A Systemic Functional Linguistics Approach to the Academic Langua

Hamline University DigitalCommons@Hamline School of Education Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations School of Education Summer 8-10-2015 A Systemic Functional Linguistics Approach to the Academic Language in Seventh Grade Social Studies Laura Beth Ripley Hamline University, lhennings01@hamline.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/hse_all Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Ripley, Laura Beth, "A Systemic Functional Linguistics Approach to the Academic Language in Seventh Grade Social Studies" (2015) School of Education Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations 195 https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/hse_all/195 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Education at DigitalCommons@Hamline It has been accepted for inclusion in School of Education Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Hamline For more information, please contact digitalcommons@hamline.edu, lterveer01@hamline.edu         A  SYSTEMIC  FUNCTIONAL  LINGUISTICS  APPROACH  TO  THE  ACADEMIC  LANGUAGE   IN  SEVENTH  GRADE  SOCIAL  STUDIES     by   Laura  Ripley         A  capstone  submitted  in  partial  fulfillment  of  the   Requirements  for  the  degree  in  Master  of  Arts  in  ESL           Hamline  University     Saint  Paul,  Minnesota     August  2015                 Primary  Advisor:  Bonnie  Swierzbin   Secondary  Advisor:  Kathryn  Heinze   Peer  Reviewer:  Brett  Ripley                 TABLE  OF  CONTENTS         CHAPTER  ONE:  INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………….…1       Academic  Language,  Genre,  and  Systemic  Functional  Linguistics…………       The  Need  for  Understanding  Language……………………………………….………       Role  of  Researcher………………………………………………………………………………7       Research  Questions……………………………………………………………………………       Summary…………………………………………………………………………………………….9       Chapter  Overviews ………………………………………………………………………….…9     CHAPTER  TWO:  LITERATURE  REVIEW………………………………………………………….10       Academic  Language  as  the  Language  of  School…………………………………….10       A  Genre  Based  Approach…………………………………………………………………….12       Systemic  Functional  Linguistics………………………………………………………… 13       Key  Terms  and  Components  of  SFL…………………………………………………… 16       Social  Studies  Genre  and  Sub-­‐genres………………………………………………… 17       Identifying  the  Three  Meanings………………………………………………………… 18       Theme  Progression ………………………………………………………………………… 21       Systemic  Functional  Linguistics  in  the  Classroom…………………………… ….23       The  Gap………………………………………………………………………………………… …25       Research  Questions…………………………………………………………………………….25     ii         Summary……………………………………………………………………………………………26       Chapter  Three  Preview………………………….……………………………………………26     CHAPTER  THREE:  METHODOLOGY……………………………………………….……………….27       Study  Purposes………………………………………………………………………………… 27       Methodology  of  Systemic  Functional  Linguistics  Analysis…………………….28       Text  Selection…………………………………………………………………………………….28       Data  Collection  Design……………………………………………………………………… 29       Theme  Identification  Specifications…………………………………………….….… 31       Reliability……………………………………………………………………………………… 32     Chapter  Four  Preview……………………………………………………………………… 32     CHAPTER  FOUR:  RESULTS…………………………………………………………………………….33       Chapter  Overview.…………………………………………………………………………… 33       Text  Corpus  and  Analysis……………………………………………………………………33       Results:  Genres.………………………………………………………………………………….34       Results:  Theme  Progressions……………………… …………………………………….36       Results:  Linguistic  Resources  of  Themes…………………………………………… 43         Results:  Non-­‐Finite  Terms………………………………………………………………… 47         Reliability  Results………………………………………………………………………… ….48       Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………… 48       Chapter  Five  Preview……………….………………………………………………….…… 49     CHAPTER  FIVE:  DISCUSSION…………………………………………………………………………50       iii         Chapter  Overview………………………………………………………………………….