INTRODUCTION

There is no more basic role for the clause than that of creating text. Every clause is either constitutive of a text or part of a larger text. Focusing on the clause in isolation, as has been the case for the previous two chapters, has its advantages since it allows the analyst to focus on the meanings that this unit is able to express. The textual metafunction is different, in many respects, from the other two metafunctions in that its meaning spans across clause boundaries and is fundamental in the creation of text. Whereas the experiential metafunction allows the speaker to represent his or her experience and the interpersonal metafunction enables interaction, as Halliday (1994: xiii) explains, the textual metafunction ‘breathes relevance into the other two’. In focusing on textual meaning, this chapter marks a shift towards text but it does so nevertheless from the perspective of the clause.

Goals and outline of the chapter

This chapter introduces the textual metafunction and the main elements of the clause that express textual meaning. Within the clause, the main resource for creating text is referred to as Theme, as will be discussed below. Therefore, the goal here is to show how to recognize Theme in a variety of different clauses and to understand how it contributes to the creation of text. Theme will be discussed in terms of its function and its relation to the other two main strands of meaning.