This thesis investigates whether studying through English has an effect on the written texts secondary school students produce in their first language, Spanish. Research in bilingual education has tended to focus on students‟ language proficiency and academic achievement as opposed to investigating differences in discourse norms. However, an increased awareness of the role of discourse in language use and the culturally-specific nature of discourse, along with a growing concern over the dominance of the English language in Europe and elsewhere, have widened the range of questions identified as requiring investigation in bilingual education. Popular understanding suggests that English speakers make different choices from Spanish speakers in particular rhetorical situations. Although research into these contrasts can be problematic, there is support for the existence of cultural preference in the selection of options, and specific areas of similarity and difference between Spanish and English discourse have been suggested. This study then looks at one group of secondary three (3º E.S.O.) Spanish students studying through English on a Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) programme in Spain, and compares two sets of argumentative texts written in Spanish by the CLIL students with equivalent texts written by non-CLIL students in the same school. Forty-eight texts are examined in total, and the comparison draws on previous research into discourse differences between Spanish and English texts from contrastive rhetoric, systemic functional linguistics (SFL), and other fields, using tools from SFL for the textual analysis. Areas of analysis include use of clause complexes, multiple Theme and thematic progression, and also genre structure and text organisation strategies for argumentative writing. The main contrasts are found to be in length of t-units, use of simplexes versus complexes, use of multiple Theme, and some issues of text structure. These differences largely correspond to contrasts found in studies comparing written Spanish and written English text, with the CLIL students‟ texts showing features more commonly associated with English writing. Additional data from analysis of the geography textbooks used by the CLIL and non-CLIL students, questionnaires administered to these students, and interviews with their teachers are also used to explore the possible CLIL effect on the students‟ written text. The study discusses how discourse conventions associated with English text in contrast with Spanish text may have influenced the Spanish writing of the CLIL students, considering possibilities including the effect of direct and indirect teaching, and the more general impact of the CLIL programme. Also explored is the question of whether this possible influence of English on Spanish language use is a matter for concern or not, with increased work on language and discourse awareness suggested as a potential response. Methodological issues raised through the study relating to aspects of text analysis and of data collection are also addressed.

Este trabalho apresenta um estudo sobre interjeições em viés funcionalista através de uma análise comparativa dos usos linguísticos de expressões de assombro e de estranheza do português paulistano em relação ao português macaense. A decisão teórico-metodológica ampara-se na Linguística Centrada no Uso, na linha cognitivo-funcional, estudada por meio das obras de Heine, Claudi e Hünnemeyer (1991), Tomasello (2003), Gonçalves, Lima-Hernandes e Casseb-Galvão (2007), Givón (2009), dentre outros autores. Este campo teórico tem como âmago a preocupação em lidar com dados que preservem os contextos de produção de uso. Distinguir entre expressões de assombro e de estranheza não é uma tarefa fácil nem em dicionários e nem em gramáticas. É até mesmo impossível, atualmente, afirmar com certeza tal distinção pela ausência de investigação mais a fundo da pragmática e dos processamentos mentais envolvidos em conjunto com as produções linguísticas. O objetivo geral do estudo é o de introduzir uma nova pesquisa sobre interjeições ao verificar se existem diferenças nos usos de expressões interjetivas entre as duas variedades investigadas, indagando a questão da marginalidade dessa classe de palavras entre gramáticos e linguistas. Os dados para a investigação partiram de dois materiais. O primeiro corpus é constituído por registros audiovisuais oriundos de filmes paulistanos coletados por Guerra (2011) e de inquéritos realizados por Lima-Hernandes et alii (2012) e Rodrigues (2013). As expressões interjetivas presentes nestes materiais são comparadas com um segundo corpus composto por usos linguísticos manifestados por macaenses, falantes de língua materna cantonesa e portuguesa, registrados em gravações de teatro, conversas informais e entrevistas em programas televisivos e de rádio da península. Interjeições são preponderantemente de ordem pragmática, pois os seus significados derivam quase que exclusivamente da entonação do falante e do contexto em que se inserem. Apesar da pouca atenção recebida por gramáticos e linguistas, são estratégias comunicativas utilizadas fartamente em nosso cotidiano e, portanto, representam uma rica fonte de investigação. / This research presents a study on interjections in a functionalist perspective through a comparative analysis on language usages of astonishment and strangenesss expressions in Paulistano and Macanese Portuguese. The theoretical basis and methodological decision are sustained by the Usage-based Linguistics, in a cognitive functional bias, studied in the works of Heine, Claudi and Hünnemeyer (1991), Tomasello (2003), Gonçalves, Lima-Hernandes and Casseb-Galvão (2007), Givón (2009), among other authors. This theoretical field has as its core the concern to deal only with data that preserve the contexts of usage production. Distinguish expressions between astonishment and strangeness is not an easy task in dictionaries or even in grammar books. Currently, it is even impossible to claim for sure that these expressions have a distinction because of the absence of a deeper investigation, focused on pragmatics and mental processes involved jointly with linguistic productions. The general objective of this project is to introduce a new research on interjections, verifying if there are differences in usages of these expressions between the two language varieties investigated and to inquire about the marginalization of this word class by grammarians and linguists. Data utilized for investigation are originated from two materials. The first corpus is composed by audiovisual records derived of Paulistano movies compiled by Guerra (2011) and interviews made by Lima-Hernandes et alii (2012) and Rodrigues (2013). The interjective expressions observed will be compared with a second corpus composed by linguistic usages of Portuguese displayed by Macanese, speakers of Cantonese and Portuguese as mother languages, recorded in theater presentations, informal dialogues and interviews realized by TV and radio programs. Interjections have the pragmatic order as a predominant characteristic because their meanings derive almost exclusively from the intonation of the speaker and the context inserted. Despite of the minimal attention gave by grammarians and linguists, they are communicative strategies heavily utilized in our daily life and, consequently, are a rich source of investigation.