… 50       Discussion:  Themes………………………………………………………………………… 50       Discussion:  Discourse  Connectors  as  Themes……………………… 53       Discussion:  Temporal  Clauses  and  Phrases  as  Themes………………… …….54       Discussion:  Theme  Progressions…………………………………………………………56       Discussion:  Genre……………………………………………………………………………….59       Limitations…………………………………………………………………………………………61       Future  Studies…………………………………………………………………………………….61       Implications……………………………………………………………………………………… 62       Dissemination  of  Results…………………………………………………………………… 64       Personal  Reflection…………………………………………………………………………… 65       Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………….66     REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………………………………… 68     APPENDIX  A:  PILOT  STUDY………………………………………………………………………… 71     APPENDIX  B:  PILOT  STUDY  TEXT………………………………………………………………… 74     APPENDIX  C:  TEXT  EXCERPT  SAMPLE……………………………………………………………76                             iv                   LIST  OF  TABLES           Table  1:  Genres  in  Social  Studies…………………………………………………………………….19     Table  2:  Theme  Progressions  for  all  Text  Selections……………………………………… 36     Table  3:  Theme  Progressions  in  the  Historical  Recount  Genre………………………….40     Table  4:  Theme  Progressions  in  the  Factorial  Explanation  Genre…………………… 41     Table  5:  Theme  Progressions  in  the  Discussion  Genre…………………………………… 41     Table  6:  Categorization  of  Themes  as  Process,  Participant,  or  Circumstance…… 43     Table  7:  Linguistic  Resources  of  Themes…………………………………………………………46                                             v                 LIST  OF  FIGURES         Figure  1:  Genre  Percentages  of  Total  Text  Selection…………………………………………34             vi                   CHAPTER  ONE:  INTRODUCTION     Early  in  my  career  as  a  teacher  of  English  learners  I  had  the  privilege  of     supporting  ELs  through  co-­‐teaching  a  seventh  grade  social  studies  class,  as  well  as   teaching  two  separate  sections  of  an  advanced  ESL  social  studies  class  Equipped   with  my  own  passion  for  history  and  my  zeal  for  students  to  develop  their  language   skills,  I  opened  the  heavy  U.S  History  text  and  began  exploring  what  I  would  teach   my  students  Once  the  class  was  in  progress,  it  did  not  take  me  long  to  realize  that   the  textbook  was  difficult  for  the  students  to  read  and  comprehend  As  an  ELL   teacher,  I  expected  this,  and  did  my  best  to  scaffold  and  break  down  the  text  with   students  The  basic  reading  strategies  I  taught  my  students  helped  to  a  certain   extent,  but  students  still  struggled  with  identifying  the  relevant  or  central  ideas  or   making  connections  between  events  or  outcomes  I  tried  various  strategies,  and   some  days  abandoned  the  text  all  together,  in  favor  of  developing  language  skills  in   other  ways  that  I  could  better  control     I  knew  from  much  exposure  in  my  teacher  preparation  that  the  language   used  in  school  contexts,  academic  language,  (Fang  &  Schleppegrell,  2008;  Zwiers,   2008)  is  different  from  language  used  in  informal  community  and  social  contexts   Furthermore,  different  purposes  and  contexts,  or  genres,  of  text  employ  different   kinds  of  linguistic  features  (Coffin,  2006;  Schleppegrell,  2012)  Using  this         background  knowledge,  I  was  able  to  approach  the  textbook  with  some  insight  I   relied  on  this  basic  knowledge  and  used  it  often  in  my  classroom  But  I  was  still  at  a   loss  as  to  how  to  systematically  teach  the  language  forms  and  patterns  used  in  this   social  studies  textbook,  and  furthermore,  how  to  focus  on  developing  both  language   skills  and  critical  reflection  on  the  content  With  each  section  of  reading,  I  wanted   my  students  to  be  able  to  understand  the  main  ideas,  acquire  new  vocabulary,   employ  basic  reading  strategies,  and  to  think  critically  about  the  ideas  presented   How  was  this  to  be  possible?  