COMMITTEE FOR LINGUISTICS IN EDUCATION
Minutes of Meeting No. 67
Wednesday, 21 February 2001, 2.00-5.00 p.m.
at The University of London Institute of Education
(DRAFT: short version ([…] marks omissions))
1. Welcomes, introductions and apologies for absence (RI, EJ)
PRESENT: Mary Auckland (RCSLT), Susan Barry (LAGB), Mike Baynham (BAAL Chair), Keith Davidson (NATE), Ros Fisher (UKRA), Charlotte Franson (NALDIC), Anthea Fraser Gupta (LAGB), Dick Hudson (LAGB), Roz Ivani (BAAL, CLIE Chair), Ewa Jaworska (LAGB, CLIE Secretary), Constant Leung (BAAL), Janet Maybin (BAAL), Teresa O'Brien (BAAL), Helen Sunderland (NATECLA); Lesley Lancaster (Manchester Metropolitan University/BAAL).
APOLOGIES: Richard Aplin (ALA), Debbie Cameron (IE, co-opted), Celine Castelino (BSA), Ann Miller (ALL), Lindsay Peer (BDyA), Stephen Rooney (BDeA), Andrew Spencer (LAGB President), Brian Street (KCL, co-opted).
[…]
4. Dates of future meetings and choice of speakers (RI)
4.1. Summer 2001 meeting
Wednesday, 20 June 2001 (date confirmed)
Ron Carter (University of Nottingham): Where is linguistics in education going? A personal view. The talk postponed until a session next academic year.
4.2. Provisional dates for 2001-02 meetings
Wednesday, 31 October 2001
Wednesday, 20 February 2002
Wednesday, 19 June 2002
4.3. Future topics of interest
- KAL in 12 hours on teacher training programmes (postponed from Meeting 64, Feb 00).
Convenors: Henrietta Dombey (University of Brighton) & Alison Sealey (University of Reading).
- Developments in school policies and practice in modern foreign languages in the aftermath of the Nuffield Languages Inquiry.
Possible speaker: Chris Maynard (QCA, Modern Languages).
- Community languages - policy and practice
Possible speaker: Arturo Tosi (Royal Holloway).
- The Scottish National Languages Policy.
Possible speaker: ???
- Issues of language education in the Deaf community.
Possible speakers:
* Clare Gallaway (University of Manchester; editor of Deafness and Education International)
* ???Rachel O'Neil (Manchester College)
* Alison Crutchley (Centre for Human Communication and Deafness, University of Manchester; on
training deaf adults bilingually)
* Bencie Woll (City University)
- The National Speaking Strategy (See Item 7.7. below.)
* Possible speaker: MA to advise.
ACTION: RI to make arrangements in connection with (a).
5. CLIE membership and communications: update (RI, EJ)
5.1. Membership
Stephen Rooney, Head of Public Affairs, has replaced Sue Unger as the BDeA representative.
[…]
6.2. Attendance at CLIE meetings
After some discussion it was agreed that:
- CLIE meetings are normally attended by the representatives and the heads of the LAGB and BAAL, the representatives of the named organisations and co-opted members. However, when there is an invited speaker or a particular discussion topic of broader interest in the 4-5 p.m. slot, this part of the meeting will be open to anyone interested, subject to the availability of places.
- The open sessions will be advertised by e-mail on the BAAL, LAGB, Edling and CLIE lists, and cascaded to CLIE organisations' members through the reps. Anyone wishing to attend will be asked to notify CLIE Chair or Secretary in advance to confirm the availability of places.
- Members may - in consultation with CLIE Chair - invite a guest to a CLIE meeting. This will normally be a member of an organisation with a specific interest in CLIE matters.
[…]
7. Reports from representatives of organisations
7.1. BAAL
- 34th Annual Meeting 'Unity and diversity in applied linguistics' will be held on 6-8 September 2001 at the University of Reading. The first day will overlap with the last day of the LAGB Autumn Meeting. It is expected that CLIE will hold a session in the overlap time but arrangements have not been confirmed yet.
