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Learning to Use Systemic Functional Linguistics to Teach Literary Analysis: Views on the Effectiveness of a Short Professional Development Workshop

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Teaching English Language Arts to English Language Learners

Abstract

Learning to analyze literature involves developing an ability to identify important aspects of a text and learning where to find evidence of that importance. Systemic functional grammar (SFG) is a theory of language that connects linguistic form to the meaning being constructed; thus, it offers a useful foundation for analyzing literature. This chapter describes a two-hour professional development workshop carried out to introduce English language arts (ELA) teachers to SFG and show them ways to help their ELLs develop an ability to carry out systematic, language-based literary analyses that connect with research across the curriculum, thus addressing Common Core Standards. Teachers’ views regarding the workshop and the usefulness of this approach are discussed, using data collected during the workshop and subsequent focus group interviews.

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Slater, T., McCrocklin, S. (2016). Learning to Use Systemic Functional Linguistics to Teach Literary Analysis: Views on the Effectiveness of a Short Professional Development Workshop. In: de Oliveira, L., Shoffner, M. (eds) Teaching English Language Arts to English Language Learners. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59858-5_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59858-5_10

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-59857-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-59858-5

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