If  I  was  struggling  to  wrap  my  head  around  it,  how   could  my  students  do  this?   From  my  education  and  experience,  I  believe  that  understanding  the   particular  language  features  of  certain  genres  is  imperative  in  teaching  language   skills  However,  I  needed  to  not  only  review  these  principles,  but  also  take  a  step   into  greater  depth    I  started  researching  the  linguistic  features  of  texts  in  the  social   studies  genre,  and  as  I  looked  back  to  the  textbook  I  had  used,  I  made  some   observations  It  was  packed  with  fast  moving  sections  that  covered  complex  ideas   using  not  only  advanced  academic  language,  including  multitudes  of  new  content-­‐ specific  vocabulary,  but  also  was  organized  through  complex  linguistic  structures   While  some  concepts  are  introduced  with  familiar,  explicit  connectors  such  as   because  of  this,  or  so  that,  ideas  may  be  presented  through  clause  organization   requiring  students  to  understand  implicit  connections,  explanations,  or   implications  This  text  was  altogether  unlike  everyday  language  This  real  life   struggle  in  my  teaching,  combined  with  an  acute  awareness  of  my  students’   struggles  with  this  type  of  literature,  led  me  to  this  project           Academic  Language,  Genre,  and  Systemic  Functional  Linguistics   There  has  been  an  abundance  of  research  discussing  the  idea  of  academic   language,  the  language  used  in  school,  that  highlights  its  differences  from  informal   or  spoken  language,  namely  its  density,  technicality,  and  abstract  nature  (Fang,   2008;  Halliday,  1985;  Zwiers,  2008)  While  students  are  often  taught  to  read  using   texts  that  are  more  related  to  everyday,  familiar  language,  the  complexities  and   demands  of  literacy  for  students  increase  markedly  at  the  secondary  levels  (Fang,   2008)  Thus,  at  a  school  level  when  texts  are  increasingly  important  for  instruction   and  learning,  the  language  is  more  complex  and  difficult  to  comprehend  One  way  a   text  can  be  come  more  complex  is  through  the  use  of  sentences  that  do  not  begin   with  a  subject  Examples  (1)  and  (2)  illustrate  this   (1)  First  claimed  by  France,  Louisiana  was  given  to  Spain  after  the  French   and  Indian  war       (2)  Having  acquired  Louisiana  through  diplomacy,  President  Jefferson  turned   next  to  Florida     Because  the  subject  is  in  the  middle  of  the  sentence,  it  can  be  more  complex  for  the   reader  to  orient  themselves  to  the  information     While  many  students  can  be  at  risk  of  falling  behind,  ELs  in  particular  are  at   risk  because  it  is  less  likely  that  they  will  have  exposure  to  English  academic   language  outside  of  school     Current  research  highlights  the  important  role  of  academic  language  and   calls  teachers  to  incorporate  it  in  their  instruction  in  order  to  help  students  develop   the  language  they  need  to  be  successful  in  school  (Schleppegrell,  2012)  One  of  the   frameworks  that  has  arisen  is  the  concept  of  genre-­‐based  approaches  to  language  A       63   can  guide  students  in  looking  for  certain  linguistic  resources  that  are  often  used  in   meaning  making  for  that  genre  This  kind  of  anticipation  of  student  need  and   preparedness  for  teachable  moments  helps  students  observe  and  practice  skills  that   can  help  them  to  become  better  critical  readers  on  their  own     Another  implication  of  this  study  for  the  classroom  is  the  ability  for   instructors  to  teach  students  strategic  skills  to  sort  through  the  linguistic  resources   of  a  text  in  order  to  aid  their  comprehension  For  example,  a  teacher  may  model  how   to  underline  