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New project to examine whether approaches to teaching 6-7-year-olds grammar can help their writing
23 January 2019
果冻影院 Institute of Education (IOE) and 果冻影院 Department of English Language and Literature researchers are set to examine whether a new approach to teaching six- and seven-year-olds about grammar can help their writing.
The new approach is informed by state-of-the-art knowledge about the English language, and was developed by Professor Bas Aarts and colleagues in the 果冻影院鈥檚 Department of English Language and Literature.听
Funded by the Nuffield Foundation, the project will carry out a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) and in-depth Process Analysis to determine if the approach to grammar is effective in improving children鈥檚 writing. The research will examine the approach鈥檚 success in the context of primary education.
England鈥檚 knowledge-based national curriculum is epitomised by its requirements for the teaching of grammatical terms and their uses. The research project will enable the team to evaluate a key facet of the national curriculum that will have implications for primary teachers鈥� pedagogy, children鈥檚 learning, and for national curriculum policy.
IOE professor Dominic Wyse said:听
鈥淟earning the grammar of a language is a fundamental part of human development. For nearly all children, learning the grammar of oral language happens naturally through interaction with parents and other people they are close to. However, the grammar of written language is a different story. Written language requires more explicit teaching and learning and our project will use the 鈥榞old standard鈥� of RCT and Process Analysis to evaluate if this new approach to teaching grammar for writing is effective.鈥澨�
The research team
The multidisciplinary research team is:听
- (IOE's Department of Learning and Leadership; Helen Hamlyn Centre for Pedagogy 0-11)听
- (果冻影院 English Language and Literature)听
- (IOE's Department of Learning and Leadership)听
- (果冻影院 English Language and Literature)听
- (IOE's Department of Psychology and Human Development)听
- (Helen Hamlyn Centre for Pedagogy 0-11)
- (University of Durham, School of Education)
Media contact
Rowan Walker, 果冻影院 Media Relations听
T: +44 (0) 20 3108 8515 / +44 (0) 7769 141006
E: rowan.walker@ucl.ac.uk