Supporting Critical Literacy in High School English by Using Systemic Functional Linguistics to Analyze Fantasy, Canonical, and Nonfiction Texts

Abstract

While important work has been done on assessing classroom texts and investigating classroom discourse, there is little research on teachers doing systemic functional linguistics (SFL) with students for critical ends, especially in the high school arena. This article discusses how instructional use of SFL analytic resources in subject English supported secondary-level students in recognizing how language positions readers as they interpret various texts. The research explored how students responded to using linguistic tools such as appraisal, modality, and identification analyses that made visible the ways in which language positioned people to think and behave in particular ways. Findings suggest that SFL analysis tools aided secondary students in recognizing authors’ use of language and linguistic choices; helped students support or refute claims when discussing critical issues in texts; and supported students’ ability in critical reading and reading critically. The study provides meaningful data that may assist researchers and educators in developing a curriculum that uses SFL to help students recognize language resources used by authors and question the social purpose of such rhetoric choices, supporting students in becoming better analysts and writers of a variety of texts.