本书是在系统功能语言学经典理论的基础上发展而来的一部导论性著作。作者声明，该书的目的是为语篇分析提供一个综合性的分析框架，其实，它对韩礼德的语言理论同时进行了修正和发展，直言之，作者马丁以韩礼德和哈桑的语篇衔接理论为出发点，通过探讨语篇语义系统及其结构，来发展经典理论的语义层和语境层。
总起来看，本书对经典系统功能模式既有继承，也有发展。继承有两点，第一，语篇是一个社交语义的单位，只是在这里作者明确区分了词汇语法和语篇语义，说明了两个层次是由语法隐喻来调节的，并由元功能来组织的。第二，词汇语法是语篇分析的基本要素，但其侧重点是语境的制约作用。

Preface
1.Discourse semantics:A proposal for triple articulation
1.1 A context for discourse analysis
1.2 System and structure
1.3 The metafunctional organisation of meaning
1.4 Stratification
1.5 Discourse structure
1.6 Discourse systems
2.Negotiation:Shaping meaning through dialogue
2.1 Mood-baic resources for negotiation
2.2 Speech function and :adjacency pairs
2.3 Exchange structure
2.4 Extending constituency-exchanges,moves and acts
2.5 Replacing constituency-dependency models
2.6 Exchange dynamics:non adjacent paire
2.7 Consensus and debate
2.8 Analysis
2.9 Envoi
3.Identification:Reference as semantic choice
3.1 Learning to refer
3.2 Participant identification in English:system
3.3 Participant identification in English:system
3.4 Identfication and stratification
3.5 Participant identificationin English:structuere
3.6 Location and manner
3.7 Identiflcation and negotiation
4.Conjunction continuity:The logic of English text
4.1 The Limits of grammar
4.2 Conjunctive relations in English:general issues
4.3 External relations:system
4.4 Internal relations:system
4.5 Continuity
4.6 Conjunction in English:structure
4.7 Analysis of two texts
4.8 Constiturency dependency and conjunctive relations
4.9 Grammatical metaphor and conjunctive structure
4.10 Conjunction,identification and negotiation
5.Ideation:The company words keep
6.Texture:Interleaving discourse semantics,ieicogrammar and phonology
7.Context:Register,genre and ideology
References
Index