- BAAL/CUP Seminars:
- 'Linguistic ethnography in the UK': March 2001, the University of Leicester.
- 'Young language learners: towards a research agenda': early June 2001; Faculty of Education, University of Manchester.
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Conference abstracts from previous BAAL Annual Meetings (from 1998 onwards) and information about forthcoming Annual Meetings and the Seminars are available via BAAL website http:/www.baal.org.uk/baalc.htm.
- BAAL Annual Book Prize nominations for 2001 have been received. The full list of nominated books is attached.
7.2. LAGB
- LAGB Spring Meeting will be held on 5-7 April
2001 at the University of Leeds. Details of special events and the programme
are available at http://clwww.essex.ac.uk/LAGB.
- Linguistics at School session 'Phonics and accents of English', organised by the Education Committee of the LAGB, will be held on Friday, 6 April 2001, 2.00-4.00 p.m. at the LAGB Spring Meeting at the University of Leeds.
Chair: Sue Barry (University of Manchester)
John Wells (UCL): A view from phonetics
Rhona Stainthorp (Institute of Education): A view from psychology
Chris Jolly (Educational publisher): A view from phonics
The session is open to non-LAGB members and there is no registration fee. Further information about the session from Sue Barry (Susan.Barry@man.uk.ac).
-
The article 'Grammar teaching and the development of writing skills in the UK: an LAGB Linguistics at School session' will appear in the journal Syntax in the Schools. It reports on the session held at the LAGB Autumn Meeting at Durham in September 2000.
-
The Education Committee has its own web page.
7.3. BDyA
- The Fifth British Dyslexia Association International Conference Dyslexia: at the dawn of the new century will be held at the University of York, 18-21 April 2001. Chair: Prof. Rod Nicholson; keynote speakers include: Professors Al Galaburda, Maggie Snowling, John Stein, Joe Torgesen and Mayanne Wolf. Conference website: http://www.bdainternationalconference.org.
- New books:
- Lindsay Peer & Gavin Reid (eds.) (2001). Multilingualism, literacy and dyslexia: a challenge for educators. David Fulton Publishers & BDA.
- Lindsay Peer & Gavin Reid (eds.) (2001). Dyslexia: successful inclusion in the secondary school. David Fulton Publishers & BDA.
7.4. NALDIC
NALDIC & University of Luton joint conference
'Improving the mathematics achievement of children learning English as an additional
language' on Tuesday, 20 March, 2001 at the Putteridge Bury Campus, the University
of Luton. Speakers: Dr Guida D'Abreu (University of Luton) Dr David Baker (Univeristy
of Brighton), Prof. Margaret Brown (King's College), Prof. Tony Cline (Univeristy
of Luton) and Dr Frank Monaghan (North Westminster School, London). Further
information: www.naldic.org.uk.
7.5. NATE
Much disquiet has been expressed by English teachers in the 200 schools piloting the draft NLS for KS3 (see item 7.11.(a) below for full details of the document). Teachers are unhappy mainly with the level of detail imposed on the teaching plans and with the separation of the language and the literature components. Teacher comments are being collated for a coordinated feedback to the DfEE. See also Item 10 below.
7.6. NATECLA
- A bid in a consortium with LLLU, BSA, NIACE and LSDA has been successful for money from the DfEE to train all current ESOL teachers in using the new national ESOL curriculum.
- The National Conference will be held on 6-8 July 2001.
7.7. NCSaLT
In November 2000, the joint DfEE/DoH Working Group published its report Provision of speech and language therapy services to children with special education needs; (England) DfEE 031 9/2000.
A number of areas that may be of interest to CLIE:
- Training. Of the 13 recommendations, six were concerned with joint training for teachers and therapists at the following levels:
- initial teacher training and SALT pre-qualification
- INSET for post-qualified and dissemination of best practice
- post-graduate training, leading to MA/MSC/Med (DfEE have already commissioned a project from the voluntary body ‘I-CAN’, ‘Joint Professional Development Framework for Teachers and Speech Language Therapists’)
- National Speaking Strategy. With the premise that language comes before literacy, and that pupils can only progress educationally and socially if they can communicate, a national strategy to support development of communication is proposed. This would draw on the programme development model of the NLS and build on the speaking and listening aspects of the curriculum, including such aims as:
- reinforcing the importance of oral language
- encouraging a greater understanding of the nature of communication
- early identification and intervention for communication difficulties
- Provision for Children with Speech and Language Needs in England and Wales DfEE RR 239. This scoping study resulted from the Speech Language Therapy Working Group in order to report on existing provision across England and Wales and facilitate the process of collaboration between health and education services.
