Interviews with M.A.K. Halliday: Language Turned Back on Himself [Hardcover]

This volume gathers together 14 interviews with M A K Halliday, the founder of systemic functional linguistics (SFL), recorded over four decades  the most recent of which was conducted in 2011 and published here for the first time. In these engaging conversations with colleagues Halliday explores his own development as a student of language in Britain and China, the evolution of SFL theory around the world, its place in the field of general linguistics and its many sites of application.

The dialogic mode enacted here allows Halliday to touch on many points of personal history and intellectual challenge that have not been addressed in formal publications (in his books or collected papers), including answers to the many thought-provoking questions his colleagues had waited sometimes years to ask. Accordingly each chapter offers a fresh illuminating window on the innovative thinking and assured convictions of this towering figure in linguistics.

A collection of interviews with M. A. K. Halliday spanning four decades, exhibiting the work of one of the world's leading linguists.

J. R. Martin is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Sydney, Australia.

Edited by J. R. Martin, himself a prolific researcher in the SFL framework, the interviews span nearly 40 years, from 1972 to 2011, thus cover the major portion of the development of the theory and range of research practices and forms of engagement with real world issues that have come to be associated with it. The volume concludes with a helpful bibliography whereas as Halliday's work is, of course, prominently represented, as well as an index & In its ability to offer this polyphony of considerations from a deeply humane perspective this book is a gist to anyone interested in what language does and how it does it, from beginning graduate student to seasoned researcher. Heidi Byrnes, Georgetown University, USA,Journal of Sociolinguistics

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