Teachers' language awareness

Abstract

At the start of this scholastic year, a group of 230 teachers working within the primary and secondary sectors benefited from an in-service course aimed at enhancing their language awareness. All Year 3 and Forms 3-5 English teachers working in State schools in Malta and Gozo participated in the course. It was also attended by a number of teachers working in Church schools. In his seminal book on the subject, Scott Thornbury defines language awareness as "the knowledge that teachers have of the underlying systems of the language that enables them to teach effectively". The link that Thornbury makes between-language awareness and effective teaching is crucial and, in fact, a sound understanding of the English language, how it works and how students learn it and use it, enable teachers to exploit their pedagogical knowledge and skills more competently.