Pre-Service Teachers’ Responses to the Implementation of a Systemic Functional Linguistics Unit : an Experience in a Public University in Medellin, Colombia

Abstract

ABSTRACT: In Colombia, English as a Foreign Language grammar courses have traditionally been approached as rules that are applied everywhere regardless of context, purpose and audience. This has helped learners memorize but it has not prepared them to write for different contexts, purposes and audiences; or to understand that the deployment of certain non-standard structures is acceptable in particular situations. Aware of the importance of seeing grammar in a functional way, Systemic Functional Linguistic theorists have provided alternative definitions of grammar, summarized in four premises: (a) grammar is a system of choices (as opposed to a system of rules), (b) grammar is a system of meanings (as opposed to as isolated sentences), (c) grammar is a way to position the author and the audience, and (d) grammar is a way to exclude people that do not manage specific technical discourses (as opposed to an uncritical tool). This instrumental case study intended to explore English as a Foreign Language pre-service teachers’ responses to the implementation of a grammatical unit that was taught at a public university in Medellín, Colombia, and that tried to promote those Systemic Functional Linguistic views of grammar. To achieve this objective, several data collection procedures were implemented during sixteen two-hour sessions in 2018. These procedures included video recordings of all class sessions, samples of student’s work, reflection tasks and interviews to salient cases. The data were systematized, analyzed and categorized using Nvivo 10 which allowed for the deductive and inductive exploration of the information. Findings from the analysis showed that English as a Foreign Language pre-service teachers responded in three different ways to the premises: openness, caution and resistance. This study highlights the need to (a) expect different responses from pre-services teachers to Systemic Functional Linguistic views of grammar, (b) be prepared for having participants shift their responses according to the premise, and (c) anticipate resistance from some participants. Additionally, the results show that it is possible to not only teach functional instead of traditional views of grammar in English as a Foreign Language teaching preparation programs in Colombia but also to approach grammar in a critical way.