school%english?1 · mary!macken*horarik,!20/11/15! 3!...

10
Mary MackenHorarik, 20/11/15 1 Grammar in wonderland: What might a reimagined grammar look like in contemporary school English? 1 Introduction Grammar is not only a fraught topic in the conference dialogues of English Teachers’ Associations like this one, it has a real image problem, brought on perhaps by failures to engage with the crucial issues facing English. But it is problematic on several counts: when it comes to literary interpretation, and despite valiant efforts in stylistics (where grammatical knowledge has a role to play in study of narrative, poetry and drama) it is seen as largely irrelevant to the big tasks of the discipline. It tends to be associated with regimes of correctness in which grammatical ‘rules’ (not often rules in fact, but more often conventions associated with middle class discourse) are aligned with pedagogic preoccupations with grammatical form. If it does have a legitimate role to play, it is often brought in ‘at the point of need’ which typically means when students make errors in their writing (and even their speech) and used to rectify these. Furthermore, it has a bad history when it comes to nonstandard forms of English – used to vilify perfectly functional uses of language in oral discourse. Is it possible that the worlds we create through grammar can be looked at afresh? Is it possible that the resources Shakespeare, Eliot, Faulkner and others deploy in their texts, that depend on grammar can be enlivened by grammatical knowledge? In this paper, I identify four compass points to explore different forms of knowing that they configure. 1. Four reference points on the compass to guide journeys with grammatics 2 1 This handout is adapted from notes given to teachers in the first year of an ARC Discovery Project entitled: Grammar and praxis: investigating a grammatics for 21st century school English [DP110104309]. Other researchers involved included Kristina Love, Len Unsworth and Carmel Sandiford and 27 teachers in New England and Victoria. 2 The term ‘grammatics’ was first used by Michael Halliday (2002) to refer to the study of grammar; the proportion is as follows: grammatics:grammar :: linguistics:language. In our Discovery project, we used the term to refer to our theory of grammar – a way of exploring language and image with ‘grammar in mind’. Individual repertoires Language/ image as resources for meaning Disciplinary practices in English Grammatical understanding e.g. developing a metalanguage for naming, glossing & interpreting language & images Rhetorical knowhow e.g. Learning to compose effective narratives Contextual understanding e.g. learning about how narratives work in the culture Semiotic knowhow e.g. extending grammar to analysis of images in multimodal texts. Knowledge about …. Know how ….

Upload: others

Post on 22-Jun-2020

3 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

 

Mary  Macken-­‐‑Horarik,  20/11/15   1  

Grammar  in  wonderland:  What  might  a  re-­‐‑imagined  grammar  look  like  in  contemporary  school  English?1  

 Introduction  Grammar  is  not  only  a  fraught  topic  in  the  conference  dialogues  of  English  Teachers’  Associations  like  this  one,  it  has  a  real  image  problem,  brought  on  perhaps  by  failures  to  engage  with  the  crucial  issues  facing  English.  But  it  is  problematic  on  several  counts:  when  it  comes  to  literary  interpretation,  and  despite  valiant  efforts  in  stylistics  (where  grammatical  knowledge  has  a  role  to  play  in  study  of  narrative,  poetry  and  drama)  it  is  seen  as  largely  irrelevant  to  the  big  tasks  of  the  discipline.  It  tends  to  be  associated  with  regimes  of  correctness  in  which  grammatical  ‘rules’  (not  often  rules  in  fact,  but  more  often  conventions  associated  with  middle  class  discourse)  are  aligned  with  pedagogic  preoccupations  with  grammatical  form.  If  it  does  have  a  legitimate  role  to  play,  it  is  often  brought  in  ‘at  the  point  of  need’  which  typically  means  when  students  make  errors  in  their  writing  (and  even  their  speech)  and  used  to  rectify  these.  Furthermore,  it  has  a  bad  history  when  it  comes  to  non-­‐‑standard  forms  of  English  –  used  to  vilify  perfectly  functional  uses  of  language  in  oral  discourse.  Is  it  possible  that  the  worlds  we  create  through  grammar  can  be  looked  at  afresh?  Is  it  possible  that  the  resources  Shakespeare,  Eliot,  Faulkner  and  others  deploy  in  their  texts,  that  depend  on  grammar  can  be  enlivened  by  grammatical  knowledge?  In  this  paper,  I  identify  four  compass  points  to  explore  different  forms  of  knowing  that  they  configure.      1.   Four  reference  points  on  the  compass  to  guide  journeys  with  grammatics  2  

             

       

       

                       

                                                                                                               1  This  handout  is  adapted  from  notes  given  to  teachers  in  the  first  year  of  an  ARC  Discovery Project entitled: Grammar and praxis: investigating a grammatics for 21st century school English [DP110104309]. Other researchers involved included Kristina Love, Len Unsworth and Carmel Sandiford and 27 teachers in New England and Victoria.  2  The  term  ‘grammatics’  was  first  used  by  Michael  Halliday  (2002)  to  refer  to  the  study  of  grammar;  the  proportion  is  as  follows:  grammatics:grammar  ::  linguistics:language.  In  our  Discovery  project,  we  used  the  term  to  refer  to  our  theory  of  grammar  –  a  way  of  exploring  language  and  image  with  ‘grammar  in  mind’.  

