内容简介
This is an accessible introduction to the most fully developed functional approach to grammar currently available. It is closely based on Michael Halliday's An Introduction to Functional Grammar. It can be used either as a comprehensive course book in its ownright or as a means of preparing students for the more theoretical treatment of grammar as presented in Halliday's book. Introducing Functional Grammar explains clearly why a functional approach is necessary if we want to investigate how grammar is used as a resource for making meaning. It describes each of the major grammatical systems in terms of the kind of meaning that they contribute to messages. Starting with simple procedures for identifying the choices in a particular system, each chapter discusses the function of the system in context. This involves, in particular, analysing what it means to make one choice from the system rather than another. There are numerous worked examples to illustrate the analysis at each stage, as well as practice activities for the reader to try out. Geoff Thompson is Lecturer in Applied Linguistics at the University of Liverpool.