EXAMINING NON-FICTION TEXTS USING SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR: A STUDY OF LANGUAGE AND MEANING

Abstract

Instead of considering it merely as a set of arbitrary rules and structures Halliday through his seminal work of Systemic Functional Grammar views language from a different approach. He puts forth that language is a system of meaning-making choices shaped by social contexts. Hence language is structured by means of various linguistic choices and devices in an organized and systematic manner for producing meaning in social or real life contexts. Based upon this model of language analysis, the present study used Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) framework to analyze a selected non-fiction text. The emphasis of this study was focusing on its three metafunctions named as ideational metafunction, interpersonal metafunction and textual metafunction. For exploring these metafunctions, the given text was analyzed from the perspectives of field which refers to subject matter and context, tenor which identifies (social roles and relationships, and mode that defines medium of communication. Results of the study revealed how language constructed meaning within non-fiction discourse and it further revealed insights into multipurpose aspect of communication i.e. communicative purpose, relational dynamics, and contextual features.