Language in the classroom

Abstract

Edwards and Westgate note that professional interest in classroom language has grown with the recognition of its centrality in the process of learning, and its value as evidence of how relationships and meanings are organized. Supported by studies like those of Barnes et al., more attention is being paid to the communicative demands made on children in classrooms, and to the rather limited range of skills they are typically called upon to display: There is increased interest in how much those demands vary across age groups and across subjects of the curriculum. Regrettably misconceptions and views based on stereotypes persist in some school staffrooms - for example, that 'the only good classroom is a silent one', or 'When they (particular categories of students) come to us, they just don't have any language'.