noun  groups  in  the  Theme  position  of  a  text  that  contains  primarily   Themes  of  participants  This  immediately  draws  students’  attention  to  the  people,   groups,  or  entities  driving  the  flow  of  events  Similarly,  a  teacher  could  have   students  underline  temporal  phrases  and  clauses  in  Theme  position  in  instances   where  the  text  is  being  organized  in  a  chronological  order,  or  where  the  position  of   events  in  time  is  being  used  to  explain  certain  actions  or  outcomes  If  a  teacher  sees   these  organizational  patterns  first,  and  recognizes  how  they  contribute  to  its   meaning,  she  can  teach  these  skills  to  her  students,  with  the  aim  of  increasing  their   comprehension  through  tools  that  unlock  the  language  of  a  text  These  skills  can  also   help  students  to  grow  their  own  critical  literacy  skills,  promoting  greater   independence  in  their  reading  and  comprehension       A  third  implication  is  for  teachers  to  recognize  potential  disconnects  in  a  text   when  there  is  no  Theme  progression  within  the  proximity  of  one  or  two  clauses  or   sentences  The  analysis  revealed  that  there  are  times  when  no  Theme  progression   within  proximity  exists,  yet  the  information  connects  to  information  discussed   earlier  in  the  text  Teachers  may  find  it  valuable  to  guide  students  in  making  these       64   connections  to  link  important  information,  and  also  to  see  the  cohesiveness  of  a   segment  of  text  in  its  entirety     A  final  implication  of  this  study  it  that  it  can  increase  teachers’  ability  to   recognize  when  a  text  does  not  follow  anticipated  or  conventional  patterns  For   example,  in  this  analysis,  it  was  discovered  that  the  factorial  explanation  genre  text   excerpts  actually  contained  a  higher  percentage  of  time  Theme  progressions  than   did  the  historical  recount  text  excerpts  Time  Theme  progressions  are  used   frequently  in  historical  recount  texts  because  their  information  is  often  organized   chronologically  (Droga,  Feez  &  Humphrey,  2012)  While  time  indicators  are  also  a   common  feature  in  factorial  explanations  (Droga,  Feez  &  Humphrey,  2012),  they   may  serve  a  different  purpose  in  that  sub-­‐genre  than  in  recounts  They  may,  for   instance  be  highlighting  how  the  timing  of  events  or  actions  resulted  in  particular   outcomes  A  teacher’s  ability  to  recognize  this  and  point  it  out  to  her  students  will   promote  deeper  understanding  of  the  author’s  purpose  of  the  text,  which  in  this   instance  was  to  explain  an  event  or  outcome,  not  simply  record  it  This  is  important   because  students  may  be  expecting  temporal  phrases  to  be  simply  recounting   information,  rather  than  explaining  it  This  awareness  can  also  be  useful  for  teachers   to  recognize  when  a  text  does  not  have  a  clear  sub-­‐genre  Knowing  this,  she  can   anticipate  that  students  may  lack  clarity  about  the  purpose  of  the  text,  or  struggle   with  other  comprehension  issues   Dissemination  of  Results     Upon  the  completion  of  this  capstone,  I  will  share  the  results  of  my  research   with  other  colleagues  in  the  hope  of  promoting  informed  practice  with  the       65   instruction  of  ELs  The  primary  way  I  will  share  my  findings  is  through  meeting  with   colleagues  at  my  school,  both  ELL  and  mainstream  teachers,  and  discuss  how  we   might  use  this  information  to  design  instructional  practices  that  support  academic   literacy  in  mainstream  social  studies  classrooms,  sheltered  classrooms,  and  through   co-­‐teaching     Personal  Reflection     The  process  of  completing  a  capstone  has  been  a  journey  of  ups  and  downs,   but  in  which  ultimately,  the  gains  certainly  outweigh  the  sacrifices  It  was  a  