Functional Language Analysis Response
The perspective of Fang and Schleppegrell (2010), who point out to the changes in literacy demands imposed by secondary schooling, can be directly linked with Chapter 2 of Zwiers’s book. The reason for this connection is that both works view the challenges that secondary students face as a result of their immersion into academic language, which is qualitatively distinct from the previous language foundations they had. This immersion must not be abrupt, because academic language requires the development of new capacities from students in a process that should be stimulated and directed by teachers. In light of this, the Functional Language Analysis can be a valuable approach to help teachers outline their methodology to guide students in becoming literate in this level of language. Nonetheless, I personally found such a strategy rather intricate and challenging to be fully comprehended in a few pages. Even though the article is very well-written and presents a compelling introduction to the Functional Language Analysis, it certainly condensates many aspects of the approach, and therefore incites further research on the matter for educators who want to use it.
Vitor Giberti