This multi-method study presents an exercise in applied discourse analysis conducted within the broad framework of systemic-functional linguistics. The theoretical part of the work explores the relationship between one functional component of language, Halliday's notion of Theme, and the characterisation of a particular genre, the scientific research article (RA). Relevant literature on a variety of views of genre and Theme in the traditions of English for Academic Purposes (FAP) and systemic-functional linguistics is reviewed. The integration of these two levels of functional description is used as a basis for exploring the way in which Theme and generic structure relate to 'successful' processes and products of scientific research communication. The particular educational setting for the applied part of this work is the writing of first scientific RAs in English by NNS (non-native speaker) novice researchers. The primary method of study adopted here is corpus-based and initial discourse-functional analysis and description of marked and unmarked thematic choices are based on a corpus of 36 published RAs in the physical and life sciences written by 'experienced' NSs. This corpus represents a base 'norm' of thematic usage against which other corpora are compared, namely, published RAs written by 'experienced' NNS scientists and unpublished first and final RA drafts written by NNS novices. Major findings indicated that 'appropriate' thematic selections in the RA genre are constrained by the changing rhetorical purposes, signalled by means of moves, which operate throughout the different stages of scientific RA discourse; thus, the textual metafunction of Theme plays a significant role in the characterisation and dynamic wi thin-text structuring of the scientific RA genre. Furthermore, background surveys by means of questionnaires and interviews of the participants in the process of international research communication, in particular, of 'expert' NS journal editors, confirmed that 'appropriate' thematic control was clearly associated with the judgement of the merits of NNSs' RAs, and thereby, their 'successful' publication. With the pedagogical application of such theoretical insights in mind, the use of the teaching/research tool of Propositional Clusters (PCs) was explored in the EAP classroom as a heuristic for raising NNS novices' awareness about the manipulation of Theme in drafting and redrafting RA sections. Data collected from PCs exercises indicated their potential to raise awareness about the role of 'appropriate' thematic control in helping to create 'successful' texts. This study contributes to our understanding of aspects of the functional relationship between elements of discourse structure and lexica-grammatical components such as Theme/Subject. In addition, reflecting the social-semiotic perspective of a systemic-functional framework, this work strongly emphasises the social-constructionist nature of the processes involved in international research communication through the medium of the scientific research article.

This dissertation explores talk in an undergraduate seminar context. Research design was informed by an interpretive, ethnomethodological approach to understanding talk as a situated activity. A series of <i>student-led seminars</i> were audio recorded; students and staff were interviewed and post-seminar group debriefing sessions were held. The data was subsequently transcribed and analysed using a functional systemic linguistics and discourse analysis approach. Analysis identified structural and linguistic elements of seminar talk and links between language, identity, power and status was explored through an analysis of the discursive processes at work in the seminar events. An heuristic model of the seminar as a socio-pedagogic space, a site of hegemonic struggle, was used to aid concept development. A number of issues emerged within an interpretative framework of the cognitive, interpersonal and textual elements of seminar talk. In the analysis of the textual meta-function of seminars, how complexity is achieved and how conversational moves are patterned, seminars appear to constitute a hybrid talk variety, a highly unusual textual form in which participants need to learn how to participate. Tensions were found between the social and the cognitive elements of seminars. Student participants tend to use the seminar to achieve social effects, identifying and maintaining interpersonal relationships. The collaborative discourse strategies they employ constrain other opportunities for achieving educational outcomes. The learning which does take place is more likely to be related to personal and skills development than to learning about the academic subject. Students deployed a range of heteroglossic discursive strategies to practice their skills in forming ideas, marshalling evidence and constructing argument. The discursive practices of seminar events foreground tensions between socially situated identities. The research identifies a number of areas for improving practice including: enhanced specification of seminar processes and outcomes; embedding opportunities for preparation and critical reflection; teaching the subject of communication and foregrounding understandings of the discursive practices at work in seminars so as to empower individual learners.

