Development of Language

Geoff Williams is Emeritus Professor of Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia, Canada, as well as Honorary Professor of the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney, Australia. Annabelle Lukin is a Research Fellow in the Centre for Language in Social Life, Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University, Australia.

This book's major themes are highly integrated across the various contributions, reflecting faithfully the rich complexity of such a holistic model of language as SFL. The methods of study (naturalistic and contextualized), the major concepts - system and semiosis, function as metafunction, dimensionalism, and the role of context in relation to meaning and the individual - and the applications of these notions to domains like education, primate studies and psychology, are all woven together into a satisfying and challenging whole. The book is stimulating without being over reliant on arcane terminology, and it also keeps open the possibilities for further development and modification of this approach to language.' ~ W. N. Winser, Research Fellow, University of Adelaide, Australia

• 1. Emerging language - Annabelle Lukin and Geoff Williams2. On grammar as the driving force from primary to higher-order consciousness - M. A. K. Halliday3. The evolution of language: a systemic functional exploration of phylogenetic phases - Christian M. I. M. Matthiessen4. Language, apes, and meaning-making - Jared P. Taglialatela, Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, Duane M. Rumbaugh, James Benson, William Greaves5. Agency, individuation, and meaning-making: reflections on an episode of bonobo-human interaction - Paul J. Thibault6. The 'interpersonal first' principle in child language development7. The world in words: semiotic mediation, tenor, and ideology - Ruqaiya Hasan8. Two forms of human language - Russell Meares and Gavin Sullivan9. Changing the rules, changing the game: a sociocultural perspective on second language learning in the classroom - Pauline Gibbons10. How our meanings change: school contexts and semcantic evolution - David G. Butt11. Ontogenesis and grammatics: functions of metalanguage in pedagogical discourse - Geoff Williams