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Document : 501
Title    : Grammar, Reading and Writing in Modern Languages S4-6
Author(s): James McGonigal
           Brian C Templeton

Copyright holder(s): University of Glasgow: re-use of Crown Copyright
material

Text

Modern Languages in the upper stages of Scottish secondary schools aims to
achieve authentic language development through the texts chosen for study,
the contexts in which these texts are studied, and the tasks that are
organised for students. This applies both in the receptive modes of
Listening and Reading, and in the productive modes of Writing and Speaking.
There is also, as in the teaching of English, an increasing focus on the
development of effective reading skills. This also involves the teacher in
focusing with students on how grammar can be used to sharpen their
awareness of the meaning of the text before them.

The purpose of this Paper is to enable Modern Languages and English
teachers to discuss the strategies and purpose that they share in
developing their students’ understanding and awareness of how language
works. Such discussion is a crucial part of the Language Awareness
curriculum outlined in Section 4 of LILT Booklet B. By reading and talking
about the classroom strategies that they use in common, or might use in
common, the language staff of schools and colleges may see possibilities
for reinforcing and extending the language skills of those they teach.

Authentic Texts in Reading
The teaching and assessment arrangements for Modern Languages at Standard
Grade describe a functional and notional syllabus built around topic areas
of ‘relevance and interest to the pupils’ and drawing upon authentic
materials. Authenticity is seen as an essential principle in guiding the
choice of reading materials and in the selection of reading tasks at
Standard Grade, Higher and Advanced Higher. Its influence can be seen most
clearly in the decision to allow candidates the use of a foreign language
dictionary during the assessment of reading and writing. While access to a
dictionary is not intended to diminish the importance of the steady
acquisition of vocabulary nor the development of strategies for deducing
the meaning of words, e.g. from the context, it is a recognition that a
dictionary is an essential tool for language users of any level. The skill
of using a dictionary is one in which students must be trained.

By ‘authentic reading materials’ is meant materials which were
originally designed by native speakers for a purpose. These purposes might
include:
• to inform by presenting information of a functional kind such as signs,
notices, instructions
• to persuade by presenting a particular point of view
• to entertain by presenting material of general or particular interest
to a certain age group.

At Standard Grade, such materials tend to be drawn from personal
correspondence, such as letters containing descriptions and opinions, and
from public sources, such as signs, brochures, adverts and articles
featured in magazines. At Higher, the main sources of material tend to be
‘good quality journalism’ and accessible modern literary writing, as at
this stage students have the option of reading a literary text written by a
native speaker for native speakers of the target language. At Advanced
Higher, the reading materials continue to be drawn from journalism and the
opportunity to develop interest in the literature of the target country is
extended.

Authentic Contexts
The contexts at all levels within which the language learning will take
place have as their purpose the preparation of the students for direct
contact with speakers of the target language, whether this involves the
students travelling to the foreign country or the speaker of the foreign
language coming to Scotland. At Standard Grade, the development of personal
and social language is continued. In addition, there is a strong emphasis
on transactional language to enable the pupils to survive in the real
situations they will encounter if they travel to the foreign country. 

The teaching syllabus is usually based on a series of topic areas which in
turn provide opportunities to develop the pupils’ awareness of the
culture of the foreign country. In the National Qualifications (Higher
Still) framework, there is an attempt to define more clearly the contexts
within which the language skills should be developed at each level, in
terms of Themes of Study > Topic Areas > Topic Development Strands. 

The prescribed themes now describe more clearly than formerly which topic
areas are most important at each level, given the teaching time available.
The topic development strands indicate the way in which the topics should
be developed at each level, with increasing sophistication in terms of the
ideas being expressed and the language being displayed.

