On The Interaction Between Language Use And Context-From The Perspective Of Systemic-Functional Grammar

Since Malinowski proposed the concepts of"situational context"and"cultural context", context has been an unavoidable issue in language study. However, different attitudes on it have appeared. Formalists, represented by Chomsky, argue that context should be detached from the study of language, while Functionalists, with Halliday as their representative, make the suggestion of language study in context; and there are also some different views, such as the static and dynamic views, among the contextualists. These differences are because of the different views on the relationship between language use and context.Combining the achievements made by other scholars, this thesis attempts to explore the relationship between language use and context with theories of system, of function and of context of Systemic-Functional Grammar as the theoretical basis.Firstly, we explore the constraint of context on language use within the framework of Systemic-Functional Grammar: a lot of examples are given to expound how linguistic context and non-linguistic context (situational and cultural) constrain the encoding and decoding of meaning in the linguistic activities. By doing so, we attempt to show one aspect of the relationship between language use and context, that is the constraint of context on language use.Secondly, traditional contextualism, basing itself on the theory of the behaviorism of stimulus–response, ignores the reactionary force of language and the active nature of language user. Language, through its meaning systems of experiential meaning, interpersonal meaning and textual meaning, records and manifests context; register, as the variety of language, deviates from context by means of shifting, borrowing and mixing; language user, for the purposes of linguistic communication, creates context by prefixing the field, tenor or mode in unfavorable situations, attempts to make it change in the direction of his or her favor by adjusting one or all of the variables. This is the reactionary force of language use to context.Finally, we suggest the relationship between language use and context is interactive: while language use is constrained by context, it also influences context at the same time, overemphasis of one side of their relationships is not only unconvincing but also unscientific. The significances lie in: theoretically, language study and learning should start from the interactive relationship between language use and context; practically, the development of the abilities to presuppose, construe and change the context should be included in the tasks of language teaching, especially foreign language teaching and become one of the contents and goals of language teaching.