Rose and Martin Ch2 2012

28 LEARNING TO WRITE, READING TO LEARN
textualised examples of words, word groups and clauses.

At the other extreme, constructivist pedagogies such as whole language
in the belief that learning emerges
oppose explicit teaching of language systems,
from within the child, and that language is osmotically absorbed from the child's
environment, in a process that has been dubbed 'natural language learning' (Gray
1987). It is claimed that explicit language teaching constrains an
individual's 2 Language and social power
freedom to create their own mcanings. These practices are recontextualised from
several sources. One is Piaget's cognitive psychological hypothesis of individual
is the
learning; another is the notion of creative genius in the arts; and third
a
liberal humanist doctrine of individual freedom. The constructivist view is quite
at odds with actual observations of language learming
in the home, such as
Painters' examples, which show how caregivers deliberately and explicitly guide first phase
children's language learming. Furthermore, the rejection of explicit language This chapter focuses on writing in Infants and primary school, descrlbing the
teaching forces teachers and students to rely non-systematic, tacitly
on learmt folk of the Sydney School research, the Witing Project and Language as Social Power
It first outlines the context In which
our work began, outlining the kinds of writing
project
metalanguage to discuss language in the classroom. schools at the time. The range of genres
that primary
That is it starts with meaning- found In Australian primary
In a sense, genre pedagogy takes a middle road.
we
then descrlbed, and the model of genre that
ful whole texts, but the way they are explored is informed by systematic under students are expected to write are
then outline the development of the
those outlined above. developed out of this work is Introduced./Ne
standings of the way that language is organised, such as
the
students ihto control of these genres and Ilustrate
And as each features may be explicitly reviewed and
text unfolds, its language
pedagogy designed to apprentice
involves. The chapter
students can recognise and different kinds of teacher-student interactlon this apprenticeshlp
named as opportunities arise. Furthermore,
once
children have achieved by means
of each text, these meanings can be further concludes with examples of the kinds of writing that
comprehend meanings in the context
This kind of extension of this pedagogy
reviewed as systems of linguistic contrasts (Rose 2010b).
in a learning cycle, which follows
activity is an example of an elaborating phase
and builds on understandings gained
successful completion of a learning task,
from genres
be applied to language systems
through the task. This principle can
letter patterns(§4.7). 2.1 Beginnings: the Writing Project
($3.7) all the way down to sounds and is also applied throughout
The pedagogic principle of prepare-task-claborate
discussion of its context (as this chapter Education conference at the
this book. Each chapter begins with a In 1979 Michael Halliday organised a Language in
unfolds as a series of reading tasks of educators interested in
also did). Then the body of each chapter University of Sydney, which brought together a group
or written. Before each text,
the reader is interested in education. It was through this
more often than not short texts, spoken language with a group of linguists
is elaborated in more detail after the conference that Jim first began working with Joan Rothery,
who was shudying
prepared with some brief information, which but the
made as easy to access as possible, shident writing in school. This led to the first phase
of Sydney School literacy
text. By this means the book is
undertook to
and the reader builds in spirals, as in Figure the Writing Project (roughly 1980-1985). This project
knowledge that is shared between us research
and the later chapters of the book, build a classification of the kinds of writing done by students,
focusing on infants
1.5 above. Towards the end of each chapter,
as contrastsin systems, i.e. as South Wales system, with students
the accumulated shared knowledge is
reviewed and primary school (Years K-6 in the New
role in data collection and ethno
aged 5-12 years). Cate Poynton played key
theories of language and pedagogy. a
graphic analysis during this phase.
infants and primary school education had been
By the early 1980s Australian
known at the time as progressive education
strongly influenced by what was
and the Australian
The Writing Project research was funded by the Uaiversity of Sydaey
Research Council
g I y I vica cmidrn Traty devecp e sck
Be s histay f e pianet
a n zdiCT2 sAnC, vICa was a t s nhcing
e m e i v IWTg t e dea was t buuid a sugpordvE
ier aciiry t2 OUR PLANET
uring ciass
Ianmen r izc
devcpment, appareatiy simia 0 thar expei-
y d r a amy
peiken-langiage develapment n the zorme. qur
ciasso c s evee f t meznt
9
binng one's torgue and sipping p ~on
e As Scot
repors n one ot ie keY proc=ss WInng uanuais,
a e S T EDEOS a s te tel cmldren what and how to Une ot
wite. I had to
d E TY tOcgE and remenber thar chilaren can think
Sca 1e3 1) And s ose of tie Year 2 tor tnemselves
eachers Cate and Jim
apoiogse iuneg a iesson: "I kaow l'a aot supposed to tell therm observing
were
aer ai, I am ther eacher!' anything, bur
c s "tenevsiet nertia'.
Haliday's apt term for progressive pedagogy ot this
These dezs are aive 2nd well today ia many parts of the worid, with the tern OUR PLANET
Constructiv ou
goneraily used to refer to the approach. Alexader 2000,
Bropty 2002 and Wells 199 provide useful overviews from the
Eartn's coe s as hct as the urthea cutar ayer oi the sun They are bcth Sc00e".
millensiu Alerander, in bis revealing study of primary schoolnun of the Earth stated
around tte wornd, notes he pedagoEy as a ball of fire. Siowy t ccoied BLt i was sil *o hat r Lie Sicwy
folowing piece of
S483 proioeetly displayed on he classroom wallprogressive
tormed
philosophy (2000 water and nen the irst sigs d e, microscopic cels. Then
came rees.
of cne of his Abcut seven heusad milien
scboois. Altbough posed aimost wo
decades
Michigan, USA years ater came the frst men
later, this teacher's issues
periectly be polensing
ieoingcai cimate in wbich we undertook ourcapture 1980s
Austtaliaa research Ben bad a keen inierest in science and had written what looked to us like a
proto-scientific explanation of the history of the planet. This was assessed by his
teacher as (i) incomplete (since his drawing of the planet was coasidered
LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL POWER 33
)
unfinished), (ii) poorly presented graphologically (since there was no margin)
-
and (ii) generically unacceptable (since it was not a story). So much for (2.2] Observation/comment text language only (Year 3)
on a topic of your own
choice in any form you choose! Ben
writing
survived, did mainly
science subjects in secondary school where be hated
