See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/277652258

Functional Grammar Instruction Impact on Writing Quality

Article · February 2015

DOI: 10.15340/2147350112847

CITATIONS READS

0 179

3 authors, including:

Zenaida Aguirre-Muñoz Rong Chang

University of Houston Texas Tech University
22 PUBLICATIONS   116 CITATIONS    7 PUBLICATIONS   3 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Bilingual/ESL Teacher Development & SFL View project

Math Teacher Teacher Development View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Rong Chang on 18 January 2017.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Educational Policies and Current Practices 2015; 1(2): 71-85
ISSN : 2147-3501 (Print) 2148-9688 (Online)
DOI: 10.15340/2147350112847

Research Article

Functional Grammar Instruction

Impact on Writing Quality
Zenaida Aguirre-Muñoz1, Rong Chang2*, Jame Sanders3
1 2 3 Texas Tech University, USA

Abstract: Traditional grammar instruction at the elementary level tends to focus on isolated linguistic
features such as the eight parts of speech and sentence types. This type of instruction omits an important
part of writing which is the interrelatedness between grammatical structures and meaning. Using a
Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) framework, this mixed methods study examined the use of SFL-
inspired writing instruction in fourth grade classrooms over the course of the fall semester to develop
students’ descriptive writing. A sample of 24 students representing three ability levels was randomly
selected for detailed text analysis. Writing samples from each student at three separate time intervals
were collected and evaluated. Both quantitative and qualitative examination of students’ essays revealed
a significant improvement in students’ descriptive writing over time. These improvements were linked to
greater command of the linguistic elements that were the targets of instruction. Stabilization in writing
progress was observed when instruction focused on test preparation. Implications are discussed.

Keywords: Writing development, functional grammar, text analysis, literacy instruction

Zenaida Aguirre-Muñoz, Program Coordinator, Elementary Education, College of Education, Texas Tech
University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA
Email: [email protected]
*Rong Chang, Department of Educational Psychology and Leadership, College of Education, Texas Tech
University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA
Email: [email protected]
Jame Sanders, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, Texas Tech University
Lubbock, TX 79409, USA
Email: [email protected]

1. Introduction
Due to the standardization of student writing by means of state mandated testing, students are not
typically introduced to the vast array of genres they will encounter throughout their elementary,
middle school, secondary, and postsecondary education. School difficulty and failure in reading
and writing often result when students do not have a deep understanding of these genres.
Regrettably, “their failures too often [are] not understood in terms of mastering the patterns of
school discourses, whose nature often remains invisible [emphasis added] beyond the first years
of school” (Christie 2012, p. 3). Even in the early years, writing instruction tends to focus on what
will be tested. On state mandated testing at the fourth grade level in Texas, for instance, students
are expected to produce a personal narrative. Students are not given specific instruction on how
to achieve a “thoughtful and engaging” text as represented in the Texas Education Agency rubric
for fourth grade expository writing.
The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for fourth grade, while more inclined toward
genre, tend to focus on vague concepts such as “Orient the reader by establishing a situation,”
or “Produce clear and coherent writing” (http://www.corecommonstandards.com). The range
of writing does include tasks specific to disciplines, purposes, and audiences. Students are
encouraged to develop the topic with concrete details and precise language. Specific guidelines
toward achieving these goals, however, are missing in the CCSS.
Despite increased expectations in writing performance, grammar is often presented out

Educational Policies and Current Practices 2015; 1(2): 71–85 71

of context in schools (Nunan, 2003). Students work on isolated sentences or text, focusing on
isolated skills. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the FG approach on
students with varying ability levels. Two specific research questions were examined in this study:

(1) To what extent does instruction in functional grammar increase students’ writing
performance over time?

(2) What features of writing performance are affected most by functional grammar
instruction and for whom? Does the impact vary depending on students’ ability level?

2. Review of Literature
2.1. Functional Approaches to Writing Instruction
Although the learning of language has historically been seen as the mastery of structures,
the tendency in recent years has been to conceive of language in terms of context and social
purpose rather than as a set of words and structures. This conception has been propelled in
part by Systemic Functional Linguistics (hereafter referred to as functional grammar or FG).
FG allows teachers to instruct and interact with students using a metalanguage that includes
specific linguistic elements in relation to particular genres. By genre, we refer to Christie’s (2012)
definition, “a ‘staged, goal-oriented social process’ (Martin & Rose, 2008, p. 9) through which
people achieve some social purpose(s)” (p. 10). Since “meanings are encoded in language choices”
(pg. 53), FG examines text and genre from the global view, and then supports how writers take
up appropriate word resources and use them as expected for the given genre and context. From
this perspective, grammar as it relates to writing works as the organizational tool to effectively
describe the particular social purpose in a cohesive text. FG transcends surface features of text
by examining three key contextual features (field, tenor, and mode), which correspond to three
types of meaning. Field identifies the subject-matter and influences the language choices used for
“expressing and connecting ideas” (Derewianka, 2011, p. 6) within the text. Tenor represents who
is involved in the interaction within the text, and mode determines how the message is structured.
Consistent with Derewianka, any combination of word choices that achieve field, tenor, and mode
is referred to as “register”.
Teaching students to recognize these register elements allows them to make sense of the
specific forms needed to accomplish the tasks of discipline-based writing (Author 2014). With
FG instruction, students are taught the forms associated with particular language functions
for specific contexts of use. Therefore, FG is a way of equipping the writer with the facility to
communicate for different purposes and contexts. Thus, unlike the preoccupation with syntax as
is the case with traditional conceptions of language (e.g., universal grammar), FG theorists posit
that children learn language in of use. Therefore, creating meaningful opportunities for language
learning is a central concern for these researchers.

