<p> After surveying previous language-related claims about the integrity of 2 Corinthians, this study develops a definition of "text" using Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). According to SFL, a text is the structured realization of a context of situation involving: (1) a particular activity together with its concomitant interpersonal roles and relations; (2) a particular sphere of human experience; and (3) a particular mode of conveying information. Moreover, because each of these contextual parameters correlates with specific linguistic systems, a general linguistic analysis can be used to assess whether or not an apparant text does or does not encode a plausible context.</p> <p> Employing an analysis of progressive moves to explore what is being done and an analysis of semantic domains to explore what is being talked about (as well as some additional analyses of conjunctive relations, identity chains, and cohesive harmony), the present study proposes that the body of 2 Corinthians consists of five segments wherein leadership in enacted within the sphere of the Christian church. First, after expressing a positive disposition towards its readers, 2 Corinthians addresses Paul and Timothy's controversial behaviour, especially Paul's handling of Corinthian immorality (1:3-2:13). Second, it teaches the Corinthians how to respond when people criticize the Pauline mission (2:14-5:21 ). Third, it appeals for communal purity while also acknowledging some recent progress in this area (6:1-7:16). Fourth, it reports an unexpected development in Macedonia and explains the task to which its bearers have been appointed (8:1-9: 15). Fifth, it warns that discipline will be enacted upon Paul and Timothy's arrival if the Corinthians do not continue to maintain the purity of their congregation, and it attempts to shut down distracting leadership debates by denigrating the worldly leadership standards that are operative in those debates ( 10:1-13:10).</p> <p> Inasmuch as that these behaviours can be plausibly regarded as the sequential stages of a single, unfolding context of situation, this study concludes that 2 Corinthians is a single letter. Moreover, a number of exploratory suggestions are made with regard to the interpretive and historical implications of reading 2 Corinthians in light of this overarching context of situation.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This study has two major aims: to outline discourse analysis from the framework of Systemic Functional Linguistics, specifically in relation to the notion of register and context of situation, and to apply this linguistic methodology to a theological discussion, specifically on the New Perspective on Paul. The first chapter introduces the New Perspective on Paul, surveying the history of the discussion and identifying a central disagreement between the New Perspective and the Old: covenantal nomism against legalism. The second chapter introduces discourse analysis and traces a history of its development within the broader field of linguistics and then in biblical studies, noting the strengths of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). The third chapter outlines a framework of SFL discourse analysis with special reference to register and context of situation, especially with application to Hellenistic Greek. Chapters 4 through 6 apply SFL discourse analysis to the text of Galatians, with a concluding chapter synthesizing the material. This study argues that a discourse analysis of Paul’s letter to the Galatians reflects a situation that coheres more closely to an Old Perspective rather than a New Perspective on Paul. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The overall aim of this thesis is to deepen the understanding of mathematical subject language regarding three semiotic resources, written language, images and mathematical symbols. The theses also investigates high- and low-performingstudents encounter with mathematical subject language. Based on previous research on language and from a theoretical foundation based on systemic functional linguistics (SFL) and social semiotics, four meaning dimensions – packing, precision, personification and presentation – were identified as central in academic language in general and in mathematical subject language. A didactically based reception theoretical perspective has been used for an analysis of high and low achieving students' encounter with the mathematical subject language. The thesis comprises three studies each examining the mathematical subject language in TIMSS 2011 from various angles. The analyzes were conducted on four content areas algebra, statistics, geometry and arithmetic in the Swedish version of the international study Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2011 (TIMSS). In a summary, the results showed that the mathematical subject language was used in different ways in the four content areas in TIMSS where colloquial and subject-specific forms of languages had different roles and were expressed in varying degrees by the written language, images and mathematical symbols. Thus each content area was expressed by its own register which means that is not sufficient to talk about mathematical subject language as one single language. The result shows that two forms of language, subject specific and everyday language were used parallel in the TIMSS material. The subject specific forms were most salient in algebra and geometry and the more everyday forms of language were more common in statistics and arithmetic. The results from the correlation analyses indicated that fewer students managed the encounter with tasks in algebra and geometry when they were expressed by subject specific language. In contrast, the results indicated that students were able handle the encounter with the more colloquial expressions of the content areas statistics and arithmetic.

