Teaching English The Open University Postgraduate Certificate of Education The readers in the PGCE series are: Thinking Through Primary Practice Teaching and Learning in the Primary School Teaching and Learning in the Secondary School Teaching English Teaching Mathematics Teaching Science Teaching Technology Teaching Modern Languages Teaching History Teaching Music All of these readers are part of an integrated teaching system; the selection is therefore related to other material available to students and is designed to evoke critical understanding Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the course team or of the University If you would like to study this course and receive a PGCE prospectus and other information about programmes of professional development in education, please write to the Central Enquiry Service, PO Box 200, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6YZ A copy of Studying with the Open University is available from the same address Teaching English Edited by Susan Brindley at The Open University London and New York in association with The Open University First published 1994 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005 “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge's collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” Selection and editorial material: © 1994 The Open University All rights reserved No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress ISBN 0-203-98751-9 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-415-10251-0 (Print Edition) Contents Foreword Introduction Susan Brindley viii Part I An historical perspective Shaping the image of an English teacher Robert Protherongh and Judith Atkinson The new orthodoxy examined John Marenbon The National Curriculum in English Brian Cox 14 22 Part II Speaking and listening The National Oracy Project John Johnson Perspectives on oracy Alan Howe Planning for learning through talk Jenny Des Fountain Talking and assessment in secondary English National Oracy Project Bilingualism and oracy Diana Cinamon Standard English: the debate Katharine Perera 29 38 48 56 63 69 Part III Reading 10 Reading Peter Traves 11 Making sense of the media: from reading to culture David Buckingham and Julian Sefton-Green 12 Information skills Colin Harrison 13 Working within a new literacy Sally Tweddle and Phil Moore 80 86 92 102 14 The centrality of literature Alastair West 15 Teaching black literature Suzanne Scafe 16 Teaching Shakespeare in schools Rex Gibson 17 Balancing the books: modes of assessment in A level English literature Stella Canwell and Jane Ogborn 18 How they know it’s worth it? The untaught reading lessons Margaret Meek 109 117 124 132 137 Part IV Writing 19 Writing Brian Cox 20 The National Writing Project Pam Czerniewska and Richard Landy 21 Teaching writing: process or genre? Janet Maybin 22 School students’ writing: some principles Michael Rosen 23 Writing in imagined contexts Jonothan Neelands 24 Teaching poetry in the secondary school John Taylor 25 Getting into grammar Frances Smith and Mike Taylor 151 160 166 174 180 187 197 Part V Research 26 Girls and literature: promise and reality Susan Brindley 27 Knowledge about language in the curriculum Ronald Carter 28 Vygotsky’s contribution to pedagogical theory James Britton Acknowledgements Notes on sources Index 214 223 235 240 241 242 Foreword The form of teacher education is one of the most debated educational issues of the day How is the curriculum of teacher education, particularly initial, pre-service education to be defined? What is the appropriate balance between practical school experience and the academic study to support such practice? What skills and competence can be expected of a newly qualified teacher? How are these skills formulated and assessed and in what ways are they integrated into an ongoing programme of professional development? These issues have been at the heart of the development and planning of the Open University’s programme of initial teacher training and education—the Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) Each course within the programme uses a combination of technologies, some of which are well tried and tested, while others, on information technology for example, may represent new and innovatory approaches to teaching All, however, contribute in an integrated way towards fulfilling the aims and purposes of the course and programme All of the PGCE