2.2. Research on the Impact of Functional Grammar on Writing Performance

The amount of empirical studies examining FG in writing and schooling is limited, and most FG
studies include discussions of theory and analysis (e.g., Christie, 2012; Martin, 2009; Schleppegrell
& Go, 2007). We summarize four published studies in this section, all of which provide evidence of
its potential in promoting development of student writing.
FG has been shown to increase students’ writing confidence and attitudes. In this 12-week
action research study, researchers (Black and Bannan, 2010) taught second graders about
linguistic features pertaining to the field dimension (noun groups, verbal groups, key embedded
clauses) using a range of texts. After direct instruction, the students were given various
independent free-writing activities where they were encouraged to use the new grammatical
knowledge they learned. Results showed that students expressed high knowledge of FG concepts.
Students also could explain why and how these features could support and improve their writing.
Further, most students developed a more positive perception of their writing abilities. All of them
retained a positive attitude toward writing and could produce more complex linguistic features
and structures in their writing. This study demonstrated that when the emphasis was placed

72 Educational Policies and Current Practices 2015; 1(2): 71–85

on language for conveying meaning rather than accurate language, the writing task was more
engaging for students and facilitated the move to closer approximations to the targeted genre.
In a controlled experimental study conducted by Fearn and Farnan (2007), two groups of
students were introduced to verbs using either an FG or traditional approach. The FG approach
taught students the role of words in sentences, while the traditional instruction emphasized the
definition and description of parts of speech. Sample essays were analyzed after instruction,
and students were also required to complete a traditional grammar knowledge assessment
that targeted their ability to produce and identify the parts of speech. Results showed that
students receiving FG instruction improved in accurate expression, elaboration, organization,
and extensions of writing, while the traditional grammar instruction did not produce significant
writing improvement. Notably, although the FG group was not provided the direct instruction on
definitions and identification of parts of speech, there was no significant difference between the
two groups in this type of grammar knowledge. Thus, it appears that the FG approach improves
writing qualities without impeding students’ traditional grammar knowledge, often tested in
district and state assessment.
In Balzarolo’s (2010) study of the effect of FG on upper elementary students, students were
taught the functions of linguistic features and asked to identify them in the stories. They were
also taught subject-specific words. Then they were encouraged to make the word choices in
writing and oral discussion. Students were asked to discuss why terms have different meaning
in different contexts. With the narrative and figurative texts, the researcher encouraged students
to highlight noun groups. The result indicated students’ understanding of the importance of
conscious vocabulary choices and these choices are determined by the specific subject area.
Finally, as part of larger study on opportunity to learn, (First) Author 2014 trained a small
group of middle school teachers on the use of FG strategies to support writing instruction of
English language learners (ELLs). Hierarchical linear model results showed implementation
of FG instruction was positively and consistently associated with writing scores even after
controlling for school demographics and proportion of ELLs in classrooms. Across four writing
performance indicators used in that study, the students in classes with teachers who had high FG
implementation had significantly higher performance on the writing scores than the students in
the classrooms with low FG implementation. That is, as the scores increased, the level and quality
of FG implementation increased. Most notably, when no FG instruction was provided to ELLs, the
probability of receiving a high score on any of the writing indicators was about 25%. In contrast,
when high quality FG instruction was provided to ELLs, the probability of receiving the highest
score increased to just over 60%. In other words, the probability of receiving the highest scores
more than doubled when ELLs received high quality FG instruction. The author concluded that
ELLs who receive high quality FG instruction may be better positioned to take advantage of the
learning opportunities their teachers provided. The author further argued that meaning-based
FG instruction may be important for ELLs to fully benefit from standards-aligned, assessment-
driven reform efforts.
The study described here adds to this body of work by examining the impact of a FG instruction
on writing performance of mixed-ability students. For this study, students were asked to write
descriptive pieces. For a factual description, the social purpose is to describe the characteristic
features of particular people, places, or objects. The language used for expressing ideas (field) in
this type of writing includes relating processes (verb groups) to define, describe and classify; action
(material) processes (verb groups) to describe activities and behaviors, particular and generalized
concrete participants (nouns); detailed noun groups to describe features or characteristics; and
circumstances expressed as adverbials to express additional details (e.g., place, time, manner).
The language for connecting ideas is also important in representing experiences. Connecting ideas
starts with teaching young students to connect basic sentence types (e.g., simple, compound) by
using coordinating conjunctions. Students need to be taught more complex sentences and logical
relationships expressed through additional linguistic resources such as expanded noun phrases
and embedded clauses (see Derewianka, 2011).