The book of Habakkuk is unique amongst the prophetic corpus for its dialogical format, in which an interchange takes place between YHWH and the prophet. Throughout the different sections, reference is made to antagonists both in Judah and Babylon, and it is not always clear which enemy is in view or how the two parties relate. Additionally, the shifts in literary types and overall themes throughout the work have raised the question of how the different sections relate to each other. Towards this end, this dissertation develops a model for discourse analysis of Biblical Hebrew within the framework of Systemic Functional Linguistics, which has a three-level model of meaning. The Mode component tracks the references to entities that create cohesion. The Field component examines what the various participants are doing, tracking process types, transitivity, and logical relations between clauses. The Tenor component looks at the speech roles and subjects used by different speakers. As much as possible, the individual data points within the three types of analysis are correlated with the others in order to discern patterns of usage. The analytical procedure is carried out on each pericope of the book separately, and then the results for each section are compared in order to determine how the successive speeches function as responses to each other, and to better understand development or change in the perspectives of the various speakers throughout. While the large amount of data compiled makes it difficult to summarize succinctly, in all three analytical categories throughout, differing configurations of the entities of the prophet, YHWH, the Chaldean, the nations, and the natural world show development regarding what holds discourses together, how they portray the actions and power relations, and what they arc discussing overall. When the introductory (1:2^l) and final (3:2-19) discourses of the prophet are compared, the mode, field, and tenor exhibit the following shifts, respectively: (1) a cohesive cluster of YHWH, the prophet, and evil things is replaced by a situation in which YHWH’s cohesive chain interacts with various extensions of his power and the natural world in addition to the prophet and the enemies of his people; (2) a transitivity configuration in which YHWH acts upon the prophet and various evil things act upon benevolent institutions is replaced by a configuration in which YHWH acts upon the earth, nations, the prophet (now in a positive way), and the enemies of the prophet; and (3) a discourse in which the prophet asks questions about YHWH’s passivity and makes statements about the rise of evil is succeeded by a discourse in which the prophet commands YHWH to execute his will, asks rhetorical questions about YHWH’s domination of the turbulent seas, and makes statements about YHWH, the natural world’s trembling response to YHWH, and the consequent emotional state of the prophet. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Doctor of Philosophy / Tacit knowledge represents a challenge to knowledge elicitation due to the assumption that this type of knowledge cannot be articulated. We argue that Polanyi's (1966:4) widely cited notion that “we know more than we can tell” represents a weak model of language that does not acknowledge the grammatical patterns in spoken discourse that we, as speakers, apply tacitly. We investigate the hypothesis that individuals articulate what they know through grammatical patterns, referred to as under-representation, without direct awareness. This thesis develops and pilots a grammar-targeted interview method aimed at unpacking specific grammatical features that occur in spoken discourse. The model of language from which these features are derived is Systemic Functional Linguistics. We report findings from three empirical studies of tacit knowledge in corporate organisations where we used the grammar-targeted interview technique to elicit tacit knowledge in the areas of knowledge management, requirements analysis and performance reviews. We compare this interview method with a content-targeted approach. The results show that the grammar-targeted technique produces less under-represented discourse thus allowing tacit knowledge held by the interviewees to be made visible. Based on the linguistic analyses undertaken in these field studies we propose that Polanyi’s expression “we know more than we tell” be reformulated to “we tell more than we realise we know”.

Doctor of Philosophy / Tacit knowledge represents a challenge to knowledge elicitation due to the assumption that this type of knowledge cannot be articulated. We argue that Polanyi's (1966:4) widely cited notion that “we know more than we can tell” represents a weak model of language that does not acknowledge the grammatical patterns in spoken discourse that we, as speakers, apply tacitly. We investigate the hypothesis that individuals articulate what they know through grammatical patterns, referred to as under-representation, without direct awareness. This thesis develops and pilots a grammar-targeted interview method aimed at unpacking specific grammatical features that occur in spoken discourse. The model of language from which these features are derived is Systemic Functional Linguistics. We report findings from three empirical studies of tacit knowledge in corporate organisations where we used the grammar-targeted interview technique to elicit tacit knowledge in the areas of knowledge management, requirements analysis and performance reviews. We compare this interview method with a content-targeted approach. The results show that the grammar-targeted technique produces less under-represented discourse thus allowing tacit knowledge held by the interviewees to be made visible. Based on the linguistic analyses undertaken in these field studies we propose that Polanyi’s expression “we know more than we tell” be reformulated to “we tell more than we realise we know”.

