Professor M.A.K. Hallidayis Emeritus Professor of Linguistics at The University of Sydney and Honourary Professor at the Department of Linguistics and Translation, City University of Hong Kong (CityU). He is currently Advisor to The Halliday Centre for Intelligent Applications of Language Studies (HCLS), CityU.
As a significant contribution to language studies, Professor Halliday has developed a theoretical approach known as "systemic functional linguistics", incorporating a comprehensive model of grammar which has been applied to English and numerous other languages including Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese and Thai. His emphasis has always been on theory as a resource for solving problems (he calls it an "appliable" theory), so that his work has been of interest to a wide audience of those concerned with language, such as educators, computer scientists and practitioners in various professional fields.
1925 |
Born in Leeds, England |
1947 |
Enrolled in Peking University |
1948 |
External BA (Hons.) London University (Modern Chinese) |
1949 |
Research student under Wang Li at Lingnan University, Guangzhou, China, doing dialect field work |
1955 |
PhD studies at Cambridge under J.R. Firth; title of dissertation: "The Language of the Chinese Secret History of the Mongols" |
1963 - 1970 |
University College London, Director of the Communication Research Centre |
1976 - 1987 |
University of Sydney, Founding Professor of Linguistics |
1979 |
Research Fellow, Australian Academy of the Humanities |
1981 |
David H. Russell Award for distinguished Research in the Teaching of English, National Council of Teachers of English (USA) |
1986 |
Lee Kuan Yew Distinguished Visitor, National University of Singapore |
1989 |
Corresponding Member of the British Academy |
2002 |
Inaugural recipient of the AILA Gold Medal Award for exemplary scholarship in the field of applied linguistics |
2003 |
Distinguished Visiting Professor, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong |
2005 |
Advisor, The Halliday Centre for Intelligent Applications of Language Studies, City University of Hong Kong |
2007 |
Recipient of an honorary doctorate from the University of British Columbia in recognition of his contribution to linguistics, including especially educational linguistics |
2008 |
Recipient of an honorary doctorate (Doctor of Education honoris causa) from The Hong Kong Institution of Education |