Systemic functional linguistics (SFL) offers useful tools for
analyzing texts and identifying grammatical and lexical elements that
are functional for achieving a particular text’s purposes. This article
analyzes an English language learner’s expository essay, demonstrating
how the tools of SFL can illuminate areas of difficulty and needed
growth. Through textual, interpersonal, and ideational analyses, it identifies
elements of the academic register that are functional for the essay
writing task and examines how this particular student makes grammatical
and lexical choices that approximate that register. The article provides
a set of questions that teachers can ask students to use to analyze their
own writing from a SFL perspective.
