What, why and how – the policy, purpose and practice of grammatical terminology

ABSTRACT

This article critically examines the literature around grammar and grammatical terminology. It is essentially a critical consideration of the debates in England and Wales in four main parts. Part 1 considers debates in policy, the “What”, i.e. grammatical terminology from the perspective of national policy as defined by the English National Curriculum for Key Stages 1 and 2, and the Key Stage 2 “Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling Test”. Part 2, Debates in Purpose, examines the “Why”: it views grammatical terminology through a more theoretical lens which considers the potential purpose and value of explicit grammatical terminology in the classroom. Part 3 touches upon Debates in Practice, the “How”, examining what is already understood about the teaching of grammatical terminology in terms of grammar pedagogy, language acquisition and word learning. While each part has a distinct focus, the field is complex with overlap and interrelated issues. The final part looks briefly at teacher and pupil perspectives.

KEYWORDS:

• Grammar terminology
• grammar pedagogy
• English National Curriculum
• primary education
• education policy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ann Harris

Ann Harris, Professor of Education and Culture and Associate Dean at School of Education and Professional Development, University of Huddersfield, HD1 3DH, UK. [email protected]

Marie Helks

Marie Helks, Primary and Early Years PGCE Head of Area and School Direct Course Leader, Principal Lecturer at Department of Teacher Education, Faculty of Development and Society, Sheffield Hallam University, S1 2NE, UK.