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

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.

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.

Contents
Preface


Introduction: "Grammar Wars" and beyond

Terry Locke

Part I: The "Grammar Wars" in context


Blowin’ in the wind: English grammar in United States schools.

Martha Kolln and Craig Hancock


The problematics of prescribing grammatical knowledge: The case in England

Urszula Clark


The Grammar Wars in Australia

Frances Christie


Knowledge about language in the English classroom: A Scottish perspective

Graeme Trousdale

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


Teaching sentence-level grammar for writing: The evidence so far

Richard Andrews


Explicit teaching of grammar: Does it help students to become better writers?

Amos van Gelderen


Ways of knowing: Writing with grammar in mind

Debra Myhill

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


"Language as a system of meaning potential": The reading and design of verbal texts

Hilary Janks


Discovering a metalanguage for all seasons: Bringing literary language in from the cold

Terry Locke


Scaffolding grammar instruction for writers and writing

Constance Weaver


Primary school children learning grammar: Rethinking the possibilities

Ruth French

　
Section IV: Beyond print: A metalanguage for multimodal texts


A grammar for meaning-making

Gunther Kress


Schemas for meaning-making and multimodal texts

Anne Cloonan, Mary Kalantzis and Bill Cope


Resourcing multimodal literacy pedagogy: Towards a description of the meaning-making resources of language-image interaction

Len Unsworth


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

Andrew Burn

List of Contributors