Curriculum Starting Points

What the Programme of Study says:

Key stage 2:

Grammar

  • understand basic grammar appropriate to the language being studied, such as (where relevant): feminine, masculine and neuter forms and the conjugation of high-frequency verbs; key features and patterns of the language; how to apply these, for instance, to build sentences; and how these differ from or are similar to English.

Key stage 3:

Grammar

  • identify and use tenses or other structures which convey the present, past, and future as appropriate to the language being studied
  • use and manipulate a variety of key grammatical structures and patterns, including voices and moods, as appropriate
  • develop and use a wide-ranging and deepening vocabulary that goes beyond their immediate needs and interests, allowing them to give and justify opinions and take part in discussion about wider issues
  • use accurate grammar, spelling and punctuation.

What the draft GCSE criteria suggest:

GCSE specifications will be cumulative and progressive in content and language. They will take account of the matters, skills and processes specified in the national curriculum programmes of study for key stages 2 and 3. They will also build on the foundation of core grammar and vocabulary outlined in the programmes of study for key stages 2 and 3, increasing the level of linguistic and cognitive demand.

Clearly, grammar is not evident solely in the grammar-specific criteria, but also implicated in the skills criteria.

In speaking, students need to (amongst other things):

  • convey information and narrate events coherently and confidently, using and adapting language for new purposes,
  • speak spontaneously, responding to unexpected questions, points of view or situations, sustaining communication by using rephrasing or repair strategies, as appropriate,
  • make appropriate and accurate use of a variety of vocabulary and grammatical structures, including some more complex forms, with reference to past, present and future events,
  • make creative and more complex use of the language, as appropriate, to express and justify their own thoughts and points of view.

In writing, students need to:

  • make accurate use of a variety of vocabulary and grammatical structures, including some more complex forms, to describe and narrate with reference to past, present and future events,
  • manipulate the language, using and adapting a variety of structures and vocabulary with increasing accuracy and fluency for new purposes, including using appropriate style and register,
  • make independent, creative and more complex use of the language, as appropriate, to note down key points, express and justify individual thoughts and points of view, in order to interest, inform or convince,
  • translate sentences and short texts from English into the assessed language to convey key messages accurately and to apply grammatical knowledge of language and structures in context.

It is not just in the productive skills that knowledge and application of grammar is important.

In reading, students must be able to:

  • deduce meaning from a variety of short and longer written texts from a range of specified contexts, including authentic sources involving some complex language and unfamiliar material,
  • draw inferences in context,
  • translate a short passage from the assessed language into English.

And in listening, students must:

  • identify the overall message, key points, details and opinions in a variety of short and longer spoken passages, involving some more complex language, recognising the relationship between past, present and future events,
  • deduce meaning from a variety of short and longer spoken texts, involving some complex language and more abstract material…

What does this imply?
Some questions to discuss with colleagues:

  • To what extent do the new criteria at KS2, KS3 and KS4 imply a change in practice for us in our department?
  • How do we currently teach grammar?
  • Does our current methodology give students the ability to manipulate a variety of structures creatively across multiple topic areas?
  • Are students able to manipulate language spontaneously when they speak?
  • Can our students manipulate language creatively and accurately when they write?
  • Are our students able to use grammar to decode the meaning in what they read and hear, even when there is some unfamiliar vocabulary?
  • How do our students encounter a new grammatical structure for the first time? Embedded in a text, so that we start by exposing students to grammar in use, or do we isolate the structure and present it first, building up later to text level work? What are the pros and cons of each approach?
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