3. Methodology
3.1. Participants
The school, a mid-sized elementary school in West Texas, has a student population of 68%
White, 22% Hispanic, 2% African-American, 2% Asian and 5% other. It is compartmentalized, so
one writing teacher taught writing to all four fourth-grade classes. The teacher, Mandy, holds a
Generalist certificate EC-4 and ESL supplemental. At the time of the study, Mandy had seven years

Educational Policies and Current Practices 2015; 1(2): 71–85 73

of experience as a classroom teacher, and she was the district representative for her campus
in language arts and writing. Mandy was trained in FG in a master’s degree course. During this
time, Mandy developed her knowledge of the English language system from this perspective. She
analyzed student work developed and delivered a writing lesson under the careful review of the
first author. Mandy and the first author developed curricular materials during the subsequent
summer prior to implementation and met once a month to examine student work, develop
additional curricular materials and address student challenges.
The random sample of 24 students (13 girls and 11 boys) was taken from a larger sample
of 81 students from four classrooms with a range in abilities (low, medium, and high). Ability
was identified by Mandy based on their overall literacy achievement of the students based on
performance of the previous year’s English Language Arts State of Texas Assessments of Academic
Readiness (STAAR) scores as well as their baseline writing performance on a teacher-developed
writing assignment task. The sample was comprised of two students from each of three ability
levels in each of the four classes. Writing samples from each of these 24 students at were collected
and evaluated three time during the fall semester. Thus, a total of 71 student essays (One student
did not write to one of the prompts.) were included for detailed text analysis.

3.2. Materials and Procedures

Students were given prompts each week relative to the genre, in most cases descriptive writing.
For the Time 1 (T1: August) essay administration, students were asked to describe their favorite
summer memory. For the Time 2 (T2: October) administration, students were asked to describe
their favorite person. For the Time 3 (T3: December) administration, students were asked to
describe either their favorite sport or favorite hobby.
Mandy taught a series of FG lessons three times a week to each of the four classes beginning
the first week of the fall semester. She used model texts to explore language resources used
by writes and the types of information they provide. She also used text tapping to support the
re-construction of extended text. To reinforce the concepts during text deconstruction, Mandy
engaged her students in writing games. Thus, much of Mandy’s instructional approach was
“strongly framed” in that she controlled “the selection, organization, pacing and criterial of
communication (Bernstein, 1990, p. 36). Text tapping involves the use of model texts to develop
literacy (Meeks and Austin, 2003, p. 126) whereby students are given a copy of the genre they
are to replicate, but they are to substitute their own words in pre-determined locations in the
text. One of the strategies used within text tapping, then, is to have students brainstorm genre-
specific noun groups, verb processes, and transitional words to give them a selection of words
from which to choose. Using these words, students work with the teacher, then in groups, and
then individually to create context specific texts. In this process, text tapping allows students to
learn about style, grammar, syntax, and genre. Instead of being a dispenser of knowledge, Mandy
served as a ringmaster who directed the action, supervised the task, and “cracked the whip” when
necessary (Meeks & Austin, 2003, p. 147).

3.3. Data Analysis and Design

Seventy-one students’ essays were transcribed and imported to an analytical program (Atlas.
ti6), which allowed coding and sorting of essays by linguistic feature. All students’ writing was
transcribed verbatim, including spelling and grammatical errors. To retain anonymity, students’
last names and other identifying factors were omitted.

3.4. Analyzing Student Writing

This study focuses on examining how students represent experience. Therefore, only the
linguistic elements related to the field were analyzed. The field metafunction organizes linguistic
information about: (1) “Who’s involved?” (2) “What’s going on?” (3) “How are circumstances
presented?” Codes were determined by these linguistic categories. Features included in
determining participants (Who’s involved?) are found in generalized groups, long noun phrases,
adjectivals and nominalizations. See Table 1 for detailed descriptions of each. Linguistic features
used to describe “What is going on” include action verbs, mental verbs, relating verbs, and

74 Educational Policies and Current Practices 2015; 1(2): 71–85

saying verbs. See Table 1 for detailed descriptions of each. Features used to describe “How are
circumstances presented?” include adverbial phrases and embedded clauses.
For quantitative analysis, separate one-way repeated-measures analyses of variance (ANOVA)
were conducted to evaluate the effect of FG instruction on the prevalence of each linguistic
category in texts written by children with varying writing ability. To determine the prevalence of
linguistic elements comprising each linguistic category, separate ANOVAs were also conducted
for each element. Thus, the dependent variables were: (a) three composite scores corresponding
to the targeted linguistic category; (b) 11 linguistic features (see Table 1) that comprised the
composites; and (c) the grand total composite score. The within-subject factor was the three
essay collection time points (Time). The between-subject factor was the three achievement levels
(low, average, high).

