1. Scaffolding Literacy for students with disrupted schooling Session 2: A Functional Grammar Approach to Sentence Construction

2. Aims of the course  Develop a shared understanding of Functional Grammar as a common language to explore literacy  Develop and trial explicit strategies to address particular literacy needs and genre development

3. Literacy definition in SACSA Literacy is the ability to understand, analyse, critically respond to and produce appropriate spoken, written, visual and multimedia communication in different contexts

4. Functional Model Of Language Culture Purpose Situation Language Valuing difference

5. Functional Model Of Language Discussion What ideas underpin the functional model of language? Metalanguage?

6. Traditional Approach to Genre Whole Text Sentence Paragraph

7. Modified Approach SENTENCE PARAGRAPH WHOLE TEXT

8. Clause word Participant Group word Process Group Circumstance Group word 3 Main Elements of a Clause Handouts

9. Building Blocks of Functional Grammar  Participants  Processes  Circumstances On Friday 21 st July Mark Ricciuto played his 300 th game of football.

10. Using Functional Grammar in Sentence Construction with Students  What is a sentence?  What is a correct sentence?

11. I can run. 1.

12. Up on the roof. 2

13. Go! 3

14. Because it was forty degrees. 4

15. I saw a butterfly yesterday. 5

16. In the holidays we went camping in the bush, my friends came with us. 6

17. It was hot so we went to the beach. 7

18. We made sandcastles and splashed in the water. 8

19. Even though the water was cold, we went swimming. 9

20. Because I was feeling sick and I had to go home. 10

21. My friends got married, they went to Bali on their honeymoon. 11

22. 12 There is no doubt that smoking is a significant health risk, however, people continue to smoke.

23. 12. The uncertainty with which he recited his lines at the premiere of David Williamson’s latest play.

24. 13. The rapid escalation of violence in Europe and the Middle East, resulting from the publication in a Danish newspaper of a cartoon of Mohammed that many Muslims found offensive, is of grave concern.

25. Developing Correct Sentence Structure A correct sentence must: 1.Make sense Eg. ‘On the hill’ is only a phrase 2. Have a process (verb group) Eg. ‘Are going’ 3. Have correct punctuation Eg. If two clauses are joined only by a comma, it is a run-on sentence

26. A correct sentence must have…  A process: something happening  A participant: someone or something participating in what is happening He jumped. The rain fell. The player scored.

27. Recognising Processes  What happened?  Green colour code

28. Introduction to Functional Grammar 1  Processes A process is a verb. It tells us what is happening in the sentence. There are a number of types of processes: action, sensing, being or relating, saying, having. E.g. A major cause of motor accidents is the number of people who drive over the limit. The harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles contributed to the rise of Hitler.

29. Range of Processes Materialaction, doing Mentalthinking, feeling, knowing Relational, attributive, identifying, existing having, being (there is, there are) Verbalsaying, telling

30. Highlight the processes in green  During the first part of the century they used the timber for housing.  The tallest hardwood tree in the world is the mountain ash.  Rainforests are a valuable resource.  Wild winds swept across the coast yesterday.  The storm uprooted almost 100 trees.

31. Highlight the processes in green  During the first part of the century they used the timber for housing.  The tallest hardwood tree in the world is the mountain ash.  Rainforests are a valuable resource.  Wild winds swept across the coast yesterday.  The storm uprooted almost 100 trees.

32. Verbal Groups May processes are realised by a verbal group containing more than one element i.e. elements adding detail about tense, obligation and certainty or negative forms. Examples:  Dolphins have been swimming in the bay all morning.  Those fish will probably die from lead poisoning.  The slightest noise will scare away the birds.

33. Split processes Sometimes the process is difficult to identify because it is ‘split’ or separated by a circumstance or participant. Examples:  The dog had carefully buried his bone in the garden.  The slightest noise will scare the fish away.

34. Highlight the verbal groups in green  Rainforests should be protected.  Rainforest soils are affected by logging.  Rainforest logging needs to be phased out.  Environmentalists should campaign to reduce logging worldwide.

35. Highlight the verbal groups in green  Rainforests should be protected.  Rainforest soils are affected by logging.  Rainforest logging needs to be phased out.  Environmentalists should campaign to reduce logging worldwide.

36. Brainstorming Varied Processes said think went like

37. Sensing Processes ThinkingFeeling know understand believe reflect decide judge determine calculate like love hate want need hope worry enjoy

38. Interesting and boring action processes in narratives …. I came to a cave. It was dark inside and I was scared but I knew I had to go on. So I went inside the cave. Select the action processes that do not add to the build up of suspense, and replace

39. Recognising Participants  Who or what received the action?

40. Introduction to Functional Grammar 2  Participants The ‘who’ or ‘what’ in a text. The participant is either doing the action or having the action done to it. To find the participant in a sentence ask ‘who’ or ‘what’ either side of the verb E.g. A major cause of motor accidents is the number of people who drive over the limit.

41. Identifying Participants Participants are typically realised by noun groups giving information about the people, places, things and ideas which engage with the process in a clause. Examples: The scientist observed several chemical reactions. The sights included elephant seals, emperor penguins and killer whales. Radiation can cause blindness.

42. Highlight participants in red  During the first part of the century they used the timber for housing.  The tallest hardwood tree in the world is the mountain ash.  Rainforests are a valuable resource.  Wild winds swept across the coast yesterday.  The storm uprooted almost 100 trees.

43. Highlight participants in red  During the first part of the century they used the timber for housing.  The tallest hardwood tree in the world is the mountain ash.  Rainforests are a valuable resource.  Wild winds swept across the coast yesterday.  The storm uprooted almost 100 trees.

