Halliday’s Functions of Language
Function
Examples
Classroom
Experiences
Instrumental
"I want to ..."
language is used to
communicate preferences,
choices, wants, or needs
Problem solving,
gathering materials,
role playing,
persuading
Personal
language is used to
express individuality
Making feelings
public and
interacting with
others
"Here I am ...."
Interactional
"You and me ...."
language is used to
"I'll be the cashier,
interact and plan, develop, ...."
or maintain a play or group
activity or social
relationship
Structured play,
dialogues and
discussions,
talking in groups
Regulatory
language is used to
control
"Do as I tell you ...."
"You need ...."
making rules in
games, giving
instructions,
teaching
Representational
Use language to explain
"I'll tell you."
"I know."
Conveying messages,
telling about the real
world, expressing a
proposition
Heuristic
language is used to find
things out, wonder, or
hypothesize
"Tell me why ...."
"Why did you do
that?"
"What for?"
Question and
answer, routines,
inquiry and research
Imaginative
language is used to create,
explore, and entertain
"Let's pretend ...."
"I went to my
grandma's last
night."
Stories and
dramatizations,
rhymes, poems, and
riddles, nonsense
and word play
Michael Halliday (1975)