Individual  repertoires  

Language/  image    as  resources  for    meaning  

Disciplinary  practices  in  English  

 

Grammatical  understanding e.g.  developing  a  meta-­‐‑language  for  naming,  glossing  &  interpreting  language  &  images

Rhetorical  know-­‐‑how e.g.  Learning  to  compose  effective  narratives

Contextual  understanding   e.g.  learning  about  how  narratives  work  in  the  culture

Semiotic  know-­‐‑how e.g.  extending  grammar  to  analysis  of  images  in  multimodal  texts.

Knowledge  about  …. Know  how  ….

 

Mary  Macken-­‐‑Horarik,  20/11/15   2  

   

2.   Contextual  understanding  –  lenses  on  meaning    How  might  grammar  become  relevant  to  narrative  meaning?  Michael  Halliday  suggests  that  meaning  is  itself  multifaceted  and  that  every  utterance  makes  three  major  kinds  of  meaning  (what  he  calls  ‘metafunctions’).  There  is  meaning  as  ‘content  ‘–  the  most  commonly  understood  meaning  of  meaning.  But  there  is  also  interpersonal  meaning  –  often  called  evaluation.  And  then  there  is  meaning  internal  to  texts–  textual  meaning  to  do  with  composition  itself.  In  the  grammatics  project,  we  introduced  teachers  to  all  three  ‘lenses  on  meaning’.    

(i)   Ideational  lens  on  meaning  –  building  a  plausible  ‘possible  world’  of  experience;  (setting,  characterization,  plotting,  struggle,  crisis,  resolution  and  theme/idea);  

(ii)   Interpersonal  lens  on  meaning  –  engaging  readers  intersubjectively  (through  narration,                                              focalization,  voicing,  attitude  &  graduation);  (iii)   Textual  –  organizing  texts  so  parts  hang  together  to  make  a  whole  (signposting,  cohesion)    

Teachers  found  the  three  lenses  on  meaning  useful  as  ‘ways  in’  to  analyzing  texts  of  many  kinds,  especially  when  we  linked  these  to  literary  notions  like  narration,  focalization  and  dialogue/voice.    

Examples  of  interpersonal  meanings  related  to  narrative  strategies  (i)   Narration  (Who  tells  the  story?)  Narrator  or  character?  Is  this  person  internal  or  external  to                                    events  in  the  story?  Is  it  first  or  third  person?  (ii)   Internal  Focalization  (who  sees?)  ~  sensing  verbs  (felt,  looked,  noticed),  thinking  verbs         (thought,  believed)    or  behavioural  verbs  (snorted,  started,  howled,  moaned,  sobbed,  smiled);  (iii)   Dialogue  or  Voicing  (who  speaks?)  ~  quoted  speech  in  dialogue,  reported  speech,  saying                                  verbs  (said,  replied,  cried,  swore,  responded,  etc);    Extract  1:  From  ‘Down  the  rabbit-­‐‑hole’  The  rabbit-­‐‑hole  went  straight  on  like  a  tunnel  for  some  way,  and  then  dipped  suddenly  down,  so  suddenly  that  Alice  had  not  a  moment  to  think  about  stopping  herself  before  she  found  herself  falling  down  a  very  deep  well.  Either  the  well  was  very  deep  or  she  fell  very  slowly,  for  she  had  plenty  of  time  as  she  went  down  to  look  about  her,  and  to  wonder  what  was  going  to  happen  next.  First  she  tried  to  look  down  and  make  out  what  she  was  coming  to,  but  it  was  too  dark  to  see  anything;  then  she  looked  at  the  sides  of  the  well,  and  noticed  that  they  were  filled  with  cupboards  and  pictures  hung  upon  pegs.  She  took  down  a  jar  from  one  of  the  shelves  as  she  passed;  it  was  labelled  ‘orange  marmalade’,  but  to  her  great  disappointment  it  was  empty:  she  did  not  like  to  drop  the  jar  for  fear  of  killing  somebody,  so  managed  to  put  it  into  one  of  the  cupboards  as  she  felt  past  it.    Note:  What  happens  as  Alice  tumbles  down  the  rabbit-­‐‑hole  is  mediated  by  verbs  of  perception  –  looking,  seeing,  noticing,  etc.  As  we  shunt  between  verbs  of  action  and  verbs  of  perception  (verba  sentiendi),  we  see  wonderland  through  Alice’s  eyes.  We  get  plenty  of  access  to  the  viewpoints  of  others  through  their  voicing  of  opinions  in  dialogues.  But  our  internal  reference  point  in  this  story  is  Alice.    

