scaffolding literacy for students with disrupted schooling session 2: a functional grammar approach...
TRANSCRIPT
Scaffolding Literacy for students with disrupted schooling
Session 2: A Functional Grammar Approach to Sentence Construction
Aims of the course
Develop a shared understanding of Functional Grammar as a common language to explore literacy
Develop and trial explicit strategies to address particular literacy needs and genre development
Literacy definition in SACSA
Literacy is the ability to
understand, analyse, critically respond to and
produce appropriate spoken, written, visual and multimedia communication in different contexts
Functional Model Of Language
CulturePurpose
Situation
Language
Valuing difference
Functional Model Of Language
Discussion
What ideas underpin the functional model of language?Metalanguage?
Traditional Approach to Genre
Whole Text
Sentence
Paragraph
Modified Approach
SENTENCE
PARAGRAPH
WHOLE TEXT
Clause
word word word
Participant Group
word word word
Process Group Circumstance Group
word word word
3 Main Elements of a Clause
Handouts
Building Blocks of Functional Grammar
Participants Processes Circumstances
On Friday 21st July Mark Ricciuto played his 300th game of football.
Using Functional Grammar in Sentence Construction with Students
What is a sentence?
What is a correct sentence?
I can run.
1.
Up on the roof.
2
Go!
3
Because it was forty degrees.
4
I saw a butterfly yesterday.
5
In the holidays we went camping in the bush, my friends came with us.
6
It was hot so we went to the beach.
7
We made sandcastles and splashed in the water.
8
Even though the water was cold, we went swimming.
9
Because I was feeling sick and I had to go home.
10
My friends got married, they went to Bali on their honeymoon.
11
12
There is no doubt that smoking is a significant health risk, however, people continue to smoke.
12. The uncertainty with which he recited his lines at the premiere
of David Williamson’s latest play.
13. The rapid escalation of violence in Europe and the Middle East, resulting from the publication in a Danish newspaper of a cartoon of Mohammed that many Muslims found offensive, is of grave concern.
Developing Correct Sentence Structure
A correct sentence must:
1.Make sense Eg. ‘On the hill’ is only a phrase
2. Have a process (verb group) Eg. ‘Are going’
3. Have correct punctuation Eg. If two clauses are joined only by a
comma, it is a run-on sentence
A correct sentence must have…
A process: something happening A participant: someone or
something participating in what is happening
He jumped. The rain fell. The player scored.
Recognising Processes
What happened?
Green colour code
Introduction to Functional Grammar 1
Processes
A process is a verb. It tells us what is happening in the sentence. There are a number of types of processes: action, sensing, being or relating, saying, having.
E.g. A major cause of motor accidents is the number of people who drive over the limit.
The harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles contributed to the rise of Hitler.
Range of Processes
Material action, doing
Mental thinking, feeling, knowing
Relational, attributive, identifying, existing
having, being (there is, there are)
Verbal saying, telling
Highlight the processes in green
During the first part of the century they used the timber for housing.
The tallest hardwood tree in the world is the mountain ash.
Rainforests are a valuable resource. Wild winds swept across the coast
yesterday. The storm uprooted almost 100
trees.
Highlight the processes in green
During the first part of the century they used the timber for housing.
The tallest hardwood tree in the world is the mountain ash.
Rainforests are a valuable resource. Wild winds swept across the coast
yesterday. The storm uprooted almost 100
trees.
Verbal Groups
May processes are realised by a verbal group containing more than one element i.e. elements adding detail about tense, obligation and certainty or negative forms.
Examples: Dolphins have been swimming in the
bay all morning. Those fish will probably die from lead
poisoning. The slightest noise will scare away the
birds.
Split processes
Sometimes the process is difficult to identify because it is ‘split’ or separated by a circumstance or participant.
Examples: The dog had carefully buried his bone in
the garden. The slightest noise will scare the fish
away.