big  step   for  me  to  take  on  this  project  as  a  new  teacher,  still  at  the  height  of  my  learning   curve  in  my  profession,  and  adjusting  to  a  leadership  position  at  my  school  There   were  many  times  when  I  second-­‐guessed  the  timing  of  completing  my  capstone,   when  I  doubted  my  ability  to  manage  all  my  responsibilities,  and  to  do  my  work,   both  on  this  capstone  and  at  school,  with  excellence  When  I  started  graduate  school   five  years  ago,  one  thing  I  declared  adamantly  was  that  I  wasn’t  coming  out  without   my  Master’s  degree  It  was  a  goal  I  had  set  firmly  before  me  And  so,  during  this  year,   I  held  that  goal  in  front  of  me,  and  the  journey  toward  it  has  taught  me  invaluable   lessons  about  perseverance,  diligence,  and  discipline  I  learned  to  keep  going   through  doubt  and  frustration,  even  when  I  was  stumbling  through  research,  lacking   clarity  on  my  project,  and  reading  texts  that  I  thought  were  beyond  the  scope  of  my   competence  Looking  back  those  moments  of  doubt  seem  almost  funny,  because  I   discovered  that  if  you  keep  working  at  something,  it  will  turn  out  I  learned  that  a   long-­‐term  project  requires  diligence  through  pacing  and  incremental  goal  setting  I   was  incredibly  fortunate  in  the  support  of  my  primary  advisor  who  organized  a       66   capstone  group  that  met  bi-­‐monthly  We  discussed  our  progress  and  set  goals  that   the  rest  of  the  group  would  hold  us  accountable  to  These  sessions  taught  me   invaluable  skills  about  outlining  and  managing  progress  on  a  long-­‐term  project   Finally,  I  learned  much  about  discipline  during  this  journey  There  were  many   weekends  and  evenings,  when  after  an  intense  week  of  work  or  busyness  in  my   personal  life,  what  I  most  wanted  was  to  forget  about  my  capstone  and  relax  I   learned,  however,  that  goals  require  discipline,  and  as  I  opened  my  computer  to   type,  or  pored  over  research  articles  at  my  table  late  into  the  night,  this   characteristic  began  to  instill  itself  in  my  being  more  and  more  I  learned  when  to   say  no  to  other  commitments,  and  how  to  think  about  my  time  carefully,  balancing   the  parts  of  my  life  that  bring  happiness  and  health  I  also  learned  the  importance  of   putting  my  computer  away  and  resting,  trusting  that  my  mind  would  be  renewed  in   energy  and  clarity  after  relaxation  and  fun  I  am  grateful  for  a  project  of  this  size  and   scope  because  it  has  helped  develop  and  nourish  characteristics  in  my  life  that  I   desire  to  possess,  and  which  will  continue  to  serve  me  well  in  the  future  as  I  pursue   other  endeavors     Conclusion     The  aim  of  this  research  was  to  better  inform  the  instruction  of  ELs  when   using  a  secondary  level  social  studies  text,  by  understanding  how  language  is  used   in  this  genre  One  of  the  primary  outcomes  has  been  an  increased  awareness  on  my   part  of  the  language  and  organizational  characteristics  of  this  genre,  as  well  as   potential  obstacles  to  comprehension  due  to  the  way  in  which  language  is  used  One   of  my  concerns  as  a  teacher  was  not  having  the  right  strategies  to  help  my  students       67   navigate  a  text  like  this  One  of  the  important  results  of  this  research  is  that  applying   the  SFL  method  to  analyze  a  text  not  only  raises  awareness  for  teachers  about  the   academic  language  demands,  thus  equipping  them  to  anticipate  student  need  and  be   prepared  for  teachable  moments,  but  it  also  reveals  which  aspects  of  language  may   help  unlock  a  passage  for  students  Using  this  data,  a  teacher  could  narrow  down  the   most  relevant  language  features  or  text  organizational  