7.8. UKRA
- Website has been launched recently: http://www.ukra.org.
- The publication is imminent of a handbook for teachers: Constant Leung (2001). English as an additional language: language and literacy development (Minibook Series 13). Royston: United Kingdom Reading Association.
7.9. Mike Baynham
- The AILA Scientific Commission on Literacy will hold a conference in Cape Town in November 2001. Details available at http://education.leeds.ac.uk/AILA/Conferences.
- QCA invitation-only seminar, Spoken English, grammar and the classroom, organised by Sue Horner, takes place on 13 March 2001. Lynne Cameron, a former CLIE member, attends from Leeds. Follow-up sessions are planned.
7.10. Charlotte Franson
- CF had been asked (along with other colleagues) to comment on standards for classroom assistants (CAs) teaching bilingual learners, work being undertaken by the Local Government National Training Organisation (LGNTO). However, the work on desriptors for EAL specialist teachers, which had been completed last year, has not yet been made public by the DfEE. CF stated that it was regrettable that the work on CAs was not being set in the context of the earlier work.
- The British Institute for English Language Teaching (BIELT: http://www.bielt.org) has an agreement to receive a copy of all ELT publications in print from publishers in the UK. An agreement has been made to locate the library at the University of Birmingham. The university is now cataloguing books and the launch of the library should take place in the Autumn 2001.
- BIELT is supporting the initiative of the Association of Registered English Language Schools (ARELS) in the establishment of the All-Parliamentary Working Party on the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language. BIELT hopes that this group will eventually address issues of ELT in the wider sense.
7.11. Ewa Jaworska
Some recent documents or developments:
- NLS for KS3. Key Stage 3: Draft Framework
for teaching English can be downloaded at the DfEE web site: http://www.standards.dfee.gov.uk/literacy
+ click on Literacy Publications.
- OFSTED report on the second year of the NLS can
be found at www.standards.dfee.gov.uk/literacy/
(if the link is operational!).
- Grammatical knowledge for teachers. An
animated introduction in two modules: 'Overview' and 'Word Classes'. See www.standards.dfee.gov.uk/literacy/
+ click on Professional Development.
- QTS skills tests - benchmark tests for literacy.
See the outcome of the TTA project hotly debated at CLIE about a year ago.
A sample is available at http://www.canteach.gov.uk
- TES for
9 February 2001 had a Curriculum Special on English.
- TES web site http://www.tes.co.uk/
now has pages on 'Your subject', including English and Modern Languages, which
can give us some insight into the latest practice.
8. Draft alternative materials for the NLS on phonics: 'Sounds and letters in English' by A. F. Gupta
The paper 'Sounds and letters in English', inspired by SB's presentation at CLIE in November (see Minutes 66, Item 7), can be downloaded from http://www.leeds.ac.uk/english/staff/afg/.
The next step is to publish (on the web) a series of short complementary papers on specific regional sound-letter correspondences for use by teachers whose pupils speak a regional accent. There is the question of the timing of the release of the materials to a wider audience. If the second part of the project were to take a long time (a year?), then 'Sounds and letters in English' should be publicised on its own sooner. Members are asked to send comments on the existing paper to AFG by the end of March. (A copy of comments from KD was circulated at the meeting.) Subsequently, AFG will advise RI on further action. RI intends to inform Laura Huxley (NLS) about the availability of the paper. Note Item 7.2.(b) above.
ACTION: (1) ALL to send any comments on the paper to AFG (a.f.gupta@leeds.ac.uk) by the end of March.
(2) AFG to contact RI in connection with further action.
