Transcript Living language - Advanced Learning Alliance

Teaching beyond the test
Dr Jon Berry
University of Hertfordshire
Jon Berry. University of Hertfordshire.
2014
Jon Berry. University of Hertfordshire.
2014
Jon Berry. University of Hertfordshire.
2014
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How do I make my teaching, and students’ learning,
lively, enjoyable and, occasionally, creative when I live
in a world of high-stakes testing and measurable
outcomes?
Could I possibly have the best of both worlds?
Jon Berry. University of Hertfordshire.
2014
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Today I trained to win the
100m.
Got up. Had breakfast. Ran
100 metres.
Had a break and ran 100
metres.
Rested for a bit and then ran
100 metres.
Had my tea and ran 100
metres…
…you get the picture.
Jon Berry. University of Hertfordshire.
2014
A toxic mixture of nostalgia, populism
and ideology – with a tinge of racism
Jon Berry. University of Hertfordshire.
2014
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Uphold standards -and demand proof that they have
been attained
Insist on rigour
Stand up for common sense and decency
Understand the needs of ordinary people
Remind us of the need for value for money
Uphold the notion of a meritocracy
Defend us from lunacy in whatever guise it comes to
threaten us
Jon Berry. University of Hertfordshire.
2014
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OFSTED
League tables
Performance-related pay
Over-zealous internal scrutiny and observation
A discourse of catastrophe
Jon Berry. University of Hertfordshire.
2014
(NB – bad guys and good guys do come in other colours and genders)
Jon Berry. University of Hertfordshire.
2014
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Attempt to provide a sense of perspective
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Use research and scholarship to do the above
So, with thanks to all of these three good guys, let’s look
at some examples of how they do this:
Jon Berry. University of Hertfordshire.
2014
Q 16. Complete the sentence below:
The sun shone_______________ in the sky.
The mark scheme reads ‘Accept any adverb, e.g. brightly,
beautifully’.
The sun shone bright in the sky
Right/Wrong?
Wrong. Because…….
……..bright ‘is not an adverb’.
Jon Berry. University of Hertfordshire.
2014
She doth teach the torches to burn bright.
Romeo
The moon shines bright.
Lorenzo (Merchant of Venice)
I say it is the sun that shines so bright.
Kate. (Taming of the Shrew)
Jon Berry. University of Hertfordshire.
2014
Much to be deprecated is the
growing notion that every
monosyllabic adjective, if an adverb
is to be made of it, must have a –ly
clapped on it to proclaim the fact.
1926!
(And what about dutifully as an answer to the question?)
And, yes, I know that I’ve now started two sentences with ‘and’.
Jon Berry. University of Hertfordshire.
2014
Jon Berry. University of Hertfordshire.
2014
A ghost says…..
I walk through a wall.
 A dancer says….
I walk through my routine .
(What’s ‘walk through’? A verb and a preposition?)
It’s a phrasal verb when the dancer uses it.
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You can replace a noun with a pronoun. Rule.
So the ghost and the dancer can say:
I walk through it.
But only the dancer can say….
I walk it through.
What use is a ‘rule’ here?
Jon Berry. University of Hertfordshire.
2014
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The government are doing a rotten job?
The government is doing a rotten job?
Too many cards in my wallet makes me worry.
Too many cards in my wallet make me worry.
Jalfrezi is completely different to Madras.
Jalfrezi is completely different from Madras.
Hopefully we’ll be going there tomorrow.
I hope we’ll be going there tomorrow.
There’s a Standard English answer to all of the above – but does it
matter?
Jon Berry. University of Hertfordshire.
2014
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Great Britain hopes to
medal in five events.
I medalled in my main
event.
medal – vb.
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medal – n.
I AM
OUTRAGED!!
Jon Berry. University of Hertfordshire.
2014
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We know that learners learn through active
engagement with what they are doing.
Learning grammar as rules rather than structures that
have contextual meaning militates against this.
