FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR

WHAT IS A FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR?

A grammar that puts together the patterns of

the language and the things you can do with
them is called a functional grammar; that is,
it is based on the relation between the
structure of a language and the various
functions that the language performs.
WHAT IS A FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR?

Functional Grammar was developed by

MAK Halliday through his initial
publication, An Introduction to
Functional Grammar in 1985. The book
is currently in its 4th edition to date.
 WHAT IS A FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR?

Functional grammar is all about language use.

It’s about communicative grammar that learners can use
in the typical situations that they find themselves in as
they go about their daily lives.
Moreover, it’s an approach in which grammar is not
seen as a set of rules, but rather as a communicative
resource.
WHAT IS A FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR?

As Halliday himself says, ‘A functional

grammar is essentially a “natural” grammar,
in the sense that everything in it can be
explained, ultimately, by reference to how
language is used.’ (Halliday, 1994, p. xiii).
 EXAMPLE OF TRADITIONAL VS.
FUNCTIONAL APPROACHES

‘I was taught grammar by my primary school teachers’.

Traditional approach: What are the different components within the sentence

(e.g. noun, verb) and explain the rule for forming the passive.

Functional approach: What is the communicated effect when the message begins
with ‘I’ rather than ‘my primary school teachers’? Also, which features of the
social context led the speaker to choose passive rather than active voice?
 FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR
AND
LANGUAGE TEACHING

Why do most learners study a language?

Most learners study a language to acquire the ability to

communicate with other speakers or writers of the language.
How can grammar contribute to language learning?
Grammar needs not only to lay out the forms and structures
of the language, but also to show what they are for and how
they are used.

SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR

 LEVELS OF ANALYSIS

PHONOLOGY
(sound system)

SEMANTICS LEXIS
(systems of LANGUAGE (words of the
meaning) language)

GRAMMAR
SYNTAX(arrangement of
words)
MORPHOLOGY
(internal structure
Lexico-
of words) grammar
 RANK
Different levels of organization within Grammar  Hierarchy

She’s great fun but her husband is rather dull. sentence

She’s great fun

clauses
her husband is rather dull.
She great
great fun fun
her husband phrase
her words
is is
rather dull. dull.
 The relationship
between the units is
as follows:
S ENTENCE each unit consists of
C L A U S E .
GROUP/PHRASE
one or more units of
W O R D . the rank below it.
 MEANIN
EXPERIENTIAL
(IDEATIONAL)
Language represents our
experience of the world
and of the inner world of
our feelings and thoughts.
It has to do with how we
talk about actions,
feelings situations, states,
etc.
G
TEXTUAL
The way in which
language is organized
in relation to its
May context. It is important
be in the creation of
coherence in spoken
and written text.

INTERPERSONAL
The way we act upon one another through
language, how we interact with other people –
giving and requesting information, etc- and how Functions
we express our judgment and attitudes
of Language
 FG IS CONCERNED WITH THE
RESOURCE FOR

• Analyzing experience – “What is going on?”

• Analyzing interaction – “Who is
communicating with whom?”
• Analyzing ways in which messages are
constructed.
 FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS ON FG

In 2017, Collins released a works that is built

around functions of language, such as
‘describing people and things’, ‘expressing
time’, and ‘reporting what people say and
think’. Each of these functions is regularly
expressed in English by a particular structure.
 THE GRAMMAR OF SOCIAL AND
CULTURAL CONTEXTS

• A functional grammar is also concerned with how

language is used in a range of social and cultural
contexts. For example, the section on plural forms
of you explains that you guys and you lot are more
frequent in informal English. Similarly, in the
section on using generic they and their to refer
back to indefinite pronouns (e.g. Someone’s
forgotten their coat), readers learn that:
THE GRAMMAR OF DISCOURSE

Functional grammar is concerned with

how the various items of language in a
text work together as part of a larger
system that can be used in
communication.
 REFERENCES

Montorsi, C. https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei
=68onXaWJIZqS9QPpjJSoCQ&q=functional+grammar+ppt&oq=&gs_l
=psy-ab.1.1.35i39l10.0.0..98399...2.0..0.3647.3647.9-1......0......gws
-wiz.....10.L1gHULEt6AA#
https://news.collinselt.com/tag/functional-grammar/?fbclid=IwAR2CtX02p0RLF
wJOtCMWSDT-QDQqHJ79K4EdHocWnRaHiBoDKZqSIDo4dmk

http://teachgrammar.weebly.com/traditional-vs-functional-grammar.html