Teaching English Across The Curriculum

Introduction

The idea that all teachers, regardless of their own subject, are teachers of English, may be a view which is hard for some to accept. However, it can not be denied that every teacher in every subject needs to be able to communicate with his / her pupils. The word 'communicate' has been chosen carefully here, since communication implies and indeed requires a two-way relationship: in this case between teacher and pupils. Excluding schools where Welsh is the primary language, the main medium of communication in most subjects (Modern Foreign Languages being the exception) in Great Britain should therefore be the English language. Before proceeding further, it is first necessary to comment on what is the rôle of a teacher of English.

Since we are now faced with a National Curriculum which emphasises the importance of cross-curricular teaching, all teachers should be examining very carefully the way in which they use the English language in the course of their lessons. The Bullock Report (1975) called for the adoption of a language policy across the curriculum and more recently, a National Curriculum Council report of March 1989, set out the following guidelines:

"All subjects will require pupils to employ speaking and listening, reading and writing to some degree... It is important that the varied contexts in which children practise and improve their capacity to use appropriate forms of language with precision and accuracy are fully exploited... It will be important for schools to recognise the contribution each discipline makes across the curriculum."

It can therefore be said that without using English to teach their subject matter, teachers would have great difficulty in conveying the necessary information to pupils (Modern Foreign Languages are of course the exception here, and shall be considered later). Since we are actively learning language all the time, it therefore follows that all teachers, in using English as their means of communicating knowledge to their pupils, are in fact also teaching their pupils language skills: without wishing to draw a conclusion before discussing the issues further, it can be said that they are teachers of English.

How We Learn and Use Language

Taking the point raised above a stage further, we can conclude that since we use English as our means of communication in most situations, both in the educational context and in our social and home lives, every person with whom we come into contact is somehow teaching us English. Especially as children, our mind's capacity for acquiring language (referred to by Chomsky as the Language Acquisition Device, or the L.A.D.) is active. We are constantly immersed in language, be it in the written or the spoken form, and we are subconsciously acquiring those elements of language which our mind considers to be important. We continue throughout our lives to develop our linguistic skills. Our whole surrounding environment influences the way in which we learn and then use language. We adapt our use of language according to linguistic environment: whether we are at home, at school, at work or with our peers. In short, our whole surrounding environment teaches us language, whether it is considered to be 'good' or 'bad' language.

It is essential that we recognise that when we are dealing with English we are not dealing with merely one skill, but with four skills: two 'receptive' skills, listening and reading, and two 'productive' skills, speaking and writing. Every person will have different abilities in each of these skills and this is normal. For example, someone who is particularly gifted at writing may be a shy and retiring person who has great difficulty in expressing themselves in the spoken form. Furthermore, there are several styles of English within each skill. Different subject teachers will question their pupils in different ways, requiring their pupils to respond in very different ways: a maths teacher may pose the question "What is three plus four?", requiring a simple, one-word answer, whereas a history teacher may ask a pupil to discuss the contributing factors to the outbreak of the Second World War, requiring a lengthy answer, consisting of several arguments and counter-arguments. It is easy to see then, that we are requiring our pupils to show remarkable skills in English to convey knowledge that they may in fact possess, but are in some cases unable to communicate. In this case, it is the form of question which needs to change to accommodate such pupils. All teachers need to be able to recognise a pupil's ability in English, so that they are able to accurately determine to what extent the pupil has obtained the aims and objectives set in the subject being taught and therefore to be able to identify any learning difficulties relating specifically to the subject content.

The Importance of Clear Communication

It is a fact of life that, together with our physical appearance, our command of English is the primary technique by which we convey an impression of ourselves to others. We are able to create lasting and important impressions, simply through our command of English. Irrespective of the arguments as to the rectitude of this, in most cases it is true.

At a job interview, potential employees are expected to use a register of language and maybe even an accent which they would not use in the surroundings of their home or in their social life. Unfortunately, in many cases, in a situation where two interviewees offer the same qualifications, it is the one with the 'standard' English accent, rather than the thick Birmingham accent who will get the job. This of course bares no relation to the interviewees' abilities in written English or indeed to their intelligence, but has lost the latter a potential job.

