Impact of a Systemic Functional Linguistic Informed Course on Teacher Candidates' Knowledge about Genre and Language

• Published in: The journal of language and linguistic studies Vol. 17; no. 1; pp. 281 - 300
• Main Author: Turgut Dost, Güliz
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies 2021
• Subjects: Case Studies; Childrens Literature; Course Descriptions; Elementary School Students; English Language Learners; Grade 4; Instructional Effectiveness; Language Styles; Linguistics; Literature Appreciation; Preservice Teachers; Scoring Rubrics; Teacher Education Programs; Teaching Methods; Urban Universities; Validity
• ISSN: 1305-578X; 1305-578X
• DOI: 10.52462/jlls.17

This qualitative single-case study examined the impact of a course informed by Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) on teacher candidates' knowledge about genre and language. The study was conducted with nineteen teacher candidates and lasted one semester. Data collected through analysis of two texts: a published children's book and a student text written by a fourth-grade bilingual student, both written in a fictional narrative genre. Texts were given at the beginning and end of the course. Data were analyzed through a rubric developed by the course instructor based on the SFL theory. In the rubric, twenty SFL areas regarding language and genre were created and participant comments falling under the proper area were noted on the rubric. Table of frequencies and graphs were created to present the data. Participants' original responses were also given to provide a meaningful context for the findings. Overall results indicated that although participants did not use metalanguage to the fullest potential, they were able to identify the language and genre-related items with higher frequency in both texts at the end of the course. Furthermore, at the beginning of the course, participants considered the published text as having the function of giving information to a reader and teaching how to respond to literature. However, after the course participants began to use it as a model to teach how to write genre- and language-specific information. Finally, analysis of student text indicated that after the course participants learned to see the issues of children's writing beyond mechanics.