A discussion document on Communication at Intermediate Level - English Reform Group 14-19 (September 2004)

Communication at Intermediate Level
At meetings in May and September 2004 with members of NATE and ERG 14-19, Tomlinson confirmed that all Intermediate students would study both "English" as a subject in main learning as well as "Communication" as part of the Core, in order to fulfil NC requirements. Tomlinson also suggested that "Communication" should concern itself with functional literacy. However, he seemed responsive to broad definitions of functional literacy both in terms of pedagogy and curriculum content (e.g. media, drama, IT, texts in context). "English", he suggested, would be more concerned with literary aspects of the subject. In addition, he indicated that the number of teaching hours for Communications and English combined would be about the same as that currently allocated to English and English Literature. These meetings offered a glimpse of the current thinking of the Working Group but we will have to await the Final Report in a few weeks for a clearer picture.

The issue of what functional literacy is, and what it would look like in the curriculum, has become a focus for the English Reform Group’s discussions. We believe that this issue is crucial, given the current state of GCSE English and English Literature, and, in particular, the problematic relationship between key skills/literacy, English and English Literature. We are keen to develop a more coherent pathway for students from 14-19.

The English Reform Group wants a wider audience for this and other debates. The following represents our initial thoughts on what Intermediate Communication might look like. These thoughts are a starting point and we would welcome your feedback and comments to take the debate further.

Communication Core
The structure and content of a Communication core will need to be defined in relation to English as main learning. As both will be compulsory, what Tomlinson seems to propose is a Communication course which deals with ‘functional literacy’ and an English course which deals with other, particularly literary, aspects of the subject.

However, for a Communication course to be effective in delivering what is termed ‘functional literacy’ it must

• have significant content – i.e. a variety of texts for study (including media and electronic texts etc)
• develop students’ understanding of the forms and functions of different genres as well as their ability to use them

Deciding which texts and genres would be studied under Communication and which under English (or Media) is difficult (as is evidenced by the current division at GCSE). One possible way of dividing English and Communication might be to reserve fictional texts for English and factual texts for Communication. But would you then lose the important understanding that comes from, for example, the use of narrative in news stories?

One way of thinking about what might go into Communication might be through the following strands.

• language and identity
e.g. idiolect, spoken language, language repertoire
• language and society
e.g. language and representation, language and power, the language of debate and opinion, citizenship
• language and the workplace
e.g. information texts, advertising, letters, interviews, spoken and written language in the workplace
• language and the media
e.g. visual language, news, new media technologies, language of the web
• language and learning
e.g. language development, genres associated with learning,, the
language of school subjects

These strands could be taught discretely but could also be combined in ways that would be valuable to the needs of a particular group of students (or institution). Each strand lends itself to different modes of study and hence assessment. For example 'language and the workplace' could be an individual project linked to work experience.

English as main learning might then be imagined as a course which focuses not solely on literature, but on a variety of fictional representations in print fiction, poetry, film, theatre, and other media.

The English Reform Group
The English Reform Group (14-19) was set up in July 2003, in order to discuss current changes and developments in the English curriculum and to formulate responses which might be a catalyst for wider debate and reform of the subject. Members of the group share significant concerns about the way the English curriculum is formulated; the group has a particular interest in the A Level /16-19 curriculum and its continuity with both 11-16 and HE English.

All members of the group have been professionally concerned with curriculum and assessment at 14-19 and/or with the relationship between A Level English and university English. Members of the group are associated with the English teaching associations (NATE and the English Association), the English and Media Centre, the English Subject Centre, and the exam boards, but the group is independent of these and the members of the group do not officially represent these institutions.

Some of the group's discussions have addressed the work of Tomlinson's 14-19 working party. This document sets out the group's ideas about the proposed Communication element at 14-16.

If you have any comments or feedback on these first thoughts, please email your views to barbara@englishandmedia.co.uk