This circumstance aside and whilst not countenancing an abandonment of regional dialects and accents, it is clear that an ability to use a 'standard' form of English is necessary on occasions, and it must be the duty of all teachers across the curriculum to encourage a certain standard of English. How is a visiting foreigner to cope with 'bad' English when he / she may be struggling with 'standard' English? This does of course beg the question as to a definition of 'standard' English. This should not under any circumstance be taken to mean 'Received Pronunciation', 'BBC', or 'Oxford' English. Such English is used by a small minority of people, primarily in England. Insisting such language is the hallmark of educated people is ludicrous, since this suggests that all people in Yorkshire, Scotland, Canada and India are not educated. There has indeed been a debate in Germany over recent years as to which English grammar, orthography and orthoepy to teach students of English. Considering the atlanticism of western Europe since the end of the Second World War, pupils are perhaps more likely to encounter I have gotten rather than I have got. The former is of course correct American English, but is dialectal in British English. Wilkinson's criteria for someone who is 'linguistically able' seem to be the most reasonable. Wilkinson suggests that linguistic ability should be measured by

• the possession of the basic grammar and vocabulary of the English language
• the adjustment of use of register to match that of the listener / reader
• the choice of vocabulary according to situation
• the ability to use language to carry out a variety of functions

It is therefore the content of a pupil's language, rather than their ability to present language which should primarily be nurtured. All teachers should be trying to promote the skills listed above in their pupils: English is not used solely within the walls of the English classroom, and to blame English teachers solely for bad standards is unjust.

The years pupils spend at school represent an important opportunity to develop linguistic skills. Each subject will play a part in promoting different skills in English, whilst encouraging pupils to explore their mother tongue in various contexts and helping them to appreciate the different linguistic skills they are exercising.

Teaching English Through Modern Foreign Languages

Modern Foreign Language teaching does not provide the ideal situation for a discussion on how English can be taught through the subject, since, through a concerted effort under the National Curriculum to move more deliberately into the communicative approach, the primary language to use in the classroom should now be the target language. The amount of time spent using English is to be restricted to the minimum amount possible. However, there are still of course occasions where English may be used when teaching Modern Foreign Languages, such as in vocabulary tests, translation exercises and in teaching grammar rules. In any case, it can be said that in MFL, we are teaching communication skills which are common to those used in English. Indeed, learning a foreign language may offer a child with learning difficulties an ideal second chance to lean something he / she may have had problems with earlier in life. For example, in a lesson teaching the names of countries in a foreign language, pupils who are unsure as to the location of countries have a second chance to find out. Similarly, teaching pupils how to tell the time in a foreign language may provide those unsure of how to read an analogue clock with a second chance to learn how.

It is clear that a good understanding of the correct usage of English grammar and syntax is helpful when learning a second language. A pupil who has difficulties in English may find coping with the concept of language rules in a foreign language extremely difficult. This is not always the case, but in the same way that a good knowledge of Latin is accepted as being beneficial to the understanding of the rules of grammar in the English language, there are similar ties between Modern Foreign Languages and English. Once the principles of a foreign language have been mastered, the pupil will generally find the learning of a further foreign language much easier. This applies very much in the same way to English. A student of a foreign language will usually admit that since learning the rules of another language's grammar and structure, he / she has found themselves able to reflect on how they use their mother tongue and are able to correct errors they have been making, perhaps throughout years of using English. In this respect, learning a foreign language can prove extremely beneficial in improving standards in English.

By way of a contrast, learning a foreign language may have a detrimental effect on some pupils' skills in English. Such problems are usually encountered on a vocabulary basis, where, for example the word parliament is spelt parlement in French and Parlament in German, potentially leading to confusion as to the correct spelling of the word in English. In a similar way, faux amis or 'false friends' can and do pose problems, such as the French verb blesser, translated by many English students of French as 'to bless', when it does in fact mean 'to injure', although this is a case of inaccuracy of translation, rather than a lack of skill at English. In any case, many linguists and language acquisition experts would argue that languages develop separately of each other in the brain, which is why people are able to use several foreign languages, without confusing vocabulary, grammar and syntax between these languages, including the mother tongue.

