Systemic Functional Linguistics

Lise Fontaine is a Lecturer in the Centre for Language and Communication Research at Cardiff University. Tom Bartlett is Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Language and Communication Research at Cardiff University. Gerard O'Grady is a Lecturer in Language and Communication at the Centre for Language and Communication Research in Cardiff University.

• Introduction: choice in contemporary systemic functional theory Lise Fontaine; Part I. Choice: Theory and Debate: 1. Meaning as choice M. A. K. Halliday; 2. The teleological illusion in linguistic 'drift': choice and purpose in semantic evolution David G. Butt, Alison Moore and Kathryn Tuckwell; 3. Choice and language variation: some theoretical reflections Maria Freddi; 4. Grammatical choice and communicative motivation: a radical systemic approach Carl Bache; 5. Semantic options and complex functions: a recursive view of choice Lise Fontaine; 6. Choice and choosing in systemic functional grammar: what is it and how is it done? Robin P. Fawcet; Part II. Cognitive and Neurolinguistic Views on Choice: 7. Systemic networks, relational networks, and choice Sydney Lamb; 8. The twin paradoxes of unconscious choices and unintentional agents: what neurosciences say about choice and agency in action and language Elissa Asp; 9. A neurocognitive interpretation of systemic functional choice José María Gil; Part III. Linguistic Constraints on Choice: 10. There-constructions as a choice for coherence in the recent history of English Ana Elina Martínez-Insua; 11. Picking an argument: politicians' choice of persuasive strategies Geoff Thompson; 12. A dynamic view of choice in writing: composition as text evolution Michael O'Donnell; Part IV. Cultural and Contextual Constraints on Choice: 13. Choice, system, realization: describing language as meaning potential Ruqaiya Hasan; 14. 'Choice' in relation to context: a diachronic perspective on cultural valeur Claire Urbach; 15. Material action as choice in field Wendy L. Bowcher; 16. 'I'll manage the context': context, environment and the potential for institutional change Tom Bartlett; 17. Towards a study of the differences between formal written English and informal spoken English Margaret Berry; 18. Genre-driven constraints on semantic choice Víctor M. Castel; Part V. Interpreting Choice: 19. Choices in analyzing choice: methods and techniques for register analysis Elke Teich; 20. 'Register-idiosyncratic' evaluative choice in congressional debate: a corpus-assisted comparative study Donna Miller and Jane Johnson; 21. Not exactly black letter law: emergent choices and textual symbolic design in Athenian legal-political oratory Astika Kappagoda; 22. Interlanguage lexicogrammatical fossilization or not? That's an SFL-related question from the viewpoint of choice Pedro Henrique Lima Praxedes Filho.

'[Systemic Functional Linguistics: Exploring Choice] demonstrates that systemic functional linguistics' multi-layered and metafunctionally diverse model of language in context is well-situated to develop the interdisciplinary work that is vital for linguistics in the twenty-first century, and will inspire younger scholars to prioritize interdisciplinary collaborations.' James D. Benson, Professor Emeritus, York University, Toronto