1st Edition

Beyond the Grammar Wars A Resource for Teachers and Students on Developing Language Knowledge in the English/Literacy Classroom

Edited By Terry Locke Copyright 2010
    330 Pages
    by Routledge

    330 Pages
    by Routledge

    Are there evidence-based answers to the broad question "What explicit knowledge about language in teachers and/or students appears to enhance literacy development in some way"? Distinguished by its global perspective, its currency, and its comprehensiveness, Beyond the Grammar Wars:

    • provides an historical overview of the debates around grammar and English/literacy teaching in four settings: the US, England, Scotland and Australia
    • offers an up-to-date account of what the research is telling (and not telling) us about the effectiveness of certain kinds of grammar-based pedagogies in English/literacy classrooms
    • takes readers into English/literacy classrooms through a range of examples of language/grammar-based pedagogies which have proven to be successful
    • addresses metalinguistic issues related to changes in textual practices in a digital and multimodal age, and explores the challenges for educators who are committed to finding a "usable grammar" to contribute to teaching and learning in relation to these practices.

    All of the contributors are acknowledged experts in their field. Activities designed for use in language and literacy education courses actively engage students in reflecting on and applying the content in their own teaching contexts.

    Contents

    Preface

    1. Introduction: "Grammar Wars" and beyond
    2. Terry Locke

      Part I: The "Grammar Wars" in context

    3. Blowin’ in the wind: English grammar in United States schools.
    4. Martha Kolln and Craig Hancock

    5. The problematics of prescribing grammatical knowledge: The case in England
    6. Urszula Clark

    7. The Grammar Wars in Australia
    8. Frances Christie

    9. Knowledge about language in the English classroom: A Scottish perspective
    10. Graeme Trousdale

      Part II: The effectiveness of grammar teaching: The research record

    11. Teaching sentence-level grammar for writing: The evidence so far
    12. Richard Andrews

    13. Explicit teaching of grammar: Does it help students to become better writers?
    14. Amos van Gelderen

    15. Ways of knowing: Writing with grammar in mind
    16. Debra Myhill

      Part III: Into the classroom: Integrating knowledge about language with learning

    17. "Language as a system of meaning potential": The reading and design of verbal texts
    18. Hilary Janks

    19. Discovering a metalanguage for all seasons: Bringing literary language in from the cold
    20. Terry Locke

    21. Scaffolding grammar instruction for writers and writing
    22. Constance Weaver

    23. Primary school children learning grammar: Rethinking the possibilities
    24. Ruth French

       

      Section IV: Beyond print: A metalanguage for multimodal texts

    25. A grammar for meaning-making
    26. Gunther Kress

    27. Schemas for meaning-making and multimodal texts
    28. Anne Cloonan, Mary Kalantzis and Bill Cope

    29. Resourcing multimodal literacy pedagogy: Towards a description of the meaning-making resources of language-image interaction
    30. Len Unsworth

    31. Rules of grammar, rules of play: Computer games, literacy, and literature

    Andrew Burn

    List of Contributors

    Biography

    Terry Locke is Professor of Education and Chair of the Department of Arts and Language Education in the School of Education, University of Waikato, New Zealand.