Redefining conceptions of grammar in English education in Asia: SFL in practice

Abstract

This case study analyzes how a Taiwanese EFL teacher participating in a U.S. based <br />MATESOL program made sense of systemic functional linguistics (SFL) and genre based <br />pedagogy in designing and reflecting on literacy instruction for EFL learners in Taiwan. <br />Using longitudinal ethnographic methods, the findings indicate that this teacher's <br />conceptualization of grammar shifted from a traditional sentence-level, form-focused <br />perspective to a more functional understanding operating in interconnected ways across <br />genre and register features of texts. This shift occurred as she developed an ability to use <br />SFL to discover how language works in children's literature. However, the degree to <br />which this teacher was able to use SFL and genre based pedagogy in classroom practice <br />was influenced by the mandated curriculum framework and assessment practices in the <br />context of where she taught when she returned to Taiwan. The implications of this study <br />relate to re-conceptualizing grammar in EFL instruction and teacher education in Asian <br />contexts.