ABSTRACT

This article reports on data generated from focus groups held with primary and secondary school students in which they were asked about experiences of grammar teaching and testing in the context of post-2010 reforms in England. Data from these focus groups were triangulated with a bricolage of other data, including fieldnotes, teacher surveys, pedagogical materials and government-produced policy documents. Our findings show that, in spite of differences within primary-secondary policy, students’ perceptions of their experiences had significant elements of commonality. Students’ conceptualisations of grammar were focused on word and clause-level notions, generally rejecting the idea that grammar was associated with meaning, creativity and choice. Students emphasised experiences of decontextualised grammar teaching, despite evidence from their teachers which espoused contextualised grammar. Finally, the state-issued primary school grammar tests were found to be working as a powerful de facto language policy, warping and distorting students’ memories and experiences of grammar.

摘要

本文报告了与中小学生举行的焦点小组所产生的数据，这些小组被问及在英格兰 2010 年后改革背景下的语法教学和测试经验。来自这些焦点小组的数据与其他数据的组合进行了三角测量，包括实地记录、教师调查、教学材料和政府制定的政策文件。我们的研究结果表明，尽管中小学政策存在差异，但学生对其经历的看法具有显着的共性。学生对语法的概念化集中在单词和子句级别的概念上，通常拒绝将语法与意义、创造力和选择相关联的观点。学生强调去语境化语法教学的经验，尽管他们的老师有证据支持语境化语法。最后，国家颁发的小学语法测试被发现是一种强大的事实上的语言政策，扭曲和扭曲了学生的语法记忆和经验。