Robin Fawcett Negatively Judging Hostility

Under the pseudonym Dmytro Poremskyi, Robin Fawcett wrote to John Bateman on Sysfling on 18 August at 3:14am:

One certainly cannot but agree with Lise in that this environment should not be hostile. I believe that the whole X-Bar thread (opening with your question marks) should have been taken off list right from the start (at the very least).

Blogger Comments:

Here Fawcett is attempting to shift blame from himself to Bateman. For Fawcett's hostility 'in this environment', see his multiple ad hominem attacks on Bateman at:

Robin Fawcett Negatively Judging John Bateman

Although Fawcett can conceal his name, he lacks the self-knowledge to conceal his characteristic brazen hypocrisy. See:

Robin Fawcett Negatively Appreciating Halliday And Matthiessen (2004)

Robin Fawcett Negatively Judging And Negatively Appreciating Halliday And Matthiessen (1999)

Robin Negatively Judging Bateman

Under the pseudonym Dmytro Poremskyi, Robin Fawcett replied to John Bateman on Sysfling on 18 August 2023 at 2:24am:

I guess keeping your temper in line is mission impossible for you, which probably explains why you resort to your powerful discursive strategies (LOL!), but I will try to reason with you nonetheless …

That's typical of people with anger management issues – they are usually 'not sure' about what they do wrong, even after being told by colleagues that their tone of voice is inappropriate. By the by, that quote above is a textbook example of passive aggressiveness, but I guess you're equally 'not sure' of that. Perhaps there are anger management people in Bremen who can help. …

Blogger Comments:

Although Fawcett can conceal his name, he cannot conceal the tenor of his emails when challenged. Bateman, on the other hand, was unaware that his interlocutor was Fawcett, and had treated him like any other underling who challenged his self-assigned status as primary knower.

Robin Fawcett Negatively Judging His Whistleblower

Using the alias 'Dmytro Poremskyi', Robin Fawcett wrote to sys-func on 29 Sept 2021, at 07:23:

Dear all:

I thought the discussion was drawn to a close, but then I read this:

https://thoughts-that-cross-my-mind.blogspot.com/2021/09/robyn-fawcett-on-forget-location.html

On the one hand, I'm grateful that Chris is further elaborating on the topic.

On the other hand, however, I need to make clear one simple thing that somehow cannot get through to Chris for quite some time:

I am not Robin Fawcett, contrary to what Chris insinuates here and in each of his periodic 'Stats' posts in his Cardiff Grammar blog (latest example here).

All of this is all the more strange (not to say ridiculous!) given that Chris is so eager to speak the truth and strive for integrity (both academic and personal). What is more, Chris is familiar with my Facebook profile, which I run almost entirely in Russian (one of my mother tongues).

Gordon Tucker and Ruslana Westerlund have corresponded with me and can hopefully confirm that Dmytro Poremskyi ≠ Robin Fawcett.

Chris, I'm afraid you're getting carried away...

I hope for your understanding.

Respectfully yours,

Dmytro

Blogger Comments:

To be clear, there is ample evidence that 'Dmytro Poremskyi' is in fact Robin Fawcett.

For example, in the email above he cites, as proof of his identity, the testimony of two people with whom he has corresponded using the name 'Dmytro Poremskyi'. Crucially, if he were not Robin Fawcett, the most credible person to call upon to verify the fact would be Robin Fawcett himself.

Neither Gordon Tucker nor Ruslana Westerlund responded to the invitation to verify Dmytro's separate identity, and "the real" Robin Fawcett did not intervene in the list discussion to complain about the "false" identification of him with Dmytro Poremskyi.

And according to Ukrainian-born Ruslana Westerlund (NASFLA 17/12/22), SFL is not taught in any universities in Ukraine.

On Facebook, Dmytro Poremskyi opened his first message to the NASFL group with Robin Fawcett's longtime signature opening

'Dear fellow SFLers'

and in reporting the blog that critically examines Robin Fawcett's theory, The Cardiff Grammar, Dmytro took personal offence, as if he were personally invested in the theory himself, writing:

'I am no less disappointed with the whole thing.'

'…it's no less distressing for me…'

and followed this with a private message to the blogger on Facebook:

'… the lot could have easily discredited you but for the fact that you had already been discredited in the SFL community (I'm now commenting here on whether it was justified or not, just stating the obvious).'