courses have readers which bring together a range of articles, extracts from books, and reports that discuss key ideas and issues, including specially commissioned chapters The readers also provide a resource that can be used to support a range of teaching and learning in other types and structures of course This series from Routledge, in supporting the Open University PGCE programme, provides a contemporary view of developments in primary and secondary education and across a range of specialist subject areas Its primary aim is to provide insights and analysis for those participating in initial education and training Much of its content, however, will also be relevant to ongoing programmes of personal and institutional professional development Each book is designed to provide an integral part of that basis of knowledge that we would expect of both new and experienced teachers Bob Moon Professor of Education, The Open University Index 253 choices 181, 185; common characteristics 181; current developments in 227; diversity 34, 65; equality 18, 19; functional 167; limits to approaches to language education 235–6; risk taking 52; skills 173, 217; text 118, 232 listening: ensuring, an integral part of the curriculum 65; poetry 192; radio programme 94; speaking and 19, 27–78, 94; triads 32 literacy 15, 50, 85, 138; basic or functional 111; computer and television 82; computer-related 104, 105–6; critical 79, 111, 114, 115, 116; earliest stages in development 98; improving 20; information 79; new 79, 103–9; print 81; relationship of talk to 66 literary heritage 81 literature 81, 188; A level assessment 133–6; black 79, 118–23; centrality of 110–6; connections between language and experience of reading and 189; critical responses to 108; educational benefits claimed for 114–5; existence of 114; girls and 216; institutionalised in education 189; place of, in education 114; policies will kill enjoyment of 26; teaching of 118–25,190; text becomes 111; traditional classics 25, 26; very specific ideological function 113; what counts as 111–4; women in 119–23,218; written essay has dominated the curriculum 154 lower streams 24 Index 254 mainstream English 70 make-believe play 240 marking policy 159 mass educational provision 110 Maths 164, 165, 166 meanings 75, 79, 84, 85, 87, 104, 127, 175, 207; active part every reader plays in making 127; children least confident in making judgements about 95; clarifying 195; clarity and 188; construction of 222; conventional, public word, constraints of 22; creation of 193; empowering girls to be active makers of 222; exploration of 191; expression of 64, 191; fixed 222; kinds of 205; making of 116, 155, 232; out of experience and ideas 178; particularly resonant 115; personal, idiosyncratic 239; possible, opportunities to compare 83; reflecting upon 239; related to each user’s unique identity 227; rhythm in poetry reinforces 192; shapes and 82; soaking up and regurgitating others’ 129; subtle shifts of 209; textual, in social and cultural contexts 232; within everyday discussion of texts 87; within the context of culture 232 media 94; making sense of 87–92; mixed 108; multiplicity of 103 messages 204, 220, 222 metalanguage 226 metaphors 71, 175–6,178, 189, 192; deeply rooted in ordinary speech 193; everyday language full of 192 methodology 44 metrical regularity 25 middle-class readers 88 miscue analysis 225 mixed-language groups 67 modern languages 198 Index 255 modern usage 24 monologue 239 morphemes 232 morphology 203 mother tongue 66, 77, 138, 153, 198 motivation 78, 127, 130; authors’ 146; bilingual children 64; self- 59 multicultural society 26 multiethnic/multilingual society 111, 116 multi-racial society 11 myth 146 NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress, United States 1985) 93 narratives 81–2,108, 118, 123, 144, 156, 172, 175; black oral traditions 122; connections 143; emphasis on 172; events 141; linking language of, to language of the speaker 122; poetry 176; science fiction fantasy 177; structures 97, 146 National Curriculum 9, 22–6, 71, 75, 79, 81, 84, 179, 203; information skills required by 93, 99, 101; language terms used in wording 205; legislation 110; non-statutory guidance for Drama 185; Standard Assessment Tasks (SATs) 34–6, 62, 125, 158, 183; Teacher Assessment 34–6, 57, 62; see also Cox Report; English Working Group; Key Stages; Kingman Report; LINC; National Oracy Project; National Writing Project; SCDC