strategies  and  help  her   students  focus  on  those  Some  SFL  strategies  may  even  be  taught  or  taught  in   modified  form  to  help  students  focus  in  on  important  language  use  or  organization   in  an  increased  independence  context     The  level  of  textual  understanding  that  results  from  an  in  depth  SFL  analysis   goes  beyond  basic  literacy  strategies  It  uncovers  the  unique  ways  that  language  is   used  to  make  meaning  in  the  social  studies  genre  This  knowledge  provides  an   opportunity  for  teachers  to  tailor  their  instructional  and  literacy  strategies  to  fit  the   demands  and  traits  of  the  text  Additionally,  it  provides  an  opportunity  for  teachers   to  broaden  the  literacy  skills  of  students,  going  beyond  general  strategies,  to  really   see  the  language  of  the  text  and  make  meaning  from  it  These  skills  can  not  only   develop  the  academic  language  necessary  in  social  studies,  but  can  be  extended  as   students  grow  in  becoming  critical  readers  and  thinkers  across  the  content  areas                         68               REFERENCES     Achugar,  M  &  Schleppegrell,  M.J  (2005)  Beyond  connectors:  The  construction  of     cause  in  history  textbooks  Linguistics  and  Education,  16,  298-­‐318   Christie,  F  (2011)  Developing  and  implementing  a  genre-­‐based  pedagogy:  A     systemic  functional  linguistic  perspective  Caminhos  Em  Linguistica  Aplicada   4(1), 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 (2008)  Going  beyond  the  fab  five:  Helping  students  cope  with  the  unique         69   linguistic  challenges  of  expository  reading  in  intermediate  grades  Journal   of   Adolescent  &  Adult  Literacy,  51(6),  476-­‐487     Fang,  Z  &  Schleppegrell,  M.J  (2008)  Reading  in  the  secondary  content  Areas:  A     language-­‐based  pedagogy  Ann  Arbor,  MI:  The  University  of  Michigan  Press   Fang,  Z  (2012)  Approaches  to  developing  content  area  literacies  Journal  of     Adolescent  &  Adult  Literacy,  56(2),  103-­‐108     Fang,  Z  &  Schleppegrell,  M.J  (2010)  Disciplinary  literacies  across  content  areas:     Supporting  secondary  reading  through  functional  language  analysis  Journal   of  Adolescent  &  Adult  Literacy,  53(7),  587-­‐597   Halliday,  M.A.K  (1985)  Introduction  to  functional  grammar  London,  UK:  Routledge   Hart,  D  (2002)  History  alive!:  The  United  States  J  Hayes  (Ed.)  Palo  Alto:  CA         Teacher's 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 (2012)  Discourse  analysis:  An  introduction  London:  UK  Bloomsbury     Academic     Scarcella,  R  (2002)  Some  key  factors  affecting  English  learner’s  development  of     advanced  literacy  In  M.J  Schleppegrell  &  M.C  Colombi  (Eds.),  Developing   advanced  literacy  in  first  and  second  languages:  Meaning  with  power  (pp  209-­‐ 226)  Mahwah,  NJ:  Lawrence  Erlbaum  Associates,  Publishers   Schleppegrell,  M.J  (2012)  Academic  language  in  teaching  and  learning  The     Elementary  School  Journal,  112(3),  409-­‐418   Schleppegrell,  M.J.,  Greer,  S  &  Taylor,  S  (2008)  Literacy  in  history:  Language  and     meaning    Australian  Journal  of  Language  and  Literacy,  31(2),  174-­‐187   Schleppegrell,  M.J  (2004)  The  language  of  schooling:  A  functional  linguistics     perspective  New  Jersey:  Lawrence  Erlbaum  Associates,  Inc   Schleppegrell,  M.J.,  Achugar,  M  &  Oteiza,  T  (2004)  The  grammar  of  history:     Enhancing   content-­‐based   instruction   through   a   functional   focus   on   language   TESOL  Quarterly,  38(1),  67-­‐93     Schleppegrell,  M.J  &  Achugar,  M  (2003)  Learning  language  and  learning  history:  A     functional  approach  TESOL  Journal,  12(2),  21-­‐27   Schleppegrell,  M.J  (2007)  At  last:  The  meaning  in  grammar  Research  in  the     Teaching  of  English,  42(1),  121-­‐128   Unsworth,  L  (1999)  Developing  critical  understanding  of  the  specialized  language     of  school  science  and  history  texts:  A  functional  grammatical  perspective     Journal  of  Adolescent  &  Adult  Literacy,  42(7),  508-­‐521       71   Zwiers,  J  (2008)  Building  academic  language:  Essential  practices  for  content     classrooms  San  Francisco,  CA:  Jossey-­‐Bass                                                 72         APPENDIX  A:  PILOT  STUDY       To  begin  solidifying  my  methodology,  I  ran  a  pilot  study  with  a  sample  text   from  History  Alive!  