Teachers’ appraisal of pupils’ proposals during joint rewriting

This paper analyses the presence of appraisal in teachers’ discourse during interaction with pupils in a joint rewriting activity. This activity is part of the SFL-based genre pedagogy programme Reading to Learn ( Rose and Martin 2012 ). The study is based on the appliability of SFL, specifically appraisal theory ( Martin and White 2005 ), as a tool for constructing pedagogical action aimed at the appropriation of linguistic resources. The analysis focuses on the manifestations of appreciation, graduation , and engagement from appraisal theory, as well as the dimension of justification , added to the appraisal framework. The results show the presence and relevance of appraisal theory as “capable of and designed for being applied” ( Halliday and Burns 2006 : 124) in pedagogical action.