English teachers have long stood at the intersection of helping young people to read the 'word' and read the 'world' through rich learning experiences that tap into diverse literature, literacy and language practices with purpose, creativity and flair. However, given the complex set of crises facing young people, English curriculum and pedagogy…

Current research suggests that students who struggle with grammar, spelling, mechanics and other "problems of ability," as well as students who suffer from "problems of engagement," as well as those students who see reading and writing as a chore, can benefit from creative writing assignments and learn to enjoy reading and…

The 2016 "Garth Boomer Address" considers the teaching of film. It challenges the orthodoxy that calls for a predominantly visual analysis, arguing that editing, sound and a fresh look at the script are equally important. This invites an understanding of characterisation and narrative in terms of the creation of "wholes" and…

This research is exploring how emerging technologies are impacting teaching pedagogy and whether these technologies are nurturing higher order thinking in secondary schools in Australia. Technology in education has been identified as a 'wicked problem' (P. Mishra & Koehler, 2008) and a conundrum (Arntzen, 2008). It has been described as an…

This article is part of a larger ethnographic study on teaching and learning in one of Australia's only stand-alone adolescent New Arrival Programs (NAPs) for students learning English. These multilingual adolescents represent four world regions: the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, and East Asia. Eventually, they will enter mainstream high…

In the conceptual triumvirate of "language," "literacy" and "literature" that have been central to thinking about English curriculum--indeed, are the overarching organisers for the "Australian Curriculum: English"--that which received possibly the least attention from Garth Boomer was literature. This paper…

For most Anglophone countries, the history of grammar teaching over the past 50 years is one of contestation, debate and dissent: and 50 years on we are no closer to reaching a consensus about the role of grammar in the English/Language Arts curriculum. The debate has been described through the metaphor of battle and grammar wars (Kamler, 1995;…

As part of the "Bridging the Language Gap" project undertaken with 86 State and Catholic schools across Queensland, the language competencies of Indigenous students have been found to be "invisible" in several key and self-reinforcing ways in school system data. A proliferation of inaccurate, illogical and incomplete data…

Teaching William Shakespeare's canonical tragedy "Romeo and Juliet" to teenagers in the context of the English classroom in Australia is not a particularly new pedagogical practice. In the year 2008, when many teachers (particularly those with a feminist bent such as I) are intent on guiding their students to decipher the ideological…

States that "genrists" believe text can be described by its genre or purpose following the edict of "form follows function." Finds that such genre studies (originating in Australia) are a feature of the composition teaching which as an instructional model owes fealty to the Language Awareness and Knowledge about Language…

Examines broad issues in creating standards for Australian English teachers by exploring the relevance of the Early Adolescent/English Language Arts (EA/ELA) Standards to the situation in Australia. Outlines methodology and presents findings from a study of 15 exemplary classroom teachers who considered the transferability of the United States…

Provides an evaluator's perspective on the Language Development Project of Australia. (HOD)

Describes Storytelling and Rural Areas (SARA) program for children and families at Longreach School of Distance Education (Central Queensland). SARA promotes children's oral language skills, self-confidence, and social construction. Explores ways storytelling assists this development. Notes how SARA provides links between home and school and…

Evaluates the experience of participating in an Early Literacy Inservice Course (ELIC) in Australia two years after the course. Discusses early problems with scheduling and parent expectations, and shows how reading and writing instruction adapted to the problems while maintaining the process writing approach. (SKC)