                           

Either  the  well  was  very  deep  or  she  fell  very  slowly,  for  she  had  plenty  of  time  as  she  went  down  

 

 

but  it  was  too  dark  

 

they  were  filled  with  cupboards  and  pictures  hung  upon  pegs.      

to  look  about  her  and  to  wonder  what  was  going  to  happen  next.  First  she  tried  to  look  down  and  make  out  what  she  was  coming  to  

 

to  see  anything;  then  she  looked  at  the  sides  of  the  well,  and  noticed  that    

 

Mary  Macken-­‐‑Horarik,  20/11/15   3  

   Putting  grammar  at  the  service  of  interpretation  is  important.  But  we  need  to  know  something  about  grammar  if  we  are  to  use  it  to  reason  with.  The  national  curriculum  requires  that  we  teach  students  about  language  “at  the  levels  of  the  word,  the  sentence  and  the  extended  text,  with  connections  between  these  levels.”  (ACARA,  2009).  In  the  grammatics  project,  we  related  this  to  Halliday’s  stratified  model  of  language,  using  the  idea  of  different  ‘landing  places’  in  work  on  grammar  so  as  to  incorporate  form,  function  and  patterns  of  meaning  in  texts.    Extract  2:  From  ‘Curiouser  and  Curiouser’  After  a  time  she  heard  a  little  pattering  of  feet  in  the  distance,  and  she  hastily  dried  her  eyes  to  see  what  was  coming.  It  was  the  White  Rabbit  returning,  splendidly  dressed,  with  a  pair  of  white  kid  gloves  in  one  hand  and  a  large  fan  in  the  other:  he  came  trotting  along  in  a  great  hurry,  muttering  to  himself  as  he  came,  ‘Oh!  The  Duchess,  the  Duchess!  Oh  won’t  she  be  savage  if  I’ve  kept  her  waiting!  Alice  felt  so  desperate  that  she  was  ready  to  ask  help  of  any  one;  so,  when  the  Rabbit  came  near  her,  she  began  in  a  low,  timid  voice,  ‘If  you  please,  sir  –‘  The  Rabbit  started  violently,  dropped  the  white  kid  gloves  and  the  fan,  and  scurried  away  into  the  darkness  as  hard  as  he  could  go.    3.   Grammatical  understanding  –  three  landing  places  (i)   Identification  of  a  unit  of  meaning  in  the  stream  of  writing  (or  speaking).  Knowing  what  you                                are  looking  at:  Is  it  a  verb  group,  noun  group,  a  conjunction  or  adverbial,  etc?  (ii)   Description  of  the  function  of  the  unit.  Being  able  to  gloss,  label  or  describe  the  function  of  the    

unit  in  a  clause  (e.g.  ‘The  verb  tells  us  about  Alice’  feelings,  sayings  or  actions’,  etc);  (iii)   Interpretation  and  Explanation  of  the  patterns  of  choice  in  a  text.  Doing  higher  order                                interpretation  drawing  on  grammatical  analysis  (e.g.  ‘I  notice  that  in  this  part  of  Alice  in    

Wonderland,  we  alternate  between  verbs  of  perception  and  verbs  of  action  and  thus  we  see  things  through  Alice’s  eyes’.)    

Example  of  identification:  Recognizing  formal  properties  of  word  classes  –  that  verbs  express  tense  or  modality,  mark  person  (1st,  2nd  or  3rd)  and  number  (singular  or  plural)  of  the  subject  -­‐‑  ‘She  is’  vs  ‘They  are’  or  ‘She  was’  vs  ‘They  were’.  Recognizing  that  the  sentences  in  this  novel  are  often  complex,  with  lots  of  dependent  clauses  to  track.    Example  of  description:  The  verb  tells  us  about  the  character’s  actions  (e.g.  ‘am  opening’,  ‘will  give’  and  ‘must  go’),  states  (e.g.  ‘was’  or  ‘seemed’),  perceptions  (e.g.  ‘looked’,  ‘wondered’,  ‘heard’)  or  sayings  ‘e.g.  ‘cried’,  ‘said’  and  ‘muttered’)..  Elaboration  is  a  grammatical  resource  for  creating  vividness  in  a  fictional  world.  We  indicate  elaboration  using  the  equals  sign.  ‘It  was  the  White  Rabbit  returning,  =    splendidly  dressed,  =  with  a  pair  of  white  kid  gloves  in  one  hand  and  a  large  fan  in  the  other.’    Example  of  interpretation:  Students  can  draw  on  their  grammatical  analysis  to  provide  evidence  for  their  responses:  ‘I  can  see  how  the  author  creates  an  impression  of  hapless  anxiety  on  the  part  of  the  rabbit  through  verbs  that  suggest  constant  movement  –  e.g.  running,  hurrying,  trotting  and  scurrying,  etc’.  This  contrasts  with  Alice’s  perceptions  sourced  through  verbs  of  sensing  and  thinking.’      Here  is  how  one  teacher  in  our  project  demonstrated  grammatical  understanding,  moving  between  identification,  description  and  interpretation:  “And  when  we  look  at  a  book  and  I  say  to  the  kids  okay,  what  sort  of  verbs  is  dominating  in  this  passage,  and  they'll  go  ‘Oh,  there's  saying  verbs;  there's  dialogue  happening.’    So,  that  sort  of  thing.    We  talk  about  sensing  verbs.  And  we  know  how  the  person  is  feeling,  so  it  tends  to  be  internal.  So  that  is  the  sort  of  thing  I  say  to  my  students.”    4.     Rhetorical  know-­‐‑how  –  composing  effective  narratives  