Examples: At Intermediate 2 and Higher, we have the same three themes of
Lifestyles, Education and Work, and The Wider World; however the
differences in the Topic Areas and the Topic Development Strands at each
level make clear the progression expected in terms of language and
sophistication. A student operating at Intermediate 2 level would be
expected to develop the themes and topics by producing information of a
mainly factual and highly personal nature. A student operating at Higher
level would be expected to operate at the level of expressing opinions and
ideas about the theme or topic.  This would involve the student in showing
awareness of opinions held by others in society and establishing his/her
position in relation to them by agreeing/disagreeing, giving
advantages/disadvantages and arriving at a conclusion. At Advanced Higher
level, the student continues to operate at the level of opinions and ideas
but the themes and topic areas are more complex and demanding than at
Higher, as the three themes concentrate on Personal, Social and Cultural
Issues, Topical and Cultural Issues, and Environmental Issues. There are
clear implications for the growing complexity of grammar to be explored
here.
 
Authentic Tasks
Although a variety of means of demonstrating comprehension is used in
teaching and learning activities (including activities such as carrying out
instructions by doing, matching picture to text, matching headline to text,
rearranging sections of a text), the favoured method of formally assessing
comprehension is multiple choice testing and grid completion at the lower
levels, progressing to the use of increasingly complex questioning in
English at the upper levels. There are some parallels here with
differentiated questioning and assessment in Close Reading in English. 

There is also a coherence linking Standard Grade, Higher and Advanced
Higher, which can be seen in the gradual movement from basic decoding of
messages to more interpretative approaches to meaning. At Standard Grade,
students are required to locate and present fairly precise and factual
information. As well as continuing to retrieve factual details from
increasingly dense and complex texts, at Higher level students are required
to make simple inferences about attitudes and intention embodied in the
text. At Advanced Higher, the balance continues to shift towards greater
demands on the student to define and illustrate the overall patterns of
meaning, argument and intention in the text, while the study of literary
texts requires the student to show awareness of literary devices, including
the use of structure, imagery and rhyme as appropriate. 

At both Higher and Advanced Higher, the students also have to develop the
skill of translating accurately from the target language into English. The
passage for translation is now located within the specific context of the
reading comprehension text. This is again in keeping with how the skill of
translation is used in real life, which often involves the precise
translation of a relatively short passage crucial to an understanding of
the whole text. What is looked for is careful attention to the language
structure leading to accurate paraphrase with due attention to the
appropriate use of English. The development of this skill is usually
approached as part of intensive reading, where the teacher/lecturer
requires precise translation of certain sentences or phrases, as well as
asking for general understanding of the rest of the text.

Development of Reading Skills
The skills required for successful reading in a foreign language are very
similar to those highlighted in the teaching of English; similar strategies
can be used by both to develop particular reading skills. A stopwatch
technique can encourage skimming and scanning, for example. The Standard
Grade reading resource-pack for French, "Extra! Extra!", identified four
modes of reading, skimming, scanning, intensive reading and extensive
reading, and provided texts which could be used to develop the following
skills involved in reading:
• prediction: using clues to predict the content of a text and using
understanding of the text thus far to predict what will come next
• inference: inferring what is not explicitly stated and using cultural,
contextual and word-formation clues to infer the meaning of unfamiliar
terms
• identifying relations between various parts of a sentence
• identifying relations between parts of a text through recognising
reference markers, discourse markers, etc.
• using a diagram/picture/photo to assist comprehension of a text
• distinguishing important facts/ideas from supporting detail
• distinguishing whether information stated is fact or opinion
• discerning the attitude of the writer
• knowing how to use a dictionary.

All of these skills are equally useful in the native and the foreign
language. As in the teaching of English, the teacher of a Modern Language
is eager to develop the student’s awareness of how grammar is used to
unlock the meaning of texts. In the Subject Guide for Higher Still Modern
Languages, teachers and lecturers are encouraged to help students to
develop, as opposed to just practise, their reading skills. They are
encouraged to discuss a text with the whole class or group, help the
students to find the verbs and study the endings in order to work out the
subject and the tense. They are also urged to teach students “how to
infer meaning from the structure of the piece; how to guess intelligently
what is unknown from what is known; how to get help from other languages
(notably English, of course) and so on. Then students might be provided
with a short text to practise those reading skills, and ‘correction’
may take the form of requiring the students to vocalise how they have come
to understand the text and commenting on that rather than checking what the
text actually means.” This process may have been started with able
Standard Grade pupils.