4. Result
4.1. Overall Results
4.1.1. Quantitative Trends
Results indicated that, overall, students’ use of linguistic features was significantly different across
the three data collection time points, (F (2, 42) = 8.618, p < .01), while the Time by Achievement
interaction effect was not statistically significant. Partial ƞ2 = .291 indicated the Time effect
accounted for 29.1% of students’ development in using these linguistic features. That is, students’
writing quality improved over time. Students’ ability levels did not impact growth trends in writing
performance as indicated by the insignificant effect of Achievement (Table 3) on students’ writing
performance (F (2, 21) = 1.476, p = .251). That is, no individual ability group benefited more overall
than any other group.
Follow-up pairwise comparison was conducted to assess the mean differences across the
three time points. The comparison results indicated there was statistical significance between
Time 1 and Time 2, Time 1 and Time 3, but no significance was found between Time 2 and Time
3, which may reflect some stabilization in performance of these linguistic groups either due to a
change in instructional focus or developmental patterns.

4.1.2. Qualitative Trends

To examine the overall effect qualitatively, we describe growth patterns of a medium-ability
student, Sam (Figure 1). Sam demonstrates a marked increase in the command of linguistic
features associated with the field metafunction, particularly between Time 1 and Time 2; while
there is some improvement from Time 2 to Time 3, the improvement is less pronounced. It is
important to note that the Time 1 writing samples produced student text that was far below
the development patterns found by Christie (2012). As illustrated in Sam’s Time 1 sample, he
presents circumstantial information about time and place predominately through prepositional
phrases (e.g., at Joy land) and time order transitions (e.g., After that, then, etc). This is consistent
with development trends Christie found for students at the end of second grade. Also concerning
is the low amount of action (material) verbs which would be expected of fourth grade students.
However, at Time 2 there is an increase action verbs and an emergence of mental verbs (admire,
like). The most notable improvement at Time 2 is an increase in the use of dependent clauses,
which marks an developmental shift (Chirstie, 2012) and an increased command of linguistic
features to produce descriptive texts (Derewianka, 2011). The student attempts more embedding
at Time 3 than other time points, but uses the same relative clause structure throughout and
introduces more errors in this attempt. This performance trend is consistent with the emergence
of a developmental shift. The marked improvement between Time 1 and Time 2 is evident in
the increase in use of all of the linguistic elements examined which makes the description more
successful at Time 2.

Educational Policies and Current Practices 2015; 1(2): 71–85 75

4.2. Representing Who is Involved
4.2.1. Quantitative Trends
The examination of the means for the “Who’s Involved” composite score demonstrated a
significant Time effect with F (2, 42) = 12.005, p = .000, while Time by Achievement interaction
effect did not reach statistical significance (p > .05). Thus, there was a significant improvement
in students’ use of various noun groups, generalized noun groups, and adjectivals across the
three essay administrations and this effect did not vary by student ability level. Effect size (ƞ2 =
.364) showed a moderately strong relationship between the main effect of Time and dependent
variable. This can be interpreted to mean that the effect was meaningful and Time accounted for
36.4% of the development in the use of various noun groups. The pairwise comparison indicated
significant differences between Time 1 and Time 2, Time 1 and Time 3, but no significant difference
between Time 2 and Time 3. Examining the linguistic features that comprise this composite,
generalized noun groups and adjectivals accounted for most of the growth in this category.

4.2.2. Qualitative Trends

To illustrate how students developed their skills in representing experiential meanings, we present
Yajaira’s writing samples (Figure 2), a medium-ability student. At Time 1, Yajaira’s writing lacked
detail, as indicated by low frequency of long noun phrases and adjectivals. Later in the semester,
after specific instruction in the use of noun groups (participants), this student’s use of specific
linguistic features improved, as seen in her Time 3 essay. In describing a person she admired,
for example, Yajaira included relative clauses to expand on the participant in her essay (i.e., that I
really admire is Alesha). The subject of the Time 3 essay is clearly identified as are specific technical
terms associated with the sport (e.g., fullcourt press, dribble). Noun groups can also “reflect the
way in which the subject matter is being approached” (p. 34). Yajaira clearly appreciates the
subject of the essay, while taking an objective approach to the topic.

4.3. Representing What is Going On

4.3.1. Quantitative Trends
Like the previous two linguistic categories, the ANOVA indicated a significant Time effect (Table
2: F (2, 42) = 5.897, p < .01) for students’ use of verbal groups to describe “What is going on” over
time. The growth in the use of verbal groups accounted for 22% of the students’ growth. Again, no
significant difference was found in ability level, that F (2, 21) = 1.478, p = .251 (Table 3), indicating
that change in performance did not depend on students’ ability level. Pairwise comparisons
showed the same pattern as the two other categories; Time 1 differed significantly from Time 2
and Time 3, but no significant difference was found between Time 2 and Time 3.
Examining the means of each linguistic element comprising this composite, results show
the increase in mental and relating verbs accounted for most of the growth in this category.
Compared with action and saying verbs, those two types of verbs were utilized frequently.

