Language knowledge and its application: A snapshot of Australian teachers' views

Abstract

The motivation for Australian teachers of English to expand their expertise in grammar has been sharpened by the introduction of the Australian Curriculum: English (AC:E), whose knowledge base is broad and multifaceted. Teachers at all levels are required to have a stronger linguistic subject knowledge which includes knowledge of the structures and functions of word and sentence-level grammar, as this relates to a wide range of texts in different modes. They also need to apply linguistic understandings in practical tasks of planning, teaching and assessment. The expanded nature of this subject content may have stretched teachers beyond their comfort zones and assessment is needed of the profession's current levels of understanding of and confidence to teach language. This paper reports on a national survey of 373 English teachers who expressed their views on linguistic subject knowledge and linguistic pedagogic subject knowledge. It focuses on teachers' views of the importance of grammatical knowledge, approaches to this, levels of confidence with language and professional/earning needs. The quantitative and qualitative data offers a complex picture of Australian teachers' beliefs and their preparedness to teach what the curriculum now demands of them from early to later years of schooling in English.