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.

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.

Nesta pesquisa, investigamos como atividades de letramento mediadas por gênero podem ser desenvolvidas numa turma considerada defasada pelo fato dos alunos terem dificuldades de leitura e escrita. A pesquisa-ação é realizada numa escola da rede pública municipal de Marabá, em uma turma de 6º ano (5ª série) do Ensino Fundamental. Pretendemos ainda investigar como essas atividades podem ajudar no desenvolvimento das práticas de leitura, produção textual e de análise linguística desses alunos com dificuldades de aprendizagem. Para intervenção em sala de aula, elaboramos uma unidade didática composta por planos de aula orientados pela proposta pedagógica do Circuito Curricular Mediado por Gênero (CCMG). Com essas atividades, observamos o desenvolvimento, o envolvimento e a participação dos alunos nas aulas propostas. Experimentamos e avaliamos a metodologia de ensino orientada pelo CCMG em cada etapa do circuito, respondendo, assim, a pergunta principal da pesquisa-ação: como as atividades de leitura e de análise linguísticas mediadas pelo CCMG podem provocar mudanças no ensino e aprendizagem da disciplina Língua Portuguesa? Caracterizamos este trabalho como uma pesquisa-ação, pois não se trata de simples levantamento de dados ou de relatórios a serem arquivados, desse modo, pretendemos desempenhar um papel ativo na própria realidade dos fatos observados. Esta pesquisa também é caracterizada como um estudo de caso, pois investiga e explora exaustivamente a Unidade Didática aplicada na intervenção pedagógica. Para subsidiar a intervenção proposta, revisaremos alguns estudos aplicados a respeito dos gêneros textuais, estudos do letramento; ensino de língua materna e abordagem sistêmico-funcional da linguagem. Os resultados mostraram que a Unidade Didática implementada durante a intervenção pedagógica desenvolveu-se como um processo reorientador da prática pedagógica e promotor de aprendizagem. Considerando as reflexões apresentadas, destacamos a necessidade do desenvolvimento de pesquisas aplicadas sobre as práticas pedagógicas, envolvendo professores no local de trabalho. Devido à natureza multifacetada da problemática focalizada, concluímos que a superação dos desafios enfrentados depende de ações conjuntas no âmbito da escola, o da universidade e das políticas públicas. / In this research we investigated how literacy activities mediated by genre can be developed in a class considered outdated because the students have difficulties in reading and writing. The action research is carried out in an Elementary Public School of Maraba, in a class of 6th year (5th grade) of the Elementary School. We also intend to investigate how these activities can help in the development of reading practices, textual production and linguistic analysis of these students with learning difficulties. In planning for intervention in the classroom, we developed a teaching unit which consists of lesson plans guided by pedagogical proposal called Curriculum Circuit Mediated by Genre (CCMG). We intend to observe the development of these activities, the involvement and participation of students in the proposed classes, we still want to experience and evaluate the methodology at each step of the CCMG and then answering the main question of this action research: how the activities of reading and linguistic analysis mediated by CCMG can cause changes in the teaching and learning of Portuguese language? We characterize this work as an action research because it is not simple data collection or reports to be filed, thus, we intend to play an active role in the reality of the observed facts. This research is also characterized as a case study because it investigate and thoroughly explore the teaching unit applied in pedagogical intervention. To support the proposed intervention we review some applied studies regarding to genres, literacy studies; as well as Applied Linguistics and Systemic Functional Linguistics. The results showed that the Teaching Unit implemented during the educational intervention was developed as a process of reorienting teaching practice and learning promoter. The results showed that the Teaching Unit implemented during the educational intervention was developed as a process of reorienting teaching practice and learning promoter. Considering the presented reflections, we highlight the need to develop applied research on pedagogical practices, involving teachers in service. Due to the multifaceted nature of the problem, we find that the overshoot depends on joint actions within the school scope, academic scope and in the public policy.