Characteristics of Learning and Teaching in English

All English programmes should reflect the following characteristics of language, learning, and teaching, which apply to all levels of the curriculum.

Language expresses identity.
Language is integral to the development of identity. There is a close link between the ability to control the different functions of language and learners' own personal, social, intellectual, and imaginative development. The ways in which learners view the world are moulded by their language development.

English language programmes should enable students to communicate their own ideas and responses and develop confidence in themselves.

Language is fundamental to thinking and learning.
As the primary means by which we gather and communicate meaning and information, language is essential for reflecting and reasoning, and for clarifying and expressing thought in all areas of the curriculum. Although English teachers have a particular responsibility to ensure that students can use English for effective learning, teachers in all curriculum areas should develop approaches to learning and teaching that recognise the important role of English for learning.

Language is essential for living in society.
English programmes should be responsive not only to individual needs but also to the community and society.

Language learning is lifelong and students should develop the skills they will need to participate confidently in the wider community. They should develop increasing understanding of the different functions, contexts, and varieties of English, and the skills for using English for different purposes, audiences, and situations. Competence in information and communication technologies is becoming increasingly important.

Language programmes should be learner-centred.
Learning programmes should affirm the value of the learner's own language and experience. Schools present many learners with a new and unfamiliar language and culture. English programmes should match each learner's needs, learning styles, and current level of knowledge, and make connections between the learner's own world and that of school. These considerations are particularly important for learners who speak a first language other than English. Those whose first language is English may also need extra support to develop and expand their language repertoire so that they can interact effectively and confidently with others.

Language development is fostered by an environment which encourages creativity and experimentation.
Students should be encouraged to experiment and take risks with language to explore ideas. Trial and error and approximations in written and spoken English are part of the learning process and give opportunities for well-focused teaching to develop students' knowledge and skills.

Language development is fostered by an environment which provides challenges and high expectations for students.
Students should be challenged to increase their understanding of and control over English for a range of situations and purposes. Teachers should communicate high expectations to all students to support them in achieving to the best of their ability.

Language learning is dynamic and progressive.
Although language learning and the development of literacy have recognisable developmental characteristics, there is no single learning model that applies to all learners. Language development is spiral, and involves building on previous learning, and using and responding to specific functions of language at increasingly complex and sophisticated levels. The curriculum statement for English recognises that language itself varies and changes according to time, place, and purpose

Language learning requires interaction and active participation.
Successful language learning and development require students to be active participants in learning. This includes interaction between teacher and learner and between learner and learner. Teachers should use and monitor the effectiveness of such collaborative approaches.

Language is best developed when students understand and control the learning processes.
Students should increasingly take responsibility for their own learning, work independently, and transfer their skills and knowledge to new learning. The clear structure of the English curriculum will facilitate their understanding of their own progress.

Students should learn how to use the appropriate skills or procedures for any English language task. By knowing the steps in the writing process, for instance, they will develop as independent writers, able to transfer their knowledge to different kinds of writing.

Language is best developed through an integrated approach to learning.
Programmes should incorporate integrated, holistic approaches to learning and teaching, and use a combination of approaches. Sharing books, expressing students' own experiences orally and in writing, guided reading of texts, and writing in different genres are examples which involve the integration of reading, speaking, and listening.

Language and knowledge about language develop principally through use.
Students learn best when they are engaged in purposeful tasks and have a variety of satisfying experiences. The focus of programmes should be language in use within authentic contexts which are relevant to the learner and which include the learner's own experiences. Students' knowledge about how language is patterned and organised should be an integral part of the whole English curriculum.

English programmes should reflect the New Zealand context.
Language development and study in New Zealand must be in the context of our own linguistic situation. Attention should be given to the distinctive New Zealand varieties of English and to New Zealand's own literature, while English programmes will continue to draw widely on the rich international and historical resources and achievements of the English language and of literatures in English.

Thinking critically is important for learning and language development.
All learners should develop the ability to discriminate and respond critically to a wide range of written, oral, and visual texts, including imaginative literature. Literary texts with established critical reputations and from different periods and places have a central place at all levels. Students should develop the skills, knowledge, and strategies to analyse and evaluate language, including their own. They should reflect on the different social assumptions, judgments, and beliefs which are embodied in texts, and which different people bring to language and learning.

Assessment involves evaluation of students in the process of learning.
Assessment of students' progress is essentially diagnostic and should be integrated with learning and teaching. Through sensitive and informed monitoring of students in the process of learning within the English curriculum, teachers are better able to support and assist their development.