This paper explores the issue of metalanguage and writing instruction in the senior secondary curriculum. It reports on the use of a design based research collaboration between a very experienced teacher of Ancient History and a research team with the aim of improving literacy outcomes for a group of disadvantaged students. The case highlights…

Understanding and working with the complexity of second language learning and use in an intercultural orientation necessitates a re-examination of the different theories of learning that inform the different schools of second language acquisition (SLA). This re-examination takes place in a context where explicitly conceptualizing the nature of…

The relationship of systemic functional linguistic theory to the following themes is examined: differences between speech and writing; written genres; and the study of spoken language, especially for its relevance in school learning. (65 references) (LB)

The relationship between teachers' theories of language and learning and the nature of classroom discourse is explored. Data from two classes on Aborigine lifestyles suggest that there are three components functioning in all lessons: interpersonal, content, and metalanguage. The quality of the metalanguage component influences the overall quality…

Recent proposals concerning integration of foreign language study with social science study in New South Wales are described, and the background of debate in linguistics against which these proposals may be viewed is outlined. (RM)

In view of the many and varied language problems in the typical Australian school, a general course in language studies is essential for all teachers. This paper attempts to suggest a basic orientation and a set of guiding principles for such a course. The content of a general language course is discussed in terms of what a teacher needs to know…

Overviews work in genre theory and its application to first and second language instruction and differentiates three traditions in genre theory: English for specific purposes, North American New Rhetoric studies, and Australian systemic functional linguistics. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of genre theory for English…

A discussion of the state of second language education and English teaching in Britain focuses on the role of applied linguistics in the field. Four major points are made: that (1) books on language are not common in the syllabi of language teacher education; (2) current philosophies on language teaching appear to be either reactionary or romantic…

A five-year period of particular activity in Australian language policy and language planning culminated with the 1991 publication of the White Paper called Australia's Language, which outlines proposed government programs in languages until 1994. Many of the papers in this theme issue of the journal of the Applied Linguistics Association of…