As in English teaching, cloze passages are used as a means of developing
these skills and of ensuring that the students have a sound basic knowledge
of the grammar of the target language. Although the cloze passage is no
longer a part of the external assessment at Higher, it is still used in
teaching as part of intensive reading, to focus attention on the basic
aspects of the structure of the language. It does this by asking such
questions of the students as why is there an agreement, why a certain tense
must be used, what preposition must follow a particular verb, what other
noun could be used which would be appropriate in terms of meaning, number
and gender.

Grammar in the development of the productive skills

Authentic Purposes/Contexts/Tasks
The contexts for the writing tasks, both internal and external, are
determined to a large extent by the prescribed themes, topics and topic
development strands for each level. However, the nature and purpose of the
tasks themselves indicate a significant shift in the type of writing being
developed. Particularly at Higher level, there has been a move away from
fictional narrative writing in the target language to more personal and
functional writing. The functional nature of the writing tasks can be seen
most clearly in the following tasks:
• writing a formal letter in response to a job application scenario
(Intermediate 2 – external)
• writing a personal record of achievement (Higher – internal)
• directed Writing on behalf of a group, incorporating certain bullet
points of information given to you in English (Higher – external).

The introduction of these tasks marks an attempt to prepare students for
the sort of realistic writing tasks they might be required to do in real
life. The introduction of a Language in Work unit, as a mandatory unit at
Access 3 and Intermediate 1, and as an optional unit at Intermediate 2,
Higher and Advanced Higher, is an attempt to offer a new more adult context
for the development of the formal, vocational language required in the
workplace. The Language in Work units place a high premium on accuracy in
grammar and spelling and on the appropriateness of register. Students are
given the support of templates for the writing tasks, are encouraged to use
redrafting as a means of producing work of a high quality, and to use ICT
and the support it provides in terms of spell-checking and grammar-checking
in the target language.

The other main type of writing to be developed is for the purpose of
personal correspondence on topics related to the prescribed themes at each
level.  This includes the following tasks:
• writing a personal letter of a factual and descriptive nature
(Intermediate 2 – internal)
• writing a personal response expressing views and opinions on the topic
set (Higher – external)
• summarising the points made in a discussion between two speakers and
the writing of a discursive essay on a topic set (Advanced Higher –
external).

Writing and Grammatical Awareness
Within the Higher Still framework in Modern Languages, the internal writing
tasks at each level are intended to provide a focus for the development (in
a supported way) of the writing skills and grammatical awareness which
students will need to demonstrate in the external assessment. The strong
link between the two receptive skills of speaking and writing is also
emphasised: each should be used to support and develop the other. It is
often by putting in written form the ideas and expressions which the
student has been practising in the spoken form that it becomes possible to
discuss any grammatical errors and to suggest more appropriate
constructions. It is not necessarily by doing more speaking practice on a
topic that that the performance improves. It is often by moving to the
written form and analysing the expression that the student can improve
accuracy in both speaking and writing.

Example:  The use of an internal writing task as a focus for the
development of grammatical awareness, while also providing the basis for an
improved speaking performance, is well illustrated by the preparation of a
Personal Record of Achievement in the Language unit award at Higher level.
The task is to write three sections of a Personal Record of Achievement,
which could be used as a written introduction of the student to a future
correspondent or employer in the target country. The three obligatory
sections are Leisure interests (from the Lifestyles theme), Career to Date
and Career Aspirations (both from the theme of Education and Work).

Formal register and a high degree of written accuracy are required. Indeed
the task has been selected to provide the focus for discussion of style and
accuracy with the students and to act as the stimulus for the
revision/teaching of specific areas of grammar. The section on Leisure
interests would be written mainly in the present tense and encourages
revision of that tense and the introduction of less common verbs and
structures e.g. reflexive verbs. The section on Career to Date would be
written mainly in the past tense and would allow for the revision and
extension of past tenses, including at Higher the Pluperfect tense and the
combination of the Imperfect and Perfect tenses (in French). The final
section on Career Aspirations would allow for revision and extension of the
future and conditional tenses and the role of modal verbs.