 How  does  grammar  figure  in  composition?  Can  it  be  used  to  shape  narratives  ‘at  the  point  of  utterance’  rather  than  simply  to  correct  inadequate  syntax?  Yes,  it  can  but  we  need  to  conceive  of  grammar  differently.  Old  ‘correctionist’  and  form-­‐‑based  approaches  will  not  suffice,  as  Andrews,  et  al  (2005)  have  noted  (though  of  course  they  have  their  place  in  phases  of  proofreading).    Rhetorical  know-­‐‑how  deploys  

 

Mary  Macken-­‐‑Horarik,  20/11/15   4  

language  as  a  resource  for  making  meaning  –  posing  and  responding  to  questions,  and  generating  dialogue,  for  example.  In  Extract  3,  Alice  depends  on  grammar  to  interact  with  creatures,  to  counter  absurdities,  even  defending  herself  against  the  rudeness  of  creatures  like  the  Mad-­‐‑Hatter.    Extract  3:  From  ‘A  mad  tea-­‐‑party’    ‘Your  hair  wants  cutting,’  said  the  Hatter.  He  had  been  looking  at  Alice  for  some  time  with  great  curiosity,  and  this  was  his  first  speech.  ‘You  should  learn  not  to  make  personal  remarks,’  Alice  said  with  some  severity;  ‘it's  very  rude.’  The  Hatter  opened  his  eyes  very  wide  on  hearing  this;  but  all  he  said  was,  ‘Why  is  a  raven  like  a  writing-­‐‑desk?’    ‘Come  we  shall  have  some  fun  now!’    thought  Alice.  ‘I’m  glad  they've  begun  asking  riddles.  -­‐‑  I  believe  I  can  guess  that,’  she  added  aloud.  ‘Do  you  mean  that  you  can  find  out  the  answer  to  it?’  said  the  March  Hare.  ‘Exactly  so’  said  Alice.  ‘Then  you  should  say  what  you  mean’,  the  March  Hare  went  on.    ‘I  do,’  Alice  hastily  replied;  ‘at  least  -­‐‑  at  least  I  mean  what  I  say  -­‐‑  that's  the  same  thing  you  know.’  ‘Not  the  same  thing  a  bit!’  said  the  Hatter.  ‘You  might  just  as  well  say  that  ‘I  see  what  I  eat’  is  the  same  thing  as  ‘I  eat  what  I  see!’  ‘You  might  just  as  well  say’,  added  the  March  Hare  that  ‘I  like  what  I  get’  is  the  same  thing  as  ‘I  get  what  I  like!’  ‘You  might  just  as  well  say,’  said  the  Dormouse  ,who  seemed  to  be  talking  in  his  sleep,  that  ‘I  breathe  when  I  sleep’  is  the  same  thing  as  ‘I  sleep  when  I  breathe!’  ‘It  is  the  same  thing  with  you,’  said  the  Hatter,  and  here  the  conversation  dropped  and  the  party  sat  silent  for  a  minute,  while  Alice  thought  over  all  she  could  remember  about  ravens  and  writing  desks,  which  wasn’t  much.    Alice’s  interaction  with  the  Mad-­‐‑Hatter  is  a  model  of  rhetorical  ‘nous’.  She  is  an  active  participant  in  the  dialogues,  assertive  about  her  own  views  and  able  to  contradict  absurd  propositions.  However,  although  she  rightly  assumes  that  saying  ‘I  believe  I  can  guess  that’  is  roughly  equivalent  to  ‘I  can  find  out  the  answer’,  the  creatures  attempt  to  outfox  her  commonsense  through  logical  arguments.  The  exchange  puts  the  equivalents  she  proposes  (I  say  what  I  mean  =  I  mean  what  I  say)  under  pressure.  What  we  can  see  includes  more  objects  than  food,  so    ‘I  see  what  I  eat’  is  not  equivalent  to  ‘I  eat  what  I  see’.    Sleeping  does  involve  breathing  but  breathing  includes  more  processes  than  sleeping,  so  ‘I  breathe  when  I  sleep’  is  not  the  same  as  ‘I  sleep  when  I  breathe’  (even  if  all  agree  it  is  the  same  for  the  Dormouse  –  who  is  constantly  asleep).  While  meaning  is  ‘at  risk’,  it  is  grammar  that  enables  the  exchange  to  proceed.  In  these  dialogues  (as  in  so  many  in  this  book),  grammar  is  a  resource  for  ‘serious  play’  as  Gregory  Bateson  (1972)  once  said.  Alice  decides  that  the  exchange  is  not  worth  the  effort  and  that  good  sense  is  not  going  to  be  possible  at  this  tea-­‐‑party.    For  many  students,  the  requirement  that  they  write  a  story  in  response  to  a  stimulus  constellates  anxiety  rather  than  playful  enthusiasm.  They  wonder,  ‘How  do  I  start  and  then  how  do  I  go  on?’  Well,  genre  is  one  rhetorical  resource  –  a  way  of  structuring  narratives  to  fulfill  social  purposes  and  address  audiences.  In  the  grammatics  project,  we  made  use  of  narrative  structure  with  teachers  but  supplemented  this  with  other  resources  for  engaging  readers,  ‘making  us  care’  about  what  happens  to  characters  in  stories.  In  the  interpersonal  realm,  these  included:  internal  focalization,  narration  and  dialogue  as  well  as  evaluative  resources  like  attitude  and  graduation  (including  elaboration).  For  more  information  on  these,  see  Martin  &  White,  2005  or  Humphrey,  et  al,  2012.    In  this  way,  we  deployed  the  meaning  potential  of  grammatics,  enabling  students  (via  good  teaching)  to  know  what  they  could  write  and  how  they  could  amplify  the  significance  of  events  in  stories,  making  them  dramatic  and  psychologically  meaningful.  Teachers  modeled  resources  in  narrative  texts  such  as  Blueback  by  Tim  Winton,  Unhappily  Ever  After  by  Paul  Jennings  and  The  Hitchhiker  by  Roald  Dahl  amongst  others.      How  did  teachers  do  it?  Here  is  an  excerpt  from  a  much  longer  interview  with  a  Year  10  teacher  called  Tom3  who  taught  elaboration  in  the  context  of  a  larger  unit  of  work  on  the  play,  Antigone.  

