Grammatical Perspectives on Texts

Abstract

GRAMMATICAL PERSPECTIVES ON TEXTS

This presentation will explore briefly the contested place of grammar in the curriculum, and will offer a theorised rationale for the benefit of including grammar within the teaching of mother tongue language. We adopt an interdisciplinary perspective, drawing on Halliday’s social semiotic view of how language makes meaning, and on cognitive perspectives which consider the place of metalinguistic thinking in the process of writing. Using findings from a series of studies conducted at the University of Exeter in the Centre for Research in Writing, the presentation will illustrate how adopting a more grammatical perspective on texts and through integrating reading, writing and grammar, language teachers can make meaningful connections for developing writers between language choices and meaning-making, and support them to become more autonomous, independent writers