What attracted me to Systemic Functional Linguistics is its usefulness in
teaching grammar and composition.  For an application of SFL's distinction
of three basic types of verb meaning, consider, for example, run-on
sentences:  When can two subject-predicate sequences properly follow one
another in a single sentence without any word or punctuation to relate
them?  Don't tell your students never.  Mental verbs often project a second
subject predicate: 
Jane thinks the situation is improving.

The material verbs are the prototypical ones, reporting an action as most
people think of the function of verbs.  However, for reporting actions
occurring right now, at the present time but not necessarily usually, they
use the two-word form of a form of be and the -ing form of the basic
infinitive form of the material verb.  For example, 
The situation is improving.  
Jane is filling in for a sick co-worker today, but she usually works the
night shift.  
Mental verbs, however, use the single word for current mental action: 
Jane says the situation is improving.  
This distinction is especially important in second language teaching. 
Without this distinction, ESL textbooks only give lists of verbs to
memorize, without considering the basic meaning difference that is
reflected in the different forms.  Relational verbs don't even customarily
use the two-word form: 
The situation seems better, not is seeming better.  
Jane has an overload, not is having one.  

What attracted me to systemic functional linguistics was my doctoral work
in the 1970's that impressed me with the usefulness of this approach.  I
found that in independently evaluated student writing, cohesion, especially
certain types of cohesion, correlated with writing quality significantly
more closely than any other feature tested except reading level.  

What makes SFL difficult, especially for Americans, is its vocabulary.  Its
jargon must be taught specifically.  You may notice above that I did not
use the term clause; it has a different definition in SFL, so I try to
avoid it.  I hope my use of the verb projects  above was clear for those of
you who are not into SFL yet.  I had difficulty learning SFL concepts, but
I believe my effort was worthwhile.  I cannot speak for all the continually
developing SFL theorists, but I have been attending a decade of conferences
of the International Systemic Functional Linguistic Association and was
elected recording secretary.  

If you want to see more applications, see my book, Meaning First: A
Functional Handbook of Fifty Ways to Polish Your Writing, published in 2000
by a very small press, Parlay Press, P. O. Box 894, Superior, WI, phone/fax
281-834-2508, e-mail [log in to unmask], www.parlaypress.com

Carolyn Hartnett
Professor Emeritus, College of the Mainland
2027 Bay Street
Texas City, Texas 77590-6414
Phone and Fax: 409-948-1446
[log in to unmask]

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