Supported Writing
In preparation both for the initial assessment of the internal writing task
and for any subsequent reassessment, the student is given a high level of
support from the teacher. Preparation for the initial assessment would
involve the teacher/lecturer and student in preparing a piece of written
work on each of the three sections of the Personal Record of Achievement.
This would involve whole class work¸ developing from what the student is
able to say on each topic, and brainstorming new suggestions in terms of
vocabulary and grammatical structures. The work on each section would be
rounded off by the production of the student’s first piece of writing on
the topic, probably as a homework activity. 

This draft would be subject to detailed correction and the student would be
encouraged to redraft the original version, so that he/she has a good and
accurate copy. Once this process has been completed for each of the three
sections, the student is ready for the assessment, which requires the
student to write the complete Personal Record of Achievement under
controlled conditions, with the aid of a dictionary but without access to
the preparatory drafts. 

When the teacher corrects the first attempt at the assessment, annotation
is used as opposed to detailed correction. In other words the teacher
should underline errors and indicate to the student in English what areas
need to be improved before a reassessment is attempted. The discussion
between teacher and student will focus on points for improvement, which may
include spelling, grammatical accuracy, range of vocabulary and language
structure, presentation, structure and development of content. This is a
clear context for using linguistic terminology for a specific purpose.

Prior to the reassessment, the teacher offers further support to the
student by helping the student to redraft the original attempt. Such
support might include referring the student back to the ‘good copy’ of
each section and a short ‘grammar input’, where the teacher puts on OHT
a selection of the errors occurring in the written task and encourages the
students to identify why certain parts are underlined as errors, e.g.
j’ai sorti. Reassessment is conducted under the original controlled
conditions, i.e. with the aid of a dictionary but without access to the
previous drafts. 

With this level of support and the opportunity to redraft the initial
attempt, students should improve the written accuracy of their work and
produce an accurate piece of writing that will fulfil the requirements for
the unit award and can also serve as a basis for the speaking assessment. 

In the speaking assessment, the students are required to give a prepared
presentation on a topic of their choice (selected from the prescribed
themes and topics) and then to proceed into a discussion with the teacher,
which must move the discussion into a theme and topic(s) other than the one
from which the student has chosen to start. In preparation for this
speaking assessment, it is likely that students will look to the pieces of
written work that they have produced in the course of the year as the basis
for the prepared presentation. Indeed, during the prepared presentation,
students can bring with them written support in the form of five headings
of up to eight words each in the target language. This is recognition of
the supportive link between the skills of speaking and writing and is
intended to help the students present their thoughts in a clear and
structured manner.

Grammar Grid
The concept behind Supported Writing, with its emphasis on discussion
leading to redrafting, is that students should be encouraged to check the
accuracy of their written work against their knowledge of the grammar
system. In this way the role of writing as a support for learning about
grammar, and as a support for the other productive skill of speaking, is
acknowledged and encouraged. The links between Supported Writing in Modern
Languages and the writing process in English are discussed in Booklet B,
Section 3.

The important role played by knowledge of the grammar system is further
underlined by the production of a Grammar Grid (Appendix B of the
Arrangements Document) and accompanying explanatory notes (Appendix 6 of
the Subject Guide), where it is stated that: “A grammatical component is
an essential part of every unit and course even though no explicit
assessment of language learning is proposed. Knowledge about language is
the right of every learner”. Teachers are encouraged to point out to
students “grammatical concepts, which are already known in the mother
tongue (nouns, verbs, prepositions, punctuation, etc.)”. 

The Grammar Grid gives guidance as to the level of grammatical awareness
students should have at each of the five levels. In this way it indicates
the level of prior knowledge that a student should bring to each level and
also what new areas are appropriate to each level. It is thus a key
reference point when assessing the level of performance in the productive
skills of speaking and writing, where the level of the student’s
understanding of the structure of the language becomes most apparent. It
could provide a useful starting point for discussion between English and
Modern Languages staff, comparing the concepts and terminology expected of
students at different stages, and considering also the strategies and
attitudes to language learning which teachers could reinforce in their
different disciplines.