Thesis advisor: Maria E. Brisk / Writing is an essential tool for creating meaningful communication and as such it must be taught beginning in elementary school. Although in the past 100 years writing has become more common in our everyday lives, methods of teaching writing and teacher education have not kept pace with changes (National Commission on Writing, 2003). As a result, teachers are underprepared to teach writing and do not teach it enough (Gilbert and Graham, 2010). The goal of this study is to understand how teacher-researcher relationships can facilitate the development of a teacher's knowledge of the theoretical foundations of teaching writing through systemic functional linguistics (SFL) and the teaching and learning cycle (TLC), and how that understanding affects the implementation of meaningful writing instruction that supports bilingual students as they learn to write. Using a modified action research methodology (Herr and Anderson, 2005; Reason and Bradbury, 2001; Zeichner, 2001) the data were collected over the course of one school year and analyzed utilizing the action research spiral by examining interactions between a teacher and a researcher through seven vignettes, including planning lessons, teaching, and reviewing lessons. These vignettes reflected particular instances of support, the evolution of the teacher's understanding of teaching writing informed by SFL, and changes in instruction relating to the TLC. Student writing was also analyzed using rubrics informed by SFL theory. The findings suggest that a complex relationship exists between teachers and researchers and that multiple factors are involved in successful change initiatives. The factors include the process of change through individualized support over time, negotiation, and two types of tension: disequilibrium and resistance. In the current study, these factors helped develop the teacher-researcher relationship in ways that promoted changes in the teacher's practices and, to some extent, her beliefs about writing instruction which resulted in the creation of a hybrid pedagogy. While this pedagogy did not demonstrate a full implementation of instruction informed by SFL theory, it did improve the quality of writing instruction and the resulting student writing. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

Thesis advisor: Maria E. Brisk / This descriptive case study examines the role that Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) theory of language can play in making academic language more transparent and accessible to linguistically diverse students. In an urban fourth grade classroom composed of both bilingual and monolingual students, I incorporated key concepts of SFL into writing instruction on personal narrative and scientific explanation texts. Specifically, instruction explored the context, purpose, and tenor of each genre and scaffolded students' development of appropriate structure and useful language tools. Classroom instruction and student writing were examined using selective coding, constant comparison, and triangulation to make meaning from the data. Analysis of student writing in relation to SFL-influenced instruction revealed significant growth in areas of structure and language. In this case, SFL provided the researcher and classroom teacher with a useful theory of language and purposeful meta-language to identify and describe the functional elements of two genres to students from diverse literacy backgrounds. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

