Summary Of The Differences Between "Categories" And IFG2 [1]

Fawcett (2010: 101):

From the viewpoint of comparing the theoretical framework that underlies IFG with that of other works in SFL, IFG is disappointing. Despite the twenty-two pages of its "Introduction" and another thirty-three pages of two further introductory chapters that are largely about 'constituency', IFG does not provide even a brief summary of the theoretical framework that underlies the description of English given in the book.

Blogger Comments:

To be clear, Fawcett concludes that IFG (Halliday 1994) is disappointing on two grounds:

1. his comparison of the number of index entries in IFG for terms in a different theory: Category & Scale Grammar (Halliday 1961); and
2. the absence of a theoretical summary in the work which explicitly states in its introduction (1994: xxvii):

This is not an account of systemic theory.