14 Language and learning

in Geography
Graham Butt

TeachLianngg Guaegoeg raanpdh lye ainrn siencgo nind aGreyo sgcrhaopohlys

Introduction

The importance of geography teachers gaining an understanding of how the use of

language can affect the learning of their subject is undeniable. Language provides
the medium for learning Geography in every classroom and should therefore be a
major consideration in the planning and preparation of lessons.

The term ‘language’ is perhaps deceptively straightforward at first glance.

However, it encompasses a huge variety of talk, reading and writing that children
undertake; the relationship between these activities and the process of learning;
and the nature of communication between the teacher and the learner. The
action of learning is closely associated with that of comprehending and using
different forms of language. All teaching methods and materials used by the geography
teacher therefore have import implications for language and
understanding.

Research into the use of language specifically within the geography classroom is
somewhat piecemeal, although valuable contributions have been made by
Williams (1981), Hull (1985), Slater (1989) and Carter (1991). Nonetheless
there is a considerable amount of literature exploring the relationship between
language and learning (Piaget 1959; Vygotsky 1962; Chomsky 1968, etc.) as well
as a major report – the Bullock Report (DES 1975) – which for a time stimulated
a variety of subject specialists to explore the ways in which both teachers and
children used language in the classroom. The inter-relatedness of language and
learning, and the effects of the use of language on both conceptual development
and the learning process, were major considerations of much of the work carried
out. Unfortunately the impetus for these ‘Language Across the Curriculum’
studies did not continue after the late 1970s, leaving many of the issues
surrounding talking, writing, reading and learning in geography largely unexplored.
The role of language in the process of learning in Geography is therefore
widely acknowledged, but not fully investigated.

Recently the Language in the National Curriculum (LINC) report produced

materials based on existing good practice in the use of language, but was suppressed
by the government for not fully emphasizing the importance of grammar in pupils’
work.

Geography teachers must be aware of the importance of their role in guiding the
form and function of language used within the classroom and the impact this has on
children’s learning. Slater (1989: 109) carefully outlines the two distinct functions
of language use in Geography lessons as being ‘to communicate what has been
learned and is known’, as well as being ‘part of the activity of learning’. The distinction
between the two functions is important, although often confused or conflated.
Recently there has been a greater focus on the latter, i.e. ‘talking and writing to
learn’.
Talk within the geography classroom

Casual observation soon confirms the way in which teacher talk dominates the
geography classroom. Teachers tend to talk much more than pupils during each
lesson and closely control the amount of talking in which pupils are allowed to
engage. Most children become quickly aware of the times which the teacher
considers to be appropriate for talking, the acceptable content for discussions and
the length of time they are permitted to talk. Very rarely are pupils able to negotiate
what is talked about: the teacher controls the process and creates the rules by
which communication takes place.

The teacher is in a very powerful position to direct how talking is used to help
children learn. This ‘gatekeeping’ role can either be performed to the benefit of
children’s learning – if the teacher encourages a wide range of different types of
talk – or to its detriment – if the teacher totally dominates what is said in the classroom.
It is important that children are enthused and encouraged by what the
teacher says, but this is only one part of the language and learning process.
Evidence suggests that children must themselves engage in talking about Geography,
as well as listening, if they are to understand fully the subject’s concepts
and terminology.

Additionally, pupils often associate language forms used by the teacher with
‘assessment’, rather than as a part of the process of facilitating learning. Many geography
classrooms exist where closed oral ‘question and answer’ sessions directed by
the teacher are merely:

guessing game(s) whereby the teacher has the knowledge, and tries through
questioning to extract the right answers from the pupil. They in turn reach
towards the preferred response, the correct answer. Alternatively, they adopt a
variety of strategies to keep their heads below the parapet.

(Carter 1991: 1)

Here, talk, in the form of question and answer, can actually restrict much of the
learning process. Such activities probably do not involve the majority of children in
the class and those that do participate are often not learning in the most profitable
ways. Guessing the right answer represents only a very limited representation of
how talking can enhance learning!