In a vocabulary test conducted on the names of animals in German, pupils were required to write down the five appropriate English names of animals given in German and then to write down the German names for another five when prompted with the English. On marking the pupils' responses, it was found that there were more spelling mistakes in the English than in the German. When faced with such mistakes in the pupil's mother tongue, how does the teacher react? Is he / she to simply ignore the errors in English spelling, or to methodically go through each paper, correcting every spelling mistake? In fact, this is usually left to the individual teacher to decide. Realistically, correcting mistakes in English is extremely time-consuming for the MFL teacher and some would argue that it is merely the message communicated which is important. Others would argue that since all teachers are teachers of English, the spelling should be corrected. In any case, the rôle of an English teacher is not merely to correct errors in English, but also to develop pupils' communication skills, and this is a task which can be performed MFL teacher, even if this is initially on a simpler level.

When a pupil first begins to learn a foreign language, they are taught set phrases to set questions. They are taught to respond to certain questions in a certain simple style: in short, their first aim is to be able to 'get by' in a foreign country. Only when the pupil has mastered the basic 'stock' phrases will he / she be able to develop these. In the following example, responses 1 to 4 are from pupils at different stages of learning.

Question: Where do you live?
Response 1: Grimsby.
Response 2: In Grimsby.
Response 3: I live in Grimsby.
Response 4: I live in a small town called Grimsby, which is situated on the eastern coast of Great Britain.

In response 1, the pupil provides a one word response with no other language. In response 2, the pupil is able to supply the correct preposition to go with the name of the town. In response 3, the pupil is able to reply in a full sentence and in response 4, the pupil supplies more information than is required by supplying a description of the town and then describing its location in a relative clause. All four responses are correct, but in response 4 the pupil has illustrated a higher ability to use language. In MFL teaching, as in English teaching, the ultimate aim is to provide pupils with the means to give the kind of response as demonstrated in response 4. The MFL teacher is performing a similar rôle to the English teacher in encouraging pupils to use a range of language in different situations. Ideally, the pupil is to demonstrate feeling through style of language. He / she is able to express happiness, anger, sadness and fear amongst other emotions, and is able to use different registers of language: he / she is able to argue, agree, discuss, respond and question. It is true that the kind of answer given in response 4 above is not realistic until the pupil is studying for his / her A levels, but it is this type of response for which the MFL teacher, in common with the English teacher, strives.

Conclusion

It is clear that all subjects, to a greater or lesser extent, require communication skills and that this communication will involve skills in English or skills which are common to English. Therefore, it can be concluded that all teachers are teachers of English, whether wittingly or unwittingly. If this is so, then all teachers should be playing a rôle in developing linguistic skills in pupils. This will not only be beneficial to pupils, but will also be extremely gratifying for the teacher when the pupil responds to a teacher's question with a well thought-out and well constructed answer, allowing for a greater understanding of the subject matter.

On the issue of grammar, it is the individual teacher who must decide whether he / she considers this to be of great importance. However, such issues must not be allowed to take priority over the subject matter being taught. If a teacher is concerned about a pupil's standard of English, then it is the teacher's job to encourage the pupil to read both about his / her own subject and on a wider basis; to think more and be open to different points of view on issues and to discuss ideas both inside and outside the classroom. It should be every enthusiastic teacher's wish to encourage such skills, regardless of their own subject speciality and such a rôle never has been and never should become the domain solely of the English teacher.

Bibliography

Barnes, D; From Communication to Curriculum, Penguin Books, 1976
Quirk, R; "What is standard English", Language in Education: A Source Book, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, 1972
Quirk, R; "Looking at English in Use", Language in Education: A Source Book, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, 1972
Richards, J; Classroom Language: What Sort?, George Allen & Unwin, 1978
Stubbs, M; Language, Schools and Classrooms, Methuen & Co Ltd, 1976
Wilkinson, A; Language and Education, OUP, 1975
Wilkinson, Barnsley, Hanna, Swan; Assessing Language Development, OUP, 1980

Dated: 23/4/1995

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