English because they never TheSuzimmina_
told him the criteria on which assessment was based
he is a voracious
Lacoival 1
reader and loves Shakespeare), and went on to
(though
complete a degree in biochemistry i Wentin Ihe nace oac
and psychology at university. His middle-class
parents, both working in tertiary and k4n Thutkday
education, had given him the coding orientation he needed to see him
But what about other students, we wondered, who cannot
through. Observation/comments tend to be realised as multimodal texts, accompanied
see through or find a
way around the hidden literacy curiculum on offer here?
by drawings bearing on the experience related. The images accompanying the
verbal text just considered are included in [2.2] below,
Incidents of this kind confirmed for us the including clouds, two
importance of looking closely at the bird's eye perspectives on the pool (divided into lanes for the races, and with the
language of student writing in order to build a clearer of what was
picture going names of the writer and her
on. peers by lane in the top one), and what appears to be
a
common kind of we
Fortunately for us we were working in Michael Halliday's linguistics depart map of sorts to the right. This was the most
ment at the writing found
University of Sydney, and had the richest meaning oriented grammar in our survey of just over 2,300 texts, and the
only kind of writing that we could
of Englisb in the world at our disposal (Halliday 1994). In addition, we were be sure was undertaken by all students before
leaving infants and primary school
developing Halliday and Hasan's 1976 work on cohesion as a model of discourse for secondary education.
structure (Martin 1992, Martin and Rose 2003/2007). And
beyond this we had
inherited seful models of social context from and Jim's teacher
Halliday (1978) [2.2'] Observatlon/comment language and image
in (1967, Gregory and Carroll we set to
Toronto, Michael Gregory 1978). So
work, exploring what we found.
heSuimmina
Lacaival
il Wentin The NCe oaa
2.2 Types of writing in infants and primary school
and 4n Thusday
As we can see from Ben's explanation, students were not all in fact writing
"stories. And we observed that the texts that Ben's teacher might have accepted
)
LL
as a bona fide 'story' were not all of the same kind (as partly reflected in the
different grades teachers would assign them). Here are some examples of the
of writing we found (Rothery 1989), beginning with what were over-
kind
whelmingly the two most common types of text collected.
w
2.2.1 Observation/comments and recounts
Text [2.2] is from a Year 3 female writer, who has been to a school swimming
carnival. She relates that sbe went in four races and had fun that Thursday. We
termed this kind of text an observation/comment because it comprised an
observation about an experience and the student's reaction to it. In observation/
comments the experience is not developed as a sequence of events; what
happened is parcelled up economically as a named activity.
Text [2.3] is from a Year 5/6 male writer who has been to visit his father for
three wecks during the summer holidays. He relates a visit to his aunt, what he
In order not to repeat examples from previous publications, throughout this chapter we bave got for Christmas and how he felt about seeing everyone.
ofen used texis collected in the 00s for purposes of illustration, not the actual texts on which
our comments on the distribution of genres are based.
LANGLGE AND OwE
36 LEARNING TO WRITE, READING TO LEARN LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL POWER 37
Goannas The Coolest Sherk in the World
Goannas are natve anlmals that live In isolated place and they ore reptiles. Every sea creature sees my shark difforently. The penguins think sho is The brother.
The great white shark
Goannas look as same as area Where they Ive in. They camouflage their self with
the area their colour looks like yellowish-brown and they eal insects dead animals shes o princess but ina cuddly sort of way.
Goannas breed about six eggs The crab next door Thinks shes smart But you haven't seen The cilly crabs noxt
doorl
Aborlginals hunt goannes for food and the fat Inside the goannas are used for
mediclne. Even the Octopus thinks shes funny. It's crazy though. he cracks up loughing every
Ume he sees her mr stngray thinks shes preclous and adorable but when he takes
her on a Journey she trles to bite him.
This Goannas report is also not a story: temporal sequence is not a
structuring principle berc, nor is the text about personal expericoce. Rather the But I love my shark. I think shes The coolest
tcxt makes generalisations about a biological species classifying goannas,
in a snapPy and swlshy kind of way.
describing them, commenting on reproduction and noting bow they were used by
Indigenous people. We termed this kind of wrnting a report, and noted thbat they
were usually written by boys (who, like Ben, were thereby putting their implicit The text describes, from different points of view, a particular sbark who is
writer at variously a brother, a great white shark, a princess, smar, funny, humorous, pre
or explicit assessment as a 'story' risk) cious, adorable, dangerous and cool (and the writer loves her great white pet).
Like reports, [2.5] below focuses on things rather than events; but in this case
it considers a single thing, not a class - here an imaginary pet. We termed this kind of writing a description. The move from biology (Text
(2.4)) to dornestic life (imagined) affords an outpouring of feeling, including
(2.5] Description featuring humour, focallsation (Years 3/4) those of the writer (who accordingly writes in the first person).
Notably this text includes almost no scientilic information about sharks
(contrasting with reports about sharks in this way; see [2.6] below). Instead, the
ThCgglez sharb .o Ara l o d e r .
text plays with personification (endowing animals with human consciousness)
and focalisation (considering the pet shark form the imagined perspective of )
Even ssa erestA sasm shok fellow sea creatures). These standard literary turns no doubt play a key role in
diflesealy.fpaja ARShas attracting the assessment 'Super work' from the teacher, and demonstrate the fact
elcatheclhe gczatudate car that 'imagination' is not a faculty that can only be exercised in 'story' genres,
SheapriKEs Lainaudug seat- and exemplify the fact that 'creativity' is a possibility with every genre (once it
has been mastered of course).
her next dorThink In contrast with Text [2.5), which depends on personification and focalisation
Sbas smaf ButugA lhaise to impress the reader, Text [2.6] depends on research.
Evealaukkadqn ThRL
Shec tanegttsIAZ agn
ecrdRSAp laugking evenyinthises
bmesbingraythinksshexprecios
aod adocaale bvat when be tales
hec ona lascassha tieta bitabin.
Shes he coolest
D.1-Shaegy adSMR;kiadiay
iliiil
'
40 LEARNING TO WRITE, READING TO LEARN LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL POVWER
Students'forexplanation texts were

