Babasol, Yves Laurentt M.

BEEd-General Education III

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English in education: The first Fifty years

Article in English education: September 2014
And one of the author is John Hodgson
It’s stated that from the earliest days of the journal, then, the emphasis on responding to the
pupil's language goes with a sense of the need for linguistic and cognitive development. In
volume 4, L.E.W. Smith (1970) argues that the teacher's awareness of the child's language and
culture should not proscribe the need for intellectual challenge: it is beneficial to “start where
the child is” but destructive to remain there. Besides, as HMI Edward Wilkinson (1970) points
out, the concept of relevance, as initially foregrounded by the Newsom Report, is not without
its intrinsic contradictions. This is because it is by no means certain what might be considered
socially and personally important to a young person’s development: this may be interpreted
differently by teachers, students and parents. Additionally, as George Robertson (1970)
suggests, some students may not wish to take responsibility for authentic expression. They may
prefer the safety of the teacher’s choices, or not realise what is most useful to their needs. It is
not surprising that this emphasis on language as a means of "contact with reality" and of
effective, personal learning goes with a critique of language teaching as commonly constituted
at the time. At this early stage in the development of the journal, the terms of this critique are
already forming within two broad parameters of argument. One questions the effectiveness of
much language teaching in contemporary British schools. The "grammatical" component of the
GCE Ordinary level English examination comes under attack from Douglas Barnes (1964), who
claims to speak on behalf of many teachers in disapproving an out-dated assessment system
that rewards "the ability to perform little verbal tricks” in a repetitive and unengaging way.
And my reflection is that Indeed, this volume deals with many aspects of the role of talk and
language in learning that have subsequently become familiar in educational debate. The
approaches discussed above in terms of “starting where the child is” to stimulate curiosity in
language play are complemented by a growing recognition of the value of group discussion and
dramatic techniques such as role-play in the English classroom. In the third issue of volume 4,
these English in Education: the first fifty years: techniques are drawn upon as a strategy for
effective working with disadvantaged students. Also, that the language used when working with
disadvantaged children should aim to teach about the dialect of the host society but avoid
alienating the students under instruction.