Highlight the verbal groups in green
Rainforests should be protected. Rainforest soils are affected by
logging. Rainforest logging needs to be
phased out. Environmentalists should campaign
to reduce logging worldwide.
Highlight the verbal groups in green
Rainforests should be protected. Rainforest soils are affected by
logging. Rainforest logging needs to be
phased out. Environmentalists should
campaign to reduce logging worldwide.
Brainstorming Varied Processes
said think
went like
Sensing Processes
Thinking Feeling
knowunderstandbelievereflectdecidejudgedeterminecalculate
likelovehatewantneedhopeworryenjoy
Interesting and boring action processesin narratives
…. I came to a cave. It was dark
inside and I was scared but I
knew I had to go on. So I went
inside the cave.
Select the action processes that do not add to the build up of suspense, and replace
Recognising Participants
Who or what received the action?
Introduction to Functional Grammar 2
Participants
The ‘who’ or ‘what’ in a text.
The participant is either doing the action
or having the action done to it.
To find the participant in a sentence ask ‘who’ or ‘what’ either side of the verb
E.g. A major cause of motor accidents is the number of people who drive over the limit.
Identifying Participants
Participants are typically realised by noun groups giving information about the people, places, things and ideas which engage with the process in a clause.
Examples: The scientist observed several chemical
reactions. The sights included elephant seals,
emperor penguins and killer whales. Radiation can cause blindness.
Highlight participants in red
During the first part of the century they used the timber for housing.
The tallest hardwood tree in the world is the mountain ash.
Rainforests are a valuable resource. Wild winds swept across the coast
yesterday. The storm uprooted almost 100
trees.
Highlight participants in red
During the first part of the century they used the timber for housing.
The tallest hardwood tree in the world is the mountain ash.
Rainforests are a valuable resource. Wild winds swept across the coast
yesterday. The storm uprooted almost 100 trees.
Introduction to Functional Grammar 3
Circumstances
Circumstances give more information about the participants or the processes. They answer the following:
Where? When? Why? How? With what? With whom?
The Second World War started in September 1939 for a number of reasons.
When? Why?
Circumstances
Circumstances add meaning to a clause by describing the context within which the process takes place. A circumstance is usually realised by a prepositional phrase or adverbial group.
Examples: Summer bushfires are a hazard in some
national parks. Cane toads were introduced as a form
of biological control. Carefully beat the eggs and cream with
a wooden spoon.
Highlight circumstances in blue
In an urban environment the brushtail possum often becomes a pest.
The homes of many animals are destroyed during the construction of housing.
Silently and fearfully she crept into the deserted house.
Highlight circumstances in blue
In an urban environment the brushtail possum often becomes a pest.
The homes of many animals are destroyed during the construction of housing.
Silently and fearfully she crept into the deserted house.
Working with Functional Grammar
Highlight the participants, processes and circumstances in the following:
Peter Carey wrote Illywacker. The Boy From Oz, starring Hugh
Jackman, returns to Australia in August. The debate on where to process
refugees coming to Australia continues to rage in Parliament.
Working with Functional Grammar
Highlight the participants, processes and circumstances in the following:
Peter Carey wrote Illywacker. The Boy From Oz, starring Hugh
Jackman, returns to Australia in August.
The debate on where to process refugees coming to Australia continues to rage in Parliament.
A student activity
Using the coloured strips on your table create sentences which include at least one participant, process and circumstance.
PARTICIPANT
PROCESS
CIRCUMSTANCE
Changing theme to vary sentences
The theme of a sentence (or what the writer chooses to foreground in a sentence) appears before the main process.
Early writers often foreground with human participants: ‘I went to the beach. My friend came with me.’
The coloured strip activity can be used with students to introduce variety to written text by changing the order of colours to foreground processes or circumstances.
Changing Theme
Example: The brushtail possum often becomes a
pest in an urban environment In an urban environment the brushtail
possum often becomes a pest. The homes of many animals are
destroyed during the construction of housing.
