Pre-service teachers linking their metalinguistic knowledge to their practice: A functional approach

Existing work in Anglophone countries has raised concerns regarding teachers’ knowledge about language (KAL); this may well be an issue in other countries also, with notable exceptions such as Finland. In Australia, with the introduction of the new Australian Curriculum, the question of teacher KAL has become crucial. Teachers, both practising and pre-service, generally have some knowledge about language as an object, usually including the text structures of particular school genres and information about sentence structure and word classes. This knowledge may be based on traditional grammar and may not be well applied above the sentence level. Teachers may also have an intuitive knowledge of discourse structures and are beginning to reflect on their own discourse using understandings of dialogic teaching. This paper provides an example of how first-year pre-service teachers (PSTs) were introduced to KAL at both the grammatical and the discourse levels, as part of an introductory unit on spoken language. A range of approaches was used, including a functional view of discourse. The PSTs then applied their KAL by putting it into a context that was meaningful for them: discussing their own practice. The paper gives an illustration of some of the work they produced that demonstrates their emerging understandings

Becoming an English language teacher:linguistic knowledge, anxieties and the shifting sense of identity

English Language is a fast growing and popular subject at A level but the majority of qualified secondary teachers in the UK have subject expertise and backgrounds in literature. This paper reports on interviews with seven secondary English teachers who discuss the strategies they used when taking on the responsibility of A level English Language teaching for the first time. It highlights the shifting sense of identity that these teachers felt they went through, and as such, explores some emerging issues related to identity from a narrative/personal history perspective. The study reveals that despite feelings of anxiety and low self-confidence, teachers felt that the experience had been a positive one in terms of their own developing identity as an English teacher and had impacted on other aspects of their teaching. The paper raises questions about the value of language-based work for English teachers and has implications for UK initial and continuing teacher education in English

Supporting Less-Proficent Writers through Linguistically-Aware Teaching

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Taylor & Francis (Routledge) via the DOI in this record.Whilst historically there has been a widespread consensus that teaching grammar has no impact on students’ attainment in writing, more recent research suggests that where a functionally-oriented approach to grammar is meaningfully embedded within the teaching of writing, significant improvements in writing can be secured. A recent study ((Myhill et al 2012), using a functionally-oriented approach, which found a statistically significant positive effect of such an approach, also found that the approach appeared to benefit higher-attaining writers more than lower-attaining writers. The study reported here set out to investigate specifically whether functionally-oriented approach to teaching grammar in the context of writing might support less proficient writers. A quasi-experimental design was adopted, repeating the principles of the parent study but with the intervention adapted to meet the identified writing needs of less proficient writers. The statistical analysis indicated a positive effect for the intervention group (p<0.05), and an effect size of 0.33 on students’ sentence structure and punctuation. The study demonstrates that explicit attention to grammar within the teaching of writing can support learners in developing their writing, but taken with the parent study, it also highlights that pedagogical choices need to be well-matched to writers’ needs.This parent study referred to in this article was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council.Funding Agency under Grant ES/FO15313/1. The study reported in this article was funded by Pearson

Examining a genre-based approach to the teaching of English writing: A case study in Saudi high schools

Learning to produce socially purposeful and coherent texts in English can be very challenging for students learning English as a foreign language (EFL). Such learners are expected to compose readable texts, often drawing on limited exposure to decontextualised grammar lessons that are unrelated to texts. In order to pass examinations, many students resort to reproduction of memorised written passages and leave classrooms without the ability to produce English texts independently. In such contexts, genre-based approaches to literacy instruction are increasingly recognised as powerful 'ways in' to writing, based as they are on a functional model of language in context and highly supportive explicit pedagogy. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a genre-based approach to teaching of writing in two EFL classrooms in Saudi Arabia. Specifically, it aimed to address students' problems with learning to write purposeful and coherent texts in English and thus ease transition into tertiary study. This study focuses particularly on the value of genre pedagogy for improving the writing of Saudi high school students. The study adopted a qualitative case study design. It focused on a purpose-designed 12-week genre-based EFL teaching cycle, implemented at two different high schools in the city of Taif, Saudi Arabia in October, 2011 for the first intervention, and later in March, 2012 for the second. The participants in this study were 33 female year 12 students (15 in the first intervention, 18 in the second) and eight English teachers, including one who observed teaching of Recount and another who participated in evaluating students' pretexts. The study's findings are based on multiple data sources, including students' personal and biographical Recounts (pre-and-post intervention), individual interviews with teachers, and focus group interviews with participating students. Supplemental data included researcher's notes (teacher journals) to monitor teaching and observer notes about intervention classes. Students' written texts were collected to identify levels of English proficiency prior to the intervention and to inform design of the teaching program. Teachers' interview data collected prior to the intervention provided information about current challenges facing EFL instruction in their different classrooms, their approach to language and practical aspects of teaching writing used in schools. Similar information was sought from participating students prior to and following the intervention. Students' written texts were analysed using aspects of systemic functional linguistics (SFL), focusing on text structure, coherence and grammatical features such as tense. Interviews with teachers and students in a pre- and post-intervention focus group were analysed using thematic analysis, providing important data about attitudinal changes and complementing those observed in students' writing of Recount. Results reveal the positive impact of the intervention on students' English literacy development, specifically their production of purposeful, engaging and readable Recounts. Significantly, students' texts demonstrated enhanced control of the structure of Recount, greater length, and improved use of past tense, conjunctions and text connectives, along with more purposeful use of vocabulary. Students were able to draw on the genre-based instruction to help them achieve the purpose of the genre in their writing, innovating on the language used in modelling and joint construction phases of the teaching learning cycle. Importantly, students demonstrated positive attitudes towards the approach in interviews. Moreover, data from observer's notes and the researcher's field notes showed that students were aware of having made progress in terms of borrowing from the model, had a good grasp of vocabulary and enhanced awareness of the value of group work, and understood the different roles of the teacher, which allowed them to actively participate in their learning. A genre-based approach provides students with valuable insights into the cultural expectations of writing in English, the role of a supportive and explicit pedagogy, and the importance of improving teachers' capacity to implement such approaches. The study has the potential to contribute to the policy goals of the Saudi government for the upgrading of English teaching, and contribute to achieving its stated English education communication goals