Teacher knowledge and beliefs about grammar: A case study of an English primary school

Bell, Huw

doi:10.1111/eie.12100

Cited by 19 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…At the same time, students are now entering secondary school with a wealth of grammatical knowledge, partly as a result of the primary school Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPaG)Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling (GPS) tests which were introduced in 2013, along with the substantial grammatical content on the English National Curriculum. Despite the controversies surrounding them, the tests have brought grammar 'back're-emphasised grammar to in English teaching and shown that both young children and teachers are capable of learning about (and enjoying) a wide range of grammatical concepts (see Bell 2016;Safford 2016). I see this as an opportunity for secondary school teachers to maintainbuild and build and maintain on primary school grammar knowledge, and suggest that world-based models are offer an accessible and enabling framework in with which to do so.…”

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confidence: 99%

‘Suddenly, I am part of the poem’: texts as worlds, reader-response and grammar in teaching poetry

Cushing

2018

English in Education

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This paper draws on research in using reader-response theory as a way of thinking about teaching grammar and poetry in the English classroom. Framing my discussion around world-based models of reader-response such as Transactional Theory (Rosenblatt 1938; 1978) and Text World Theory (Werth 1999; Gavins 2007), I argue that this approach is useful in that it foregrounds the creative nature of reading whilst providing a systematic way of analysing language. I analyse data from a series of Key Stage 3 poetry lessons, showing how world-based approaches provide a 'concept-driven pedagogical tool' for the teaching of grammar, giving KS3 students the opportunity to build and develop on KS2 grammatical knowledge. I also show how this approach helped to produce authentic responses to literature and generated meta-reflective discussions on the reading process. I argue that this approach offers an intuitive, accessible and contextualised method to for exploring how language and grammar work. 1 Texts as worlds The human mind has a remarkable capacity and ability to imagine fictional people, events and worlds that are different from our own. This ability is often at its most striking when we encounter literary texts: through language, we can be transported to and immersed within alternative worlds, often so realistic that we feel we are actually a part of them (Gerrig 1993). In a 1992 chapter called Secondary Worlds, Michael Benton begins with a quotation from J.R.R Tolkien, who describes a writer as a 'successful sub-creator' of a secondary world, which a reader's mind has the capacity to enter: Children are capable, of course, of literary belief, when the story-maker's art is good enough to produce it […] the story-maker proves a successful 'sub-creator'. He makes a Secondary World which your mind can enter. Inside it, what he relates is 'true': it accords with the laws of that world. You therefore believe it, while you are, as it were, inside. The moment disbelief arises, the spell is broken: the magic, or rather art, has failed. You are then out in the Primary World again, looking at the little abortive Secondary World from outside. (Tolkien 1964: 36).

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confidence: 99%

‘Suddenly, I am part of the poem’: texts as worlds, reader-response and grammar in teaching poetry

Cushing

2018

English in Education

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“…This makes the phenomenon of grammatical terminology and the extensive table of terms and glossary that teachers are required to teach and on which pupils are assessed significant, so much so that a meaning-oriented theorisation of grammatical terminology could be an appropriate call. Bell (2016) illustrates the difficulties in teacher-student discussion caused by lack of metalanguage, and shows that, for both teacher and child, develop control of metalanguage can help crystallise nascent insights into how language works and our understanding of it.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Comments by "Grace" cited in Watson 2015: 9-10). Most teachers in Bell's (2016) study had a largely positive perspective on, and some expressed genuine enthusiasm for, understanding and teaching grammar.…”

Section: Teachers' Perspectives On National Policymentioning

confidence: 96%

What, why and how – the policy, purpose and practice of grammatical terminology

Harris

Helks

2018

English in Education

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This article critically examines the literature around grammar and grammatical terminology. It is essentially a critical consideration of the debates in England and Wales in four main parts. Part one considers debates in policy, the 'What', i.e. grammatical terminology from the perspective of national policy as defined by the English National Curriculum (DfE 2014) for Key Stages 1 and 2, and the Key Stage 2 'Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling test' (DfE 2013). Part two, debates in purpose, examines the 'Why' i.e. grammatical terminology through a more theoretical lens which considers the potential purpose and value of explicit grammatical terminology in the classroom. Part three touches upon debates in practice, the 'How', i.e. what else is already understood about the teaching of grammatical terminology in terms of: grammar pedagogy, language acquisition, and word learning. While each part has a distinct focus, the field is complex with overlap and interrelated issues. The final part looks briefly at teacher and pupil perspectives. Introduction: Debates in Policy Shortly after the First World War, the UK government commissioned a report to suggest improvements for the teaching of English in England. Named after its chair, Sir Henry Newbolt, the report emphasised the importance of the teaching of literature. "Literature," it claimed, was "one of the chief temples of the human spirit in which all should worship" (Newbolt 1921). The report was a victory over those who wanted the subject to remain the study of the history of the language and laid the groundwork for the subject we recognise today (Eaglestone 2017), It recommended that students should perform drama and poetry, write their own plays and poems, and study local dialects. Rebuilding the nation after the devastation of war required a spiritual and almost religious devotion to which the teaching of grammar and "correct" language use were subordinate. Although Newbolt was the first major government-sponsored report on the teaching of English in England, it can be said to mark the beginning of a century-long divergence between the aims of government and of the English teaching profession around the role of language in the building of the nation state. As Wright (2016) has argued, governments in recent history regard the national language as an important part of the nation building process: London: HMSO.

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“…Safford (2016) describes an increase since 2012-13 of decontextualized grammar teaching, daily GPS lessons, lengthy test preparation and the use of past papers as teaching materials. Learning specialist terminology undoubtedly appeals to some children (Bell, 2016), but this is a poor argument for diverting time and resources to teach or test it. Debra Myhill, a contributor to the 2012-13 grammar curriculum, argues that the GPS test serves 'no valid educational purpose' (Centre for Research in Writing, 2016) and should be discontinued.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

'I ain't no clue, but we learned it yesterday': losing our way with the Year 6 Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling test

Lee¹

2019

FORUM

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In 2012, head teachers responded to the proposed new year 6 Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling test (commonly known as the SPaG or GPS test) with warnings of curriculum narrowing, teaching to tests, and misery for pupils and families. Despite head teachers' opposition to the test, seven cohorts of year 6 pupils have now taken it. This article considers the head teachers' warnings in the light of evidence from recent ethnographic fieldwork with Year 5 and 6 children in an English primary school. The history and rationale behind the introduction of the test are discussed. It is then suggested that the emphasis on teaching the concepts and terminology required for success in the GPS test intersects with schools' accountability mechanisms, leading in some settings to the teaching of formulaic writing that has little to do with meaning, creativity, purpose or audience.

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Teacher knowledge and beliefs about grammar: A case study of an English primary school

Cited by 19 publications

References 21 publications

‘Suddenly, I am part of the poem’: texts as worlds, reader-response and grammar in teaching poetry

‘Suddenly, I am part of the poem’: texts as worlds, reader-response and grammar in teaching poetry

What, why and how – the policy, purpose and practice of grammatical terminology

'I ain't no clue, but we learned it yesterday': losing our way with the Year 6 Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling test

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