It makes sense that Robin Fawcett would want to discredit someone who has demonstrated that his Cardiff Grammar is based on theoretical misunderstandings and is inconsistent both with itself and with SFL Theory, but it makes no sense that anyone else would react so vehemently. 

And it does make sense that Robin Fawcett would want to engage in this sort of activity incognito.

Robin Fawcett Positively Judging Himself (And Jim Martin)

Robin Fawcett wrote to Sysfling on 25 Apr 2019 at 04:25:

Jim is right to recommend this short talk. It is a brief account of one of the great journalistic revelations of the last year, by a British journalist who is receiving all the awards for investigative journalism this year. This talk is an account of one of the most important contributions to our understanding of how google, Facebook et al have connived at rigging elections and referendums - and will quite probably go on doing so. 

I feel doubly involved because Carole Cadwalader [sic] is a friend of a friend.

Blogger Comments:

Appraised	Appraisal
	Polarity	Type
Jim Martin	positive	judgement: propriety
Robin Fawcett	positive	judgement: propriety
		graduation: force

Apparently, both Martin and Fawcett are "involved" in Cadwalladr's investigative journalism, only Fawcett doubly so.

From Alan Bennett's Telling Tales:

Alan, that is the biggest gasworks in England, and I know the manager.

See also Rallying The Discourse Analysts.

Robin Fawcett Positively Judging Himself

Robin Fawcett wrote to sysfling on 31 March 2015 at 09:12:

Finally, writing now as the organizer of the first 'Systemic Worksop' (back in 1974!) and in due (as we began to need a more formal structure) the first Chair of the International Systemic Functional Linguistics Association, I welcome the newly born Systemic Functional Linguistics Association of Tunisia, into the ever-growing family of SFL associations - at national, regional and international level.  

Appraised	Appraisal
	Polarity	Attitude
Robin Fawcett	positive	judgement: normality (esteem)
Robin Fawcett	positive	judgement: normality (esteem)

Robin Fawcett Negatively Judging Anti-Spam Software

At 09:09 on 27/1/14, When Robin Fawcett received a message that is automatically generated when posts are sent from an email address that is not subscribed to the sys-func list, he replied as follows:

Dear Whoeveryouare, 

I have sent the message below to Chris Gledhill, the organizer of the next ESFLA conference, and sysfling, but sysfunc has rejected it. It may be of interest to any sysfunc user who is not also on sysfling and who may be contemplating a vidit [sic] to Europe in July. 

Robin 

Robin P. Fawcett

Emeritus Professor of Linguistics

Cardiff University

Appraised	Appraisal
	Polarity	Attitude
the sys-func list anti-spam software	negative	judgement: normality (esteem)

Robin Fawcett Dishonestly Misrepresenting The Content Of CLÉiRIGh's SFL Blogs

Robin Fawcett on 9 January 2012 wrote to sysfling:

I have checked on those blogs that refer to the model of language known as 'the Cardiff Grammar' … they show no understanding of the alternative SFL framework that they criticise; and they are almost completely lacking in reasons for their critical stance, simply presenting quotations from IFG as a self-evident proof that the IFG approach is the correct one, so assigning it an unquestioned authority.

Appraised	Appraisal
	Polarity	Attitude
the blogs now merged as Thoughts That Cross My Mind	negative	judgement: capacity

Blogger Comments:

The only comments on the derived Cardiff model are those made by Halliday and Matthiessen (1999, 2004), and these are presented explicitly as quotes.  Readers can decide for themselves whether Halliday and Matthiessen understand the Cardiff model by viewing their comments here.

All the critiques of Fawcett, then and since, focus exclusively on his understanding of Halliday's original theory.  These can be viewed here.

Readers can decide for themselves whether or not Fawcett knew that he was publicly misrepresenting the content of the blogs.

This message was one of a barrage I was subjected to on sysfling during the week of my mother's funeral, which came at the end of six months of caring for her and my invalid father.  She died of mesothelioma, the cancer caused by asbestos, from washing my father's factory overalls in the 1960s, as she was required to by his employer, Jamies Hardie.  My distraught father has since died, by discontinuing his heart medication — that is, from grief and the guilt he wrongly felt.

One of my original motivations for creating the blogs was Fawcett's previous dishonest treatment of me on Sysfling in the very week I moved in with my parents to care for them.  This can be viewed here.  Critiques of this, and Fawcett's previous relevant sysfling post, can be viewed here.