(April 9^th to April 13^{th )} by J R Martin, Linguistics, University of Sydney

 

 

 

This seminar series focuses on the theoretical dimension of axis - the formalisation of paradigmatic relations as interdependent systems, motivated by their syntagmatic realisations. The foundational relation of axis to other key dimensions of the theory (strata, rank and metafunction) will be carefully explored. In addition an overview of key figures in 20th century linguistics who have influenced this perspective will be provided.

 

The seminars will be run as a practical interactive workshop, beginning with very small grammatical data sets and gradually enlarging them in order to demonstrate the sense in which theoretical constructs such as metafunction, rank and strata are based on clusters of systemic options. Some typological considerations will be addressed, especially in relation to mood.

 

A basic familiarity with IFG style accounts of English grammar will be assumed. Prospective students should also consult Halliday & Matthiessen’s SFG: a first step into theory (Higher Education Press) and Martin’s Collected Papers Vol. 1: SFL Theory (Shanghai Jiao Tong Unviersity Press) in conjunction with the seminars.

 

 

p.m. of the whole week (3 hrs with a break for the  prospective students as well as Tsinghua students and teachers): System and structure in SFL Theory stated as above;

 

a.m. (2 hrs for the prospective students): workshops for practicing what has been lectured（transitivity, mood, theme, nominal group and verbal group (1 each morning), using Deploying Functional Grammar (Commercial Press) - which the students need to bring to the workshops.;

 

Dinner and evening of April 13: talks between Prof. Martin and Prof. Liu and other Tsinghua colleagues about possible future collaborations; dinner also joined by Prof. Peng Xuanwei of BMU and Prof. Gao Yihong of PKU about Prof. Martin’s next two visits.

 

 

 

Note:

1.      Morning workshops are arranged for the prospective participants, who should bring the book Deploying Functional Grammar for doing exercises and practicing analysing discourses.

2.      Afternoon lectures are for MA and PhD students & teachers of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures of Tsinghua University as well as the prospective students.

3.      The rooms are within Wennan Building (文南楼), the building where Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures of Tsinghua University locates.

 

 

James Robert Martin is Professor of Linguistics (Personal Chair) at the University of Sydney. Professor Martin was elected a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (澳大利亚人文科学院院士) in 1998, and awarded a Centenary Medal for his services to Linguistics and Philology in 2003.

 

His research interests include systemic theory, functional grammar, discourse semantics, register, genre, multimodality and critical discourse analysis, focussing on English and Tagalog - with special reference to the transdisciplinary fields of educational linguistics and social semiotics.

 

Professor Martin is a very productive scholar, having written many books, articles and chapters. The most well-known is perhaps English Text: System and Structure, 1992. His recent publications include Re/Reading the Past, 2003; Negotiating Heteroglossia, a special issue of Text, 2003; Language Typology: a functional perspective, 2004; Interpreting Tragedy: the language of September 11th, 2001, a special double issue of Discourse & Society, 2004; The Language of Evaluation, 2005; Language, Knowledge and Pedagogy, 2007; Genre relations: mapping culture, 2007, and a second edition of Working with Discourse, 2007. We are very happy to learn that the book Deploying Functional Grammar (功能语法教程) was published by The Commercial Press (商务印书馆) in 2010 and some of his papers on SFL Theory were collected in two volumes edited by Wang Zhenhua and published by Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press in 2010, which will surely benefit all scholars and students specialized in linguistics in China.