The study of Ephesians has been approached in multiple ways by scholars. The dominant scholarly debates on Ephesians center on the issues of authorship, to whom the letter was addressed, its comparison with Colossians, and the Jew-Gentile conflict. Scholars have discussed the theme of salvation in their textual and theological analysis and commentary. Most of these discussions do not adequately explain the meaning of salvation at the discourse level. Scholars have suggested a wide range of meanings of salvation in Ephesians: forgiveness of sins (1:7), deliverance from the grip of the evil supernatural powers that controlled them before their conversion (2:2; 6:11, 12), reconciliation between Jews and Gentiles (2:16), and reception of spiritual gifts to the service of the Church (4:7). Salvation in Ephesians is also explained as a rescue from death, sin, and disobedience; from this present world-age; from bondage to the ruler and principalities of the air; and from God’s wrath. It is being freed from the ways of the world and the ruler of the air (2:2^1); being seated with Christ in heavenly realms (2:6); being the workmanship of God; being made alive in Christ (2:5); being created in Christ Jesus (2:10). There is no consensus among scholars regarding the temporal meaning of salvation. The meaning of salvation in Ephesians must be studied in the context of the letter. There is no major study that has applied Systemic Functional Linguistic tools to the study of Ephesians. Halliday’s model of register analysis provides tools to analyze the context of situation of Ephesians, the study of field, tenor, and mode of Ephesians. These three components of register analysis, show that the linguistic choices made by Paul describe the context of situation in which the meaning of salvation is communicated. This study shows that Paul’s idea of salvation in Ephesians is one of his prominent topics. It explains that salvation is a divinely planned entity. God executes and achieves it through Jesus Christ. Salvation is the gracious gift of God. The mystery of God’s eternal plan of salvation in Jesus Christ reveals that God has incorporated the Gentiles in his plans through adoption in Jesus Christ. It emphasizes the meaning of salvation in terms of Gentiles’ deliverance from their former spiritual bondages. Paul’s Gentile readers’ former spiritual condition corresponds to the contemporary Hindu spiritual condition. They are under spiritual bondage through their magical practices and worshiping of idols. Thus a cross-cultural application to evaluate the meaning of salvation in a Hindu context is warranted / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

A great deal of effort has been made on the study of Peter since the thesis of Ferdinand Christian Baur raised the question whether there was a severe conflict between a Pauline (non-Judean) group and a Petrine (Judean) group in the early church. The harmony or dichotomy between the Petrine and Pauline Christianity provides the picture of Christian origins. Scholars have probed into the study of the historical and literary Peter, focusing on past events and the descriptions of Peter in literary works, especially the book of Acts. In addition, the memory of the church about Peter is also indicated in order to reconstruct one’s understanding of this character. What seems to be lacking, however, is a more detailed study of the Petrine text itself. In the New Testament, there are two epistles which are attributed to Peter as the author, and both letters can provide more significant sources than any other books. Nevertheless, the relationship between 1 Peter and 2 Peter is still under debate, although both books are attributed to Peter. Few scholars analyze these texts together due to their literary differences. In the book of Acts, on the other hand, there are also several speeches delivered by Peter. One still needs to consider whether the speeches are from Peter or Luke. The question now arises: the common ground of all studies points to the use of language in the texts within which one can find both similarities and dissimilarities, although they are all attributed to Peter. This study, therefore, aims to employ an analysis from Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) to demonstrate the components of registers which offers the key to an understanding of the language in use in the texts that are attributed to Peter. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Thesis advisor: Maria E. Brisk / This action research study examines the impact instruction informed by Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) with a particular focus on tenor and socio-cultural theory has on sixth, seventh and eighth grade English language learners in an urban school. Over the course of seven and ½ months I used Systemic Functional Linguistics with a focus on tenor to teach both the fictional narrative and persuasive genres. In each genre, students wrote a piece for three different audiences where the expected tenor ranged from personal to impersonal to semi personal. My instruction focused on the context, purpose and tenor and the particular structural elements and language features of each genre. Student writing and pedagogical strategies were examined using selective coding and triangulation. Evidence from this study suggests that writing instruction informed by SFL in combination with a socio-cultural model helps English language learners' writing. When students wrote for a distant audience the quality of the students' writing improved. Students increased the amount of text, adjectivals, and made some improvements in terms of structure. Students also included formal language, descriptions and in some cases altered the mood and modality. Students also improved the quality of their pieces as they looked more like writing and less like oral language. After students worked hard to make their pieces more formal they resisted making changes for the less sophisticated audiences indicating that while students were developing awareness of tenor, more work and instruction was needed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

