First-language English Teachers’ Beliefs about Grammar and the Relationship of Espoused Beliefs to Pedagogical Practice

This thesis presents an investigation into the beliefs held by practising teachers of L1 (first language) English in English secondary schools about the value of teaching grammar. Through case studies, it also relates beliefs to pedagogical practice. The study was conducted in two phases. The participants in the first phase were thirty-one teachers, all of whom were taking part in the ESRC-funded Grammar for Writing? project (grant number RES-062-23-0775). Participants taught three writing schemes to their year eight class over the course of a year, and were observed and interviewed once during each scheme. The interviews elicited their beliefs about the teaching of writing in general and about teaching sentence level grammar in particular. The interview data were inductively analysed to explore the participants’ espoused beliefs. The case-study participants in the second phase were three volunteers from the original cohort. These teachers were each observed for a period of three weeks, teaching their own writing schemes to key stage three classes. Stimulated recall interviews were used to capture their reflections on their teaching practices, and think-aloud protocols were used to capture their thinking as they assessed writing samples. Phase one and two data were analysed to explore some of the different ways in which teachers practise grammar teaching, along with the matches, mismatches and tensions between their practice and their espoused beliefs. The findings are presented using a model which explores teachers’ conceptual, affective and evaluative beliefs about grammar, along with episodic influences. The study is significant in offering an up-to-date picture of teachers’ beliefs and practice in this highly-contested aspect of English, as well as in offering insights into the relationships between conceptual, affective and evaluative aspects of belief, and into some of the causes reported by teachers for mismatches and tensions between beliefs and practices.ESR

The Problem of Grammar Teaching: a case study of the relationship between a teacher’s beliefs and pedagogical practice

AcceptedArticlePublished online 6.3.15Through a case study of a first-language English teacher’s approach to teaching writing, the significance of conceptual and affective beliefs about grammar for pedagogical practice is explored. The study explores a perceived dichotomy between grammar and creativity, examining a belief that attention to grammar is separate and secondary to the generation of ideas, the creation of meaning and to personal expression. It indicates that, in this case, these perceptions are related to formulaic approaches to the teaching of grammar for writing which separate content and form and reduce attention to grammar to a superficial level. Theoretically, the study provides evidence that beliefs play an important role in influencing pedagogy in contested areas of the curriculum. It demonstrates how affective and conceptual elements of belief can shape practice, particularly when external constraints on teaching are low. It argues that attempts to advance a rhetorical and contextualised approach to grammar, as evident in parts of the English National Curriculum, must therefore take into account the impact of teachers’ beliefs about grammar.ESR

Conceptualisations of ‘grammar teaching’: L1 English teachers’ beliefs about teaching grammar for writing

Journal ArticleThis paper reports on an investigation of L1 English teachers’ conceptual and evaluative beliefs about teaching grammar, one strand of a larger Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)-funded investigation into the impact of contextualised grammar teaching [RES-062-23-0775]. Thirty-one teachers in English secondary schools were interviewed three times each over the course of a year-long project, discussing their beliefs about writing in general and grammar in particular. The results indicate that while teachers’ initial conceptualisations of ‘grammar teaching’ tend to reflect a prescriptive and traditional model of grammar, their beliefs about how it may be of value tend to evoke a rhetorical model. Their initial prescriptive conceptualisation is also related to negative affective responses to ‘grammar’. This paper suggests that attempts to encourage support or enthusiasm for teaching grammar will therefore need to deal with teachers’ explicit awareness (or lack thereof) of the variety of meanings that ‘grammar teaching’ can have

Re-thinking grammar: The impact of embedded grammar teaching on students' writing and students' metalinguistic understanding