                                                                                                               3  All  teachers  and  students  have  been  given  pseudonyms.  

 

Mary  Macken-­‐‑Horarik,  20/11/15   5  

 Tom:  because  we  were  studying  Antigone,  we  wanted  to  try  and  link  what  we  were  doing  with    narrative  as  much  as  we  could  to  the  text  we  were  studying.  Because  the  curriculum  is  so  cramped    already,  we  thought,  ‘well,  we  have  a  narrative  text  anyway  –  a  play  that  is  a  narrative.    We  may  as    well  try  and  use  that  as  much  as  possible.’  And,  there  is  a  particular  speech  in  this  play  -­‐‑  you  probably    know  it,  the  ‘messenger’  speech,  which  is  sort  of  like  a  self-­‐‑contained  narrative  in  and  of  itself.  It    essentially  describes  what  happens  in  the  play  up  to  that  point.    So,  what  we  thought  we'd  choose  a  film  that  hopefully  would  engage  the  kids,  and  get  them  to  write  on  a  particular  battle  scene  from  the  film  in  the  style  of  the  Greek  messenger.  We  actually  chose  Troy  and  showed  them  a  scene  where  Achilles  and  all  the  rest  of  the  Greeks  first  land  on  the  beaches  of  Troy  and  sort  of  takeover  that  position.  Interviewer:    Right.  Tom:    And  so,  we  watched  that  a  few  times.    We  talked  about  it  and  I  got  them  to  write  on  that.    And  whilst  this  had  happened,  we  looked  at  a  few  different  things.    We  looked  at  graduation  and  we  looked  at  elaboration  in  particular.  I  wanted  to  make  elaboration  the  focus  of  this,  with  them  being  able    to  elaborate  on  aspects  of  the  battle  and  try  and  make  it  interesting  -­‐‑  or  elaborate  on  what  they    thought  was  important  for  dramatic  effect.  So,  they  had  to  do  a  draft,  and  then  I  gave  them  some    feedback  on  parts  where  I  thought  they  could  still  improve  or  provide  more  elaboration  and  things  like  that,  and  then  they  actually  rewrote  it  again.  Interviewer:    Based  on  your  feedback?  Tom:    Based  on  the  feedback,  yes,  and  then  they  did  a  final  copy,  and  then  I  handed  the  final    copy  back  to  them  after  I  marked  it  and  said  ‘Right,  now  I  want  you  to  highlight  everywhere  in  the  text    that  you  have  elaborated.  And  actually  comment  on  why  you  elaborated  there  and  whether  you  think  it    helps  the  text  as  a  piece  of  writing.    And,  they  did  that.    Some  of  them  did  it  better  than  others.    One  of  Tom’s  students,  Corinne,  reveals  some  of  what  she  was  trying  to  do  as  a  writer  of  her  narrative  with  the  first  part  reproduced  here  below.  Even  if  she  has  ongoing  problems  with  consistency  in  tense,  her  narrative  takes  us  in  to  the  inner  world  of  her  character,  plunging  us  in  to  the  drama  of  his  struggle  with  his  father.      Corinne’s  second  story  (first  paragraph)  The  room  was  silent.    Not  even  the  slightest  movement  can  be  heard.    But  somehow  he  felt  relieved.  He  knew  that  he  would  much  rather  the  silence  than  hearing  his  parents  fighting  from  inside  the  cupboard  and  come  out  seeing  the  bruises  on  his  mother's  face.    He  hated  it,  and  he  hated  himself  for  being  weak  to  fight  his  father  but  he  knew  that  he  could  not  stay  weak  forever.    If  this  continues  both  him  and  his  mother  will  die.    The  only  way  to  survive  is  to  have  his  father  gone  forever,  with  teacher  guidance  and  peer  discussion.    In  a  later  interview  ,  Corinne  was  asked  what  she  was  trying  to  do  in  her  writing.  Here  is  an  excerpt  which  indicates  the  kind  of  rhetorical  orientation  to  grammatical  choices  we  encouraged  in  our  project.    Interviewer:    Okay.    So  what  were  you  trying  to  do  as  a  writer  in  that  piece  of  writing?      Corinne:    I  was  trying  to  tell  people  about  what  he  thinks  –  like  in  the  inner  world.    Like,  because  he    was  being  bullied  for  a  long  time  and  he  really  need  to  like  -­‐‑  -­‐‑  I  don't  know  how  to  explain  that.  Interviewer:    Okay,  so  you  were  talking  about  the  inner  world.    What  does  that  mean,  ‘inner  world’?      Corinne:    Like  what  he  thinks  and  how  it  feels  about  his  father  and  stuff.  Interviewer:    Okay,  and  you  do  that  in  that  part  that  you  read  out  very  well,  very  well  indeed.    What    parts  of  that  do  you  think  helps  the  reader  understand  what's  going  on  inside  the  character's  head?      Corinne:    Well,  deep  down  inside  –  he  actually  hated  his  father  but  he  kind  of  hides  it.    Like  he's  too    scared  to  show  him.    He  is  too  weak  to  fight  his  father  and  he  really  hates  that.  Interviewer:    So,  does  that  work  for  you  using  the  inner  and  outer  world?    You  know  when  you  are    writing  a  narrative  like  this  where  you  are  trying  to  get  a  sense  of  character?      Corinne:    Yeah,  yeah.    It  gives  the  character  more  depth.    Students  in  NSW  and  Victoria  wrote  narratives  that  utilized  resources  and  discussed  what  worked  and  what  didn’t.  It  was  a  period  of  experimentation:  ‘having  a  go’  and  reflecting  on  texts  with  a  view  to  

