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

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