Synopses & Reviews
The central theme is the simple truth that teachers communicate both information and values to their students, and do so almost exclusively through language. It is based on research using transcripts of actual lessons to show how questions demanding factual (rather than reasoned) answers are used-if not overused-in arts subjects, and how science teachers can learn to avoid vocabulary which is too abstract or technical. Stress on "proper English" can inhibit non-middle-class children from expressing themselves in the kind of language they use at home, while "learning" for all too many students means guessing what answers the teacher expects. More basically, do some teachers talk too much in class?
The final section makes important recommendations on the major issue of language across the curriculum-what sort of language is really appropriate in multicultural schools?
This classic text is being reissued with a new introduction by Douglas Barnes.
Synopsis
A reissue of this classic study of language in the classroom, as carried out by Douglas Barnes and with its implications commented on at length by James Britton and Mike Torbe.
About the Author
Douglas Barnes was Reader in Education at the University of Leeds, England, until his retirement in 1989. After studying English literature at Cambridge University, he taught English at various British high schools for the first seventeen years of his career. In 1966, Barnes moved to the University of Leeds, expanding his interests to include research on the role of spoken and written language in school learning across the curriculum.James Britton is Emeritus Professor of Education, University of London. He is the author of Language and Learning (Penguin), and a selection of his essays, Prospect and Retrospect (Boynton/Cook), was published in 1982. He has also published several books for children.Mike Torbe is General Advisor for English in Coventry and has previously taught in schools and a college of education. He is the Author of several books, including Language Across the Curriculum: Guidelines for Schools (Boynton/Cook), A Climate for Learning (Boynton/Cook) with Peter Medway, and Teaching Spelling (Ward Lock Educational). He is also the co-author of Understanding Children Writing (Penguin).
Table of Contents
Contents
Preface to the Fourth Edition
Language in the Secondary Classroom, Douglas Barnes
Talking to Learn, James Britton
Language Across the Curriculum: Policies and Practice, Mike Torbe