The  full  text  sample  can  be  found  in  Appendix  A  I  completed  the   pilot  study  following  the  steps  outlined  below    Genre  (Using  parameters  by  Coffin,  2006)     Genre  family:  Recording    Theme  identification  –  bolded  in  text     The   content   of   the   text   was   also   organized   in   a  process/participant/circumstance   chart  Process  and  participants  are  also  highlighted  in  the  text  sample   The  selection  is  primarily  organized  by  presenting  the  main  ideas  of  the  Declaration   of   Independence   through   the   lens   of   Thomas   Jefferson’s   (participant)   agency   and   drafting   The   last   paragraph   shifts   to   organizing   the   ideas   through   outlining   time   sequences      Examples  of  lexical  cohesion:   a  “a  document”  and  “this  declaration  of  independence”  and  “Jefferson’s   words”     b  “his  task  was  to…”  and  “prepared  him  for  this  task”     c  “…a  new  nation  based  on  ideals”  and  “the  ideals  that  Jefferson  mentioned”    Language  choices  of  mode  or  modality  (underlined  in  the  text  sample):         73   a  “Explain  to  the  world”,  “would  change  the  world”  both  position  America’s   independence  on  the  center  stage  of  world  events,  implying  that  America’s  fate   would  impact  or  change  what  happened  throughout  the  world     b  The  remaining  underlined  portions  all  place  an  extremely  strong  emphasis   on  Jefferson  as  the  “force”  behind  the  Declaration  The  emphasis  on  Jefferson  seems   to  emphasize  that  Jefferson  was  a  representative  spokesman  for  the  “American   mind.”     Notes  and  implications  for  instruction    Use  themes  to  understand  that  this  event  is  being  recounted  through  the   actions  of  a  particular  person      Use  time  indicators  to  give  context  to  the  central  point,  which  is  the  actual   drafting  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  its  content      After  examining  the  content  and  organization,  students  should  be  able  to   discuss  the  author’s  perspective     Pilot  Study  Implications     The  pilot  study  outlined  above  informed  a  few  aspects  of  my   methodology  for  the  whole  study  First,  the  pilot  study  revealed  that  it  will  be   beyond  the  scope  of  this  project  to  complete  a  process  and  participant  chart   for  every  text  excerpt  Therefore,  analyzing  the  processes  and  participants   will  be  limited  to  sections  where  complex  clauses  that  begin  without  subjects   occur  with  high  frequency  A  process  participant  analysis  is  more  suited  to   sentences  such  as  these  because  the  meaning  can  become  obscured  in  a   clause  structure  that  does  not  follow  a  traditional  subject  verb  progression       74   Second,  the  pilot  study  revealed  that  identifying  and  analyzing  every   occurrence  of  a  nominalization  will  also  be  beyond  the  scope  of  this  research     Third,  the  pilot  study  had  no  specific  framework  for  which  linguistic   resources  were  going  to  be  identified  After  doing  the  study,  I  narrow  the   scope  of  the  analysis  to  the  linguistic  resources  of  the  Themes,  therefore  not   including  nominalizations  and  lexical  cohesion  devices     Fourth,  I  decided  to  narrow  the  focus  on  text  organizational  resources   by  identifying  Theme  progression  patterns                                                                     75   APPENDIX  B:  PILOT  STUDY  TEXT       Pilot  Study  Text:  History  Alive!  