 

Mary  Macken-­‐‑Horarik,  20/11/15   6  

improving  their  ability  to  to  focalize  events  through  the  eyes  of  a  character  and  to  render  these  in  distinctive  ways.    Here  is  the  orientation  stage  of  an  initial  story  by  a  NSW  Year  10  student  called  Cate  who  writes  well  but  tends  to  waffle.  Spelling  and  grammatical  choices  are  left  as  they  were  in  the  draft.    Cate’s  first  story  12th  and  Elm  On  the  corner  of  12th  and  Elm  there  is  a  house  one  just  like  any  other  in  the  conjoining  streets.  It  is  white,  double  story  with  a  red  roof  and  a  matching  red  door.  The  people  in  this  house  are  just  like  any  ordinary  people.  The  woman  is  Joan,  she  is  of  average  height  with  blonde  hair  and  brown  eyes.  She  is  an  accountant,  and  spends  her  weekends  baking.  The  man  is  Peter  taller  than  most  men  you’d  see,  with  auburn  locks  and  blue  eyes  that  held  authority.  Peter  and  Joan  have  three  children,  Sarah,  Ryan  and  Noah.  Sarah  is  seven  very  mature  for  her  age  and  although  she  is  not  the  oldest  fond  of  taking  the  lead.  Ryan  is  thirteen  oldest  of  the  three  with  an  eye  for  mystery.  Little  Noah  is  the  youngest  at  only  three  but  that  doesn’t  stop  him  from  accompanying  his  brother  on  all  his  adventures.    Our  story  starts  with  their  latest  adventure,  the  case  of  13  Elm.  ….    Cate’s  second  story  –  following  experimentation  with  focalization,  dialogue  and  elaboration  -­‐‑  was  much  shorter.  Instead  of  building  an  exhaustive  orientation  like  that  in  her  first  narrative,  she  began  ‘in  media  res’,  plunging  the  reader  in  and  highlighting  the  drama  of  the  occasion  (a  race  between  siblings).  Only  the  first  paragraph  of  her  story  is  reproduced  here  to  indicate  the  changes  in  her  approach  to  story  beginnings.    Cate’s  second  story  Shadow      The  fear  in  the  boy's  eyes  grew  as  he  stared  at  it.    His  stomach  churned  and  there  was  a  slight  shake  present  in  his  right  knee.    Death  and  life  were  hand  in  hand  at  the  present  time.    The  shadow  lurked  above  him,  rising  higher  and  consuming  the  light  as  he  went.  The  shadow  was  hungry,  ready  to  make  his  attack  at  will.  But  he  wouldn’t  budge,  not  even  a  single  shake  of  an  unsteady  finger  was  being  made,  for  the  shadow  was  waiting,  waiting  for  the  boy  to  make  the  first  move.  His  name  is  Tom.  The  boys  name  is  Tom.  Did  he  want  to  die?  No.  Was  it  inevitable?  Very  much  so.  …    Note  Cate’s  use  of  elaboration  which  provides  a  vivid  reformulation  of  the  actions  taken  by  the  character  Tom  (note:  elaboration  is  indicated  using  =  sign):  The  shadow  was  hungry  =    ready  to  make  his  attack  at  will’  and  ‘But  he  wouldn’t  budge,=    not  even  a  single  shake  of  an  unsteady  finger  was  being  made.’  Note  also  the  use  of  strong  behavioural  verbs  like  ‘stared,’  ‘lurked’  and  ‘churned’  to  represent  the  feelings  of  the  focalizing  character.  Cate  was  experimenting  with  short  punchy  sentences  here,  in  contrast  to  her  earlier  work  featuring  complex  sentences.  Cate  highlighted  the  significance  of  this  syntactic  shift  in  her  later  interview.  Sometimes  a  pithy  (even  one  word)  sentence  is  more  powerful  rhetorically  than  a  complex  sentence,  as  Myhill,  et  al  (2013)  noted  in  the  texts  of  more  able  writers.    4.  Semiotic  know-­‐‑how    Of  course,  re-­‐‑imagining  grammar  in  a  multimodal  curriculum  requires  an  even  greater  shift.  Beyond  creation  of  an  interface  with  key  concepts  from  literary  theory  (such  as  representation  and  focalization)  and  understandings  of  the  role  of  grammar  within  the  larger  architecture  of  language;  beyond  the  creation  of  a  rhetorical  metalanguage  for  producing  effective  texts,  we  need  a  grammar  for  analyzing  meanings  in  images  and  their  distinctive  forms  of  expression.  In  short,  we  need  a  grammar  to  support  semiotic  know-­‐‑how.  Our  students  need  to  utilize  grammar  to  interpret  visual  as  well  as  verbal  choices  and  their  interplay.  For  example,  in  a  recent  HSC  paper,  students  were  asked  the  following  question  about  a  painting  of  Albertus  Seba  by  Jacob  Houbraken  (from  1730).    HSC  question:  How  does  the  image  represent  an  individual  who  values  discovered  objects?    

