Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Formal And Functional Linguistic Properties Of Esl Textbooks, Jessica Shea Lewis

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Based on the formal and functional perspectives espoused in Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), the main purpose of this thesis was to investigate the extent to which such lexico-grammatical features as lexical density, choice of nominal groups, and grammatical metaphor are used in ESL texts to scaffold target language proficiency levels. Of the number of lexico-grammatical metafunctions and their functional constituents, interpersonal metafunctional categories were analyzed from these three functional features in this thesis in order to reveal the ways in which interpersonal categories and the lexico-grammatical features are correlated as the level of difficulty of each text increases.

The analysis …

Ideational Grammatical Metaphorical Features Of Efl Textbooks, Yuya Kaneso

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Various genres of textbooks have been researched from the perspective of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). Although the previous research has been concerned with textbooks covering subject areas in English speaking countries, it has not examined English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks. By analyzing 14 EFL textbooks for junior high school and high school students from the perspective of the SFL grammatical metaphor, this study attempts to examine levels of lexico-grammatical complexity and its sequential features as used in the data. The findings show that semantic junctions whereby semantic elements are incongruently realized at the level of lexicogrammar do not …

Voice In Esl Academic Writing: An Interpersonal Analysis, Audrey Hamoy

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Social relationships determine every linguistic choice people make, regardless of the medium of language use. Hence, it is important to understand how these social relationships determine the linguistic features that are necessary for creating a proper voice when writing academically. This study uses the framework of Systemic Functional Linguistics in an attempt to understand intermediate English as a Second Language (ESL) learners’ use of interpersonal features to create a voice in their academic writing and to see if it aligns with the voice typical of Western academic writing. In order to do this, the study uses twenty-four writing samples from …

A Word Is Worth A Thousand Pictures: A Systemic Functional And Multimodal Discourse Analysis Of Intersemiotic Evaluation In University Science Textbooks, Leo William Roehrich

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Images are an invaluable medium in science textbooks for clarifying confusing concepts and establishing a visual foundation for field related topics. The integration of image and language within a single unit of discourse builds a larger meaning than the two semiotic forms are capable of producing separately. Visual representations are chosen for their functional value in aiding linguistic explanation and also for their aesthetic value in textual enhancement. Aesthetic choice is a matter of subjective opinion. Although science writing is generally classified as objective, authors embed personal opinion in written and visual discourse. The choice of visual medium has a …

A Contrastive Systemic Functional Analysis Of Causality In Japanese And English Academic Articles, Masaki Shibata

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Typological differences between languages have been a much debated topic in linguistic studies. Despite their usefulness in understanding syntactic features of various languages, such contrastive analyses have yet to thoroughly explore semantic variation among languages; furthermore, the results obtained have not been practically utilized in other areas of applied linguistics. This situation may come from the fact that a large number of contrastive studies have eclectically examined isolated areas of language variation either from syntactic, morphological, or from pragmatic perspectives. Viewing this issue from another angle, Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) focuses on language from a multi-dimensional perspective, where language is …

Systemic Functional Linguistic Discourse Features In The Personal Essay, Anna Jones Rollins

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this thesis is to look at published and student-produced creative writing, more specifically, personal essays, through the lens of discourse analysis theories in Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). From the analysis of these personal essays, this thesis provides pedagogical insight concerning the linguistic features that are prevalent in published and student personal essays. Although research has been conducted looking at academic student writing through the lens of SFL, little research has been conducted looking specifically at the elements that make up pieces of creative writing. In fact, Blythe and Sweet (2008), with over seventy years of experience teaching …