Misrepresenting The SFL Model Of Structure

 Fawcett (2010: 220):

Moreover, the representation of any layers of structure other than the one that reflects directly the choices in the system networks is redundant. (It is not even useful for pedagogical purposes, since it is misleading to suggest that a string of elements of structure that function as the realisations of a set of individually chosen meanings are in some sense "a single element".)

An[d] elements of structure should be defined in terms of the function it serves, i.e., by the aspect of the meaning of the unit that it expresses, rather than by its position in the unit. Since each element in each unit realises a different type of meaning, it should have a different label. The position of an element in its unit is a matter that is handled separately, through the concept of 'place' — the concept that is to be discussed in the next section.

Blogger Comments:

[1] This is misleading. To be clear, the Mood element, for example, is specified by the realisation statement 'insert Mood' which is activated by the selection of the feature 'indicative'; see the Mood system in the previous post.

[2] This is misleading. To be clear, Mood and Theme are both single elements, each of which can consist of constituent elements.

[3] On the one hand, this confuses formal constituents with functional elements. In SFL Theory, it is formal constituents (e.g. nominal and verbal groups of the clause) that are interpreted in terms of the function they serve (e.g. Senser and Process elements of clause structure). 

On the other hand, it is misleading because it falsely claims that, in SFL Theory, elements are defined in terms of position instead of function; see the previous posts on Fawcett's misunderstandings of nominal group structure.

[4] To be clear, as previously noted, Fawcett's principle is violated by Fawcett's own model, where there are multiple elements with the same label, such as the Modifier element of the nominal group (p306):

[5] To be clear, in SFL Theory, the position of an element in a structure is specified systemically.