 

Mary  Macken-­‐‑Horarik,  20/11/15   7  

   Whilst  there  are  several  features  of  this  image  that  could  be  highlighted  in  an  answer  to  this  question  –  botanical  drawings  and  the  figure’s  pointing  finger  drawing  attention  to  these  drawings  for  example  –Seba’s  eyes  meet  those  of  the  viewer,  producing  the  visual  equivalent  of  direct  address.  This  ‘contact’  image  highlights  the  importance  of  discovered  objects  to  this  18th  century  ‘gentleman  scholar’.    Although  they  make  meaning  in  distinctive  ways,  as  Kress  &  van  Leeuwen  (2006)  emphasize,  we  can  analogize  from  choices  in  language  to  those  made  in  images  to  reason  about  meaning  making  (what  these  authors  call  ‘semiosis’).  In  the  grammatics  project,  we  made  use  of  the  affordances  of  systemic  functional  grammar  to  explore  parallel  areas  of  meaning  in  multimodal  texts  (see  Macken-­‐‑Horarik  &  Unsworth,  2014  and  Unsworth  &  Macken-­‐‑Horarik,  2015  for  papers  about  this  aspect  of  the  project.      The  representation  of  options  for  contact,  social  distance  and  attitude  of  characters  can  be  depicted  as  choices  from  systems  relevant  to  interaction.  I  am  grateful  to  teachers  of  Mount  Waverley  North  School  for  permission  to  use  this  slide  from  their  presentation  at  a  national  conference  in  2013.      

     

 

Mary  Macken-­‐‑Horarik,  20/11/15   8  

We  can  apply  the  interactive  grammar  to  images  from  original  illustrations  for  Alice  in  Wonderland  by  John  Tenniel  and  compare  these  to  movie  stills  from  the  2010  feature  film  by  Tim  Burton.    

   In  the  image  above,  we  can  trace  gaze  vectors  between  the  Red  Queen  and  Alice  but  there  is  no  contact  with  (and  no  demand  of)  the  viewer.  We  see  the  Queen  in  a  relatively  ‘long  shot’  which  depicts  not  only  the  two  central  characters  but  the  King  and  courtly  attendants  surrounding  the  pair.  Although  our  view  is  relatively  ‘equal’,  the  bodies  of  the  Alice  and  the  Queen  are  at  an  oblique  angle  to  the  viewer  and  thus  we  are  invited  to  contemplate  their  interaction  at  an  impersonal  distance.  Tenniel’s  choices  contrast  with  those  made  in  the  still  image  of  the  Red  Queen  from  the  movie  by  Tim  Burton.      

   In  this  second  image,  we  are  positioned  at  a  low  angle  to  the  queen  and,  via  the  frontal  angle  as  highly  involved  with  her.  This  allows  the  filmmaker  to  capture  her  imperious  gaze  at  possible  victims  of  her  

 

