‘I guess it scares us’ – Teachers discuss the teaching of poetry in senior secondary English

This article reports on a participant‐centred research project with English teachers in a senior secondary college in Melbourne, Australia. It builds on previous research (Weaven and Clark 2009, 2011), which showed a low take‐up of the opportunities to teach poetry in Victoria's senior secondary English curriculum. This study explores the reasons why teachers of English are unwilling to use poetry texts in their senior classes. The teachers who participated in this study discussed and documented their attitudes towards the teaching of poetry and explored with each other the pedagogical challenges associated with teaching poetry. Their discussions – an analysis of which forms the empirical core of this article – reveal a range of explanations for teachers' reservations about offering poetry to their students. Importantly, these teachers were able to use professional discussion as a means to consider what changes in teaching practice could be successfully developed to facilitate more time spent on the teaching of poetry in senior secondary classes.     

Green writing: the influence of natural spaces on primary students’ poetic writing in the UK and Australia

This paper draws on findings of comparative international research on students’ poetic writing about the natural environment in the context of the classroom and a naturalistic setting. The study involved 97, nine- to 10-year-olds in four classes: two classes were in an English primary school with their counterparts in a Western Australian primary school. One class in each school had vicarious contact with nature as a stimulus for writing, using a previously taught technique for writing poetry; the other class in each school used the same technique but had direct contact with nature. The study has implications for students’ literacy development, creativity and agency and suggests that students’ poetic writing is enhanced through direct contact with nature. Teachers in both England and Australia, countries where ‘high stakes’ testing dominates the literacy curriculum, may find that standards of writing improve when students are given direct contact with natural spaces and are scaffolded to elicit their poetic voice.     

Colluding in the ‘Torture’ of Poetry: Shared Beliefs and Assessment

Assessment is most often held responsible for teachers' and students' mechanical approach to poetry in class. This article shows how examination pressure leads a group of poetry teachers and A Level English students at a post‐16 college in Malta to perpetuate an approach to poetry that is characterised by an emphasis on finding hidden meaning. However, it is also argued that to blame only assessment for this approach is to run the risk of ignoring the shared beliefs that teachers and students have about poetry.     

Refuting Myths,Making Electronic Links with the World: writing in secondary schools in the Eastern Province,South Africa

Older pedagogies that separate learning English in South African schools into LI and L2 inevitably bring in their train judgements of ESL achievements as relatively fixed in quality and as less good in kind than those of L1 users. New curriculum emphases on the dynamic creativity of human language‐learning potential entail more positive and success‐oriented criteria for assessing additional language learning. Electronic links with students in Canberra, Australia and with a Californian Professor of Writing showed Standard 7 students from the Eastern Province as already competent in writing communicatively in English. However, disabling myths still threaten to impede progress towards equity of educational outcomes in South Africa.     

Powerful students,powerful words: writing and learning in a poetry workshop

A poetry workshop can present opportunities to integrate students' knowledge and perspectives in classroom contexts, encouraging the use of language for expression, communication, learning and even empowerment. This paper describes how adolescent students respond to a poetry workshop in an English classroom centred on teaching writing that is based on their knowledge from their various life experiences and understanding of events beyond the classroom. Informed by New Literacy Studies and third space theories, ethnographic methods of participant observation were used to document an eighth‐grade urban public school classroom where a community member implemented a weekly programme using music lyrics and poetry for an entire school year. Findings illustrate how the poetry workshop encouraged students to contribute to the classroom learning context and engage critically with ideas that were relevant to their lives. Collaborating with a community member and tapping in to the powerful ways of using language to communicate led to important learning opportunities for students in this classroom. Poetic devices such as rhyme, rhythm, metaphor and wordplay enhanced and supported students' own language practices; students used these sophisticated writing strategies as they worked to convey their ideas, experiences and opinions.     

Of Daffodils and Farmers: Literature,Agriculture Students and Ecological Awareness

In a small Midwestern liberal arts college, a class focusing on ‘Farming and Rural Life in Literature’ attracted a large number of agriculture students. Although many disliked and avoided reading, these students began to use literature as a way to understand the natural world, their role in it and the experiences they shared with other farmers half a world away. They were experiencing the transformative power of poetry that Thomas Auxter urges us to consider in his essay, ‘Poetry and Self‐Knowledge in Rural Life’. Many critics have argued that the structure of the traditional curriculum reinforces environmentally unsustainable beliefs and practices by discouraging both understanding and creative problem solving. Yet while they advocate for innovative cross‐disciplinary models, these critics pay little attention to the role of the humanities in developing the desired grasp of human interconnectedness. The students’ performance and testimony is persuasive evidence that the study of literature helps agriculture students cultivate greater appreciation of nature and their membership in a global community. Teachers of English, at all grade levels, should be aware that they can play a key role in encouraging ecological literacy in the generation of farmers who must confront the world’s environmental challenges and feed its burgeoning population.     

