Harnessing the synergy between oral and written language

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to critique two commercially published teacher curriculum resources and one Ministry of Education teacher curriculum document, to analyse the theoretical links within each of these documents. The intention is to identify the critical components required to harness the synergy between oral and written language. A critique of the three teacher curriculum resources was carried out through a document analysis and generated data from the content, tasks and reference lists within each of the documents. This data was then considered in relation to the two research questions in the study 1) what pedagogical understandings do teachers need to use oral language powerfully in writing lessons? 2) What is the power in the interplay between oral and written language, and how can teachers harness this? Next, the data gathered from the document analysis was then analysed thematically. The findings were discussed in light of the literature reviewed and organised around three themes. The importance of oral language was discussed, followed by the pedagogy and practice of dialogic teaching and teacher curriculum resources were presented. Lastly, biliteracy practices are briefly discussed because the two commercially published resources were written for the New Zealand context. The discussion chapter concludes with a proposed framework of critique for teacher curriculum resources. A framework of critique−The Resource Theory Practice framework is designed as an evaluation tool to assist school leaders and educators in making informed decisions before purchasing curriculum resources. This study has illustrated the importance of school leaders purchasing ‘fit-for-purpose’ curriculum resources.