ChatGPT

I thought I’d give ChatGPT a go to try out it’s usefulness for the classroom. This short exchange, however, makes me seriously doubt that it can be relied upon. Here is the first part:

User
What is “taxis” in SFL?
ChatGPT
In Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), “taxis” refers to the thematic organization of elements within a clause. It involves the systematic arrangement of participants (the entities involved in the action) and processes (the actions or states expressed in the clause) based on their thematic roles.

Taxis plays a crucial role in determining the structure and coherence of clauses in discourse. It provides a framework for identifying and analyzing the relationships between participants and processes, shedding light on how meaning is constructed and conveyed in language.

In SFL, taxis operates based on the principle of thematic progression, which involves the strategic arrangement of thematic roles within a clause to convey meaning effectively. The default thematic progression typically follows the order: Actor – Goal – Recipient. However, variations in thematic progression can occur based on contextual factors and communicative purposes.

By analyzing taxis in clauses, linguists can uncover patterns of meaning construction and discourse organization. Taxis offers insights into how language users structure their expressions to achieve clarity, coherence, and communicative effectiveness in discourse.

However, that is definitely not my understanding of taxis in SFL. So I then asked it:

User
Are you sure that is correct?
ChatGPT
I apologize for any confusion. It seems there may have been a misunderstanding. In Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), “taxis” actually refers to the grammatical organization of clauses within discourse. Taxis focuses on the relationship between clauses in terms of their grammatical structure, particularly their degree of coordination or subordination.

In SFL, taxis encompasses two main types of clause relations:

Parataxis: This involves the coordination of clauses, where clauses are linked together in a relatively equal and independent manner. Paratactic relations are typically marked by coordinating conjunctions such as “and,” “but,” or “or.”

Hypotaxis: This involves subordination of clauses, where one clause (the subordinate clause) is syntactically dependent on another clause (the main or matrix clause). Hypotactic relations are marked by subordinating conjunctions or relative pronouns.

In summary, in Systemic Functional Linguistics, taxis refers to the grammatical arrangement of clauses in discourse, encompassing both paratactic and hypotactic relations. Thank you for allowing me to clarify.

This small exchange does cast doubt of its usefulness and practicality in any classroom context. If any information given out by the AI needs to be cross-checked or second-guessed it is hard to see how a student, who does not already have a sufficient level of competence or expertise in the subject to be able to do that, can usefully rely on the technology.