Thesis advisor: Maria E. Brisk / The Writing Development of Procedural and Persuasive Genres: A Multiple Case Study of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students Margarita Zisselsberger María Estela Brisk, Dissertation Director Abstract In this dissertation study, I examine the writing development of five culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students in an elementary classroom, where English is the language of instruction. Interest in written literacy for monolingual and bilingual learners has increased as a result of high-stakes testing, No Child Left Behind, and state adoption of the Common Core Standards. Additionally, National Assessment of Educational Progress (U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2007) shows that CLD students score significantly lower on writing performance tasks than their mainstream English-speaking Caucasian peers. This study seeks to better understand the process by which CLD students develop the specific characteristics of procedural and persuasive writing given the instruction in these genres. This year-long qualitative research study used a multiple case-study design (Hancock & Algozzine, 2006; Merriam, 1998) and included classroom observations, videotaped examples of the nexus between classroom instruction and student writing, the collection of students' writing samples, student interviews, and formal and informal teacher interviews. For this study, I followed one fifth-grade teacher and five of her students as they worked on the two genres. Guided by systemic functional linguistic theory--a linguistic theory that reveals features that encase cultural and social expectations, making the language demands of schooling explicit--the analysis examined students' writing development in the two genres, the context and process of their development in the genres, and an in-depth examination of the impact of the context and process on their procedural and persuasive writing pieces. The results suggest that CLD students' writing development is multifaceted and complex. CLD students' writing development of procedural and persuasive writing was mediated by interrelated factors: the individual student, the peers, the teacher, and the texts themselves. I discuss the role of each of the mediating factors and argue for adopting a model of writing that incorporates a combination of genre- and process- writing theories with a particular understanding of the unique nuances pertinent to CLD students. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

Thesis advisor: Patrick J. McQuillan / Though writing is an essential life skill (National Commission on Writing, 2003, 2004, 2005), time spent writing in classrooms across the US is brief (Applebee and Langer, 2006; Applebee and Langer, 2011; Graham and Perin, 2007; National Commission on Writing, 2003). Furthermore, writing achievement of English learners (ELs) who represent nearly five million US students (Mather and Foxen, 2010) is often lower than other sub-groups (Fry, 2007, 2008). As such, using case study research (Stake, 2000, 2003) this study explored three sixth-eighth-grade teachers' experiences with an initiative to enhance writing instruction through the use of systemic functional linguistics (SFL), an approach that emphasizes writing for multiple purposes and the explicit teaching of language (Christie and Derewianka, 2008; Derewianka, 1990, 1999). SFL-informed instruction is an emerging strategy used to enhance the writing of ELs in US schools (see Brisk, Hodgson-Drysdale, and O'Connor, 2011; Brisk and Zisselsberger, 2010; Gebhard, et al., 2007; Schleppegrell and Go, 2007). A key argument of this ethnographic study is that the shape of the degree to which these three teachers took up a new way of teaching writing can be explained along a series of continua, consisting of the following five dimensions: cultivation of caring relationships with students, recognition of the needs of ELs, view of writing, commitment to professional growth, and commitment to collaboration and a number of related sub-dimensions. Another finding relates to the affective dimensions of teaching and learning, attention to which appeared to enhance teachers' enactment of SFL. Implications of these findings benefit teacher educators and professional development providers committed to enhancing writing instruction in US schools and speak to the field of educational reform more broadly by offering insight into multiple dimensions that influence teachers' uptake of a change endeavor. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

Thesis advisor: Dennis Shirley / The ability to express meaning in prose is a foundational skill in our society. Given the importance of being a competent writer, concern with the quality of writing instruction is a recurring theme among American educators (Cutler & Graham, 2008; Gilbert & Graham, 2010; National Commission on Writing, 2003, 2004, 2006). Research shows that teachers are unprepared to teach writing (Gilbert & Graham, 2010) and devote limited amounts of time to it (Cutler & Graham, 2008; Gilbert & Graham, 2010). In addition, national assessment data indicates that most students are not proficient writers (Salahu-Din, Persky & Miller, 2008). An embedded case study design (Yin, 2009), using mixed methodology (Greene & Caracelli, 2003a, 2003b; Hesse-Biber, 2010), was employed to determine whether a school-university partnership enacted systemic functional linguistics theory guided writing intervention changed fourth and fifth grade teachers' writing instruction over the course of three years in an urban elementary school. The study further investigated changes to 41 fourth and 27 fifth graders' writing performance during the third year of the invention. Examination of the relationship between students' performance in writing and the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) test in English language arts was conducted. The study also explored how teachers articulated their experiences with the partnership. Findings showed the content of teachers' instruction changed involving the use of metalanguage and the teaching of genre, language, and tenor. Similarly, instructional strategies evolved regarding negotiating field and deconstruction of text. Findings also indicated a significant improvement in writing performance for all students, and bilingual students had more growth over time than monolingual peers. Also, a moderate positive relationship existed between writing performance and MCAS performance, which suggests understanding of genre may support reading comprehension. Overall, teachers positively experienced the partnership and found value in the professional development. Implications of these study findings will benefit teacher education, administrators and policymakers, and allow for improved school-university partnerships. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

