Sunday 21 May 2017

Misconstruing (Functional Varieties Of) Language As Social Context

Martin & Rose (2007: 17-8):
And in Chapter 9 we then contextualise the discourse systems in models of the social contexts of discourse, including register and genre theory, and we make connections to multi-modal discourse analysis and critical discourse analysis.

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[1] This confuses functional varieties of language with the context that is realised by language.  In SFL theory, register and genre (text type) are modelled as two perspectives on the same phenomenon: a midway point on the cline of instantiation of language (not context).  Language as register is the view from the system pole of the cline, whereas language as text type is the view from the instance pole of the cline.

[2] In SFL theory, context is the culture modelled as a semiotic system that is realised by language (and its attendant semiotic systems).  As a semiotic system, context is second-order experience with respect to the first-order of the interlocutors: speakers/writers and addressees.  The term 'social context' risks confusing the first-order experience of the interlocutors with the second-order experience of the culture being realised by the language they project.

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