OnNovember 3-5, the 22nd Symposium on Functional Linguistics and DiscourseAnalysis was held in South China Agricultural University (SCAU). 

The symposiumwas organized by SCAU and Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS) withthe theme of “Alternative Architectures for Systemic Functional Linguistics:The Cardiff Approach” and a special purpose to honor the founder of the CardiffGrammar Prof. Robin Fawcett in recognition of his contribution to SystemicFunctional Linguistics (SFL) in general and to the development of the CardiffGrammar and the Cardiff Model of Language and its Use in particular.

Besides Prof.Robin Fawcett, other invited speakers included Prof. Lise Fontaine from CardiffUniversity of UK, Prof. Hiroshi Funamoto from Hokuriku University of Japan,Prof. He Wei  from Beijing ForeignStudies University, Prof. Huang Guowen from South China AgriculturalUniversity, Prof. Edward Mcdonald from Sydney University of Australia, Prof.Michael O'Donnell from Universidad Autonoma de Madrid of Spain, Prof. GordonTucker from Cardiff University of UK, Prof. Jonathan Webster from CityUniversity of Hong Kong, Prof. Zhang Delu from Tongji University and Prof.Derek Irwin from University of Nottingham of UK. Around 300 teachers andstudents from both home and abroad attended this symposium.

Vice President of SCAU Prof. Xian Chunlong speaks in the opening cerenomy chaired by Dean 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 opening ceremony. In the opening ceremony, Vice President of SCAU,Prof. Xian Chunlong introduced the history of SCAU and commented highly on thesignificance of the symposium, saying that it was an example of how SCAUsuccessfully integrated natural sciences and social science. Prof. Peng Xuanwei,Chair of China Association of Functional Linguistics & Professor of GDUFS,Prof. Jonathan Webster, Director of the Halliday Centre of the City Universityof Hong Kong, Prof. Chang Chenguang, Dean of School of International Studies ofSun Yat-sen University and Prof. Robin Fawcett also spoken in the openingceremony.

Prof. Robin Fawcett and Prof. Chang Chenguan speak in the opening ceremony

After the opening ceremony, Prof. RobinFawcett delivered a key-note speech, in which he elaborated on what heconsidered the four most important goals in the future of Linguistics, focusingon goal 2.

In the plenary speech section, Prof.Jonathan Webster, Prof. Zhang Delu, Prof. Edward McDonald, Prof. Mick O’Donnell, Prof. Hiroshi Funamoto, Prof. Derek Irwin and Prof. Lise Fontaine all deliveredspeeches on the various aspects of the Cardiff Grammar.

Parallel sessions were held on the morningof November 5. More than 60 teachers and students presented papers on a widerange of issues in the fields of SFL, Ecolinguistics, Second LanguageAcquisition, Translation Study etc.

Parallel Sessions

On the afternoon of November 5, Prof.He Wei, Prof. Huang Guowen and Prof. Gordon Tucker gave plenary speeches, whichwere followed by an interview with Prof. Robin Fawcett. In the interview hosted by Prof. Huang Guowen, Prof. Robin Fawcett reflected on how he began hislifelong work on SFL and how he founded the Cardiff Grammar. He also comparedthe Sydney Grammar and the Cardiff Grammar and pointed out their respectiveadvantages. 

Interview with Prof. Robin Fawcett by Prof. Huang Guowen

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

The symposium was co-organized by “ForeignLanguages in China” 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 by Qin Jianhua  Pictures by Cen Haoxian)