ABSTRACT
Reading is a dialogic activity through which readers dynamically interact with texts while eliciting meanings from the available knowledge resources. This review aims to explore how systemic functional linguistics (SFL) talk about grammatics (or metalanguage) can support the development of English as a second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) students’ reading comprehension skills. Specifically, I aim to connect research findings to the actual literacy practices that form the basis for an effective reading curriculum and the key implications for reading instruction. As the chapter is framed by the sociocultural perspective of learning, knowledge is viewed as the product of the ongoing (or dynamic) situated social practices. The best reading comprehension framework is the one that considers the meaning-making situated social practices of learners, including the interaction of prior experiences, attitudes and beliefs. A functional knowledge-based language approach engages students in analysis about language. Drawing students’ awareness to the content and organisation of a text through their socialisation into grammatics (or metalanguage) and their use of prior learning experiences leads to deeper comprehension skills. Instructional implications and effective teaching practices of these findings are presented.