National Oracy Project 27, 29–36, 38, 52, 53, 57–63 National Writing Project 29, 150, 156, 161–6,167, 168, 169 needs 43; adult 10; special 33–4,105 Neighbours 91 new-born babies 43 new orthodoxy 14–20 Newbolt Report (1922) 5–7, 111, 114 Index newspapers 89,212; black 88; headlines 209–11 noise 44 non-literature 111 non-spontaneous concepts 238 non-standard English 70, 73, 76–7,153, 181, 199; always evident in writing 71; local forms 203 observation 59 onomatopoeia 190 open days 63 oracy 15, 27, 50; bilingualism and 64–9; fashionable emphasis on 16; interest in and commitment to 69; perspectives on 38–47; school policy 58; see also National Oracy Project oral traditions 97, 119, 191; black 123 organisational difficulties 44 oxymoron 190 paradigmatic or canonical structures 97 parents 63, 67, 200 parsing 24 partially hearing pupils 61 parts of speech 203, 211; identifying 198 passive readers 89 patriarchy 216,221 pattern of stresses 192 pedants 25 perceptions 83, 234 personal pronouns 210 phonemes 232 phonology 203 phrases 200 Piaget’s theory 238 planning 58, 77; for learning through talk 49–56; for well-structured small-group work 34 pleasure 85, 114, 145, 191 plots 84, 90 poetry 108, 176,179–, 211; associations and contents of the language 190; 256 Index 257 close connections between reading and writing 195; narrative 176; nonsense 212; rhythm has its roots in patterns of ordinary speech 191; significance of oral culture to writing of 119 politics 10, 87, 118; see also Conservatives poor schools popular press 91 portmanteau terms 239 positive commitment 217 post-language symbols 239 prediction 99 prefixes 212 prepositions 24, 199, 211 primary schools 77, 156, 158, 172, 225 private lives 89, 90 progress reports 63 pronouncements 26 pronunciation: normal 192; regional variations 20; standard English and 70–1; see also RP ‘Proper’ English 199, 203 psycholinguistic tradition 138 punctuation 158, 207, 208 purpose 40, 67, 172, 203, 212, 235 quality newspapers 89 questioning 34, 62, 209 race relations 118 Race Relations Act (1976) 64 racism 87, 90, 118, 169 radio 75, 94 rainbow groups 31 RE (Religious Education) 164, 165 readability 145 reading 79–149; advanced skills 93; aloud 193; appropriate 177; comprehension 97; computer program for 107; connections between literature and the language and experience of 189; critical 81; demands 85; Index 258 development 84,98, 99; different strategies 85; experiences 106, 144, 192; fluent, model of 98; grammar and 208–11; histories 88, 90; information 84; particularly important role in education 7; poetry 193, 195; positions 88, 90, 91; profiles 88, 89; school 83; sharing of experience 84; should be seen as social practice 168; skills 24, 84; social process of 88; standards 81; teacher as a researcher and provider of 177; tendency to assess intellect through 82; untaught lessons 138–47 reciprocity 41 reconstructions 99, 130 recording 60 reflection 54,55, 77, 208 reflexivity 41–2 reggae and jazz rhythms 121 relevance 125, 127 reporting 63 research 214–41 responses 43, 62, 182–5; critical 108; deep 146; negative 159 rhetoric 85 rhyme 25, 191, 192 rhythm 25, 120–1; English sentences 24; oral speech 119; poetic 192 right-wing conservatives/ideologues 22, 23, 113 RP (Received Pronunciation) 19, 25, 70, 71 SATs (Standard Assessment Tasks) 34–6, 62, 125, 158, 183 SCDC (School Curriculum Development Committee) 29, 34, 161 Schools Council project (Reading for Learning in the Secondary School) 97 Science 165, 166 science fiction fantasy 177 Scotland 73 Index 259 SEAC (Schools Examinations and Assessment Council) 23, 25, 26, 57, 14 secretarial aspects 158 segmenting 99 sentences 70–3; alliterative alphabetical 211; complex 208; expanding 212; incomplete 75; increasingly acceptable to finish with a preposition 200; rhythms 25; structure 203, 211,203; topic 95, 207; word order in 203 sequencing 98, 99 set design 187 sexism 87, 169, 218, 219, 221; challenging 222 Shakespeare 80, 101, 112, 118, 125–31,189; plays 22, 70; requires demystification 126 shapes on the page 82 Signal 176 signs/signals 61, 99, 207; non-verbal 41, 46 similes 189, 192 skills: group discussion 61; information 79, 93–101; linguistic 173, 217; reading 24, 83, 93; study 101; writing 24 slang 181, 201 social behaviour: equivalent of creative writing in 198; observable 240; rale-governed 241; shared 240 social and economic factors 183 social groups/classes 20, 87; status 234; stratification 