Enhancing Pre-Service Teachers’ Knowledge of Language through Systemic Functional Linguistics
Abstract
Students in US schools are required to make meaning from linguistically complex texts. Teachers are often inadequately prepared to create language-focused instruction because they lack a deep knowledge of language (KOL) themselves. Therefore, teacher educators must apprentice pre-service teachers in developing their KOL and demonstrate how to use that linguistic knowledge to inform their pedagogy. The theory of Systemic functional linguistics (SFL) has been introduced into some teacher preparation programs across the English-speaking world to enhance new teachers’ KOL. This study examines the pedagogy used to introduce SFL theory to future teachers and highlights some of the challenges pre-service teachers experience as they explore SFL theory. Findings suggest that the incorporation of SFL theory within the course deepened pre-service teachers’ KOL and confidence in using that knowledge to design effective instruction for linguistically diverse students, but that difficulties remained in transferring that linguistic knowledge to robust language focused instructional practice. Implications for teacher education and suggestions for successfully introducing the theory are discussed.