Este trabalho apresenta um estudo sobre interjeições em viés funcionalista através de uma análise comparativa dos usos linguísticos de expressões de assombro e de estranheza do português paulistano em relação ao português macaense. A decisão teórico-metodológica ampara-se na Linguística Centrada no Uso, na linha cognitivo-funcional, estudada por meio das obras de Heine, Claudi e Hünnemeyer (1991), Tomasello (2003), Gonçalves, Lima-Hernandes e Casseb-Galvão (2007), Givón (2009), dentre outros autores. Este campo teórico tem como âmago a preocupação em lidar com dados que preservem os contextos de produção de uso. Distinguir entre expressões de assombro e de estranheza não é uma tarefa fácil nem em dicionários e nem em gramáticas. É até mesmo impossível, atualmente, afirmar com certeza tal distinção pela ausência de investigação mais a fundo da pragmática e dos processamentos mentais envolvidos em conjunto com as produções linguísticas. O objetivo geral do estudo é o de introduzir uma nova pesquisa sobre interjeições ao verificar se existem diferenças nos usos de expressões interjetivas entre as duas variedades investigadas, indagando a questão da marginalidade dessa classe de palavras entre gramáticos e linguistas. Os dados para a investigação partiram de dois materiais. O primeiro corpus é constituído por registros audiovisuais oriundos de filmes paulistanos coletados por Guerra (2011) e de inquéritos realizados por Lima-Hernandes et alii (2012) e Rodrigues (2013). As expressões interjetivas presentes nestes materiais são comparadas com um segundo corpus composto por usos linguísticos manifestados por macaenses, falantes de língua materna cantonesa e portuguesa, registrados em gravações de teatro, conversas informais e entrevistas em programas televisivos e de rádio da península. Interjeições são preponderantemente de ordem pragmática, pois os seus significados derivam quase que exclusivamente da entonação do falante e do contexto em que se inserem. Apesar da pouca atenção recebida por gramáticos e linguistas, são estratégias comunicativas utilizadas fartamente em nosso cotidiano e, portanto, representam uma rica fonte de investigação. / This research presents a study on interjections in a functionalist perspective through a comparative analysis on language usages of astonishment and strangenesss expressions in Paulistano and Macanese Portuguese. The theoretical basis and methodological decision are sustained by the Usage-based Linguistics, in a cognitive functional bias, studied in the works of Heine, Claudi and Hünnemeyer (1991), Tomasello (2003), Gonçalves, Lima-Hernandes and Casseb-Galvão (2007), Givón (2009), among other authors. This theoretical field has as its core the concern to deal only with data that preserve the contexts of usage production. Distinguish expressions between astonishment and strangeness is not an easy task in dictionaries or even in grammar books. Currently, it is even impossible to claim for sure that these expressions have a distinction because of the absence of a deeper investigation, focused on pragmatics and mental processes involved jointly with linguistic productions. The general objective of this project is to introduce a new research on interjections, verifying if there are differences in usages of these expressions between the two language varieties investigated and to inquire about the marginalization of this word class by grammarians and linguists. Data utilized for investigation are originated from two materials. The first corpus is composed by audiovisual records derived of Paulistano movies compiled by Guerra (2011) and interviews made by Lima-Hernandes et alii (2012) and Rodrigues (2013). The interjective expressions observed will be compared with a second corpus composed by linguistic usages of Portuguese displayed by Macanese, speakers of Cantonese and Portuguese as mother languages, recorded in theater presentations, informal dialogues and interviews realized by TV and radio programs. Interjections have the pragmatic order as a predominant characteristic because their meanings derive almost exclusively from the intonation of the speaker and the context inserted. Despite of the minimal attention gave by grammarians and linguists, they are communicative strategies heavily utilized in our daily life and, consequently, are a rich source of investigation.