Lesson  Sampler   2.1  Introduction     On  a  June  day  in  1776,  Thomas  Jefferson  set  to  work  in  a  rented  room  in     Philadelphia  His  task  was  to  draft  a  document  that  would  explain  to  the  world     why  Great  Britain’s  13  American  colonies  were  declaring  themselves  to  be     “free  and  independent  states.”  The  Second  Continental  Congress  had  appointed     a  five-­‐man  committee  to  draft  this  declaration  of  independence  At  33,  Jefferson     was  one  of  the  committee’s  youngest  and  least  experienced  members,  but  his     training  in  law  and  political  philosophy  had  prepared  him  for  the  task  He     picked  up  his  pen  and  began  to  write  words  that  would  change  the  world     Had  he  been  working  at  home,  Jefferson  might  have  turned  to  his  large     library  for  inspiration  Instead,  he  relied  on  what  was  in  his  head  to  make  the     declaration  “an  expression  of  the  American  mind.”  He  began,     We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-­‐evident,  that  all  men  are  created  equal,  that     they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  unalienable  Rights,  that     among  these  are  Life,  Liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  Happiness.—That  to     secure  these  rights,  Governments  are  instituted  among  Men,  deriving  their     just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed       —Thomas  Jefferson,  Declaration  of  Independence,  1776     In  these  two  sentences,  Jefferson  set  forth  a  vision  of  a  new  nation  based     on  ideals  An  ideal  is  a  principle  or  standard  of  perfection  that  we  are  always         trying  to  achieve  In  the  years  leading  up  to  the  Declaration,  the  ideals  that     Jefferson  mentioned  had  been  written  about  and  discussed  by  many  colonists     Since  that  time,  Americans  have  sometimes  fought  for  and  sometimes  ignored     these  ideals  Yet,  throughout  the  years,  Jefferson’s  words  have  continued  to     provide  a  vision  of  what  it  means  to  be  an  American                                                                                 76     77   APPENDIX  C:  TEXT  EXCERPT  SAMPLE       15.2   Louisiana     124  words     Across  the  Mississippi  lay  the  unexplored  territory  of  Louisiana  This   immense  region  (zig)  stretched  from  Canada  south  to  Texas  From  the  Mississippi,   (linear)  it  reached  west  all  the  way  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  First  claimed  by  France,   Louisiana  (none)  was  given  to  Spain  after  the  French  and  Indian  war  In  1800,   (time)  the  French  ruler  Napoleon  Bonaparte  convinced  Spain  to  return  Louisiana  to   France       Napoleon  (none)  had  plans  for  Louisiana  He    (linear)  hoped  to  settle  the   territory  with  thousands  of  French  farmers  These  farmers  (zig)  would  raise  food  for   slaves  who  (zig)  toiled  on  France’s  sugar  plantations  in  the  Caribbean       Napoleon’s  plans  (none)  alarmed  frontier  farmers  New  Orleans  (none)  was   part  of  Louisiana  If  Napoleon  (linear)  closed  the  port  to  American  goods,  farmers   (linear)  would  have  no  way  to  get  their  crops  to  market       ...       A ? ?SYSTEMIC ? ?FUNCTIONAL ? ?LINGUISTICS ? ?APPROACH ? ?TO ? ?THE ? ?ACADEMIC  LANGUAGE   IN  SEVENTH  GRADE  SOCIAL  STUDIES     by   Laura  Ripley         A  capstone  submitted  in  partial  fulfillment... ? ?the  linguistic  features  of  that  genre  that   are  being  used ? ?to  make  meaning  This  model  provides ? ?a  practical ? ?approach ? ?to   analyzing  texts ? ?to  understand ? ?the ? ?academic  language...  Japanese  people  write  their  language  they  use ? ?a  combination  of   two  separate  alphabets  as  well  as  ideograms  borrowed  from  Chinese ? ?The   two  alphabets  are  called  hiragana