On November 3-5, the 22nd Symposium on Functional Linguisticsand Discourse Analysis was held in South China Agricultural University(SCAU).

The symposium was organized by SCAU and Guangdong Universityof Foreign Studies (GDUFS) with the theme of “Alternative Architectures forSystemic Functional Linguistics: The Cardiff Approach” and a special purpose tohonor the founder of the Cardiff Grammar Prof. Robin Fawcett in recognition ofhis contribution to Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) in general and to thedevelopment of the Cardiff Grammar and the Cardiff Model of Language and itsUse in particular.

Besides Prof. Robin Fawcett, other invited speakers includedProf. Lise Fontaine from Cardiff University of UK, Prof. Hiroshi Funamoto fromHokuriku University of Japan, Prof. He Wei  from Beijing Foreign StudiesUniversity, Prof. Huang Guowen from South China Agricultural University, Prof.Edward Mcdonald from Sydney University of Australia, Prof. Michael O'Donnellfrom Universidad Autonoma de Madrid of Spain, Prof. Gordon Tucker from CardiffUniversity of UK, Prof. Jonathan Webster from City University of Hong Kong,Prof. Zhang Delu from Tongji University and Prof. Derek Irwin from Universityof Nottingham of UK. Around 300 teachers and students from both home and abroadattended this symposium.

VicePresident of SCAU Prof. Xian Chunlong speaks in the opening cerenomy chaired byDean of SFS Prof. Huang Guowen

Prof.Jonathan Webster and Prof. Peng Xuanwei speak in the opening ceremony

Prof. Huang Guowen, Dean of SFS, chaired the openingceremony. In the opening ceremony, Vice President of SCAU, Prof. Xian Chunlongintroduced the history of SCAU and commented highly on the significance of thesymposium, saying that it was an example of how SCAU successfully integratednatural sciences and social science. Prof. Peng Xuanwei, Chair of ChinaAssociation of Functional Linguistics & Professor of GDUFS, Prof. JonathanWebster, Director of the Halliday Centre of the City University of Hong Kong,Prof. Chang Chenguang, Dean of School of International Studies of Sun Yat-senUniversity and Prof. Robin Fawcett also spoken in the opening ceremony.

Prof. RobinFawcett and Prof. Chang Chenguan speak in the opening ceremony

After the opening ceremony, Prof. Robin Fawcett delivered akey-note speech, in which he elaborated on what he considered the four mostimportant goals in the future of Linguistics, focusing on goal 2.

In the plenary speech section, Prof. Jonathan Webster, Prof.Zhang Delu, Prof. Edward McDonald, Prof. Mick O’ Donnell, Prof. HiroshiFunamoto, Prof. Derek Irwin and Prof. Lise Fontaine all delivered speeches onthe various aspects of the Cardiff Grammar.

Parallel sessions were held on the morning of November 5.More than 60 teachers and students presented papers on a wide range of issuesin the fields of SFL, Ecolinguistics, Second Language Acquisition, TranslationStudy etc.

ParallelSessions

On the afternoon of November 5, Prof. He Wei, Prof. HuangGuowen and Prof. Gordon Tucker gave plenary speeches, which were followed by aninterview with Prof. Robin Fawcett. In the interview hosted by Prof. HuangGuowen, Prof. Robin Fawcett reflected on how he began his lifelong work on SFLand how he founded the Cardiff Grammar. He also compared the Sydney Grammar andthe Cardiff Grammar and pointed out their respective advantages. 

Interviewwith Prof. Robin Fawcett by Prof. Huang Guowen

The closing ceremony was hosted by Prof. Chen Yang, DeputyDean of SFS.

The symposium was co-organized by “Foreign Languages inChina” Publications (HEP, Beijing), “Functional Linguistics” (Springer),Guangdong Society of Foreign Languages, “Journal of World Languages”(Routledge) and the Halliday Centre for Intelligent Applications of LanguageStudies of the City University of Hong Kong. The symposium provided a highlevel platform, on which scholars, teachers and students of SFL could sharetheir ideas and thoughts and make contributions to the strategic development ofSFL.

(Report byQin Jianhua  Pictures by Cen Haoxian)