Blackwell Reference Online

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It would be impossible in the scope of a single short chapter to discuss all the educational issues to which linguistics is relevant or the many areas of education to which linguists are contributing. At the same time, linguistics has had much less impact on education, and teachers know much less about language and linguistics, than the current state of our knowledge about language in education, or the current dilemmas of our schools, would seem to merit. Thus, I concentrate on the importance of an overt focus on the structure of language, and the complex and varied relationships between language structure and communicative functions, for successful learning for all students, regardless of their cultural or socioeconomic backgrounds. In section 2, I start my discussion with a consideration of the way in which different theories of language impact differently on educational debates. I take as my example the current debate over pedagogies like “whole language,” which stress immersing children in language rich activities, but downplay overt instruction and an overt focus on language structure. In sections 3 and 4, I look at the different types or styles of language that are used in and out of school with explicit reference to the role an overt focus on language can play in helping children to acquire new forms of academic language and thinking. In section 5, I take up the issue of ... log in or subscribe to read full text