About us

Lingo Star is a website dedicated to Functional Grammar and language education.

We believe that knowledge of grammar is vital for educational success, not only in language education, but in all disciplines.

This is because learning happens through language – language is central to learning. According to functional linguist Michael Halliday, educational failure is related to linguistic failure. 

Obviously, being illiterate is a major barrier to learning. But even if people can read and write, it doesn’t guarantee that they are able to use the kind of language that is required for the learning context. For example, academic English is very different from regular English, and it must be learned – it is not automatically acquired.

The problem is that many educational institutions do not do a very good job of teaching people how to use language for such purposes, and many people do not achieve the language ability that they need to succeed. This is because the mechanics of language – the way that language functions to achieve its purpose – remains invisible to us.

Systemic Functional Grammar is special because it lets us see the functions of language. It helps us to understand how language works and empowers us to use language in the way that is needed for us to succeed at learning.