44. Introduction to Functional Grammar 3  Circumstances Circumstances give more information about the participants or the processes. They answer the following: Where? When? Why? How? With what? With whom? The Second World War started in September 1939 for a number of reasons. When?Why?

45. Circumstances Circumstances add meaning to a clause by describing the context within which the process takes place. A circumstance is usually realised by a prepositional phrase or adverbial group. Examples: Summer bushfires are a hazard in some national parks. Cane toads were introduced as a form of biological control. Carefully beat the eggs and cream with a wooden spoon.

46. Highlight circumstances in blue  In an urban environment the brushtail possum often becomes a pest.  The homes of many animals are destroyed during the construction of housing.  Silently and fearfully she crept into the deserted house.

47. Highlight circumstances in blue  In an urban environment the brushtail possum often becomes a pest.  The homes of many animals are destroyed during the construction of housing.  Silently and fearfully she crept into the deserted house.

48. Working with Functional Grammar  Highlight the participants, processes and circumstances in the following: Peter Carey wrote Illywacker. The Boy From Oz, starring Hugh Jackman, returns to Australia in August. The debate on where to process refugees coming to Australia continues to rage in Parliament.

49. Working with Functional Grammar  Highlight the participants, processes and circumstances in the following: Peter Carey wrote Illywacker. The Boy From Oz, starring Hugh Jackman, returns to Australia in August. The debate on where to process refugees coming to Australia continues to rage in Parliament.

50. A student activity  Using the coloured strips on your table create sentences which include at least one participant, process and circumstance. PARTICIPANT PROCESS CIRCUMSTANCE

51. Changing theme to vary sentences  The theme of a sentence (or what the writer chooses to foreground in a sentence) appears before the main process.  Early writers often foreground with human participants: ‘I went to the beach. My friend came with me.’  The coloured strip activity can be used with students to introduce variety to written text by changing the order of colours to foreground processes or circumstances.

52. Changing Theme Example:  The brushtail possum often becomes a pest in an urban environment  In an urban environment the brushtail possum often becomes a pest.  The homes of many animals are destroyed during the construction of housing.  During the construction of housing the homes of many animals are destroyed.

53. Have a Go! Using the colour coded sentences you created earlier see how many variations you can create by changing the order of the coloured strips.

54. Nominal Groups  A group of words in which the central idea is a noun and all the other words help to define or further describe the noun is called a noun group.  “A gigantic red wool design” is a noun group.  They can be in participants and in circumstances

55. Nouns Can be inside a participant: A kid called Damien was walking through the school Can be inside a circumstance A kid called Damien was walking through the school

56. PointerCounterIntensifierDescriberClassifierThing (Noun) Qualifier

57. PointerCounterIntensifierDescriberClassifierThing (Noun) Qualifier boots

58. PointerCounterIntensifierDescriberClassifierThing (Noun) Qualifier hikingboots

59. PointerCounterIntensifierDescriberClassifierThing (Noun) Qualifier filthyhikingboots

60. PointerCounterIntensifierDescriberClassifierThing (Noun) Qualifier filthy old hikingboots

61. PointerCounterIntensifierDescriberClassifierThing (Noun) Qualifier filthy old brown hikingboots

62. PointerCounterIntensifierDescriberClassifierThing (Noun) Qualifier veryfilthy old brown hikingboots

63. PointerCounterIntensifierDescriberClassifierThing (Noun) Qualifier pair ofveryfilthy old brown hikingboots

64. PointerCounterIntensifierDescriberClassifierThing (Noun) Qualifier hispair ofveryfilthy old brown hikingboots

65. PointerCounterIntensifierDescriberClassifierThing (Noun) Qualifier hispair ofveryfilthy old brown hikingbootswith holes in the soles

66. PointerCounterIntensifierDescriberClassifierThing (Noun) Qualifier hispair ofveryfilthy old brown hikingbootswith holes in the soles that he had bought years before

67. Robert was wearing his boots. Robert was wearing his pair of very filthy old brown hiking boots with holes in the soles that he had bought years before.

68. His pair of very filthy old brown hiking boots with holes in the soles that he had bought years before proved that Robert was a highly experienced mountain climber.

69. Noun groups: components  Pointer: the, this, his, our  Number: two tables, most of the table  Intensifier:quite loud noise, very fast car  Describer:the tall old man, a glass-topped table  Classifier:a glass topped kitchen table  Qualifier: (prepositional phrase): the tall old man with the hat  Qualifier:(dependent clause): the man who was walking down the street

70. Video Clip  Teaching Noun groups “I was five years old when I moved from the small agricultural village where I used to live with my uncles, to Sudan.”

71. Colour Coding for Function Don’t colour any conjunctions (joining words) eg: and, so, but, and then they operate above the clause level

72. Colour Code for Function One day a kid called Damien was walking through the school and another kid called Rick pushed him. So Damien chucked a punch at him. He got Rick in the mouth and broke his jaw.

73. One day a kid called Damien was walking through the school and another kid called Rick pushed him. So Damien chucked a punch at him. He got Rick in the mouth and broke his jaw.

74. One day a kid called Damien was walking through the school and another kid called Rick pushed him. So Damien chucked a punch at him. He got Rick in the mouth and broke his jaw. Look at the circumstances and in pairs explore how they can be altered or expanded to add interest and detail to the narrative. Types of circumstances – see handout

75. Building interest One day after cricket practice a kid called Damien was walking aimlessly through the school and another kid called Rick roughly pushed him in the back. So Damien angrily chucked a punch at him with all of his strength. He got Rick in the mouth and broke his jaw in two places.

76. More activities for students List the participants What is happening? Give more details about the context: With whom? With what? When? Where? Why? How? Write five sentences about your chosen picture.

77. From images select participants, sensing processes and circumstances. Write … Description? Recount? Narrative?