Abstract:During the process of checking one of the students’ composition， the author applies the field， tenor， and mode of FSC to analyze the writing in a broader way than before， which gives an enlightenment to teaching writing and assisting students in a new angle.

Keywords:FSG teach writing composition analysis

Ⅰ.Introduction

Almost all language teachers are deeply concerned about how to teach writing. One of the problems that teachers often meet is how to distinguish a right and proper composition from an inappropriate one， and to tell what are the strengths and weaknesses of a composition. Generally speaking， a good composition needs to be grammatically right， and the words and rhetoric used need to be correct and appropriate. With a higher standard， the theme of the composition should be clear， the language should be fluent and the contents be coherent and relevant to the theme. To analyze the strengths and weaknesses of a composition， we apply different methods in different perspectives， the best one of which is functional-systematic grammar (FSG)， because FSG focuses on explanation， which means how the text has its meaning， rather than interpretation (Halliday Hasan. 1976: 327)， and FSG also provides us a new view of field， tenor and mode to describe the text.

The composition (See the appendix) analysed is an argument with the title \"How to Prevent Energy Crisis\" written by a college freshman student. Its strengths and weaknesses are analyzed in the perspective of three registers (field， tenor， and mode) of FSG.

Ⅱ.The Analysis of the Text

1. Field

When looking at the language from the perspective of the field， we are focusing primarily on the content， the topic， and who does what to whom in what circumstances， and we often examine the experiential function of language in terms of purpose， participants， transitivity and circumstances:

The purpose is to persuade people to prevent energy crisis and save energy， and to provide people ways to do it.

The participants are the student and the audience who may be the public or government.

As far as the transitivity system applied in the text is concerned， in the first paragraph， the processes are four relational processes \"is\"s， including the last wrong clause which should have been: But the demand for energy is growing rapidly. In the second paragraph， there are one mental process (\"think up\") and five material processes (\"make up\"， two \"develop\"s and two \"take\"s). In the third paragraph， there are one relational process \"is\" and one material process \"needs\". As for the analysis of the processes and their collocation， please refer to the table (Appendix 2). The author applies only two kinds of processes with almost the equal proportion， which shows he owns a primary competence of writing. The relational processes he uses may draw attention to the urgent situation of energy in the world while the material ones may provide the suggestions to prevent the energy crisis. Therefore， to some degree， the transitivity system the author uses can serve the purpose. However he could have used more processes to achieve the purpose. Another weakness is that the author cannot apply the right collocations of the processes which hinder him from conveying his ideas to the participants.

2. Tenor

Tenor refers to the interpersonal function of language: the relationship between speakers， or between reader and writer. In this respect， mood， modality and appraisal of the composition will be analyzed to indicate the strengths and weaknesses.

The clauses are all declarative statements. Let's mainly focus on whether the finites which show the tenses are correct. By analyzing， we can see the proportion of the incorrect tenses is 25%.

The author uses five models (four \"musts\" and one \"may\") in the second paragraph. The models are used properly and correctly to show his affirmative attitude toward the methods of preventing the energy crisis.

The relationship between the Subject and Subject-Finite (Butt. 2000: 90) in the text is well applied except for the one error in the second paragraph. It indicates that the author knows the agreement of the subject and the finite.

In analyzing under Tenor， Appraisal is also an aspect to be examined. According to Butt， appraisal is one of the ways speakers position their audience or use the lexicogrammatical patterns to influence the audience's personal reaction to the meanings in a text (Butt. 2000: 120). Appraisal is shown through amplifying lexical items， Epithets， adverbial groups， comment adjuncts and conjunctive adverbs. Disappointedly， we find no appraisals are used after reading the composition carefully. This means the author can use only simple language which prevents him from expressing his opinions sufficiently and powerfully.

3. Mode

In terms of textual meanings (Mode)， functional grammarians are interested in how texts are linked together to create meaning. In the analysis of the Mode， Theme and Cohesion are the most important elements.

Almost all the themes are simple and unmarked with the exception of the third and forth sentence in the second paragraph. It is evident and apparent that the student is unaware of the usage of marked-theme structure.

In terms of cohesion， the cohesive devices used in the text are conjunctions e.g.\"...， because the natural resources are limited.\" and \"But because the demand for energy is growing rapidly，something must be done to deal with it.\" (\"\" is what I corrected and \"\" is what I added) in the first paragraph， and he used \"first\" and \"finally\" in the second paragraph. Some lexical cohesions are also used， e.g. repetitions \"energy crisis， natural recourses and oil\" and one anaphora \"it\". In this situation， the student tries to use some cohesions to link the sentences and make them coherent. However， the text would be more coherent， logical and interesting if some more cohesions are applied.

Ⅲ.Suggestions for the student after checking the composition

According to the analysis of the composition， we can find that the main grammatical errors are collocations， tense， appraisal and not being aware of using marked themes. After analyzing the composition with FSG， we can easily know that the strengths are: 1) The purpose is clear. 2) The finites are agreeable to the subjects. 3) The models are correctly used. 4) The author can use the cohesions， while the weaknesses are: 1) The collocations are poor. 2) Too many mistakes of tense. 3) The author cannot use different types of mood and appraisal to serve the purpose. 4) He cannot use marked themes to make the text clearly and attractive. In order to solve the student's grammatical problems， some suggestions and are given.

Pay more attention to the accuracy of collocation while learning inside or outside the class. Never use a word or a phrase unconsciously. Try to learn some important collocations by heart， especially those of verbs.

Know the uses of different tenses by means of either deductive or inductive procedures. Do some exercises of tenses.

Be aware of using marked themes to attract the audience attention.

Be able to use some appraisals to influence the reader.

Ⅳ.Conclusion

Applying FSG to the analysis of students' compositions makes the checking more explicit and objective， and it also offers an enlightenment to teach writing. Meanwhile， FSG analysis can arouse the learners' interests and attention to learn different layers of the language， and make students be conscious of their own strengths and weaknesses. As a result， they may pay more attention to the uses and functions of the language in writing to achieve writing purposes in a certain context. It is important for language teachers to introduce FSG to the learners in writing because \"the more the students know about the potential of each layer (of the language)， the more conscious， strategic and their language choice will be\" (Butt. 2000: 18).

References:

[1]Butt. D.， et al. Using Functional Grammar: An Explorer's Guide. 2nd ed. Sydney: NCELTR， Macquarie University， 2000.

[2]Halliday. M. A. K. Hasan. R. Cohesion in English. London: Longman， 1976.

[3]Krashen， S. D. Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning. Oxford: Pergamon， 1981.

[4]Thornbury. S. How to Teach Grammar. London: Longman，1999.

[5]Ur， P. Grammar Practice Activities: A Practical Guide for Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press， 1988.

Appendix 1．（附件）: The student’s composition

How to Prevent Energy Crisis

Today， the energy crisis is very serious along with the developing of economy. The natural sources like coal， oil， and natural gas were exhaustible， because the natural resources were limited. But the rapidly growing demand for energy.

Our government must think up some possible solutions to the energy problem. First they must make up some policies to prevent energy crisis， such as， practise conservation of energy resources， the company which develop natural resources must develop it under the government rules. Second， our country must take some money to develop new sources of energy， we may take water to substitute with oil.

The energy crisis is a social problem， it needs people of the whole world to cooperate.

Appendix 2

(作者單位：廣東茂名學院外國語學院)