9. Government response to the Nuffield Languages Inquiry (RI)
The Government response document is at: http://www.dfee.gov.uk/nuffield.
10. NATE and their position papers on grammar and on literacy (KD)
10.1. Position papers
The Papers were circulated with the agenda and can be downloaded via the website http://www.nate.org.uk/.
They were written in 1997-98 and are now somewhat outdated but, by their nature, they are due for revision from time to time. Three other NATE position papers deal with coursework, drama and the subject criteria for the new A/AS level examinations.
10.2. About NATE
- NATE is a relatively small, subject-teaching organisation (6000 members), sometimes regarded as 'difficult'.
- It organises conferences, workshops and INSET sessions for English teachers, primary and secondary.
- NATE's numerous publications range over periodicals, position papers and books (catalogues are available via the website).
- Two major grammar books:
- R. Bain & E. Bain (1995). The grammar book. NATE.
- R. Bain & M. Bidgewood (1998). The primary grammar book: finding patterns - making sense. NATE.
They differ from the current Government materials (e.g. Grammar for writing) in providing opportunities for a wide range of exploratory work in language study related to children's reading and writing rather than detailed descriptive plans for teaching specific topics supposed to produce particular improvements in writing.
- NATE has developed its earlier 'Growth through English' model (John Dixon et al.) to embrace the holistic LINC model of KAL but is unhappy with the Government's prescriptive and reductionist approach to text and teaching, particularly striking in the draft NLS for KS3, with KAL segmented into measurable, testable bits. NATE seeks to integrate the key skills (speaking and listening, reading and writing) in a text-based model of the English curriculum embracing KAL, the media and ICT.
- NATE is unhappy with the non-developmental test-driven model of the national curriculum, with national tests now to be taken virtually every year in the school career.
- Teacher-assessed coursework is NATE's preferred mode of assessment.
- NATE's position on the English curriculum is spelled out in the following two publications:
- Gabrielle Cliff Hodges, Jon Moss & Ann Shreeve (2000). The future of English. English in Education 34.1. (Sheffield: NATE);
ii. Gabrielle Cliff Hodges (2000). English in the revised National Curriculum. Education Today 50.3. (The College of Teachers: Theydon Bois).
This is summarised in the attached document, circulated at the meeting.
[…]
NATE's views on grammar: what it is, and how it should be taught and assessed, are presented in one of their position papers, 'Grammar'. Other position papers deal with literacy, subject criteria for the new A/AS level examinations, drama and coursework. All can be downloaded from NATE's website.
Comments on the NATE position papers are welcome and should be sent to Keith Davidson, kd.Boxmoor@btinternet.com.
11. New NLS initiative: Grammar for writing (RI, DH)
11.1. About the publication (DH)
- This is a major official support for grammar teaching for KS2 teachers who are new to the subject.
- The Government has committed £100m over five years in salaries, materials, etc. to support the NLS.
- The text examples in Grammar for writing are taken from a QCA repository of authentic children's writing.
EJ & RI, 15/3/01
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MINUTES 67: Attachment, item 7.1.(d)
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FROM: Judy Delin
Publications Secretary, BAAL
21/2/01
The BAAL Book Prize 2001 has attracted a healthy submission of 21 books from 9 publishers. It is a strong field, covering a good range of topics in Applied Linguistics . The books are currently being sent out for review. We have received the following nominations:
Alderson: Assessing Reading (CUP)
Baron: Alphabet to Email: How Written English Evolved and Where It's Heading (Routledge)
Baugh: Beyond Ebonics (OUP)
Cameron: Good to Talk? (Sage)
Cook: Language Play, Language Learning (OUP)
Coupland : Small Talk (Pearson)
Cutting: Analysing the Language of Discourse Communities (Elsevier)
Eckert: Linguistic Variation as Social Practice (Blackwell)
Fairclough: New Labour, New Language (Routledge)
Gregory and Williams: City Literacies (Routledge)
Jenkins: The Phonology of English as an International Language (OUP)
Kern: Literacy and Language Teaching (OUP)
Kern and Warschauer: Network-based Language Teaching: Concepts and Practice (CUP)
Kohonen, Jaatinen, Kaikkonen, Lehtovaara: Experiential Learning in Foreign in Language Education Education (Longman's Pearson Education imprint)
Kress: Early Spellings: From Convention to Creativity (Routledge)
Li and Shirai: The Acquisition of Lexical and Grammatical Aspect (Mouton)
Mercer: Words and Minds: How we Use Language to Think Together (Routledge)
Norton: Identity and Language Learning (Pearson)
Nettle and Romaine: Vanishing Voices (OUP)
Schmitt: Vocabulary in Language Teaching (CUP)
Townend and Turner: Dyslexia in Practice (Kluwer)
Our team of reviewers is in the process of reading the books. We look forward to announcing the winner at BAAL 2001.