very in pat because the genre not
rare
students in constructivist classrooms, and in part because very litle

was (2.9] Protocol (early secondary school)
modelled
writing was done across the curriculum in thematic units focusing on physical or If shoes ruled the world I think the would apply lots of laws and some of the might be
biological phenomena. In any case, the literary orientation of process writing was
so strong that materials promoting writing as a tool for learming science at the
People are not allowed to wear shoes.
time were recommending and poetry writing over other genres (Martin
narrative
1990b). All of the tv shows featured shoes.
Alongside reports and explanations we occasionally came across instrumental
The presldent would be a shoe.
Writing about how to do things (procedure and protocol) and argumentative writ-
ing about issues (exposition and discussion). Numbers were small, since taken The people would be slaves to the shoes.
together explanations, procedure, protocol, exposition and discussion made up Shoes were all over the world and did all of the human jobs.
only about 2% of our sample.
Procedures provide instructions about how to do something, organised around
Text [2.10] below is a rare example of argumentative writing, dealing with the
a time line of the activity in focus. In everyday life this genre is deployed for
thesis that the best pet in the world is a pet rock.
recipes, directions, instruction manuals and so on; in school it is more likely to
feature in science reports, in the stage where the methodology of the experiment
[2.10] Argument The Perfect Pet (Year 6)
is specified. Text [2.8] below is a specialised recreational procedure, explaining
bow to catch a fish.
The best pet in the world is a pet that you don't have to feed, doesn't fidget and
doesn't make nolses in the middle of the might The pet that flts all these categories
[2.8] Procedure How to catch a Flsh (Year 6)
Is a pet rock. You never have to wory about it dying becouse t was never allve in
the first place. When you take your pet rock for a walk you don't have to wory about
You put on your dirlest chothes and bring with you a friend who knows how to fish.
it Mighting with another rock. You don't ever have to brush it or wash lts fur. Pet rocks
Get your friend to help you bait your hook then let him or her cast your line try and sit
are always good for weather predicions. It your rock is wet you know it's raining.
patiently.If you can't your friend could come in handy to talk with. (?) play some
when It starts to ly Its windy and when it shakes it must be an earthquake. A pet
kind of game you can do sitting down. This is so you do not have to leave your spot
rock will never run away, it doesn't answer back and if you don't like the colour of the
When you get a nibble close your eyes while you lel your friend reel it in. Get your
rock you can paint it again. The food bll s very low for a pet rock for it will cost you
friend to show off his or her catch and take a photo. STAND CLEAR while your
nothing to teed. There are wo or three things your pet rock will not do. It wll not
friend cleans, scales and guts the fish because fish is going to smell. f you cant ind
fetch a ball or stick, won't beg for food, and can't roll over for you to rub lts stomach.
a spot where the smell doesn't reach you it won't hurt to bring a peg.
But it also never digs up the gerden and doesn't care If you change its name. Pet
rocks never catch a cold or get sunburnt They are very good tor paper weights if
Procedures are complemented by protocols, which assume you know how to they are heavy. Last, but not least they can be both an indoor and an outdoor pet.
but need guidance how to do it properly. They feature in
do something some on
civic life as rules, regulations and laws controlling behaviour often signposted
A moreserious implementation of the argument genre than [2.10] might deal
at appropriate They are not organised around a time line but simply list
locations.
with the issue of whether people should keep pets at all, and with guidance it
restrictions on the activity in focus. Text [2.9] is an imaginative protocol text the
from early secondary school, listing. might be more clearly organised into pros and cons. Relecting no doubt (i)
relative absence of a focus on writing across the curriculum, (i) the implicit liter-
ary bias in the largely implicit assessment processes and (ii) childish concep
tions about the capabilities of infants and primary school children (Martin 1985),
the relatively few examples of explanatory, instrumental and argumentative writ
ing we found were from good writers playing with the genre, often using imagi
native topics, and often for humorous effect (as reflected in [2.8] to [2.10]).
students were Wnting imagiaative stones such as 'Journey
So instead of scientific explanations,
to the ear (as a sound wave).
RNE T ARE EAONG TO LEAAN
LNGUAGE AND SOCAL POVER
222 (212] An earty narratve (K)

