Editorial: Composition in the English/literacy classroom

The act of writing is a complex task. About that, there is almost complete agreement, whether you are a psychologist, a linguist, a socio-cultural theorist, a teacher, or a student battling with an assignment deadline and a blank page. For the emergent writer in the infant classroom, the challenge of communicating in writing is compounded by the sheer effort of transcription – remembering to put spaces between words, shaping upper and lower case letters, marking sentence boundaries with full stops, and representing words in your head as accurately spelled sequences of letters on the page. For the older writer, the complexity persists, though the challenges change. Although transcribing text onto paper or screen may be less effortful, understanding the expectations of the writing task and imagining the needs of the (implied) reader create different obstacles to effortless composition

Towards a Linguistic Model of Sentence Development in Writing.

publication-status: Publishedtypes: ArticleDrawing on the findings of an ESRC-funded research study,which included a detailed linguistic analysis of a large corpus of writing from secondary English classrooms, this article describes patterns of linguistic deployment at the level of the sentence. Given the limited number of applied linguistic studies which consider writing development in older writers, as opposed to primary aged writers, the paper aims to investigate developmental differences in mastery of the sentence in this older age group. It describes similarities and differences in linguistic characteristics of writing at sentence level according to age and writing ability, and makes connections between the linguistic patterns and effectiveness in writing. The paper illustrates that clear developmental trajectories in writing can be determined which have implications for appropriate pedagogical or instructional designs. Finally, the paper offers a linguistic model of sentence development in writing, and signals the potential significance of linguistic models within a multi-disciplinary approach to writing pedagogy

Principled Understanding? Teaching the Active and Passive Voice

This article describes some of the misconceptions and confusions in metalinguistic understanding which are established during whole class teaching of the active and passive voice. It draws on findings from a larger study investigating how teachers use talk in whole class settings to scaffold children’s learning. Through a detailed analysis of the teacher’s interactions with her class the article illuminates the significance of clarity in explanations and choice of examples and the importance of secure subject knowledge. It demonstrates how the teaching of metalinguistic knowledge requires more than an ability to identify and define terminology, and how an over-emphasis upon content can lead to a failure to acknowledge the cognitive and conceptual implications of pedagogical decisions.ESR

From Talking to Writing: Linguistic Development in Writing

publication-status: Publishedtypes: ArticleBackground Previous research in linguistic development in writing has primarily addressed the acquisition of writing, early linguistic development of writing, and spoken-written interactions in the primary phase. This study explored linguistic development in older writers in the secondary phase. Aims The aims of this two year study were to investigate both the linguistic constructions in secondary-aged students’ writing, and to explore their understanding of their own writing processes. Sample The data reported here draws on the first year data collection: a sample comprising two pieces of writing, narrative and argument, drawn from pupils in year 8 (aged 12-13) and year 10 (aged 14-15). The writing sample was stratified by age, gender and writing quality. Methods The writing was subject to linguistic analysis at both sentence and text level, using purpose-built coding frames and a qualitative analysis sheet. Results The linguistic analysis indicates that the patterns of linguistic development show that the influences of oral speech characteristics are strongest in weaker writing than good writing. Conclusions Cognitive research into the translation from thought to text needs to address more explicitly the fact that good writing requires not only production of text, but also shaping of text. Although it is well-understood that learning to be a writer draws on ‘talk knowledge’, this study makes it clear that one key element in learning to write with accomplishment is, in part at least, learning how not to write the way you talk, or rather acquiring adeptness in transforming oral structures into written structures

Misconceptions and difficulties in the acquisition of metalinguistic knowledge.

This paper describes the outcomes of an investigation into the misconceptions and difficulties encountered when learning grammar. The study is based on evidence collected from a class of twelve-year-olds who were engaged upon a workscheme focusingon grammar,andtwocohorts of PGCE Englishstudents undertakingan intensive grammar course. The analysis suggests that learning metalinguistic knowledge can be made problematic for several reasons. Firstly, learning is confounded by the acquired misconceptions which learners bring with them, often misconceptions created by teachers and textbooks. Secondly, there are specific characteristics of English grammar which cause confusion, particularly the mobility of word class. Finally, the process of acquiring metalinguistic knowledge can be hampered by cognitive difficulties relatedto the conceptual demands of grammar, the transfer of learning from passive to active understanding, and the patterns of inter-connected learning in grammar. The paper suggests that toomuch professional energy has been attributed to the debate about whether grammar should be taught or not, whilst insufficient research resource has been allocate to investigating how pupils learn. The findings point to a need for development of metalinguistic subject knowledge in teachers and for further research on pupil acquisition of metalinguistic knowledge

Writing Conversations: Metalinguistic Talk about Writing

La place de la grammaire dans les programmes d'apprentissage des L1 et L2 a été longtemps contestée, en particulier dans les pays anglophones, où l'enseignement de la grammaire a été évité pendant plusieurs décennies. Toutefois, ce débat a été dominé principalement par une discussion sur le bien-fondé ou non de son inclusion dans les programmes d'études plutôt que par l'analyse de données probantes. Dans le cadre de nos recherches à l'Université d'Exeter, nous nous sommes écartés de ce débat traditionnel pour examiner dans quelle mesure un enseignement explicite de la grammaire peut aider les apprenants à comprendre comment se constitue le sens du texte écrit. Nos recherches ont révélé qu'un enseignement de la grammaire explicite pouvait être bénéfique à l'amélioration des résultats des apprenants à l'écrit. Cet article vise à inscrire le débat dans un cadre théorique, pour prendre en compte notamment la valeur de la terminologie métalinguistique dans une approche pédagogique de l'enseignement de la grammaire

Children’s Patterns of Composition and their Reflections on their Composing Processes

publication-status: Publishedtypes: ArticleThis article reports on an Economic and Social Research Council-funded study into secondary-aged writers’ compositional processes, both as observed in a naturalistic classroom setting and as gathered through post hoc reflections. The sample comprised 38 children drawn from Year 9 and Year 11 who were observed, using an annotated timeline, responding to a writing task in the classroom and were subsequently interviewed, using stimulated recall. The initial analysis of the pause and writing patterns observed during the writing task revealed different writing profiles for different writers, and subsequent analysis suggests tentatively that writers of different proficiency may present differing writing profiles. These patterns of composition are then illustrated further through use of the interview data, indicating the writers’ awareness of their own composing processes. Finally, the article considers the pedagogic and theoretical implications of these findings, in particular the need for further confirmatory research

Editorial: Non-themed issue: 2010

The decision to have regular non-themed issues of English Teaching: Practice and Critique was made by way of Board consultation some time ago. As a Board, we believe that the policy of having a panel of guest editors taking control of a “themed” issue has worked well. In many cases, guess editors have worked together for the first time in a common enterprise. In all cases, having panels of guest editors has expanded the reach of the journal, increasing its subscriber base and the number of distinct educational constituencies who view the journal as a desirable target for contributions. It has facilited the journal’s aim of providing “a place where authors from a range of backgrounds can identify matters of common concern and thereby foster professional communities and networks”