This paper interrogates examination English in Australia from the point of view of two analytical frameworks: Bernstein’s code theory and systemic functional linguistics. Linguistically it explores the semantic features of six responses to an open question about an unseen narrative in Year 10 examinations. Two responses at three achievement levels are described in terms of ideational, interpersonal and textual meanings and the overall orientation to narrative interpretation in each grade is related to a particular type of reading — tactical, (D or E grade), mimetic (C grade) and symbolic (A- grade). Capturing students’ orientations to meaning through text analysis is one aspect of the challenge. The other is explaining how some students appear to ‘recognize’ and ‘realize’ what the ‘open question’ requires of them in this context while others do not. The second half of the paper applies Bernstein’s code theory, particularly his notion of ‘recognition’ and ‘realization rules’ to the readings students make of the interpretive context. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the potential of this dual analysis (textual and contextual) for making success in school English both more visible for students currently disadvantaged by examination English and more tractable rhetorically in their production of successful responses.
Ward, Natalia, Robin Foster Schell, Clara Lee Brown & Betty Thomason
2019. Pairing Fiction and Nonfiction Texts to Promote Literacy and Language Development of Adolescent English Learners. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas 92:6 ► pp. 193 ff.
Maxwell-Reid, Corinne & David Coniam
2015. Ideological and linguistic values in EFL examination scripts: The selection and execution of story genres. Assessing Writing 23 ► pp. 19 ff.
Ramos, Kathleen Ann
2015. Using Genre Pedagogy to Teach Adolescent English Learners to Write Academic Persuasive Essays. Journal of Education 195:2 ► pp. 19 ff.
Unsworth, Len & Mary Macken‐horarik
2015. Interpretive responses to images in picture books by primary and secondary school students: exploring curriculum expectations of a ‘visual grammatics’. English in Education 49:1 ► pp. 56 ff.
Macken-Horarik, Mary & Len Unsworth
2014. New challenges for literature study in primary school English: building teacher knowledge and know-how through systemic functional theory. Onomázein Revista de lingüística filología y traducción :1 ► pp. 230 ff.
Maxwell-Reid, Corinne
2014. Genre in the Teaching of English in Hong Kong: A Perspective from Systemic Functional Linguistics. In English Language Education and Assessment, ► pp. 87 ff.
Moore, Jason & Mary Schleppegrell
2014. Using a functional linguistics metalanguage to support academic language development in the English Language Arts. Linguistics and Education 26 ► pp. 92 ff.
[no author supplied]
2012. References. Language Learning 62:s1 ► pp. 225 ff.
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