112 social injustice 126 social rationale 234 socio-cultural or socio-economic changes 232 sociolinguistic research 234 sounds 82, 205; articulate 192; Index 260 trying to convey 71 speaking and listening 19, 27–78, 94 special needs 33–4,105 speech 15, 18, 74–7; ‘appropriateness’ of 14; decoding words to 142; dialect 19; differences between writing and 155; everyday 189, 192; for oneself 239; in infancy 239; information-related 40; inner 239; metaphor deeply rooted in 193; mistakes in 17; oral 119; ordinary 192, 193; productive 65; register and vocabulary of 181; rhythm has roots in patterns of 191; shared social activity 240; slovenliness of 40; spontaneous 76; unconventional spelling to try to convey the sound of 71; see also speaking and listening; spoken language spelling 158, 168, 205, 208; due weight to 25; early invented 153; errors of 153; unconventional, to try to convey the sound of speech 71 split infinitives 24 spoken language 32, 39, 46, 152; ability to talk and to comprehend 225; assessment of 76; connection between understanding and 40; constraints of grammar of 239; control of grammatical structures 239; elocution model 40; errors in 20; face-to-face 75; hierarchical approach to teaching 39; immediacy of 239; important to teach 14, 16; improvement in 203; move towards being more versatile users of 42; relations between written and 82, 150, 152; simple imagery to evoke 121; Index 261 television and radio 75; transcriptions of 212; variety of contexts, pupils rarely given opportunities to engage with 45 spontaneous concepts 238 standard English 70–8, 112, 123, 153, 198, 225; access to the social currency of 198; acquiring 77–8; ‘appropriate’ in many contexts 15; appropriate use of 206; attempt to reduce the importance of 17; discussing differences between dialect and 212; grammar of 18, 24, 203; importance of 19; incorporating forms for use, where appropriate 235; spoken 25, 74–8; superiority of 20; teaching children to write and speak correctly 16; very close relationship between written language and the development of 70; written 25 standards in education 79 statement games 51 stereotypes 64, 219, 221; sexist or racist 169; social 169 stories: badly structured and boring 152; bible 213; children’s awareness of structure 97; everyday 189; from oral traditions 97; implausibility of 90; interesting 152; parents etc coming in to tell or read in class languages to all children 67; satisfying 156; tapes in community languages 67; telling 147; well-structured 152, 156 structural repetition 210 subconscious bias or prejudice 34 suffixes 212 summarising 61,134 Sun 89,178 syllables 191 synecdoche 190 synopsis/summary 96 syntax 203, 208, 209 talk 38, 44, 53, 65, 95; Index 262 ability to 206, 225; assessment of 34, 57–63; collaborative 50; diaries 54; ephemeral nature of 50; exploratory 43; getting the climate right for 45–6; girls and boys, experiences of and attitudes to 33; opportunities which consider bilingual audiences and purpose 67; pair and small-group 51; planning for learning through 49–56; presentation 53; relationship to literacy 66; role of, in learning 64, 66; serving needs 43; tended to be squeezed out 44; well-defined ground rules for 52; what is shown through 61 tapes 52, 55, 67 tasks 183; see also SATs Teacher Assessment 34–6, 57, 62 teachers 49–50; advice of, ignored by Ministers 22; appointment of 4; attitudes to poetry 190; best 175; bilingual 65; communication of interest and enthusiasm from 84; discussion and profile 46; good, aims of 20; grammar and 212; group conferences 55; intervention by 46; less experienced 24; mother tongue 66, 198; researchers and providers of appropriate reading 177; roles in the classroom 58; shaping the image of 4–12; special needs 33–4; time being wasted 24; training teaching: bad 14; black literature 118–23; ‘child centred’ 16, 17, 19; developing new roles 32–3; as facilitating 139; Index 263 grammar 24, 203; language, new ways 25; literature 190; meanings must be acknowledged in 83; personal growth model 10, 113; poetry in secondary school 188–96; pre-history of 4–5; by professionals, not by politicians 26; purpose of 116; reading in secondary school 138; repertoire of approaches 45; separate mother tongue 66; Shakespeare in schools 125–31; specific recommendations about methods 14; standard English writing and speaking 16; writing 150, 167–73,207 teletext 104, 108 television 75, 82; soaps 90, 91, 176 tense