Herb,
   I have had the great pleasure of presenting alongside Rei Noguchi at 4
C's workshops and panels. He has been pointing out iconic aspects of
human thought that find their way into language; among those, this past
March, as part of Rei's presentation on the outline, was being first,
which can mean so much or simply happen accidentally.
   On one extreme, as you have pointed out, we have 'first of all' as a
way to get talk (or a text) started, perhaps with little reflection. It
is sometimes used with no second or third to follow. I have also seen
"first of all", "second of all", and "third of all" encouraged as
explicit markers for the three points that are supposed to be covered
(arbitrarily) in a five paragraph theme. At this extreme, it has not
only been grammaticized, but "textualized" in a very mechanical way. On
the other extreme (or pole), we would probably have something like
"preeminent" or "originating" in the sense of "where it all began"
(source, origin). "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with
God." In this dual sense of things, mechanical order and preeminent
order, the first can be last and the last can be first.
   Meta-discourse is useful in different ways. It orients the reader to
the text. But it also orients the writer to the text, forcing us to
articulate  the purposes(es) of the text and the design of the text in
ways (hopefully) congruent with each other. We can ask "why are you
putting this first" if the reasons are not already clear. It gives the
teacher/editor a way to ask about the whole text in relation to its
parts.
   This will differ a great deal for genre. A "review of the literature"
is thought of as essential to much academic writing because the text
needs to justify itself as part of an ongoing exploration and an
ongoing conversation. Texts begin with various kinds of "abstracts",
some more formal than others. "This is the story of what happened when
your Uncle Carl got the goofy idea that he could be a boxer. But first
of all, let me tell you what life was like for us in our home country,
what few opportunities we had to make something out of our lives."
Narratives have "orientations", necessary background information, which
happen beofre the story (or as ground for the story), but aren't always
told first.
   I think every writing teacher has experienced countless times the
"justifications" a student writer uses for doing something that would
work if only the reader was aware of why it was happening.
   "Why are you putting this first?" is often a very useful question.

Craig   >


Both in rough draft writing and in speech, "first of all" frequently has
> nothing to do with series or ranking.  As Craig points out, it orients the
> hearer or reader to the text. For many speakers it's simply a way of
> saying "Listen!" or "Pay attention!"  This popular usage, of course,
> conflicts with more formal usage where the phrase is interpreted according
> to its lexical and grammatical meaning.  This shift in popular usage from
> lexical meaning to discourse function is a common variety of language
> change known as grammaticization.
>
> Herb
>
> Herbert F. W. Stahlke, Ph.D.
> Emeritus Professor of English
> Ball State University
> Muncie, IN  47306
> [log in to unmask]
> ________________________________________
> From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
> [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Craig Hancock [[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: April 19, 2009 8:20 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Grammar help: "First of all,..."
>
> Scott,
>    It has been called "meta-discourse", discourse about the text as a
> text. It orients the reader to the text itself (rather than the
> subject.) My problem with "first of all" is that it tends to be used
> mechanically.
>    I had a handful of students coming out of the same English as a Second
> language program in a New York city high school who used the term
> "firstable". I thought that was conceptually interesting. Not
> everything is able to be first.
>    Does being first mean most important? Is it background necessary before
> understanding the rest? A preliminary orientation? An arbitrary
> starting point? I usually find it productive to ask those questions.
>
> Craig
>
>>
>
>
>  List,
>>
>> What would you call and how would you explain "First of all" (and
>> similar
>> constructions) as a sentence opener marking the relationship of the
>> following sentence with a previous statement?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Scott Woods
>>
>>
>>
>>
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