4.3.2. Qualitative Trends

Although the writing across time periods seems repetitive at times, the language features at
Times 2 and 3 (not included due to space constraints) are more consistent with description (Figure
3). In Figure 3, Jennifer’s sample demonstrates her development of verb use. Her use of action
and relating verbs was well developed at Time 1. However her use of mental verbs (i.e., know) and
saying verbs (i.e., screamed) is somewhat limited. Her use of relating verbs (i.e., is, has, have) in
presenting characteristics of the person that is admired, as does the use action verbs (i.e., feeds,
buys) which present additional information is also present at Time 2 with a notable increase in the
variety of action verbs. Another noticeable improvement is in her use of mental verbs (admire,
love) which demonstrates her awareness of the descriptive genre for this particular prompt/
content.

76 Educational Policies and Current Practices 2015; 1(2): 71–85

4.4. Representing Circumstances
4.4.1. Quantitative Trends
Even though the Time effect for the presentation of circumstances showed statistical significance,
(F (2, 42) = 3.764, p < .05) in the ANOVA within-subjects tests (Table 2), it could not be regarded
as valid because the multivariate tests main effect of Time was not significant on the dependent
variable, F (2, 20) = 2.535, p = .104. Both the interaction effect of Time by Achieve, that F (4, 42) =
.554, p = .698 and the between-subjects Achievement effect F (2, 21) = 2.064, p = .152, also did not
show the statistical significance.

4.4.2. Qualitative Trends

Although the quantitative results were insignificant in this area, the qualitative analysis revealed
improvement in the use of embedded clauses in students’ descriptions. Christie (2012) noted
that the “capacity to use enclosed dependent clauses in marked theme position (i.e., subject) is
a relatively late development in children’s writing, typically emerging in late childhood to early
adolescence” (p. 79). What is striking is that all groups produced dependent clauses at Time 2
and 3. An example from a high-ability student is as follows: When you throw the ball into the air
and hit it, it feels like you have acomplished something that you love. I practice with a net or a wall to
make me get better. An example from a low-ability student: My dad smiles when I watch football with
him. Another thing that makes my dad smile is when I go to football games with him. These examples
add details of place and manner through the use of embedded clauses and are consistent with
Christie’s (2012) development trends.

5. Conclusion and Discussion

Both quantitative and qualitative analyses demonstrate significant improvement in elementary
students’ writing performance on important linguistic elements necessary for effectively
representing experiences. These improvements were linked to FG instructional targets and
therefore suggest that explicit instruction using a FG approach can support students’ writing
development without an over reliance on parts of speech and correctness of form. Although we
found differences in the overall means among the three ability groups, these were not statistically
significant at any of the three data collection intervals. The lack of significance could be due to the
small sample size. Means for the low- and high-ability groups were lower than the middle ability
group and suggest that the approach may need to be differentiated over time for different ability
groups. The Time 1 and Time 2 increases were significant and it is at this time point where all three
ability group means were very similar. Review of Mandy’s lessons indicated a higher rate of fidelity
to the approach between Time 1 and Time 2. After Time 2, the teacher felt pressured to prepare
for the district and state assessments which resulted in activities that were more aligned to the
traditional approach than FG approach. For example, Mandy reported needing to focus on parts
of speech more to provide students practice with items on the district assessment. The tendency
to move to more traditional writing instructional approaches in school environments where there
is high pressure to improve performance on standardized tests is consistent with past research
(Harklau, 2002) showing that teachers turn to old ways of teaching and believing due to the
demands of the new standards. Unfortunately this often limits language learning opportunities
which, in turn, affect language learning as evident in the dip in student writing performance.
Regrettably, this dip may have been avoided if Mandy would have continued providing the high
quality FG instruction. This claim is supported by First Author (2014) showed that the more
teachers followed a FG approach, the greater the impact on student writing performance. This
shift coupled with the reduced instructional time due to holidays and school sponsored events
may account for the slightly lower mean at Time 3.
A concerning, yet not surprising trend was the low writing performance at the start of the
year. Most students did not produce texts consistent with previously published developmental
trends (i.e., Christie, 2012). Since what is known about children’s writing development with respect
to genre is taken from the work of FG researchers working with teachers to apply the approach
in their classrooms, the underperformance of this sample may be an instructional artifact rather
than a developmental difference between this sample and those reported in the research
literature. This claim is supported by the marked improvement in students’ writing improvement
after FG instruction. Mandy was able to move students to grade level norms at Time 2, just four
weeks after the FG introduction.

