Having read Michael Rosen’s concerns about the primary curriculum and, particularly, fronted adverbials, I would like to share my experience as a secondary school teacher who loves and believes in the power of grammar (Dear Gavin Williamson, could you tell parents what a fronted adverbial is?, 23 January).
Rosen complains that grammar is destroying the creative process of writing and that many writers do not know what a fronted adverbial is. I read with interest a University of Exeter study, Grammar for Writing, and applied this to my practice with huge success. This process is anything but prescriptive. Students explore how writers use particular grammatical devices for effect and then experiment applying them to their own writing.
I don’t doubt that many writers do not know what a fronted adverbial is, but most writers have spent a lifetime reading. We can’t assume that this is the case for our students. By not teaching these students grammar, we are creating a barrier, preventing them from understanding how to apply certain principles to their writing. Please trust teachers to use principles of grammar in a way that nurtures creativity, not destroys it.
Helen Howell
Stockport, Greater Manchester
• Michael Rosen is aiming at the wrong target. I used to work as an English teacher; now I’m a member of a university linguistics department. Linguists are not interested in prescribing “correct” usage, but we are interested in analysing structure and understanding how language works. Any child who has played the game of Fortunately, Unfortunately already knows what a fronted adverbial is. Being asked to write some sentences using that structure sounds like a creative activity to me.
Some children (often boys) do not like the subject of English and think they are no good at it. Faced with a blank piece of paper and told to write creatively, where do they begin? Yet, empower them by introducing some technical knowledge – and what could be better than knowing the name for something that even your grownups at home don’t? – and those children might find that they are now “good” at English, if the curriculum could expand to include the study of language structure for its own sake.
Dr William Barras
School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture, University of Aberdeen