n gre of te me ef kinis oí zritirg we fod incuding eanpies of the
p descptcs planatoes. proceurs proteoni and arguments (ie. tbe
pmapittss nd discaasims revewed above), we conchuded that this kind
f acta wgaeect accmted for oy about 10% of the texs surveyed
P 146) Te est w oy witing oi soeme kind nainly nchuding obser-
ad a fatla in tres
o m e m (accut 4%) and ecoats (about 20%), o s t of the rest was
raper. by wich we e a n a ory in wbich socmething goes
wrong Let
zte KisnhaiP_ike
piore ths a imie aow, becaiuse spite of their generally implicit prefereace mn i m He peicn-
or wrinz of s kind, e iand that tezchers had very litle 2wareness of what
Ah was suern inte s B . He heerd a S P n ard a car ald n terra z .
aey w e actng ta wee they vaued a muccesshul rarrative tert Tezt [2.11]
heicv an e rad Helg, neig' taid e man. Tne fon eio e ran sum ts te beech.
z 1
priio-darratrve
(211 Prtineratve (Year 1) Narative fcanures in [2.12] inchude seing the s c e (a fsh was swimming).
introducing a complication (car in he waer), szerding te time line to allow
for some evakuation of the zravity of the sinzation (Heip, help' said the man) and
T e resolving the complication with the rescue (the ish helping he man o the
Tin and Waletzky's 1967 propesals for basic narative trucnre
beach). Labov
(Orientaticn, Complicatioa, Evaluation, Resolution) axe easily recogrised bere
Tex: [2.13] below exemplifies a more deveioped narrative.
2.13) A more developed narratve (Years 1/2)
1Een rad 28.10e eizs
Ynisuae
heaA LhodYgh
aStrqcaq QAEgLig
r wn a orst a r he jmped ter ye lyrtA thon te ato surn9 applos. thoawd ude
Te End yell Slme
e w4t reamdasl
Text 2.31 nclucos various narrative features:
begius with the indexical Once
it
uun atime openig lestured in laury tsles, introduces the main character
(a
bre), arguabiy impiscates a problem/suiution sequence (i.e. the horse wanted
K Ppies, it jumped over the fence o get some), and closes with The End
Tex (2.12), from a even younger but more addvanced writer, develops a
cATTLAl arratve sructure more clear)y
kacR
island in milddle of swamp. other person mandy not that far from (2.14] Undeveloped story (Year 5/6)
My settin on on
whereI was standing in the swamp. I thought I heardstrange gurgling noise.

a
Da fhe Veeseah IPlay toatykall
Mandy had trozen and was looking at the swamp. I wanted to yell "un" but my throat andL-
on the water, then red dot in the
LheaIdenfta the G
dry. Suddenly a yellow slime Just (appeared) a
5cea-
Se0AHach Snake dad
was
water. I whispered "the great screampasime swamp water snake." Mandy nodded.
plackdog-aad CatMyLalusiaK.
Then she whispered "Back away slowly we dld. Soon the gurgling sound got farther
lasi ny_Lausin Tacklant at
then It was gone. Ne rowed back In our boat and never came back.
-Out oE F L t e L a n d SLe abla
S 0ake
More developed narrative features in [2.13] include a complication developing in bous ng-
two phases (first the gurgling sound and then the appearance of the water snake),
LWa Wall
CoUS.a as N e a t á blacR
each with their own evaluation. The resolution similarly unfolds in steps (moving
SAaka-
back, the sound recedimg, rowing away and never coming back). The suspenseful black snake and
lexis (including Then I went to the river and I see a
staging of events is further dramatised with affectually charged On the weekend I Play footyball
Jack Jumpet out of the tree and
cousin Jac. my cousn
one invented term) -wamp, strange, gurgling, frozen, slime, screampaslime, see a black dog and cat my
And not surprisingly, given its enactment of the conventions of the see a black snake.
whispered.
as 'Great, despite its problems with handwriting.
genre, the story is assessed was wormy bous my cousin was near a black snake.
to conscious-
Basing our analysis on texts of this kind we were able bring
to
our process writing teachers, with

ness the implicit story assessment criteria of school with the implicit
Accordingly many students were arriving secondary
"bonus points' given in
Labov and Waletzky's staging as a basic scaffolding, and written down. Text [2.15] below is
for further problematising the time line, for using non-core vocabulary
to charge idea that writing was simply spoken language
7 (the first year of secondary schoolin
the text with feeling, for setting the story somewhere beyond
normal everyday a lelling example from a writer in year
experience and for incorporating literary devices such as personification and New South Wales).
students were not being led along a
shifüng focalisation. But our process writing
of our female writers [2.15] Anecdote (Year 7) )
pathway developing these resources. In fact only few
a
were able to figure out from their own reading

what their teachers were actually
Nee )
observation/comments and recounts,
asking for. Most students continued to write Osbe: 25. 05
school and in the
based on how they had beard language used outside
School Yeer: 7 2cg_
playground. Even where students had extraordinary experiences to draw upon,
a narrative
the absence of modelling and explicit discussion of how to form
meant that a developmental trajectory was not embarked upon.
Text [2.14], for
valued piece of writing hing ásoi ov ad
example, has the stuff of narrative, but it is not a bighly gnd
with respect to the implicit assessment criteria just outlined. losksd_ Attops, AL First las Sco ned
U closer iSES e fac t h lo bia euS_

Jumaed. lf loaked Lac o (a' l wen oir t
SND 25-02: CS Eboar Lo08 aanday.