Educational Policies and Current Practices 2015; 1(2): 71–85 77

 This study demonstrates that the FG approach allows teachers to focus on the interrelatedness
of linguistic features rather than isolated grammatical errors. Mandy spent much of her time
developing ideas with students by focusing on participants and processes. She had students
brainstorm words and phrases connected to the prompt. She also used color coding to help
students better understand and identify the functions and flexibility of parts of speech and clauses.
Mandy was able to illuminate the salient features of the descriptive genre found commonly in
children’s literature through the deconstruction and construction of text using careful analysis of
model texts and text tapping activities.
During the school years, students are engaged in different subjects with different language
purposes. Students, especially young students, need meaningful learning opportunities in literacy
(Christie, 2012). As demonstrated in this study, students as young as fourth grade are capable
of understanding the linguistic features of specific genres when given explicit yet meaning-
focused instruction. At the end of this study, Mandy reported that her students’ writing scores
were significantly higher than those of other fourth grade students in the district who had not
participated in the study. Statewide and campus scores confirm this claim: Grade 4 Writing scores
indicated 71% satisfactory, 7% advanced, and 29% unsatisfactory. Mandy’s school scores indicated
93% satisfactory, 11% advanced, and 7% unsatisfactory. With the use of FG method, Mandy was
able to focus on genre features in ways that did not focus on errors (Schleppegrell, 2013). Instead,
the form and function of genre became apparent resulting in more students benefiting from
carefully constructed language learning opportunities. Thus, a systematic focus on the linguistic
meaning structures relevant to targeted school-based tasks may provide young students with
tools to cope with increased content instruction. Without such linguistic supports, students may
not benefit from outcome-based reform efforts, even if such reforms are aimed at improving
educational opportunity.

78 Educational Policies and Current Practices 2015; 1(2): 71–85

References
Author, (2014). International Journal of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Balzarolo, K. (2010). Getting started with functional grammar in an upper primary classroom. Literacy
Learning: The Middle Years, 18(3), 20-27.
Black, A., & Bannan, S. (2010). Functional grammar: A change in writer’s self-perception. Practically
Primary, 15(3), 12-17.
Christie, F. (2002). The development of abstraction in adolescence in subject English. In M .
Schleppegrell & M. C. Colobi (Eds.), Developing advanced literacy in first and second language: Meaning
with power (pp. 45-66). London: Routledge.
Christie, F. (2012). Language education throughout the school years: A functional perspective. Chichester,
U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell.
Derewianka, B. (2011). A new grammar companion for teachers. Sydney, NSW Australia: PETAA.
Droga, L., & Humphrey, S. (2005). Grammar and meaning: An introduction for primary teachers. Berry,
Australia: Target Texts.
Fearn, L., & Farnan, N. (2007). When is a verb? Using functional grammar to teach writing. Journal of Basic
Writing (CUNY), 26, 63-87.
Harklau, L., (2002). The role of writing in classroom second language acquisition. Journal of Second
Language Writing, 11, 329-350.
Halliday, M.A.K. (1979). Working conference on language in education: Report to participants. Sydney,
Australia: Extension Programme and Department of Linguistics, Sydney University.
Halliday, M.A.K., & Matthiessen, C. (2004). An Introduction to functional grammar (3rd ed.). London: Arnold.
Humphrey, S., Droga, L., & Feez, S. (2012). Grammar and meaning. Laura St. Newtown, NSW Australia:
Primary English Teaching Association Australia.
Martin, J. R., (2009). Genre and language learning: A social semiotic perspective. Linguistics and Education,
20(1), 10-21.
Martin, J. R., & Rose, D. (2008). Genre relation: Mapping culture. London: Equinox.
Meeks, L. L., & Austin, C. J. (2003). Literacy in the secondary English classroom: Strategies for teaching the way
kids learn. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Nunan, D. (2003). Teaching grammar in context. In C. N. Candlin & N. Mercer (Eds.), English language
teaching in its social context (pp. 191-199). London: Routledge.
Schleppegrell, M. J. (2013). The role of metalanguage in supporting academic language development.
Language Learning, 63(1), 153-170. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9922. 2012.007 42.x
Schleppegrell, M. J & Go, A. L. (2007). Analyzing the writing of English learners: A functional approach.
Language Arts, 84(6), 529-538.
Texas Education Agency. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.tea.state.tx.us/

Educational Policies and Current Practices 2015; 1(2): 71–85 79

Tables and Figures
Table 1. Internal Structure Codes

Code Definition/Comment/Example

Who is Involved?

Generalized Generalized groups . They are needed to make generalizations (e.g., someone,
Groups people).

Adjectivals Adjectivals are nouns that function as an adjective OR adjectives that function as a
noun. Adjectivals cluster around the main noun group and provide information about
the noun.
Types of adjectivals include determiners (e.g., this, some, most, that, these), quantity
(e.g., six, several, many), opinion (e.g., worst, fantastic), and factual adjectives (e.g.,
green, tallest, old), as well as classifiers (e.g., fruit tree, science book).

Long Noun Long noun phrases are noun groups that contain three or more words. They name the
Phrases people, places, or things involved in the clause.

