Learning the language of school history: the role of linguistics in mapping the writing demands of the secondary school curriculum

Abstract

This study uses the tools of functional linguistics to illuminate the writing requirements of the history curriculum in the context of Australian secondary schools. It shows how the resulting linguistic description was integrated into a sequence of teaching and learning activities through collaboration between linguists and content/pedagogic specialists. These activities were designed to improve students’ writing skills while simultaneously developing their historical knowledge. An independent evaluation of the approach pointed to positive changes in teachers’ attitudes and behaviours regarding the role of language in learning history. Students’ writing improved, particularly in terms of its organization and structure.

Keywords:

• functional linguistics
• history induction
• language research
• writing across the curriculum
• writing (composition)

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Kieran O’Halloran for his comments on an earlier version of this paper and to the general editor of this journal for helping to make linguistics more accessible to a general readership.

Notes

1. All texts used in this paper are taken from data collected during the project.

2. See Coffin (1996, 2004, forthcoming) for further details.

3. A pseudonym.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Caroline Coffin

Caroline Coffin is a senior lecturer at the Centre for Language and Communications in the Faculty of Education and Language Studies, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK; e‐mail: [email protected]. She specializes in educational linguistics, with a particular interest in the role of language in the secondary school curriculum, including history. Previously she was based at the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.