PEREIRA, Bruno Gomes. Professores em formação inicial no gênero relatório de estágio supervisionado: um estudo em licenciaturas paraenses.2014. 136f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Letras: ensino de Língua e Literatura) – Universidade Federal do Tocantins, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras: ensino de Língua e Literatura, Araguaína, 2014. / O objetivo desta dissertação de mestrado é investigar autorrepresentações de professores em formação inicial, aqui denominados de alunos-mestre, em relatórios de estágio supervisionado (RES). Para isso, analisamos como estas autorrepresentações refletem a escrita dos relatórios, que denominamos de escrita reflexiva profissional, partindo da premissa de que se trata de um registro da língua utilizado para relatar questões ligadas ao universo profissional dos alunos-mestre de maneira crítica e reflexiva. O corpus desta investigação é constituído por 42 (quarenta e dois) relatórios de estágio, produzidos ao final da disciplina de Estágio Supervisionado nas Licenciaturas em Letras (com habilitação em Língua Portuguesa), Pedagogia e Matemática. Estas licenciaturas são ofertadas por uma universidade pública localizada ao sudeste do Estado do Pará, estado que integra a região Norte do Brasil. Os relatórios que compõem o corpus desta investigação foram devidamente produzidos entre os anos 2010 e 2012, ao final das disciplinas Estágio Supervisionado II (Letras), Prática de Ensino II (Matemática) e Estágio Supervisionado em Educação Infantil (Pedagogia), todas destinadas ao período de regência em sala de aula em escolas da Educação Básica. Partimos do princípio de que o relatório de estágio é um importante instrumento na semiotização das práticas vivenciadas no complexo contexto acadêmico de estágio, sendo, portanto, um tipo de produção textual bastante peculiar em comparação aos outros gêneros textuais produzidos na academia. Nossa investigação é do tipo documental, uma vez que analisamos relatórios de estágio, documentos importantes no que se refere às especificidades da disciplina de Estágio Supervisionado. Em muitos casos, a universidade parece ignorar o caráter documental deste gênero textual, conferindo a ele um perfil puramente burocrático. Para análise dos dados, optamos por uma abordagem qualitativa, que se desenvolve em quatro categorias de análise. Esta investigação se insere no campo de estudos interdisciplinares da Linguística Aplicada (LA). Elegemos como principal aporte teórico-metodológico a Linguística Sistêmico-Funcional (LSF), especialmente sobre as Metafunções Ideacional e Textual. A primeira compreende a oração como elemento de representação do mundo em si. Já a segunda entende a oração como mensagem. Procurando assumir uma postura ainda mais interdisciplinar, também propomos uma articulação com os Estudos do Letramento, mais especificamente os letramentos linguístico e do professor. Além disso, também tentamos dialogar com a Sociologia, com a intenção de problematizar e caracterizar as relações instáveis entre atores sociais que se relacionam no contexto de sala de aula. Por fim, nosso movimento interdisciplinar também procura dialogar com os conhecimentos advindos da Educação, pois este ramo de pesquisa é tradicional em investigações que problematizam a noção de Estágio Supervisionado. Os resultados que obtemos apontam para uma escrita reflexiva ainda muito incipiente, em que o teor narrativo/descritivo parece predominar, em detrimento de reflexões mais críticas e consistentes que envolvam a prática pedagógica desempenhada durante a regência. Acreditamos que esta pesquisa pode render ganhos ao letramento dos alunos-mestre, especialmente aqueles do complexo contexto acadêmico paraense. Esta dissertação contribui para as investigações do grupo de pesquisa Práticas de Linguagens nos Estágios Supervisionados – PLES (UFT/CNPq). / This dissertation aims to investigate self-representations of teachers in initial graduation which are named as master-students in Reports of Supervised Internship (RSI). For this reason we analyzed how the self-representations reflect the writing of reports which we refer to as professional reflexive writing because it is a kind of language used to report critically and reflexively questions about professional world of the master-students. The corpus of this investigation is consisted by 42 (forty-two) internship reports wrote by undergraduate students at the end of the Supervised Internship subjects in the Letters Faculty – Portuguese Language, Pedagogy and Mathematics. These courses are offered by a public university located in the southeast of Pará situated in the north of Brazil. The reports which are the corpus of this research were