Using Functional Grammar: An explorer's guide

Abstract

When we wrote the first edition of this book we were writing for people just beginning to study functional grammar. In fact, the first edition was a published version of teaching materials for students in our first year program. These students included budding teachers, lawyers, journalists, translators, editors and literary analysts. Their interests were reflected in the texts and exercises we chose. From those beginnings the book has developed. By the second edition there was an even greater focus on the needs of teachers, and in particular of second language teachers of English, which was reflected in additional information at the end of each chapter. This third edition has an even wider span. ... The audience of our book, then, is everyone who wants to explore language in general, and English in particular, from a functional perspective. All readers will be embarking on this exploration because they are interested in language and how it works in context. The book offers a beginner's guide to such exploration, but we hope that our readers will become excited enough about language study and the usefulness of this model to take the journey much further.