Fatma Benelhadj

President

Fatma Benelhadj is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of Sfax (FLSHS). She received her PhD in English Linguistics from the same institution, specialising in the use of prepositional phrases in academic discourse. Her teaching portfolio primarily includes English grammar, cognitive linguistics, translation theory, and academic writing.

Dr. Benelhadj’s research interests and supervision activities encompass systemic functional linguistics (SFL), conceptual metaphor, and translation. She is a member of the Laboratory Approaches to Discourse (LAD) and a founding member of Syflat, an association dedicated to promoting research on systemic functional linguistics. Additionally, she is involved in the PAQ quality project and serves as a core member of the “Pôle de l’Etudiant Entrepreneur de Sfax”, which aims to foster entrepreneurship at the University of Sfax.

Publications

Some of her publications are:

Benelhadj, F. (2026). Conceptual metaphor between universality and variation: an SFL perspective on context. The Routledge Handbook of Transdisciplinary Systemic Functional Linguistics. (pp. 110-126). Routledge.

Benelhadj, F. (2025). How Do Master’s Students Link Their Ideas? A Comparative Lexico-grammatical Analysis of Conjunctions in Professional Master’s Dissertations and Their Cited Research Articles. Journal of Research in Applied Linguistics, 16(2), 63-79.

Abid, N., Benelhadj, F., & Moalla, D. (2025). Representation of Self and Other in Two Tunisian EFL Textbooks: An Appraisal Perspective. Journal of Research in Applied Linguistics, 16(2), 44-62.

Sellami-Baklouti, A., Benelhadj, F., Choura, S. & Abid, N. (2025). Systemic Functional Linguistics: Power and Empowerment: Papers from the 48th International Systemic Functional Congress. Academic Research, FLSHS, 19.

Benelhadj, F. & Abid, N. (2025). Introduction Power and Empowerment in SFL: Language description and pedagogicalapplications; in Sellami-Baklouti, A., Benelhadj, F., Choura, S. & Abid, N. (Eds.), Systemic Functional Linguistics: Power and Empowerment: Papers from the 48th International Systemic Functional Congress.Academic Research, FLSHS, 19(2), 1-6.

Moalla, D., Benelhaj, F., & Abid, N. (2025). Interpersonal encounters in Tunisian EFL textbooks: An SFL and multimodal approach. Academic Research, FLSHS, 19(2), 202-237.

Benelhadj, F. (2023). Dissemination of Knowledge During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Conceptual Metaphor Analysis of Research and Popular Articles. In Digital scientific communication: Identity and visibility in research dissemination (pp. 81-100). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Benelhadj, F. (2019). Academic authors at the crossroads: between individuality and the community. In Systemic functional linguistics at the crossroads: intercultural and contrastive descriptions of language: proceedings of the 27th European Systemic Functional Linguistics Conference, 29th june-01st July 2017, University of Salamanca (Spain) (pp. 19-27). Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca.

Benelhadj, F. (2019). Discipline and genre in academic discourse: Prepositional Phrases as a focus. Journal of Pragmatics, 139, 190-199.

Benelhadj, F. (2018). Construing Space in Academic Writing. In Perspectives from Systemic Functional Linguistics (pp. 350-366). Routledge.

Conference presentations:

AI- versus human-generated titles of research articles and MA dissertations in linguistics: a comparative study. Presented at the 50th International Systemic Functional Congress and Institute. July 4-12, 2025, the University of Glasgow.
Metaphors in Abstracts of Research Articles: A Cross-Disciplinary Study. Presented at CERLIS2025 conference: Metaphors in Specialized Discourses in and across cultures. June 12-14, 2025, University of Bergamo, Italy.
Explaining science through metaphor in English and Arabic: a cross-linguistic study of abstracts of research articles. Presented at the “langage, linguistiques cognitives et diversité culturelle”. April 10-12, 2025, FLSHS, Sfax, Tunisia.
Features of storytelling in Professional MA dissertations: an SFL perspective. Presented at TATE’s 9th international Conference: “ELT: New Trends, New Challenges”. October 27-29, 2023, Hammamet, Tunisia.
Translating metaphors in popular science: Covid-19 as a case study. Presented at the 2nd international online systemic functional linguistics interest group conference. November 13-16, 2023.
The Representation of Self and Other in two Tunisian EFL Textbooks: An SFL and Multimodal Perspective. Presented at the 48th International Systemic Functional Linguistics Congress (ISFC 48). March 18-21, 2023, Sousse, Tunisia.
Container Metaphors in Medical and Social Sciences. Presented at the RaAM14 Virtual Conference. June 23-26, 2021, Vilnius University.
Dissemination of knowledge during the COVID-19 pandemic: A conceptual metaphor analysis of research and popular articles. Paper presented in the InterGedi Conference. December 9-10, 2021, Universidad de Zaragoza.
Metaphor translation: a systemic-cognitive approach. Paper presented at the 29th European Systemic Functional Linguistics Conference. July 3-5, 2019, Leiria, Portugal.
Container Metaphors in Medical and Social Sciences. Paper presented in the First Methodology Days at ISLG on ‘Planning and Writing in Language Studies’. April 2018, the Higher Institute of Languages of Gabes, Tunisia.
Academic authors at the crossroads: between individuality and the community. Paper presented in the 27th ESFLC (European Systemic Functional Linguistics Conference). July 2017, the University of Salamanca, Spain.
Register and Genre in Academic Discourse: Where is the boundary? Paper presented in the 42nd International Systemic Functional Congress. July 2015, RWTH Aachen University, Germany.
Authorial Identity in Academic Writing between the Community and Individuality. Paper presented in the International Conference on Politics and Poetics of Belonging. April 2015, FLSHS, Sfax, Tunisia.
The Construal of Space in Academic Writing. Paper Presented in the First Tunisian International Systemic Functional Linguistics Conference and Workshop. March 2015, Hammamet, Tunisia.
Thesis Project. Poster presented in the 3rd LinC Summer School in Systemic Functional Linguistics. September 2014, Cardiff University.
Channel affordance in the realization of the installation function between written manual guides and digital installation CDs. Jointly presented at the 24th European Systemic Functional Linguistics Conference and Workshop. July 2013, Coventry.
Students’ Grammatical Errors as Deviations from the TL: Implications on Teaching Grammar and Writing. Presented at the International Conference on Deviation. April 2011, FLSHS? Sfax, Tunisia.
The Influence of Context on the Choice of Adverbs in Scientific Discourse: A Functional Interpersonal Perspective. Presented at the study day on Text and Context. April 2010, FLSHS, Sfax, Tunisia.
Adjuncts in Research Articles Abstracts: A Syntactic and Semantic Approach. Presented in the International Conference on Discourse, Teaching and Technology. April 2009, FLSHS, Sfax, Tunisia.

Supervised master’s dissertations:

– A Cognitive Linguistic Approach to the Study of Metaphors in Legal Documents: Comparing Website Terms of Service and Legal Complaints Using Critical Metaphor Analysis. (Emna Henteti, 2017)

– A critical metaphor analysis approach to a religious text translation (Annawawi’Riadh Ussaliheen as a case study). (Mohamed Bouzouitina, 2018)

– Investigation of Hedging Grammatical Forms in Business English Reports. (Hela Chabrak, 2018)

– Systemic functional analysis of gender representation in high school textbooks. (Raafa Bouchlama, 2019)

– A critical metaphor analysis of motivational speeches. (Mariem Krid, 2020)

– A critical metaphor analysis of ISIS’s Dabiq and Rumiyah magazines. (Sabeh Ben Ali, 2020)

– A Critical Metaphor Analysis of stand-up comedies across gender. (Asma Zeydi, 2020=

– Females Representation in Tunisian Arabic and English Proverbs: Conceptual Metaphor Theory. (Emna Gorbel, 2021)

– Adapting the cognitive linguistic approach to teach English language vocabulary in the Tunisian Secondary Schools: the third form ‎Arts as a case study. (Kamel Cheikh, 2021)

– A Conceptual Metaphor Analysis of Helen Keller’s ‘The Story of My Life’: Schema Evolution as a Focus. (Hanin Sdiri, 2022)

– Metonymical and metaphorical conceptualizations of Happiness, Anger, Fear, Sadness, and Love in English and Arabic children’s literature: A Comparative Study. (Amina Frikha, 2022)

– Conceptual Metaphors in Biology and Sociology: Research Articles as a Case Study. (Anis Guermazi, 2023)