Choice in Language

The notion of Choice provides a constant underlying theme to work in Systemic Functional Linguistics, whether this is concerned with in-depth description of the system of lexicogrammatical options available within specific languages, or with the analysis of the semiotic and/or social implications of the choices taken within specific texts. Yet, to date, little has been published exploring the applicability of choice across various contexts. Choice in Language addresses this gap by presenting a selection of writings from internationally renowned authors that develop the analytical perspective of choice across wide-ranging contexts and, in some cases, in languages other than English. The book demonstrates the value of Systemic Functional Linguistics as an 'applicable' linguistics, which is a core tool in broader fields such as pedagogy, literary studies and critical discourse analysis.

This book presents a selection of writings from internationally renowned authors that develop the analytical perspective of choice across wide-ranging contexts and in some cases in languages other than English.

Chapter 1: Introduction Gerard O'Grady, Tom Bartlett and Lise Fontaine Part A: Interpersonal Choice and the Construction of Author Identity Chapter 2 Contextual Constraints, Linguistic Choice and Social Change: Evidence from Sex-worker Discourse in a South African City Ralph Adendorff, Rhodes University, South Africa, and Kiran Pienaar Chapter 3 'Voice in a 'Partly Free' Press: Appraisal Choices in Italian Journalistic Discourse Elizabeth Swain, Trieste University Chapter 4 The Use of Appraisal Resources in the Construction of Second-language Teacher-researcher Identity Gillian Moss, Norma Bartletta, Universidad del Norte, Columbia, and Jorge Mizuno, Universidad del Norte, Columbia Part B: Choice in Political Speech: Tension between the Need to Inform and Project Solidarity Chapter 5 The Choice of Grammatical Metaphor in French Political Tracts David Banks, Universite de Bretagne Occidentale Chapter 6: Choices in Tony's Talk: Phonological Paragraphing; Information Unit Nexuses and the Presentation of Tone Units Gerard O'Grady Part C: The Effects of Choice in Text-type Chapter 7: Choice and Domain: A Corpus-based Study with Special Reference to the BNC Baby Inas Mahfouz, Ain Shams University, Egypt Chapter 8: Investigating Thematic Choices in Two Newspaper Genres: An SFL-based Analysis Julia Lavid, Universidad Complutense de Madrid Chapter 9: Systemic Choice above the Clause: Research Article Abstracts as a Case Study Akila Sellami-Baklouti, University of Sfax, Tunisia Chapter 10: Contentful and Contentlight Subject Themes in Informal Spoken English and Formal Written English Margaret Berry Chapter 11: Differential Realisation of Ellipsis in Texts Varied for Contextual Mode: Some Support for the 'Mode of Discourse - Textual Metafunction' Hook-up Ben Clarke, Cardiff University Part D: The Interplay of Choice across Different Modalities Chapter 12: Textual and Compositional Choices in the Tale of Gorilla by Anthony Browne A. Jesus Moya Guijarro, Universidad de Castilla - La Mancha Chapter 13: A Multimodal Perspective on the Front Cover Choices of Halliday's Introduction to Functional Grammar Ann Montemayor-Borsinger, Instituto Balseiro/Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Eija Ventola, Aalto University, Celia Magalhaes