. -J
LEAANING TO wRSTE, REAONG TO LEARN
LANGUAGE ANO SOCAL POVER

When I was wokr p MS COX roomsen a sultcase. and a simy thing
hengng out anc t loried ike a baby octopus AT First I was vared but discussion here with reference to
systems of
outlined in Chapter 5 (5.3) below, and detailed meanings
when I look in discourse that are
wasnt hat scary Then I looked up closer i seen e face with to big eyes in Martin and Rose
t iocked tka a cat i wentover to open and was s c31
piayln with
I
jumprd. Because they present wo 2003/2007
perspectives oa one topic of sctool kaowledge, we wl
a baty toy
agned at mysef and
he cat ogked up at me snd focus on the wo shbarks texts introduced
meowed at me. THE END above: {2.5] wbich we caled a
description and {2.6] which we classified as a report. To show more
meanings unfold through the texts,
bow clearly
This Text [2.15) can be
interpreted as an anecdote, a story that reports an they are presented line-by-line, with oe
clause to each line (as for 2 5 below).
unusual epenence in order to share an emotional
reaction with listeners (Martin
and Plum 1997, Rothery 1994). Here the writer
has a laugh at herself for (2.57 The Coolest Shark in the World
nghtened by a pussy cat. getting
Needless to say, writing of this kind concerns
secondary school teachers Evr m ceanre tees my sran ifererty
greatly, since at all levels (e.g. handwriting, spelling, punctuation,
standard grammar, spoken story-telling layout, non- The penguine hink she ia The brote
style) it is far from the kind of The
needed for book reports, literature writing grest white shart (0ins] shes a onnces b in a ady sorn d way
essays and naTative composition in subject The crab n e door Thirks shes s a
English, let alone wrnting across the curriculum in other
were conSdent intanu and
discipline areas. We But you haent seden Tha
cily crats nen doer
primary schools could do better than this, and so we Even he Octops think shes furny
set to work to turn
ihing1 around. rs crazy though
he cracks up laugrung
very time ne soes her
2.3 Knowledge about language: genre mr
stingray tunks shens precious and adorabe
when he takas
The first thing her on a Journey
we bad to do build
model of language in sociul context that
was a she yies to bite hirm
teaches could use to
plan and deliver their writing lessons, and evaluate their BuToe my shark
students progress. Without such a model, these pedagogic activities depended on I think shes The coolest. in a snappy and swshy kind d a y
teschers intuitive knowledge about language, and their students' writing
depended on their even more limited intuitive awareness. Our goal was to
bring
he
inguistic nature of their students' writing to consciousness, to make the 2.3.1 Presenting knowledge
teachng of ianguage explicit. To do so we needed to find a
eschers' and students" way to build The first set of meanings we will focus on is known
as ideation. ldeation is
knowledge about language, or KAL concemed with the nature of
This was cspecially
challenging iu tbe Australian context where progressive knowledge, ncluding everyday, specialised and
educetors bad been able to renmove the last academic knowledge.
Text [2.5]. for example,
vestiges of grammar and rhetoric presents the wnter's everyday
teaching îrom schoo! and pre-service teacher training curricula knowledge about sea creatures, inciuding white great sharks, penguins, crabs,
As a resuit, dhe only (Christie 1993). octopuses and stingrays (although
her pet shark is not
knowledge about language that remained for most teachers of her sea creatures). Just a few of
explicitly classified as one
wa a few erms for word many possible sca crestures are
classes (usually celled parts of mentioned,
specch), without any and no biological infornation is
syslemeuc criteria to recognisea poun, verb,
adjective, adverb, conjunction or provided about uny of them beyond this partual
prepostioo reliably wben asked to identify one. Our own inventory The activities noted are famuliar donestic
linguistic framework odes joking around and
was far ncter than this, and we going on tnps. Since the creaures nentoned would be familiar to most urban
proceeded along the following lines, drawing on children from reading picture books,
tbe best aralyses we could
muster to make expticit what was watching television and perhaps a trip to an
From our functuonal model of gomg on aquanum, this description arguably does not depend on any
language we assumed that tbe texts students based on everyday
research, the text is
were writng *ore ude of
mcanngs, ánd since we were dealing with whole understandings of the world, with the imag1native rwist that
sexts, we apprcncbed the analysis of their
sharks can be kept as pets, and sea creatures can think
and laugh and go on
meanings from the perspective of d1s- excursions just like poople do.
course, thet , of eanings
unfolding through u text. We will organise the Text 2 6] on the other hand does scientific compile understandmgs based on
48 LEARNING TO WRITE. READING TO LEARN
classified with species that live in the sea, 2.3.2 Identfying people, things and places and organising informabion
research. First sharks are explicitly
of sea creature, and the number of sub-types scientific knowledge in the two
which is then rephrased as one type The complementarity between everyday and
ldentificationis
is stated. highlighted by resources for Identiication.
shark texts is also
them
uscd to introduce things and places into a text and to keep track of
people,
[2.6'] Shark Repot from sentence to sentence. The writer of [2.5] introduces each thing except sea
creatures as a specific individual who is already known to readers (the coolest
white shark, the crab nert
A shark is a typo of species that ives
in the sea shark the world, my shark, the penguins, the great
in
Mr Stingray). And five of these things are tracked through
A shork is one of ho largest sea creatures. door, the Octopus,
to the pet shark (12 references).
There ar 350 type of shark chains reference, the longest of which refers
of
then described, with reference to their the wornd, my shark, she, she, she, she, her,
she, her, she, my shark, she
Some aspects of shark's bodies are the coolest Shark in
skin, the elastic nature of their

streamlined shape, the texture of their the crab next door, he illy crobs next door
skeleton and their size.