produced between 2010 and 2012 at the end of Supervised Internship II (Arts Faculty), Teaching Practice II (Mathematics) and Supervised Internship in Childhood Education (Pedagogy) subjects which focus the regency period in classroom at Basic Education schools. We believe the internship report’s writing is an import instrument of semiotizating the experience in the complex academic context of practice, although, it has been a quite peculiar kind of textual production in comparison to other genres produced in academy. Our investigation is documentary due the fact we analyze internship reports which are important documents concerned to particularities of Supervised Internship subject. In several cases, the university seems to ignore the documentary character of this genre giving to it only a bureaucratic profile. For data analyses we choose a qualitative approach which is developed in four categories of analyses. This investigation is concerned within the field of interdisciplinary studies of Applied Linguistics (AL). We chose Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) as the main theoretical and methodological contribution, especially on the ideational and textual metafunction. The first comprehends the sentence as an element representing world itself. And the second understands the sentence as a message. Looking for taking a more interdisciplinary position, we also propose a joint with Literacy Studies, specifically Linguistic Literacy and Teacher Literacy. Furthermore, we also try to dialogue with Sociology intending to problematize and characterize the unstable relationship between the social actors who interact in the classroom. Finally, our interdisciplinary movement tries to dialogue with the knowledge of Education, because this area of research is reference in studies that problematize the notion of Supervised Interniship. The results showed an incipient reflexive writing in which the descriptive/narrative writing seems to predominate rather than critic and consistent reflections involved in the pedagogy practice during the regency. We believe that this research can contribute to the master-students literacy especially whose from the complex academic context of Pará as well as to the group researchers of the Project: Practicing Language in Supervised Internships – LPSI (UFT/CNPq).

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / The distinctive objects designed by Dr Maria Montessori as the centrepiece of her approach to pedagogy are the topic of this study. The Montessori approach to pedagogy, celebrating its centenary in 2007, continues to be used in classrooms throughout the world. Despite such widespread and enduring use, there has been little analysis of the Montessori objects to evaluate or understand their pedagogic impact. This study begins by outlining the provenance of the Montessori objects, reaching the conclusion that the tendency to interpret them from the perspective of the progressive education movement of the early twentieth century fails to provide insights into the developmental potential embodied in the objects. In order to appreciate that potential more fully, the study explores the design of the objects, specifically, the way in which the semiotic qualities embodied in their design orient children to the meanings of educational knowledge. A meta-analytic framework comprising three components is used to analyse the semiotic potential of the Montessori objects as educational artefacts. First, Vygotsky’s model of development is used to analyse the objects as external mediational means and to recognise the objects as complexes of signs materialising educational knowledge. In order to understand how the objects capture, in the form of concrete analogues, the linguistic meanings which construe educational knowledge, systemic functional linguistics, the second component of the framework, is used to achieve a rich and detailed social semiotic analysis of these relations, in particular, material and linguistic representations of abstract educational meanings. Finally, the pedagogic device, a central feature of Bernstein’s sociology of pedagogy, is used to analyse how the Montessori objects re-contextualise educational knowledge as developmental pedagogy. Particular attention is paid to the Montessori literacy pedagogy, in which the study of grammar plays a central role. The study reveals a central design principle which distinguishes the Montessori objects. This principle is the redundant representation of educational knowledge across multiple semiotic modes. Each representation holds constant the underlying meaning relations which construe quanta of educational knowledge, giving children the freedom to engage with this knowledge playfully, independently and successfully. The conclusion drawn from this study is that the design of the Montessori objects represents valuable educational potential which deserves continued investigation, as well as wider recognition and application. To initiate this process, the findings in this study may provide insights which can be used to develop tools for evaluating and enhancing the implementation of Montessori pedagogy in Montessori schools. The findings may also be used to adapt Montessori design principles for the benefit of educators working in non-Montessori contexts, in particular, those educators concerned with developing pedagogies which promote equitable access to educational knowledge.