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20 - Applying SFL for Understanding and Fostering Instructed Second Language Development

from Part III - SFL in Application

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 May 2019

By
Heidi Byrnes
Edited by
Geoff Thompson ,
Wendy L. Bowcher ,
Lise Fontaine  and
David Schönthal
Geoff Thompson
Affiliation:
University of Liverpool
Wendy L. Bowcher
Affiliation:
Sun Yat-Sen University, China
Lise Fontaine
Affiliation:
Cardiff University
David Schönthal
Affiliation:
Cardiff University
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Summary

The chapter explores the contributions of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) to the phenomenon of instructed second language (L2) development. It proposes three perspectives for understanding development. First, development can be seen as learners’ growing capacity to ‘make more meaning’, a way of foregrounding the inter-individual social-semiotic nature of language, language use, and language learning. Second, it suggests probing the suitability of the constructs and analyses that a theory makes available for enabling researchers and educators to trace a developmental trajectory over longer time periods. Finally, a theory should provide a principled, explicit, and comprehensive approach to linking the social context of language use to formal features across the entire language system. The chapter argues that SFL can make substantive contributions in each area and supports that contention by positioning SFL in the larger SLA discussion on development, by presenting core constructs and processes in SFL, and by explicating how they have guided research and L2 educational practice with a developmental trajectory. It concludes with a projection of potential expansions, both within SFL and in mainstream SLA research, if fruitful dialogic exchange is pursued by theorists and researchers across the entire field.
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Systemic Functional Linguistics , pp. 512 - 536
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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