Esta tese investiga, sob a perspectiva da Linguística Sistêmico-Funcional (HALLIDAY e MATTHIESSEN, 2004,2014), os processos de retextualização empregados por estudantes de inglês como língua estrangeira na produção de textos em contextos acadêmicos. O conceito retextualização (MARCUSCHI, 2001) constitui-se na produção de um novo texto a partir de um ou mais texto(s)-fonte e trata-se de prática comum em contextos acadêmicos. Tem-se como objetivo verificar as operações de retextualização relacionadas às metafunções da linguagem – ideacional, interpessoal e textual - e como essas se materializam nos respectivos sistemas léxico-gramaticais e no gênero específico no qual se enquadram. O corpus constituise de retextualizações produzidas a partir de diferentes texto(s)-fonte. Os resultados indicam que as estratégias de retextualização estão intimamente relacionadas ao conhecimento da função que etapas e fases dos gêneros desempenham na construção de significados. Procurase contribuir para as práticas de escrita em ILE em contextos acadêmicos, oferecendo uma abordagem sistêmico-funcional dos processos de retextualização envolvidos no desenvolvimento dessa habilidade. / This study investigates, under the perspective of Systemic Functional Linguistics (HALLIDAY and MATTHIESSEN, 2004, 2014), the retextualization processes learners of English as a Foreign Language use when writing texts in academic contexts. Retextualization (MARCUSCHI, 2001) is understood as the production of a new text based on one or more source-texts and is a recurrent practice in academic contexts. The study investigated the processes of retextualization related to the metafunctions of language –ideational, experiential and textual- and their realization in the respective lexicogrammar structures as well as in the specific genre to which they are related. The corpus comprises retextualizations produced from different source-texts. The results indicate that the retextualization strategies are intimately connected to the knowledge of the function the stages and phases of the genres play in the construction of meaning. The purpose of the study is to contribute to writing practices of English as a Foreign Language in academic contexts, putting forward a systemic-functional approach to the retextualization processes involved in the development of writing skills.

Esta dissertação tem como objetivo apresentar a implementação de uma proposta de ensino de leitura e de escrita, a partir dos pressupostos da Linguística Sistêmico-funcional de Halliday (HALLIDAY, 2014, 2008, 1978) e da Teoria de Gêneros, proposta pela Escola de Sidney (MARTIN; ROSE, 2008, 2012). A implementação visa a investigar como a Pedagogia de Gêneros, baseada no Ciclo de Aprendizagem, pode auxiliar nos processos de letramento em sala de aula. Procura-se compreender o funcionamento do Ciclo de Aprendizagem para o desenvolvimento da leitura e da escrita de notícia jornalísticas, discutir quais dificuldades ou facilidades os sujeitos apresentaram e analisar os textos produzidos pelos aprendizes. A Usina do Texto, projeto oferecido aos alunos do sexto ano do ensino fundamental de uma escola da rede municipal de ensino de Porto Alegre, foi o ambiente no qual foi implementada a metodologia prevista no Ciclo de Aprendizagem e nos ciclos de interação. O projeto tem como base teórica os pressupostos a Pedagogia de Gêneros da Escola de Sidney e constituiu-se como o contexto da presente pesquisa. A partir de uma pesquisa qualitativa-interpretativa, procurou-se compreender o funcionamento do Ciclo de Aprendizagem no desenvolvimento da leitura e da escrita das notícias. As análises dos textos produzidos pelos alunos auxiliaram na análise proposta e é estabelecida a partir da noção do Contexto de Cultura, gênero, e do Contexto de Situação, registro. Desta forma, como resultado das observações e das análises textuais, percebe-se que os aprendizes mobilizam os recursos contextuais, semânticos e disponíveis, abordados ao longo das etapas do Ciclo de Aprendizagem. Acredita-se que esta pesquisa possa contribuir nas discussões teóricas sobre gênero sob o viés da Escola de Sidney. / This dissertation aims to present the implementation of a proposal for teaching reading and writing, based on the premises of Halliday's Systemic-functional linguistics (HALLIDAY, 2014, 2008, 1978) and Genres Theory proposed by the Sydney School (MARTIN; ROSE, 2008, 2012). The implementation aims to investigate how the Genres Pedagogy, based on the Learning and Teaching Cycle, can support in the processes of literacy in the classroom. The search is to understand the Learning and Teaching Cycle functioning for the reading and writing of journalistic news development, to discuss what difficulties or facilities the subjects presented and to analyze the texts produced by the learners. The Usina do Texto, a project offered to the students of the sixth year of elementary school in Porto Alegre municipal school system, was the environment in which the methodology precribed in the Learning and Teaching Cycle and in the interaction cycles was implemented. The project is based on the presuppositions of Genres Pedagogy of Sydney School and was constituted as the context of the present research. Based on a qualitative-interpretive research, the aim was to understand the functioning of the Learning and Teaching Cycle in the development of reading and writing of news. The analyzes of the texts produced by the students assisted in the proposed analysis and is established from the notion of the Context of Culture, genre, and the Context of Situation, register. Thus, as a result of the observations and of the textual analyzes, it is perceived that the learners mobilize the contextual and semantic available resources, addressed throughout the sta0ges of the Learning and Teaching Cycle. It is believed that this research can contribute to the theoretical discussions about genre under the bias of Sydney School.