Examples of teaching strategies that might usefully be shared or compared
are:
• cloze procedure and multiple choice  (with subsequent discussion of
reasons for choices)
• text reconstruction  (with discussion of cohesive elements in texts)
• genre jigsaws  (with discussion of identifying features of tense,
vocabulary and typography)
• rewriting of texts  (with a focus on the effects of changes in tense,
person and formality)
• diagrams and mindmaps  (with a focus on the structure of arguments and
reports)
• group writing and ‘writing conferences’  (with a focus on audience,
purpose and precision in expression).


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Information about document and author:

Text
Text audience
Adults (18+): Specialists: Audience size: 1000+

Text details
Method of composition: Wordprocessed
Year of composition: 2000
Word count: 3550
General description: One of a series of position papers on current educational developments in relation to language education

Text medium
Book: Other: CD Rom of teacher materials (LILT)

Text publication details
Part of larger text: Contained in: CD Rom: LILT Materials
Editor: J McGonigal / C Kay
Part of a longer series of texts: Name of series: Position Papers: CD Rom: LILT Materials

Text setting
Education: 
Text type
Prose: nonfiction: Report: 

Author
Author details
Author id: 78
Forenames: James
Surname: McGonigal
Gender: Male
Decade of birth: 1940
Educational attainment: University
Age left school: 18
Upbringing/religious beliefs: Catholicism
Occupation: University lecturer
Place of birth: Dumfries
Region of birth: E & Mid Dumfries
Birthplace CSD dialect area: Dmf
Country of birth: Scotland
Place of residence: Glasgow
Region of residence: Glasgow
Residence CSD dialect area: Gsw
Country of residence: Scotland
Father's occupation: F.E. Lecturer
Father's place of birth: Cleland
Father's region of birth: Lanark
Father's birthplace CSD dialect area: Lnk
Father's country of birth: Scotland
Mother's occupation: Primary School teacher
Mother's place of birth: Midcalder
Mother's region of birth: West Lothian
Mother's birthplace CSD dialect area: wLoth
Mother's country of birth: Scotland

Languages:
Language: English
Speak: Yes
Read: Yes
Write: Yes
Understand: Yes
Circumstances: Work and home
Language: French
Speak: Yes
Read: Yes
Write: Yes
Understand: Yes
Circumstances: Used occasionally
Language: Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic
Speak: No
Read: No
Write: No
Understand: Yes
Circumstances: Very limited vocabulary
Language: German
Speak: Yes
Read: Yes
Write: Yes
Understand: Yes
Circumstances: Used occasionally
Language: Scots
Speak: No
Read: Yes
Write: Yes
Understand: Yes
Circumstances: Work (language study) and creative writing
Language: Spanish; Castilian
Speak: Yes
Read: Yes
Write: Yes
Understand: Yes
Circumstances: Used occasionally


Author
Author details
Author id: 721
Forenames: Brian
Initials: C
Surname: Templeton
Gender: Male
Decade of birth: 1950
Educational attainment: University
Age left school: 17
Upbringing/religious beliefs: Protestantism
Occupation: University Lecturer
Place of birth: Newton Stewart
Region of birth: W Dumfries
Birthplace CSD dialect area: Dmf
Country of birth: Scotland
Place of residence: Glasgow
Region of residence: Glasgow
Residence CSD dialect area: Gsw
Country of residence: Scotland
Father's occupation: Baker
Father's place of birth: Colmonell
Father's region of birth: S Ayr
Father's birthplace CSD dialect area: Ayr
Father's country of birth: Scotland
Mother's occupation: Shop Assistant
Mother's place of birth: Dumfries
Mother's region of birth: E & Mid Dumfries
Mother's birthplace CSD dialect area: Dmf
Mother's country of birth: Scotland

Languages:
Language: English
Speak: Yes
Read: Yes
Write: Yes
Understand: Yes
Circumstances: Work and home
Language: French
Speak: Yes
Read: Yes
Write: Yes
Understand: Yes
Circumstances: At work and on holiday
Language: German
Speak: Yes
Read: Yes
Write: Yes
Understand: Yes
Circumstances: At work and on holiday
Language: Scots
Speak: Yes
Read: No
Write: No
Understand: Yes
Circumstances: Visiting family, relatives