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MINUTES 67: Attachment, item 10.2.(h)
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Towards
‘A Curriculum for Learning’
Principles for learning in English - a NATE view
From: Gabrielle Cliff Hodges, John Moss, Ann Shreeve: ‘The Future of English’, English in Education, Vol.34, No.1 (the National Association for the Teaching of English (NATE): Sheffield, 2000).
Based on: the paper prepared by a commission at the NATE Annual Conference in April 1999 and presented to the International Federation of English (IFTE) Conference at Warwick in July 1999.
See also: Gabrielle Cliff Hodges: ‘English in the revised National Curriculum’, Education Today, Volume 50, Number 3 (the College of Teachers: Theydon Bois, 2000)
Core concerns
- The relationship between texts and language:
TEXTS
mediate relationships among
individual(s), groups, society, global society and the world
using
LANGUAGE
- Texts
- individual and group generation and construction of texts, and response to and deconstruction of them
- the development of these activities in relation to varieties of texts, including literature, non-fiction, media, multimedia and dramatic texts, which may be linear, fluid or static
- the exploration of systems and structures in which texts are placed, including discourses, genres and publications networks
- the exploration of relationships between texts, whatever their communication systems and genres
- Language
- individual and group expression in and analysis of language
- the development of these activities in relation to varieties of language, which are social, cultural, historical, local, national, global, in a range from the transactional to the poetic, spoken and written (either separately or in combination), electronically produced and received
- the exploration of language systems and structures at word, sentence and discourse levels
- the exploration of relationships between language and images, sounds and kinaesthetic signs
Teaching and learning
- To enable individuals and groups to achieve:
- expression in and the use of
- responses to and analysis of
- the selection, manipulation and transformation of:
- texts and language, because they:
- construct personal, social moral, spiritual, cultural, ethnic and gender identities
- express feelings and ideas about life, societies and the world
- characterise, critique, influence or transform local, national or global situations and thinking
- are vehicles for imagination, reflection, self-revelation, creativity, argument and reason
- adopt or represent a wide range of perspectives on the world including some that can only be fully appreciated using knowledge and understanding from other curriculum subjects, such as history, geography, art, music, citizenship and moral, personal and social education
Content
- Textual study
- how texts are used to create and act within a wide variety of discourses:
- explorations of the relationships between texts and discourses
- analysis of the emotive and persuasive content of texts
- consideration of the textual mediation of relationships between individuals and the world
- with texts chosen and taught to represent multicultural rather than monocultural perspectives, and to encourage an awareness of intertextuality
- Language study
- how language is used to create and act within a wide variety of texts in the many varieties and versions of English which complement or compete with one another – to include:
explorations of relationships between language and power
analysis of affective language use
study of the linguistic relationships between individuals and the world
- assuming multilingualism as preferable to monolingualism, and encouraging ‘interlingualism’
‘English’?
- developing the skills needed to select and evaluate information and texts from a wide range of sources and with a wide range of claims on readers’ attention
- integrating speaking and listening, reading and writing and other key processes, such as viewing, in understanding the relationships between the production and reception of texts
- defining the boundaries of English and other subjects flexibly enough not just to allow, but also to require, cross-fertilisation
- reconciling local and national considerations in English, with international, regional and global considerations
KD November 2000