(cartilaginous)
the Octopus, he, he
mr stingray, he. himm
A shark Is shaped liko a torpodo.

to whole classes of
Sandpaper is like a shork body. In [2.6] on the other hand each thing is generic, referring
of generic refcrence there are only occasional short
Elaotlc ls In shork body Inset of bones phenomena; and as is typical
A shark cnn grove up to 8 moters identity chains.
of their behaviours are described, including sharks, they, they

babitat and some
Finally, their ocean
up to forty two pups, Uhem, the pups
swimming, feeding and breeding.
Generally indefinite reference is used to refer to these generic participants.

Sharks llvo in Oceons.
Sharks are referred to several times in this way, alongslde single mentions of
bones, oceans, plants, live meat and cggs. The only definite reference is the
Sharka have to swim live in the
creatures, which reters back to species that
sea.
largest sea
but if they dont swim
hoy will slnk or Buffocate. hamless

sherk, shark, a shark, o shark body, shark body, a sho, shaks, sharks,
a shark, 0
sharks, some shorks

sharks, honful sharks, sharks, somo
Hormless oharks eat Plonts
)
but harmful sharks eat livo meal
bones, oceans, plants, live moat, eggs
Sharks have up to forty wo pups.

With respect to the flow of information, the two texts organise the meanings )
Some sharks lay eggs Text [2.6] begins with a title, classifiecs
reviewed above in complementary ways.
and some have Ihem livo.
sharks in an introduction, and then develops their desciption.
Some sharks have to defend the pups.
In this kind of text we have moved from everyday understandings of the world Shark Report
and typically depends
to scientific ones. Writing of this kind involves research,
has to be retrieved from A shark ls a ype of species uhat lives in the sea.
on reading -
since the biology involved by and large

A shark is one of tha largest sea creatures.
Writing. There are 350 type of shark

5oLEARNG TO WRITE READNG TO LEAF
LANGUAGE AND SOCAL POWER
51
Sanderer s a sas boey Text 2.5) also begins witb a title, then intoduces the different
Eescs srer oocy rs bores different sea crestures points of view of
as an
introduction, deveiops their persperives and
turns to the
feelings of tbe author. finaly
Te Conlest Shari te Wond
Eey e aeetre ses my san teresy.
The engurs hia she s The

braer
snens e iva nsa The great t e srat shes a
poncess ba n a ddy
The arab nen toor Thirics
ses s
dway.
BA ou naent seen The
Sons s a s e y cats ner do
Evene Oaos tiniatstm.
he cads
up laugning sey ne ne s e s
ner
stngray r s s
Furkemre, te srtng pont Theme, of each clzuse is
or
r c o s r d adoracle
sèzis, -tich serves overwbelmingly

bu
when he takes her na oney she res n
onent each
message to the scientific topic of
And eacè cisnse ends ith a
piece of information about the text. Bl ove my san
of the message (n boid siarks, thet is the News
below). Irin ses The cocies
ina
snappy and ssy d d
ray
sy c s t a ivs n t e sea Clause by clause this text's
s cre d e ags a caa. in efñect two development is more
complicated because there
Tea planes of 'naration'. One are
with sea cTeatures and the wTiter develops the different points of view,
as Theme znd their mental
pTocessing as News
he penguns
Easc ne gest whe sha

sabecy inse d bores ( G)
A sar the crad n e o r
ins
e Ocopus
rinis
Sans e (Te ocdoous)
tnks
The other
develops what tbey think, with the per shark
evaluation as News. as Theme and ber
she sa prnces
ssre s
ec ta pps insaddy ot wsy.
she sren
sesAury
s
precios ad 2orbie
The crolest qualify the evaluations of the pet shark made by different sea creatures. So not
in snaoroy amd swishy kind of way only do we have muitiple points of view in Text (2.5), but each perspective is
So far negotiated by the writer to finesse the evaluation. This kind of self-conscious
as information flow s concerned we have two
as
planes of experience (sea fine-uning is highly valued in the academic discourse of humanities nd social
world pet worid). one projecting the other, as sea creatures evaluate the
and
As Rothery has doted (e.g. 1904; cf. Martin