The Effect of English Language Proficiency Level and Educational Background on Academic Achievement

The English Proficiency Level (EPL) of 205 first year business students from 16 Asian countries was assessed on arrival in Australia using the Australian Second Language Proficiency Ratings (ASLPR). Academic grades were recorded for their first, second and third semesters. Statistical analysis of the students' records shows that educational background is the major determinant of success in business courses, with no statistically significant effect coming from EPL. In practice, English proficiency is used as a major selection criterion in its application to the entry of full fee paying international students; on the basis of the evidence presented here, there is no need for a stringent EPL criterion to be applied, which is an important finding for those involved in the selection of international students who wish to study in Australian institutions. An important policy impinging on academic achievement is that students who fail their first semester are allowed to continue their studies; the policy leads to an estimated 39% of students allowed such grace going on to obtain a pass for the course; EPL bears no relationship to academic achievement for students in this category, the major determinant being their educational background. Thus, it is important that stringent conditions are applied to potential international students' educational background, but that they are not disadvantaged by their English language ability.     

读者反应教学法与网络资源结合在英语诗歌教学中的应用

在英美文学的教学中,英语诗歌是一个难度较大的课程。由于教学方法的陈旧与教学手段的落后,使得英语诗歌的教学很难激发学生学习的主动性,英语诗歌的教学效果不甚理想。将高度发达、丰富的网络信息资源与读者反应教学法整合,形成一种激发作为读者的学生对英语诗歌的文本反应, 从而调动其个人的经历与情感的教学实践模式,对英语诗歌的教学起到了积极推动作用,同时达到培养学生英语诗歌鉴赏力与文学批评能力的目的。     

Computer‐assisted learning in anatomy at the International Medical School in Debrecen,Hungary: A preliminary report

The University of Debrecen's Faculty of Medicine has an international, multilingual student population with anatomy courses taught in English to all but Hungarian students. An elective computer‐assisted gross anatomy course, the Computer Human Anatomy (CHA), has been taught in English at the Anatomy Department since 2008. This course focuses on an introduction to anatomical digital images along with clinical cases. This low‐budget course has a large visual component using images from magnetic resonance imaging and computer axial tomogram scans, ultrasound clinical studies, and readily available anatomy software that presents topics which run in parallel to the university's core anatomy curriculum. From the combined computer images and CHA lecture information, students are asked to solve computer‐based clinical anatomy problems in the CHA computer laboratory. A statistical comparison was undertaken of core anatomy oral examination performances of English program first‐year medical students who took the elective CHA course and those who did not in the three academic years 2007–2008, 2008–2009, and 2009–2010. The results of this study indicate that the CHA‐enrolled students improved their performance on required anatomy core curriculum oral examinations (P < 0.001), suggesting that computer‐assisted learning may play an active role in anatomy curriculum improvement. These preliminary results have prompted ongoing evaluation of what specific aspects of CHA are valuable and which students benefit from computer‐assisted learning in a multilingual and diverse cultural environment. Anat Sci Educ. © 2012 American Association of Anatomists.     

Fielding and Initiating Questions in Class

In 2009 Rupke and Blank noted that the Chinese students in their study sang American songs that the researchers had never heard. This perceived dissonance could have a multitude of causes, but the authors of this article turned their attention to the curriculum used for teaching English in China to further understand the popularity and persistence of some American songs in China. Drawing on literature from teaching the discipline and language of English through the use of popular music, the literature on teaching English in China, and Stuart Hall's seminal “Encoding and Decoding,” the authors examined both popular American music and American music utilized in the Chinese curriculum through the lens of cultural studies and their unique experiences teaching English. Data were varied, but all songs examined fell into Hall's “negotiated code,” offering potential and limits for “communicative exchanges” between cultures. Recommendations offered include paying more careful attention to the selection process for curricular materials.     

“English is not easy,but I like it!”: an exploratory study of English learning attitudes amongst elementary school students in Taiwan

In response to the growing needs of proficient English speakers, the Taiwan Ministry of Education officially included English in standard elementary school curriculum since 2001. English courses at elementary level were extended from the fifth grade to the third grade since the fall of 2005. It is significant to examine whether the educational reform has positively affected students’ learning attitudes. Through focus group interviews and questionnaire survey at six elementary schools, this study explores students’ attitudes towards learning English and ways of instruction. Results indicate that students generally have strong interests in English‐speaking people and desire to spend time in English‐speaking places. A majority of students enjoy learning English through games, and compliments from teachers or parents boost their learning motivation. The finding also reveals that English education in Taiwan seems to have directed students towards a narrow viewpoint of foreign cultures since many students associate foreigners with English‐speaking people only. Finally, many students experience learning English at cram schools, which indicates the important role cram schools play in students’ extracurricular learning.     

Print exposure, reading habits, and reading achievement among deaf and hearing college students

This study explored relations of print exposure, academic achievement, and reading habits among 100 deaf and 100 hearing college students. As in earlier studies, recognition tests for book titles and magazine titles were used as measures of print exposure, college entrance test scores were used as measures of academic achievement, and students provided self-reports of reading habits. Deaf students recognized fewer magazine titles and fewer book titles appropriate for reading levels from kindergarten through Grade 12 while reporting more weekly hours of reading. As in previous studies with hearing college students, the title recognition test proved a better predictor of deaf and hearing students' English achievement than how many hours they reported reading. The finding that the recognition tests were relatively more potent predictors of achievement for deaf students than hearing students may reflect the fact that deaf students often obtain less information through incidental learning and classroom presentations.     

