Download - AATE/ALEA National conference

2009 AATE/ ALEA National Conference, Wrest Point Conference Centre 9-12 July
FRIDAY
Biographies
Lisa Kervin is employed as senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the University of
Wollongong and is the NSW State Director of ALEA.
Jessica Mantei is the President of the South Coast Local Council. Both are experienced primary
teachers.
4.20 - 5.00
Mezzanine
Board Room
Audience:
Secondary
Accessing grammar in senior secondary English: a Victorian exemplar
JEAN MULDER, CAROLINE THOMAS
As both locally and across the globe calls to renew the teaching of grammar in schools continue
to be made, this paper addresses how this might be achieved. First, we argue that renewal should
not be taken as simply a return to a traditional grammar approach. Instead, in rethinking the way
grammar is being taught, we contend that it is important not to ‘chuck-out’ present approaches
with their emphasis on language as communication, but to combine the explicit teaching of
grammar with the actual real world study of language. Each grammatical concept needs to be
introduced within the context of a particular aspect of language use. Secondly, we demonstrate
that VCE English Language, part of the senior secondary English syllabus in Victoria, provides an
example of how grammar can be taught meaningfully, whilst allowing access to those students
who would like an alternative or an addition to the standard English course. Worked examples
illustrate how this VCE level subject ‘bridges’ the study of grammar and the study of English texts.
Thirdly, this paper evaluates the success of the subject through considering assessments by three
focus groups of students, teachers and educational decision makers, respectively, along with
statistics on the growth in student numbers and number of schools offering the subject since it
was first introduced in 2001. We conclude that, while it was a brave move to introduce VCE English
Language, it has been successful in bringing the study of grammar into Victorian schools at the
senior school level.
Biographies
Jean Mulder is a senior lecturer in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics at the University of
Melbourne. Her research ranges over educational linguistics, minority language documentation,
and grammatical and discourse analysis. She has been actively involved with the development
and implementation of VCE English Language since its inception.
Caroline Thomas has been teaching English and ESL for over thirty years. A keen interest and
studies in Linguistics at the University of Melbourne inspired her involvement in VCE English
Language. She has participated in its development as: teacher, examiner, co-author of a textbook,
provider of professional development and tutor.
4.20 - 5.00
Training Room
Audience:
Primary
Making sense of an everyday science text: linguistic, visual and
spatial design
BERYL EXLEY
This article contributes to the ongoing professional conversations about scientific literacies in the
middle years. We frame our discussion on Norris and Phillips’s (2003) notion of scientific literacies
as being made up of two interrelated senses: fundamental and derived. The fundamental sense
broadly refers to the act of ‘reading and writing’ scientific content whereas a derived sense refers
to being knowledgeable, learned and educated about science concepts. Much of the research
into school science focuses on the derived sense, often ignoring the interrelatedness to the
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