publication-status: Publishedtypes: ArticleThis paper reports on a national study, involving a mixed-method research design comprising a randomised controlled trial (RCT), text analysis, student and teacher interviews and lesson observations. It set out to investigate whether contextualised teaching of grammar, linked to the teaching of writing, would improve student outcomes in writing and in metalinguistic understanding. The RCT involved 744 students in 31 schools in the south-west and the Midlands of England, and was a blind randomisation study. Classes were randomly allocated to either a comparison or intervention group, after the sample had been matched for teacher linguistic subject knowledge (LSK). The statistical data were complemented by three interviews per teacher and three interviews with a focus student in each class, plus three lesson observations in each class, giving a data-set of 93 teacher interviews, 93 student interviews and 93 lesson observations. In addition, the final pieces of writing produced for each scheme of work were collected. The statistical results indicate a significant positive effect for the intervention, but they also indicate that this benefit was experienced more strongly by the more able writers in the sample. The regression modelling also indicates that teacher LSK was a significant mediating factor in the success of the intervention. The qualitative data provide further evidence of the impact of teacher knowledge on how the intervention was implemented and on students' metalinguistic learning. It also reveals that teachers found the explicitness, the use of discussion and the emphasis on playful experimentation to be the most salient features of the intervention. The study is significant in providing robust evidence for the first time of a positive benefit derived from the teaching of grammar, and signals the potential of a pedagogy for a writing which includes a theorised role for grammar. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

Inherited Platelet Disorders - Insight from Platelet Genomics using Next Generation Sequencing

Inherited platelet disorders (IPDs) are a heterogeneous group of disorders associated with normal or reduced platelet counts and bleeding diatheses of varying severities. The identification of the underlying cause of IPDs is clinically challenging due to the absence of a gold-standard platelet test, and is often based on a clinical presentation and normal values in other hematology assays. As a consequence, a DNA-based approach has a potentially important role in the investigation of these patients. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies are allowing the rapid analysis of genes that have been previously implicated in IPDs or that are known to have a key role in platelet regulation, as well as novel genes that have not been previously implicated in platelet dysfunction. The potential limitations of NGS arise with the interpretation of the sheer volume of genetic information obtained from whole exome sequencing (WES) or whole genome sequencing (WGS) in order to identify function-disrupting variants. Following on from bioinformatic analysis, a number of candidate genetic variants usually remain, therefore adding to the difficulty of phenotype–genotype segregation verification. Linking genetic changes to an underlying bleeding disorder is an ongoing challenge and may not always be feasible due to the multifactorial nature of IPDs. Nevertheless, NGS will play a key role in our understanding of the mechanisms of platelet function and the genetics involved

Teacher agency in the selection of literary texts

This is the final version. Available from Routledge via the DOI in this record. The nature of English as a school subject – and particularly English literature – is a longstanding issue of debate for practitioners and researchers internationally. One dimension of this concerns the forces that shape the diet of literary texts that students are fed. In this study, we draw on the ecological model of agency to interrogate the factors which influence how teachers choose literary texts for whole class teaching. Dimensions of agency are used as lenses to reveal the complex ways in which values and beliefs, structures of authority, material resources, and identities shape the selection of books, plays and poetry that are taught in English. By looking across these dimensions, we identify important questions which contribute to the debate: who should have agency to choose the texts taught; how does teacher agency influence students’ experiences of English literature; how far should we expect these experiences to be standardised?United Kingdom Literacy Associatio

The Dance and the Tune:A storied exploration of the teaching of stories

This paper tells a story of one student teacher’s experiences as she considers the choice of fiction texts studied by young secondary learners of English, and how those texts are taught. Based on a series of interviews carried out in the South-West of England and Wales, the narrative provides a perspective on the limitations of current curricula offered by schools that feel bound by a restrictive assessment and inspection regime. It concludes that such curricula can stifle effective teaching and learning, and so teacher educators have a duty to provide new entrants to the profession with a range of perspectives, opportunities and experiences. Through so doing, we promote the fictionalisation of data as a valid, robust approach to educational research

Teaching Key Stage 3 literature:The challenges of accountability, gender and diversity

This article presents the results of a study, conducted in parts of Wales and southwest England, focusing on what literature is being taught to learners aged 11–14 years. By exploring this area, we gain insight into influences on teacher choices and the challenges faced by teachers. Our research, which included a survey of over 170 teachers as well as teacher interviews, provides a snapshot of young people's experiences studying literature in the early secondary years (Key Stage 3). The results show that while some schools provide variety and diversity in their choice of texts and authors, the majority provide a limited diet of literature with texts mainly from male writers, with male protagonists. Girls are rarely the main focus. Nor do the majority of children study literature written by or about those from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, highlighting a lack of diversity. Literature teaching at Key Stage 3 is increasingly influenced by the demands of GCSE and exam accountability. We hope the study can act as a catalyst for discussion about what ought to be the purpose and focus of literature study in England, Wales and beyond