Abstract:
The paper presents a systemic functional description of English discursive resources
for representing and regulating the timing of social practices. Four key categories are
distinguished: the time summons, which imposes timing on social activities by decree;
social synchronisation, in which the timing of social activities is synchronised with
the timing of other social activities; natural synchronisation, in which the timing of
social activities is synchronised with the timing of natural events; and mechanical
synchronisation, in which the timing of social activities is synchronised with the timing
of artificially created events. A number of more delicate categories and other aspects
of timing are discussed, together with their realisations. Two texts are analysed to
demonstrate the utility of this descriptive framework for the critical discourse analysis
of texts in which the management of time is a key issue.