Nominalization At this point, writing is moving toward abstraction. Nominalization means turning
words that are not normally nouns (verbs, conjunctions, adjectives, adverbs) into
nouns.Nominalizations can include participials (verb + ing) if the intent is to condense
meaning (e.g., her acting, an old saying).

What is Going on?

Action Verb Action verbs are about actions and events that involve people or things (e.g., run,
nap).

Mental Verb Mental verbs express meanings about feeling, thinking (e.g., to put up with, to cope
with), and knowing, and mental verbs can involve the five senses (seeing, hearing,
etc.).

Relating Verb Relating verbs link or relate two pieces of information or two ‘entities’ in terms of
what something is or has. In this way, relating verbs help describe, classify, define,
and identify things and usually involve the verbs to be or to have.
Sometimes other verbs express the relationship between two things (e.g., is called,
seemed, caused)

Saying Verb Saying verbs express meanings about what we (or others) say. This includes both
direct and indirect speech and various other kinds of verbal expression (e.g., tell, say,
announce).

Circumstances

Adverbial Adverbial phrases are a group of words NOT containing a subject; also, a verb acting
Phrases as an adverb, such as prepositional phrases and infinitive phrases (when explaining
why) and other phrases that include as (e.g., as often as possible).

Adverbs Adverbs often tell when, where, why, or under what conditions something happens or
happened.

Embedding Embedded clauses are the inclusion of any linguistic unit as part of another unit of
the same general type. They are usually marked in some way, e.g., by the initial who,
what, that, and when (e.g., The boy who came is his cousin; I told him that I would
go.).
Adverbial clauses are word groups containing a subject and verb acting as an adverb
(modifying the verb and are marked by a relative adverb, e.g., when, where, why (e.g.,
My entire family now worships in the church where my great grandfather used to be
minister.).

80 Educational Policies and Current Practices 2015; 1(2): 71–85

Table 2. Result of Within-subjects Effects Tests for ANOVA on Students’ Development of Linguistic
Features:
* p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001.

Type III Sum of Mean Partial Eta

Source of Effects Squares df Square F Sig. Squared

Who is Involved?

Time 480.083 2 135.847 12.005 0.000 *** 0.364

Time × Achieve 21.056 4 5.264 0.465 0.761 0.042

Error (Time) 475.250 42 11.315

What is Going On?

Time 271.694 2 240.042 5.897 0.006 ** 0.219

Time × Achieve 118.417 4 29.604 0.727 0.578 0.065

Error (Time) 1709.500 42 40.702

Circumstances

Time 242.528 2 121.264 3.764 0.031 0.152

Time × Achieve 66.389 4 16.597 0.515 0.725 0.047

Error (Time) 1353.083 42 32.216

Grand Total

Time 2737.583 2 1368.792 8.618 0.001 ** 0.291

Time × Achieve 387.417 4 96.854 0.610 0.658 0.055

Error (Time) 6671.000 42 158.833

Educational Policies and Current Practices 2015; 1(2): 71–85 81

Table 3. Result of Between-subjects Effects Tests for ANOVA on Students’ Development of Linguistic
Features

Type III Sum Mean Partial Eta

Source of Effects of Squares df Square F Sig. Squared

Who is Involved?

Intercept 5635.681 1 5638.681 202.610 .000 .906

Achieve 11.194 2 5.597 .201 .819 .019

Error 584.125 21 27.815

What is Going On?

Intercept 29768.000 1 29768.000 241.246 .000 .920

Achieve 364.750 2 182.375 1.478 .251 .123

Error 2591.250 21 123.393

Circumstances

Intercept 14592.014 1 14592.014 364.132 .000 .945

Achieve 165.444 2 82.722 2.064 .152 .164

Error 841.542 21 40.073

Grand Total

Intercept 135720.500 1 135720.500 349.345 .000 .943

Achieve 1147.000 2 573.500 1.476 .251 .123

Error 8158.500 21 388.500

82 Educational Policies and Current Practices 2015; 1(2): 71–85

Table 4. Descriptive Statistics and ANOVA Results on Each Linguistic FeatureFeatures:
* p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001

TIME 1 TIME 2 TIME 3

Linguistic Features Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD

What is Going On?

Action Verb 9.33 6.53 8.79 3.95 11.79 6.51

Mental Verb ** 1.21 1.35 3.42 2.24 2.46 2.41

Relating Verb ** 5.21 2.69 7.96 3.82 8.00 4.57

Saying Verb 1.04 1.30 1.17 1.47 0.63 1.69

TOTAL VERBS * 16.79 8.39 21.3 8.15 22.88 8.44

Who is Involved?