Mary  Macken-­‐‑Horarik,  20/11/15   9  

inquisition.  In  fact,  we  see  her  as  the  frog  courtiers  must  see  her  and  are  thus  drawn  in  to  their  terror  at  her  gaze.  Drawing  on  recent  work  by  Painter  et  al,  2013,  we  see  ‘along  with’  the  courtiers  and  thus  invited  to  identify  with  them.    It  seems  to  me  that  if  we  are  to  have  access  to  a  semiotic  grammar  in  school  English,  we  need  ways  of  comparing  ‘apples  with  apples’  and  ‘oranges  with  oranges’.  A  common  set  of  abstract  terms  is  necessary  –  terms  like  ‘representation’,  ‘focalization’  and  ‘attitude’.  In  this  way  we  can  explore  common  meanings  and  analyze  different  ways  in  which  these  meanings  are  made  (if  they  are  made  of  course).    For  example,  within  the  terrain  of  focalization  in  language,  we  are  aligned  with  the  subjective  viewpoint  of  a  character  through  a  pattern  of  ‘verba  sentiendi’  –  verbs  of  seeing,  feeling  and  thinking  sourced  to  a  particular  character.  These  choices  predominate  in  inner  worlds  and  alternate  with  phases  representing  ‘what  is  seen’  –  the  outer  world.    In  images,  however,  we  are  aligned  (at  least  temporarily)  with  the  view  of  a  character  through  contact  images  (+  gaze)  and  how  these  alternate  with  observe  images  (-­‐‑  gaze).  In  film  images,  this  is  often  called  the  shot-­‐‑reverse  shot.  In  some  multimodal  texts,  we  are  aligned  with  characters  through  visual  focalization  but  not  verbal  focalization.  The  interpersonal  meanings  in  one  mode  may  converge  or  diverge  and  this  makes  for  some  interesting  analysis  of  viewer/reader  alignment.  The  potential  for  literary  interpretation  in  English  has  only  been  extended  by  recent  research  into  the  grammar  of  multimodal  literature.    Concluding  remarks  We  are  in  some  important  new  territory  in  21st  century  classrooms  and  have  only  just  begun  to  re-­‐‑imagine  grammar,  drawing  on  important  work  within  systemic  functional  semiotics  pioneered  by  Michael  Halliday,  Jim  Martin,  Joan  Rothery,  Frances  Christie,  Len  Unsworth,  Clare  Painter  amongst  others.  The  key  issue  is  to  see  how  reflections  on  grammar  serve  crucial  disciplinary  work  in  English  –  help  us  to  build  knowledge  progressively  using  a  common  but  increasingly  differentiated  metalanguage,  supports  rhetorical  adventures  in  composition  and  excursions  into  multimodality.    We  are  at  the  edge  of  these  new  ways  of  knowing  and  require  navigational  tools  for  finding  our  way  into  the  largely  unmapped  waters  of  our  disciplinary  domains.  The  key  is  to  respect  and  foster  the  different  kinds  of  knowing  and  the  way  grammar  figures  differently  in  each.      For  publications  referred  to  above  and  papers  about  the  grammatics  project,  see  references  below.        

References  Andrews,  R.,  Torgerson,  C.,  Beverton,  S.,  Freeman,  A.,  Locke,  T.,  Low,  G.,  Robinson,  A.  &  Zhu,  D.  (2006),  The  

effect  of  grammar  teaching  on  writing  development.  British  Educational  Research  Journal,  32,  (1),  39-­‐‑55.    

Halliday,  M.  A.K.  (2002),  On  grammar  and  grammatics,  in  J.  J.  Webster  (Ed.)  On  Grammar,  [Vol.  1  of  the  Collected  Works  of  M.A.K.  Halliday].  London:  Continuum,  pp.  384-­‐‑417.      

Humphrey,  S.,  Droga,  L.  &  Feez,  S.  (2012),  Grammar  and  Meaning  (new  edition),  Newtown,  Sydney:  PETAA  Kress  G.  &  van  Leeuwen,  T.  (1996)  Reading  Images:  the  grammar  of  visual  design.  London:  Routledge.  Macken-­‐‑Horarik,  M.,  Love,  K.  &  Unsworth,  L.  (2011),  A  grammatics  ‘good  enough’  for  school  English  in  

the  21st  century:  Four  challenges  in  realising  the  potential.  Australian  Journal  of  Language  and  Literacy,  34(1),  9-­‐‑21.  

Macken-­‐‑Horarik,  M.,  Sandiford,  C.,  Love,  K.  &  Unsworth,  L.  (2015),  New  ways  of  working  ‘with  grammar  in  mind’  in  School  English:  Insights  from  systemic  functional  grammatics,  Linguistics  and  Education,  31,  145-­‐‑  158.  

Macken-­‐‑Horarik,  M.  &  Unsworth,  L.  (2014),  New  challenges  for  literature  study  in  primary  school  English:  building  teacher  knowledge  and  know-­‐‑how  through  systemic  functional  theory,  Onomázein:  Revista  semestral  de  linuistica,  filogia  y  traduccion,  Numero  Especial    IXth  ALSFAL  (2014),  230-­‐‑251.  

Martin,  J.R.  &  White,  P.  (2005),  The  Language  of  Evaluation:  Appraisal  in  English,  London:  Palgrave.  Myhill,   D.,   Jones,   S.   &   Watson,   A.   (2013),   Grammar   matters:   How   teachers'   grammatical   knowledge  

impacts  on  the  teaching  of  writing.  Teaching  and  Teacher  Education,  36,  77-­‐‑91.    Painter,  C.,  Martin,  J.  R.  &  Unsworth,  L.  (2013),  Reading  Visual  Narratives:  Image  Analysis  of  Children’s  

Picture  Books,  Shefflield,  UK  and  Bristol,  US:  Equinox.  

 

Mary  Macken-­‐‑Horarik,  20/11/15   10  

Unsworth  L.  &  Macken-­‐‑Horarik,  M.  (2015)  Interpretive  responses  to  images  in  picture  books  by  primary  and  secondary  school  students:  Exploring  curriculum  expectations  of  a  ‘visual  grammatics,’  for  English  in  Education,  49  (1),  56-­‐‑79.