forms 207 texts 82–3,114, 232; black 118; broad definition of 156; canon of 81, 113; challenging 96; choice of, for study in the classroom 24; computer 104; computer-related 103, 104, 105; concept must be widened 95; considerate 96; context and 118, 123; creating own 107; critical readers able to place own values and experiences in relation to those of 84; deep structure of 96; device for the exclusion and separation of some from others 111; different types of 154, 156; difficulty with 222; discussing 23, 87; electronically displayed 104; fiction 97; first-hand knowledge and understanding of a range of 133; from a multicultural background 26; generic types 97–8; inconsiderate 96; information 93, 99; informative 96–9; IT, genres of 107; known 141; Index 264 linguistic features of 119; lists of 26; meanings of/in 87, 155, 222; media 87, 108; mixed, or integrated 108; more difficult 98; narrative 144, 145; new 140, 144; non-narrative 97; organising 154; others’, receivers and makers of meaning in 155; partially revealed 108; pictures, emotions and motives of 178; powerful 222; pre-editing 99; range of 85, 156; read on screen 104; reader and 138; real 23; recommended 219; reconstruction of 99; rejected 219; resources of 85; secondary 91; sexist 219, 222; signals which identify certain types of 99; significant 115, 139; structure of 205; taken entirely from the English classics 26; that not read well 208; typically chronological/non-chronological 156; unfamiliar 134; value of every pupil participating in interrogating 98; wandering inside 144; ways in which individuals interpret 90; whether students can identify with 118 themes 97 thinking: abstract 239; verbal 239 tokenistic activities 68 tracking 43 traditional methods 25 translation 66, 129 TVEI (Technical, Vocational and Educational Initiative) 11, 39 underlining 99 understandings 50, 53, 68, 83, 85, 123; Index 265 common 146; connection between spoken language and 40; current 51; developing 60; explicit 62; first-hand, of a range of texts 133; important part of working on 52; main indicator of 64; new 55 undue credit 34 untaught lessons 138–47 utterance 193 value systems 24, 234 values 83, 85, 126; critical readers able to place own, in relation to those of the text 84; cultural 232 variation theory 232–4 Venn diagrams 99 verbal harassment 33 verbs 73, 212 video 129, 144 vocabulary 17, 58, 64, 71, 172, 181; appropriate 41, 157, 207; colloquial 157; differentiated 154, 157; formal 157; grammar should not be confused with choice of 208; knowledge of 96; literary 157; lively 157; technical 157; varied 72, 208 Voice 89 voices 52; content and 169–71; finding 193–6; passive 211; trying on 52 vulnerable readers 222 Vygotsky, L.S 147; contribution to pedagogical theory 238–43 whole-class readers 84 withdrawal of children 64 word processors 107, 178 words 205; correlation between shapes on the page and 82; Index 266 decoding, to speech 141; formation 204, 212; inappropriate choice of 208; invented 212; meanings of 83, 238; order in sentences 203; pet 239; power and savour of 189; signal 207; structure of 203; to play with 43 work as propaganda 217 writing 150–214; appraisal of 195; black 178; children inadequately prepared for, in secondary schools 172; contextualising 183; correction of 159; creative, in secondary English curriculum 175–80; curriculum heavily dominated by writing 44; development 156; dialect 19; differences between speech and 155; ‘draw’ 153; early 153; emergent 156; essentially public and intended for an audience 152; genres of 113, 182, 204; good 178; grammar and 206–8; imaginative 113; in imagined contexts 181–7; in response to drama 182–5; knowledge about language best acquired in the process of 23; literary and non-literary 154; mistakes in 17; modern 26; overtly political 118; persuasive 207; poetry 119; process 167–8,169, 172; programmes of study for 23; reasons for errors in 208; re-creative 130; sharing 211; should be seen as social practice 168; skills 24; teaching 150, 167–73,208; Index 267 see also National Writing Project written language: constancy of 239; difference between speech and 141; functions of 152; important to teach 14; improvement in 203; interpretative understanding of 138; mastery of 239; meaningfulness of 103; nature and functions of 154; relations between spoken and 82, 150, 152; very close relationship between development of standard English and 70 zone of proximal development 241