J.R. Martin
James Robert Martin (born 1950) is Professor of Linguistics (Personal Chair) at The University of Sydney. He is the leading figure in the 'Sydney School' of systemic functional linguistics. Martin is well known for his work on discourse analysis, genre, appraisal, multimodality and educational linguistics.
Jim Martin was born in Canada in 1950. He studied linguistics with Michael Gregory and Waldemar Gutwinski at York University (Glendon College), with H.A. Gleason and Peter Reich at the University of Toronto, and with Michael Halliday and Ruqaiya Hasan at the University of Essex, UK. In 1977, Halliday invited him to the newly founded Linguistics Dept at the University of Sydney, where he has been based ever since.
Professor Martin was elected fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 1998, and awarded a Centenary Medal for his services to Linguistics and Philology in 2003.
His research interests include systemic functional linguistics, systemic functional grammar, discourse semantics, register, genre, multimodality and critical discourse analysis, focusing on English and Tagalog - with special reference to the transdisciplinary fields of educational linguistics, forensic linguistics and social semiotics.
His books include a major description of discourse semantics, English Text, an outline of appraisal theory with Peter White, The Language of Evaluation; and with David Rose, a guide to discourse analysis, Working with Discourse, a guide to genre theory, Genre Relations: mapping culture, and an introduction to the genre-based literacy pedagogy of the ‘Sydney School’, Learning to Write, Reading to Learn. The first 2 of 8 volumes of his collected papers were published in 2010.
Major contributions by Jim Martin to linguistic theory and practice include discourse semantics, genre, appraisal and the educational linguistics of the Sydney School.
Discourse semantic theory (set out in English Text, Working with Discourse and The Language of Evaluation) describes the organisation of texts with respect to the three metafunctions of language - interpersonal, ideational and textual. Interpersonal discourse systems include NEGOTIATION, by which speakers enact exchanges in dialogue, and APPRAISAL, by which speakers and writers negotiate their attitudes. Ideational systems include IDEATION, by which they construe their experience as activities involving people and things, and CONJUNCTION, which connects events and organises texts in logical sequences. Textual systems include IDENTIFICATION, by which the identities of people, things and places are introduced and tracked through discourse, and PERIODICITY, which organises discourse in waves of information at the scales of the text, phase (paragraph) and clause. In developing discourse semantic theory, Martin was particularly influenced by H.A. Gleason's stratificational linguistics, Ruqaiya Hasan's text semantics, and Michael Halliday's systemic functional linguistics.
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