CIFLTE Presents: Heidi Byrnes on Exploring Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) for Language Education

The Lecture: This talk features three foci:

• An overview of major theoretical assumptions and conceptual constructs of systemic functional linguistics (SFL) as a socio-semiotic or meaning-oriented theory of language;
• Theory informed interest and SFL’s commitment to language education;
• Genre-based approach to curriculum development and pedagogy and the construct of grammatical metaphor.

There will be ample time for questions and answers.

The Speaker: Heidi Byrnes is George M. Roth Distinguished Professor of German Emerita at Georgetown University. Her publications have focused on the development of advanced literacy, including the relationship of language, thought, and the construction of knowledge, particularly in a curricular context. She is a past president of AAAL, past editor of the Modern Language Journal, and is the recipient of a number of professional association awards.