The appliability of systemic functional linguistics and its role in discipline integration

Abstract

Abstract The present article aims to investigate the model and significance of discipline integration based on the appliability of systemic functional linguistics. To this end, it first describes the inevitability of the emergence of social semiotics; then it explores the six appliable characteristics of social semiotics: sociality, systemicness, applicability, transdisciplinarity, dynamicity, and multimodality. It next studies the basic conditions of discipline integration and the models of integration. After that, it investigates the basic model of discipline integration in systemic functional linguistics, which includes four basic types: direct application, borrowing, complementarity, and backwashing. It finally examines the model of the discipline integration process, including choice of a theme, choice of problems to be solved, choice of applicable disciplines, the contextualization of disciplines to be integrated; and the effect of the discipline integration in solving problems is also discussed. It is hoped that this study will shed light on cross-disciplinary or transdisciplinary research.