Policy-makers urged to heed language lessons in major new handbook

The teaching of literacy and language skills, both in the UK and overseas, needs significant reform to curb the "unproductive" effects of government standardisation, a major new study suggests. Writing in the Routledge International Handbook of English, Language and Literacy Teaching, scholars argue that excessive state control of the way in which English is taught and tested, both in Britain and abroad, has a recurring, restrictive effect on pupil performance and on teachers. The international study found that education policy-makers all over the world succumb to the same cycle when trying to drive up children's attainment in language and literacy - first tightening their control of the curriculum, then loosening their grip as the approach proves "unworkable, uninspiring and ceases to provide the results it is intended to deliver." Researchers behind the study argue that teachers and pupils should be given more input into the shaping of curricula, and that the present system of assessment for children's literacy skills in the UK should be redeveloped so that it becomes "the servant, rather than the master or mistress of learning". The recommendation is just one of a wide range of ideas that emerge from the handbook, which is published this week. It brings together contributions from researchers who study the teaching of English and literacy all over the world, in an effort to find issues of international relevance that might improve practice and inform policy. "The question we are trying to address is what do teachers of language need to be doing in order to ensure that they engage young people and teach them successfully?" Dr. Dominic Wyse, from the University of Cambridge's Faculty of Education and one of the book's co-editors said.