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Period: to
Standard English and Education
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The Newbolt Report
The Teaching of English in England
"It is emphatically the business of the Elementary School to teach all its pupils who either speak a definite dialect or whose speech is disfigured by vulgarisms, to speak standard English, and to speak it clearly, and with expression" (The Newbolt Report, 1921, p.66). -
The Bullock Report
A Language for Life
The question of 'correctness:' "The aim is not to alienate the child from a form of language with which he has grown up and which serves him efficiently in the speech community of his neighbourhood. It is to enlarge his repertoire so that he can use language effectively in other speech situations and use standard forms when they are needed" (The Bullock Report, 1975, p.143). -
The Kingman Report
Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Teaching of English Language
"1. Speak in Standard English, using their own accents (provided that those accents do not impair comprehension by other speakers of English)" (The Kingman Report, 1998, p.52).
"13a. Understand that local forms and dialect forms may be appropriate in some contexts... but that for most of the time written English requires the use of Standard English" (The Kingman Report, 1998, p.55). -
Education Reform Act and National Curriculum
Part of the 1998 Reform Act was the introduction of the National Curriculum. This led to a standardised content for teaching and learning which allowed for standardised testing. The content of the National Curriculum was drafted. -
The Cox Report
English for ages 5 to 16
The chair, Brian Cox, was a member of the Kingman Committee.
He was joined by two linguists: Perera and Stubbs.
"15.15 Teachers should never treat non-standard dialect as sub-standard language but should recognise the intimate links between dialect and identity land the damage to self-esteem and motivation which can be caused by indiscriminate "correction" of dialect forms" (The Cox Report, 1989, p.11). -
Grammar for Writing
Sentence Level Work and 'Grammatical Awareness'
E.g. Term 3 of Year 3 pupils were expected "to ensure grammatical agreement in speech and writing of pronouns and verbs e.g. I am, We are, in Standard English" (DfEE, 1998, p.36). -
The national curriculum in England 2013 Framework document
Speak and write with "increasing command of Standard English" Use "some features of written Standard English"
"Knowing and understanding the differences between spoken and written language, including differences associated with formal and informal registers, and between Standard English and other varieties of English" (DfE, 2013, p.82).
