However, there is no clear cut distinction between speech and writing. This cartoon above plays on an apparent mismatch between the highly planned, wordy monologic mode of expression being used by the person in the pond and the apparent need for spontaneous, action-focused talk, given the situation. At the other end, an academic article will be carefully planned, with no reader input, and with very few other modes of meaning (though in some cases, graphs, diagrams and charts may well be used alongside the words). In many cases, language might be taking second place, for example when it is mainly being used to accompany actions. At one end of this spectrum, face-to-face conversation would normally be spontaneous and interactive, and the verbal language used would normally be accompanied by physical gestures. These three variables form a spectrum of possibilities which in SFL is called a mode continuum.

Does the verbal message stand alone or does it work with other modes of meaning – e.g.

Is it interactive or more of a monologue?.

Three key questions can be asked about any act of communication which help to determine how it is or needs to be organised: The first activity in this section is intended to show how language is packaged in order to help the reader make sense of what is being talked about.

The lexicogrammatical choices we make not only construct a representation of experience (the ideational metafunction) and signal social roles and status (the interpersonal metafunction), but also provide a way of organising a message so as to make it accessible to the listener/reader, taking into account the context, channel and medium in which the text is produced. This is an aspect of the textual metafunction. In this section we will look at how we organise our messages.

Textual examples