For Every School

A handbook on teaching grammar is to be sent to every secondary school in the country.

The Government guide, Not Whether But How: The Teaching of Grammar, will explain the difference between active and passive verbs and spell out what terms, such as ‘abstract noun’, actually mean.

There will also be advice on the correct use of punctuation, sentence structure and sub-clauses, in addition to illustrations of how grammatical usage can alter the sense, pace and quality of prose.

The move was prompted by concern that many teachers, particularly those educated during the Seventies, were not taught grammar and are unable to impart it confidently. Teachers gave a mixed response to the initiative, accepting that grammar was important, but giving a warning that children’s creativity could be stifled.

However, officials at the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, which is producing the handbook, insist that pupils’ English cannot be improved unless teachers master grammar. ‘Understanding grammar can allow a person to use much more sophisticated language,’ one insider said.

Grammar teaching disappeared in many schools during the Sixties and Seventies because of a view in the educational establishment that instruction in the mechanics of language was uninspiring for pupils.

Teachers concentrated instead on encouraging children to express their ‘creativity’, with the result that large numbers left school with little understanding of punctuation or structure.

Ministers have sought to redress the balance by introducing grammar tuition into the Government’s Literacy Hour.

Doug McAvoy, the general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said the handbook would be helpful, but cautioned against making it too prescriptive.

But Michael Plumbe, the Chairman of the Queen’s English Society, welcomed the new guide. ‘We have a generation growing up with no knowledge of grammar because their teachers do not understand it,’ he said.

19. Answer the questions:

1. What measures have been recently taken in England to master English?

2. What will a Handbook on Teaching Grammar concentrate on?

3. What was the move prompted by?

4. Why is there a mixed response to the initiative?

5. What do officials insist on?

6. Why did grammar teaching disappear during the Sixties and Seventies?

7. What was in the focus of teachers’ attention at that time?

8. What did the ‘creativity’ result in?

9. Why did Michael Plumbe welcome the new guide?

10. What did Doug McAvoy caution against?

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16