Sheena Gardner

CELTE, University of Warwick, UK

From Regulative to Instructional Register: Towards Partnership Talk in Primary EAL

The roles and positioning of language support staff vis-ŕ-vis mainstream staff are complex (Davison and Williams 2001). Despite the promotion of Partnership Teaching, as clearly distinct from Collaborative Teaching and Support Teaching (Bourne 1997), international research suggests that language support staff may be marginalised in lesson planning (Arkoudis 2003) and in the classroom (Creese 2000, 2002), but that more equal partnerships can develop over time (Davison 2003).

Evidence from a three year study in England suggests that full Partnership Teaching is rare, though Collaborative Teaching is increasing. For example, in the four-part Literacy Hour the class teacher often begins with big book reading; the language support teacher takes over for language work; both teachers support different groups in the independent/group work; and the class teacher, typically, presides over the closing plenary session. Occasionally, however, both teachers are centre-stage, and Partnership Talk, if not full Partnership Teaching seems possible.

Drawing on Christie’s work on regulative and instructional registers (1997), this paper analyses a social studies lesson where the language support teacher moves from a silent scribing role, through feedback and nomination moves in the regulative register, to responding, and finally initiating content and directing action centre-stage in the instructional register. This analysis forms the basis of a proposed continuum from Support Talk through Collaborative Talk to Partnership Talk with implications for the social division of labour within the classroom.

References:

Arkoudis, S. 2003. Teaching English as a Second Language in science classes: Incommensurate epistemologies? Language and Education17/3:161-173.

Bourne, J. 1997. The continuing revolution: Teaching as learning in the mainstream multilingual classroom. In C. Leung and C. Cable (eds) English as an Additional Language: Changing Perspectives. York: NALDIC.

Christie, F. 1997. Curriculum macrogenres as initiation into a culture. In F. Christie and J.R. Martin (Eds) Genres and Institutions: Social Processes in the Workplace and School. London: Continuum.

Creese, A. 2000. The role of language specialists in disciplinary teaching: In search of a subject? Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 21/6:451-470.

Creese, A. 2002. EAL and ethnicity issues in teacher professional and institutional discourses. In Leung, C. (ed.) Language and Additional/Second Language Issues for School Education: a reader for teachers. York:NALDIC.

Davison, C. 2003. Collaboration between ESL and content teachers: A developmental continuum. Paper presented at the Language, Education and Diversity Conference, University of Waikato, New Zealand.

Davison, C. and A. Williams. 2001. Integrating language and content: Unresolved issues. In B. Mohan, C. Leung and C. Davison (eds) English as a second language in the mainstream: Teaching, learning and identity. Pp. 71-90. Harlow: Longman