Dialogue and Theory: On James Moffett's Work in English Teaching and Language Education

Abstract

James Moffett's structuralist impulse to carve the ‘universe of discourse’ into four related levels – drama, narrative, exposition, argumentation – was quickly reframed as a rough approximation, as he recognised the ways myth and fictions compressed several layers, and even everyday narratives potentially encapsulated some of the rest. Instead, he decided to make central the two‐way street between particularising and generalising, as a key to learning. This article qualifies Moffett's focus on events (what's happening?); points to a more static universe of (contextual) states of affairs – a field ramified by recent theorising; and briefly suggests why Moffett's ideas may have profound implications for teachers, for example in the discussion of literary fictions – and more.

Keywords:

• James Moffett
• abstraction
• discourse
• structuralism

Notes

1. On ‘abstraction’, cf. Dixon and Freedman (1988).