements to allow the realization of different textual meanings’. (Kress and van Leeuwen , 2006, p. 43)

16. Let’s play a game Find the differences in the pictures below in terms of : Field, Tenor, Mode

17. A picture (image) text https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/487/our-solar-system/?category=solar-system_our-solar-system#.W5AyB7LQYe4.email

18. A picture (image) text https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/490/our-solar-system/?category=solar-system_our-solar-system#.W5AzhVpH_Tk.email

19. Picture 1 Field (ideational meaning) : a)movement : planets are not represented as static objects. They move and there is also specific movement representation , their orbits. We get the message that planets move , moreover, that they do not move otherwise than in circles. b) Colour variations at the background : representation of the space background, which is not completely black c) Perspective (objects placed in the foreground and background, left to right placement of objects) : adds to movement and also provides information about position and size d) Shape : planets are round – this is the scientific representation of a planet, which has become part of our cultural perception, too. A different shape of a planet would probably stand for something else or would probably have different denotations. Tenor (interpersonal meaning) : the objects in the picture (the represented participants) and the producers and viewers of the picture (the interactive participants), although unknown to each other, get involved in an interactive, equally-shared and balanced interpretation of the image representations , leaving space to subjectivity and personal perspective. Colour , angle and position of the objects are inviting the viewers to reach their own conclusions, to make their own judgements . Mode (textual meaning) : it is not a multimodal text . Drawings are the only source of information, so viewers are obliged to produce their own text, starting from scratch. To make sense of the information depicted in the picture and produce meaning, interlocutors need to be conscious and aware of the inter-play of the three (03) register variables .

20. Picture 2 Field : the planets of our solar system. a) absence of movement : objects are represented out of their natural environment, as items in a chart, b) linear (horizontal and vertical) depiction, c) objects are randomly (?) listed, as it is not obvious according to which sequence the list was created (should we move from left to right horizontally? should we start from the top left corner and move downwards vertically? or should we move from right to left? do we move in straight lines, diagonally, zigzaging ? d) what kind of information do we get about the planets of our solar system ? Is it extensive ? 2) Tenor : what kind of social interaction, if any, does this image reveal? How do the represented participants (the planets) relate to the interactive participants (the image producers and its viewers), how do the interactive participants themselves relate to each other? 3) Mode : how is this image text structured ? Is it a single drawing or is there any other kind of information input (semiotic system) in it ? If yes, how do these semiotic systems interrelate towards meaning production ?

21. Ten Things to Know About Our Solar System 1 ONE OF BILLIONS Our solar system is made up of a star, eight planets and countless smaller bodies such as dwarf planets, asteroids and comets. 2 MEET ME IN THE ORION ARM Our solar system orbits the center of the Milky Way Galaxy at about 515,000 mph (828,000 kph ). We’re in one of the galaxy’s four spiral arms. 3 A LONG WAY ROUND It takes our solar system about 230 million years to complete one orbit around the galactic center. 4 SPIRALING THROUGH SPACE There are three general kinds of galaxies: elliptical, spiral and irregular. The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy. 5 GOOD ATMOSPHERE(S) Our solar system is a region of space. It has no atmosphere. But it contains many worlds—including Earth—with many kinds of atmospheres.

22. 6 MANY MOONS The planets of our solar system—and even some asteroids—hold more than 150 moons in their orbits. 7 RING WORLDS The four giant planets—and at least one asteroid—have rings. None are as spectacular as Saturn’s gorgeous rings. 8 LEAVING THE CRADLE More than 300 robotic spacecraft have explored destinations beyond Earth orbit, including 24 astronauts who orbited the moon. 9 LIFE AS WE KNOW IT Our solar system is the only one known to support life. So far, we only know of life on Earth, but we’re looking for more everywhere we can. 10 FAR-RANGING ROBOTS NASA’s Voyager 1 is the only spacecraft so far to leave our solar system. Four other spacecraft will eventually hit interstellar space.

23. CAPTIONS

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