Becoming an active agent in language use gives a
learner a better chance of understanding different
language use in different contexts (including tests and
exams).
Which is exactly why Russell Brand and Dizzee Rascal –
players with language - are important additions to the
curriculum.
Jon Berry. University of Hertfordshire.
2014
Let’s start with what the research shows:
 Contextualized grammar teaching can improve the
writing of some students – particularly more able
writers.
 The greatest areas of improvement were made in
Composition and Effect….
 ‘…suggesting that the impact of grammar teaching was
not simply at the syntactical level of the sentence but
had an effect on overall effectiveness’ (Jones et al,
2013).
Jon Berry. University of Hertfordshire.
2014
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The use of the meta-language of grammar is a barrier
rather than a support for many learners.
Teachers’ subject knowledge and understanding of
grammar is uneven – although not necessarily agerelated!
Teachers using ‘learnt’ grammar can lead to the
perpetuation of myth and ignorance.
Jon Berry. University of Hertfordshire.
2014
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There’s an accepted way of doing things. (Our way).
There’s an acceptable body of knowledge. (Validated
by us).
Practise (vb) makes perfect.
That they believe in ‘strong doses of English grammar
as a cure for… educational ills’ (Elley et al, 1975:3).
Deliver the goods or face the consequences.
Jon Berry. University of Hertfordshire.
2014
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Don’t accept notions of a golden age.
Contextualized, constructivist teaching of grammar –
and most other things- has a more beneficial effect
than exercises, drills and prescriptive notions of
grammar.
Jon Berry. University of Hertfordshire.
2014
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What appears to characterise (satisfactory) lessons ….is an
emphasis on the GCSE skills of analysis at the expense of
personal response even in the early stages of Key Stage 3.
Inspectors noted little attempt in these lessons to encourage an
exchange of views about ideas in the text or to explore students’
reaction to what they had read. Strategies that seek to engage
students with the text were neglected in favour of approaches
that were directly aimed at developing those skills needed for
the type of analytical, literary-critical essay required in the GCSE
examination. Inspectors believe that teachers often try to teach
these skills before students have had the opportunity to become
confident, independent and mature readers. Inevitably, this
leads to learning that is heavily reliant on the authoritative,
teacher view.
Jon Berry. University of Hertfordshire.
2014
‘teachers’ assumptions – frequently mistaken – about what
inspectors “want” to see in a lesson or what constitutes
effective teaching’.
Along with:
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Confusing pace with speed
Too many activities
Over detailed lesson plans
Inflexibility within lessons
Constant review of learning
Ofsted: Moving English Forward
Jon Berry. University of Hertfordshire.
2014
When we work in a system dominated by ‘the fallacy of
universally measurable performance ….the logic of
punitive quantification’ (Collini, 2013)……
 Can we afford to abandon practice and rehearsal?
 Can we take our eye off Assessment Objectives?
 Can we afford to make leaps of faith?
Jon Berry. University of Hertfordshire.
2014
Collini, S.(2013) Sold Out. London Review of Books. Vol.35:20 pp 3-12
Crystal, D. (2013) Blogspot. Available at :
http://david-crystal.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/on-not-very-bright-grammar-test.html
Elley, W., Barnham, I., Lamb, H. and Wylie. M. (1975) The role of grammar in a secondary curriculum.
Educational Research Series, No. 60. Wellington. New Zealand.
Fowler, H. (1926) A dictionary of modern English usage. Oxford.
Jones, S., Myhill, D. and Bailey, T. (2013) Grammar for writing? An investigation of the effects of
contextualized grammar teaching on students’ writing. Available at:
https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/bitstream/handle/10036/4481/2012GrammarforWritingReadingWri
ting.pdf?sequence=5
OFSTED (2012) Moving English Forward: actions to raise standards in English
Rosen. M (2012). Blogspot. Available at:
http://michaelrosenblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/grammar.html
Jon Berry. University of Hertfordshire.
2014