An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics

This new edition of the best-selling An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics explores the social semiotic approach to language most closely associated with the work of Michael Halliday and his colleagues. An approach which views language as a strategic, meaning-making resource, systemic linguistics focuses on the analysis of authentic, everyday texts, and asks both how people use language to make meanings, and how language itself is organized to enable those meanings to be made. The book offers both an overview of systemic theory and illustrations of how systemic techniques can be applied in the analysis of everyday texts. Written for students who may have little or no formal knowledge of linguistics, it covers most of the major concepts in systemic linguistics. In addition, it introduces readers to Halliday's functional grammatical analysis of English clauses, and presents the essentials of the systemic analysis of cohesive patterns in text.

Suzanne Eggins was Head of the School of English at the University of New South Wales, Australia, and now runs Textwork, where she is a professional writer and editor.