Generalized Group ** 0.08 0.28 0.75 1.11 0.67 0.82

Long Noun Phrase 2.79 1.84 3.88 2.54 3.88 2.44

Adjectival * 3.04 2.10 5.08 2.64 4.21 2.81

Nominalizations 0.25 0.74 1.00 2.19 0.92 1.06

TOTAL NOUN GROUP ** 6.17 2.82 10.71 4.60 9.67 4.28

Circumstances

Adverb 3.46 2.27 5.00 2.81 4.79 3.19

Adverbial Phrase 4.75 3.63 5.38 3.41 5.00 3.12

Embedding 3.54 2.28 5.75 4.92 5.04 4.12

TOTAL CIRCUMSTANCE 11.75 5.22 16.12 6.76 14.83 5.71

Grand Total

GRAND TOTAL ** 34.71 14.80 48.17 16.74 47.38 14.56

Educational Policies and Current Practices 2015; 1(2): 71–85 83

Figures

Time 1: S09 Favorite Summer Memory

One day my dads work was having a picnic at Joy land. So we ate [then] we went on 1 of rides.
[After that] was one last ride the super man! We took are shoes off because you have to. [then]
we went on it went up so slow [then] it droped. I screemed the whole way down. Witch was like
a snap second cause its like jumpin off a building.

Time 2: S09 Person I Admire

I admire Aleash because Aleasha is a great basketball player, she’s caring, and brave. [First]I
admire Aleasha for her basketball skills. She’s a great shooter. [Also] she is a great teacher and very
honnest too.
[On a second thought] I like her because she is caring and always there. like if we need a ride she
also takes you under her wing, help’s you learn better, and tell’s us right from wrong.
My absolute favorite is that she is brave. Because she takes the chances, makes mustakes, and
abmit’s she’s wrong if she is, but my fourth favorite is [that] she never gives up.

Time 3: S09 Favorite Sport or Hobby

My hobby or sport is basketball. I like basketball because of the coches, friend’s, and the way you
use the ball.
Here are some resons [that]I like the coches. They are nice, you get to meet new one’s, and they
teach you new trick’s.
[Next] I like the friend’s. I like them because they help you understand. The laughter, and they are
always’s there. Thoses are my favorite resons. [Finilly] the last reson [that] I like basketball is for the
way [that] you use the ball. I like the dribble, the shawtes, and the passes. I can’t get over loving
basketball!

Note: Underlined sections indicate dependent clauses; Brackets indicate time order transitions.
Figure 1. Sam’s Writing Sample Representing Overall Effects

84 Educational Policies and Current Practices 2015; 1(2): 71–85

 Time 1: S06 Favorite Summer Memory

I was scared when I moved here. I was in second grade. my mom lost her job so we moved here. I
didn’t know anybody. It was my first day at school. I didn’t know if anybody would like me. I came
over my fear after I met this girl Xotchie. We became best friends. I was sad when Xotchie moved.

Time 2: S06 Personal I Admire

I admire my mom, my brother, and my [illegible]. the one that I really admire is Aleasha. She is a
very good basketball teacher. Alesha tought me how to look up when I dribble, shoot, pass and
fullcourt press its high school stuff the fullcourt press is.

Alesha is very caring. if I make a shot she says good jod. Also if I miss shot and i’m sad that I missed
my shot she would say keep tring and you can do it. If someone gets hurt Alesha would ask are you
ok? If the person says yes i’m ok, Alesha would help them up.

Alesha is also very helpful because she’s helping me on my form. If I need help Alesha will help me.
Alesha always has a very good solution. If i’m out of shape Alesha will help me exercise.

Figure 2. Yajaira’s Writing Samples Representing Improvement in Who’s Involved

Time 1: Y18 Favorite Summer Memory

When the first time I almost fanted was at my house at 10:30 p.m. I was in my bed I was watching
Aliens in the Atice and in the middle of the move our house fire alarm went off. When I heard it, I
screamed as loud as I could I jump out of bed and grabed my teddy bear and ran out my room
outside it was winter and I say “”I’m turning into a Icecube out with some boots. Our neigber is a
firemen and he came to check it out and thier wasn’t a fire it was just some smok that came from
my sister Nex’s room. So when he left we went inside made lights around my mom’s bed. We stade
there in her room all night and I knew we were safe whith my mom.

Time 2: Y18

I admire my mom because she is a great mom, funny and takes care of us.

This is one reason I admire my mom she is a pretty mom. But she says she isn’t. But we think she is.

She also drives us everywhere from home, to school, to a friends house, to gym, and back home
again. A lot of gas going on here. Aahhhh. She also pays our bills for example electric, water,
airconditioner, water, and a lot more. And pays our sports like gym, tennis. And gym costs a lot, I
think.

Another reason I admire my mom is because she’s funny. Every time she’s in a REALY good mood
she’s funny. She also tells jokes … rarely. I love when she tells jokes. She also says funny things about
my dad. When he’s dramatic. We all do though. My sister Alex does it most.

Another thing is she takes care of us. I like that. She also feeds us food of course. She buys us food.
Also every kid in the house has a nice cousy bed and warm blankets. I have to share a room with
my sister.

Figure 3. Jennifer’s Writing Samples Representing Improvement in What’s Going On

Educational Policies and Current Practices 2015; 1(2): 71–85 85

View publication stats