pet. sciences as one dimension of what it means to be 'critical', and is another reason
1996), bringing two planes of for the high vaiue placed on texts like [2.5] - especially in comparisoa with texts
expernence togetbeT in narrative is a highly valued trope in
secondary school sub- like [2.6] which authoritatively compile facts about the world
ject Englisb ciassrooms, for which the author of [2.5]
appears to be well
prepared
234 Genres-canfigurations ofmeanings
Evaluating feelings, people and things There is of course more to say about these two texts. There are so many
Turning to appraisal, whicb focuses our attention meanings involved that we cannot do justice to all of therm bere. Orur aim is
on feelings, the everyday simply to illustrate how texts are made of meanings. T hey do aot simply express
worid of (25] judges the shark's character (coolest,
cuddly, smart, cilly, funy, meanings that exist somewbere else texts make meanmgs. And when *e refer
ra, coolest) and appreciates it as a pet
(precious, adorable, snappy, swishy), to a text as a description or a report, these classifications are based on the overall
and the Octopus has an outburst of
feeling every time he sees her (laughing). In
configuration of meanings that text. So the text types we establish are based on
in
contrast Text [2.6] has just two
appreciations of the danger sharks pose to the recurTent configurations of meaning we find in our research.
hamans (harmless, harmful). Significantly, the source of most of the evaluations
Early in this phase of our work we began to refer to these recurent conigu-
Text [25] is the sea creatures, an
important dimension of their pcrsonification rations of meaning as genres. The diagram that came to be most widely used for
(aiongside their abilsty to think and laugh like people do).
modelling genres as recurrent configurations of meaning is presented in Figure
Finally. with respect to conjunction, the strongest contrast between the two
2.1 The co-tangential circles, one inside another. are designed to sbow that
the recurent
texts s use of concessive relations in Text [2.5], in bold bclow genres are patterns of language patterns. The double headed arrow stands for
realisation - the idea that genres cons1st of meanings and thus that meanings
The g e wte shark shes a prnnosss
construe the genre
buna a y son of way
The cao e r Goor Thirs shes smart

b you t e i i sen The cly cabe next doorl 8enre
E re Oaopa tuas sas furny
language
a r y bme be sest i
wsrgay ures ses pecon ad adorabie
Figura 2. L: Ganra raaiised through language - language construing genre
to
Haing got h s lar, the challenge now lay in getting this intormation
teachers and snuuena, in a conicx! where, aa aoted above, we had no knowlcdge
r s Te a e e
about language to work Clearly. starting with language was going to
with be
probieaic, real1ng ot Texts [2.5] and above assume a lot of
incc our ciose
not with
Thes uTderstaDding of bow texta are ovganised. So we decided to begin
concessve CJucuo (Id, cven, though) are uied by he wTiter to down. This
langage but with genre, and begin te re-introdice KAL fom the top
LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL POIER
perspective resonated with the whole text focus of process writing and whole
narrative, Text (2.12], can be divided into the stages Orientation, Complicatin,
language programs. We came to formulate ur characterisation of genres for
Evahiation, Resolution.
teachers as 'staged, goal-oriented, social processes' socinl because we are
inevitably trying to communicate with réaders (even if they do not immediátely
to our work), goal-oriented becanise we always have a
AnMartus Orlentatlon A nsh was swlmn inthe orta.
reador respond purpose m enrs Complicafon Ha heerd s 3Plash arnd a car falld in mowata cer.
for wntang and feel frustrated if we do not accomplish it, and staged because it Evatusdon Help; helg soid tha men
usually takes us more than one step to achieve our goals. Resoludon The fiah help the man swim to he beech
The report [2.6), for example, has two broad social purposes: to classify sharks
and describe them, so following its Title, it includes two main stages: We initially borrowed these terma from Labov and Waletzky's 1967 work on
Classification and Description. The Description goes through three phases, which narratives. Labav and Waletzky characterised stories without
any science teacher would recognise for a report about animals: describing (i) spoken Reso-
lution stage as an incomplete narrative, since the problen posed was no
a
their appearance, (i) their habitat and (ii) their behaviour, which includes resolved. However our research showed that stories without a Resolution were
movement, feeding (or diet) and breeding (or reproduction), shown below just as common, but had different social functions, such as sharing an emotional
reactionto what went wrong. We temed this kind of story genre an anecdote.
Shart Report The critical point here is that the staging is a crucial dimension of the function of
Cassiicadon A shor Ls e type of spedes that llvos in the sea. the genre, and for writing to be effective the language mobilised has to
enact,
A snark is ane of the largest sea
cTeatures. stage by stage, the function of the genre.
There are 350 type of shark
Descripdcn 2.3.5 Key genres for primary schoot
appearanc A shark is shaped like e lorpedo.
Sandpsper is Bike a shark body Working along these lines we developed descriptions of what we considered to
Elasuc is in shark body inset of bones be some of the key
genres students should master by the end of primary school
A onar can grow up to & meters. including recount, anecdote, exemplum, observation/comment, narrative.
habita Sharks ive in Oceens.
description, report, procedure, protocol, explanation, exposition and discussion.
beravor Each of these is a technical term referring to a distinctive
TOverten Sharns nave to swim
but f hey don't
configuration of
swim they will sink or sulfocate. meaning constiuting the genre. In addition, we worked out the basic staging for
digt Harmiess sharks eat Plents
each genre, including technical terms for stages, as set out below in Table 2.1.
Dut hermfu sharks eat ive meat
So now we bad two levels of
Shars neve up o formy two pups. metalanguage we could provide to teachers:
(i) the name of each genre, linked to its social purpose, and (i) the
S e sharkz lay eos and soT have them ve. stages we
could expect each genre to go through. Materials
Some srarks nave to detend tre pups. supporting this metalanguage
were prepared for teachers,
including worksheets for students
focusing on the
TDe stzges of
genrea
obligatory steps that our research showed each
are metalanguage (e.g. Disadvantaged Schools Program 1988, Macken-Horarik et al.
instance of tbe genre
merure 1989, Christie et al. 1992, Callow 1996). Most of these are by now difficut to
goes through. In order to make these clear for both
chers and students, we access, but they have since spawned a host of imitators, publisbed by state
distinguished genre stages by initial capitals, such as
Ctassification and Description. education departments and commercial publishers, typically under the name 'text
Within each stage, any one text may go through
phases th2t are more variable. For
example, a report about animals may or may types
not include babitat,
movemen, diet or reproduction, and may include other
phases depeuding on the writer's particular purpose. Each
stage and phase of a
genre bas a specialised function that contributes to the
social purpose of the genre
as a wbole. And each has
characteristic language features designed to contribute
to the of the whole.
meaning
The staging of reports can be
contrasted with staging for narrative
which have a very different cial genres,
function. For exaraple, the very
simple Derewianka 1991 bowever is stnll in priat and is
represeatative of the best of these materials.
LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL POWERR 57
56 LEARNING TO WRITE. READING TOLEARN
in tems of how effectively they accomplished their