During the construction of housing the homes of many animals are destroyed.
Have a Go!
Using the colour coded sentences you created earlier see how many variations you can create by changing the order of the coloured strips.
Nominal Groups
A group of words in which the central idea is a noun and all the other words help to define or further describe the noun is called a noun group.
“A gigantic red wool design” is a noun group.
They can be in participants and in circumstances
Nouns
Can be inside a participant:
A kid called Damien was walking through the school
Can be inside a circumstance
A kid called Damien was walking through the school
Pointer Counter Intensifier Describer Classifier Thing(Noun)
Qualifier
Pointer Counter Intensifier Describer Classifier Thing(Noun)
Qualifier
boots
Pointer Counter Intensifier Describer Classifier Thing(Noun)
Qualifier
hiking boots
Pointer Counter Intensifier Describer Classifier Thing(Noun)
Qualifier
filthy hiking boots
Pointer Counter Intensifier Describer Classifier Thing(Noun)
Qualifier
filthyold
hiking boots
Pointer Counter Intensifier Describer Classifier Thing(Noun)
Qualifier
filthyoldbrown
hiking boots
Pointer Counter Intensifier Describer Classifier Thing(Noun)
Qualifier
very filthyoldbrown
hiking boots
Pointer Counter Intensifier Describer Classifier Thing(Noun)
Qualifier
pair of very filthyoldbrown
hiking boots
Pointer Counter Intensifier Describer Classifier Thing(Noun)
Qualifier
his pair of very filthyoldbrown
hiking boots
Pointer Counter Intensifier Describer Classifier Thing(Noun)
Qualifier
his pair of very filthyoldbrown
hiking boots with holes in the soles
Pointer Counter Intensifier Describer Classifier Thing(Noun)
Qualifier
his pair of very filthyoldbrown
hiking boots with holes in the solesthat he had boughtyears before
Robert was wearing his boots.
Robert was wearing his pair of very filthy old brown hiking boots with holes in the soles that he had bought years before.
His pair of very filthy old brown hiking boots with holes in the soles that he had bought years before proved that Robert was a highly experienced mountain climber.
Noun groups: components
Pointer: the, this, his, our Number: two tables, most of the table Intensifier: quite loud noise, very fast car Describer: the tall old man, a glass-
topped table Classifier: a glass topped kitchen table Qualifier: (prepositional phrase): the
tall old man with the hat Qualifier: (dependent clause): the man
who was walking down the street
Video Clip
Teaching Noun groups
“I was five years old when I moved from the small agricultural village where I used to live with my uncles, to Sudan.”
Colour Coding for Function
Don’t colour any conjunctions (joining words)
eg: and, so, but, and then
they operate above the clause level
Colour Code for Function
One day a kid called Damien was walking through the school
and another kid called Rick pushed him.
So Damien chucked a punch at him.
He got Rick in the mouth
and broke his jaw.
One day a kid called Damien was walking through the school
and another kid called Rick pushed him.
So Damien chucked a punch at him.
He got Rick in the mouth
and broke his jaw.
One day a kid called Damien was walking through the school
and another kid called Rick pushed him.
So Damien chucked a punch at him.
He got Rick in the mouth
and broke his jaw.
Look at the circumstances and in pairs explore how they can be altered or expanded to add interest and detail to the narrative.
Types of circumstances – see handout
Building interest
One day after cricket practice a kid called Damien was walking aimlessly through the school
and another kid called Rick roughly pushed him in the back.
So Damien angrily chucked a punch at him with all of his strength.
He got Rick in the mouth
and broke his jaw in two places.
More activities for students•List the participants
•What is happening?
•Give more details about the context:
•With whom?
•With what?
•When?
•Where?
•Why?
•How?
Write five sentences about your chosen picture.
From images selectparticipants, sensing processes and circumstances. Write …
Description? Recount? Narrative?