Industry News
Teachers struggling with grammar
Posted on 2nd May 2008
English teachers are struggling with grammar, research has shown.
Teachers who went to school when the subject was not on the curriculum now have trouble studying it, the University of Exeter study found.
This has created problems for children who have English as their second language, the BBC reports.
The report concludes that a fundamental knowledge of grammar, including applied linguistics, is needed to teach it, rather than simply a knowledge of grammatical terminology.
Lack of confidence in the subject was thought to be the primary weakness of teachers who struggled.
"A persistent theme in teachers' attitudes to grammar is hostility to anything that makes formal structure the central object of study," the report said.
The report also found that many trainee teachers tended to get "bogged down" by the technicalities of writing, meaning they focused more on teaching narrative and descriptive writing rather than encouraging ideas and reader engagement.
Today (May 1st), the General Teaching Council for England proposed plans that would see failing teachers sent to a new school for retraining.