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Shia Ismaili Muslim Girls Negotiate Islam in the Classroom

ABSTRACT

This case study investigates the experiences of Shia Ismaili Muslim girls as they encounter themselves as subjects of social studies curriculums on Islam. A postcolonial lens is used to examine differently empowered subjectivities and curricular epistimes within the high school world history context. In an effort to understand their experiences, this study focuses on how the students position themselves in relation to the curriculum, and ultimately asks, to what extent do students from minority communities of interpretation appropriate or resist the authoritative narrative of Islam offered in their classrooms, particularly around the question, “Who is a Muslim?” The central finding revealed a paradox of representation and participation for these students, who found their practice and interpretation of Islam silenced in the classroom curriculum, and yet felt obliged to defend Islam and educate others against stereotypes of Muslims. The implications of this study compel educators to explore decolonial approaches to teaching about the religious other.     

基于福柯视角的大学英语教法研究

依据福柯权力理论对大学英语课程课堂场域中的师生关系进行分析,证实教师权力的独占性和压制性,在很大程度上,影响了学生的英语学习.因此,在大学英语课程课堂场域中,教师适当的对权力进行让渡,让师生共同行使权力,增强学生的话语权,更有利于大学英语课程的教学.     

Integration of school features into Taiwanese elementary school new English curriculum

Elementary school English activation curriculum, an additional two culture classes, has been implemented only in New Taipei City in Taiwan starting from 2010, so only a few studies focus on it. This is a case study of an English teacher's integration of a school's features into the activation curriculum in a rural elementary school. This study revealed students' positive attitude towards such curriculum, the students’ preference for the English teacher's use of a wide variety of activities and the implementation of alternative assessments; it also revealed the English teacher's expertise and pedagogical competence, developed in collaboration with other teachers.     

Verbal energy: attending to poetry

This paper contends that the current English curriculum does not adequately acknowledge the potential of poetry to make meaning through sound. It reflects on how sound may embody or communicate meaning, and seeks enhanced conceptions of this aspect of poetry for pedagogy and the curriculum. It begins with the attention the mainstream press gave to Seamus Heaney's remarks about Eminem, and progresses to consider Heaney's notion of ‘verbal energy’ in the light of developing conceptions of multimodal ‘new literacies’. It suggests that new approaches could accord with an oral heritage approach to poetry while also acknowledging the influence of the communicational environments pupils experience beyond English classrooms. Throughout, the author draws on material that has informed his on‐going Teacher Training Agency‐sponsored project exploring the ways in which pupils approach poetry as sound, soon to be detailed on web resources for the English teaching community.     

Sustainability Education and Australian Universities

Since the early 1990s, there has been discussion about the need for the curriculum of universities to provide students with understanding about the environment. Over the decade this discussion has evolved from thinking about how to green the university curriculum, through to proposals for our students to be environmentally literate and to receive education for sustainability (or sustainability education). Internationally, there have been many instances of universities taking this discussion seriously and introducing curriculum change. A variety of declarations and action plans have enabled universities to share ideas and support this change. Given a dearth of information about the degree to which universities in Australia were part of this discussion and change, we sought to gain an understanding of the status of sustainability education in these institutions. Responses from approximately a quarter of these institutions indicated that a handful of universities are engaged in this education for a wide range of their students, and in some universities more students of particular disciplines are gaining the exposure. However, there are clear barriers to the introduction and expansion of sustainability education.     

中学初级阶段古诗词教法初探

古诗词教学是美的教学。教师在教学时有必要运用多种手段来激发学生的兴趣,调动学生的潜能,有效地引导学生领略古诗词的节奏情感音韵之美。在新课程理念的背景下笔者从中学语文教学特点出发,着重引导学生从朗读、联想、图画、音乐四个角度来感受古诗词的美,进一步培养学生的审美情趣和审美感知,提高学生的文学素养,让学生在古诗词学习中受到美的滋养。     

高职商务英语专业“三横四纵”课程体系的构建与实践

课程体系是培养高端技能型人才的先决保障。文章深入分析了当前高职商务英语专业课程体系存在的诸多问题,提出了高职商务英语专业＂三横四纵＂新型课程体系的构建和实践。旨在通过课程体系改革,探索提升学生综合能力和发展学生专业技能的有效途径。     

浅析诗歌鉴赏在大学英语教学中的作用

英语诗歌教学在当前英语教学中没有得到足够重视。针对大学英语对学生英语能力的要求,将英语诗歌赏析课引入大学英语课堂,可培养学生的想象力,并在寓教于乐的过程中,拓展学生的知识面,激发学生的学习兴趣,最终实现其英语基础能力与扩展能力的双重提高。