Systemic Functional Linguistics as a tool for translation teaching: towards a meaningful practice

Abstract

This paper focuses on the centrality of meaning in the practice of translation. Since this \nmajor concern is also shared by Systemic Functional Linguistics (Halliday 1994; Halliday \n& Matthiessen 2004), which considers language a meaning making resource, it is argued \nthat such an approach could serve as a helpful tool for translator education and \ntraining. After a theoretical first part, where the relevance of Systemic Functional \nLinguistics to the activity of translating is discussed and a cursory sketch of its key \nnotions is outlined, the paper moves on to present illustrative segments from a small \nselection of English sample texts and of their translation into Italian. Dealing with \ndifferent text types, and drawing on authentic teaching assignments, some \nlexicogrammatical features are analysed in order to identify the multidimensional \nmeanings being realized. Special focus is on modality, ideational grammatical \nmetaphor, thematic progression and also on appraisal systems, a model for evaluation \nrecently developed within the framework of Hallidayan linguistics (Martin & White \n2005). The empirical examples are offered to show that a based on this \nperspective might represent for the translator an ideal “set of resources for describing, \ninterpreting and making meaning” (Butt et al. 2000: 3).

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