of research
analysis of specific genres
Table 2l: Genres described In the first phase
goals.
could leave primary school, arrive in secondary
By the early 1990s a student
stages and ask "Wbat genre
gene purpose
Orientatlon
school, and when given writing task put their hand up
informed answer was, un fortunately, very
ecouM1 rECOUnting events Miss? Their chance of getting an
Record of events had any significant impact on secondary
Orientation small, since our intervention had not
their
school teaching. The best sucb
students could hope for was to return to
Complication
there on what the writing task
esoing a complication
school and work with former teachers
Evaluation
primary sustainable
kind of support of course was not
Resolution acrually involved. And this
Orientation throughout their secondary school years
cumiculum, beginning from the
enecdote Shanng en emotional reaction Remarkable event
Our success restoring KAL to the WTiting
in
introducing aspects of functional ammar in

Reaction top down, encouraged
us to begin
Orientation We were able to establish
that both infants and
support of such programs.
ones
Judging character or behaviour Incident students took as readily to thc ranmar terms as to the genre
exemplum primary school
Interpretauon 1999a, 2004, 2005a). But their teachers, their parents,
(Rothery 1989, Williams
another story entirely. Durng this period govern-
Orientation
descripton descrbing specihc things the media and politicians were

Descripion in-service resources for practising
teachers, and
ments were severely curtailing
Classificaton Schools Program resource centres,
dassitying and descnbing general things
Descnpuon
by the mid-1990s the regional Disadvantaged
bad been closed down. So we were unable
to
Phenomenon
which were so crucCial to our work,
needed to learn to do close readings of
epiana0on
eplaining sequences of evenís
Explanation provide teachers with the support they and
circa 1995/1996, the media
Purpose language patterns realising genres. Meanwhile,
Wales engendered a debate about whether
functionai
Equipment politicians in New South
procedure how to do an ectivily
could not understand) should be 'imposed
Steps grarnmar (which they claimed parents
Purpose on teachers and students in place
of traditional grammar (good old nouns and
whet lo do and not to do anti-intelilectualism is an instructive one
prokoco
Rules verbs). This eruption of "back to basics'
Mart1n 2000a, b explores
Thesis for anyone interested in renovating literacy curricula;
arguing tora point of view Arguments some of what we learned
poston
Significant upshot of all this fervour was that genre
con-
Reileralion In retrospect, the
into the
Ssue sCiousness, including terms for genres and stag1ng. slipped comfortably
or view Sides But this is getting ahead ot
Gisaussio discus6ing two or more poinis
NSW K-6 curriculum, beneath the radar as it were.
Resoluuon classrooms it was
knowledge about genre to be effective
in
Ourselves. For
at student texts, but how they
necessary to change not just how teachers looked
S
taught students as well. So it 1s to issues of pedagogy as far as teaching wniting
infants and primary school took readily to this
Both tcaches and students in
concemed that we now un.
knd of KAL, cspecially wherc supporied by in-service programs like those run
by the Dsad vantaged Schools Program Sydney (see $2.4 below), by

in caslem
tic cud o the milleTinium, K-6/7 cumiculo across Australia had been strongly
2.4 Teaching genre: Language and Social Power
1uccd by this genre perspective Ciucally, assessment practices shifted
project
formally ad infomally fro an mplicit evaluation of all student TItung as a
me of iess successful narrative (as for Ben's explanation above) to an explicit
2 4.1 Getting orf the literacy pendulum
had
As we have discussed, by the carly 1980s the literacy pedagogy pendulum
to con-
Mui xts, s a d by geure srud asarnaED, BVailebit at t t NS W Biard nf Studies wetie. ton traditional, 10 called 'teacher-centred positions
sung radically
p /Br Iartstatiadiaes isv s0u nu
LEARNING TO WRITE, READING TO LEARN

56
their
in terms of how effectively they accomplished
analysis of specific genres
the flrst phase of research
Table 2.1: Genres described In goals.
leave primary school, arrive in secondary
By the early 1990s a student could
stages a writing task put their
hand up and ask "What genre
genre purpose school, and when given
an informed answer was, unfortunately,
Orientalion very
ocounting events Miss?" Their cbance of getting
recount Record of events on secondary
since intervention had not had any significant impact
Orientaton small, our
to their
students could hope for was to return
Complication school teaching. The best such task
and work with former teachers there on what the writing
norrauvee rosolving a complication
Evaluion primary school of course was not sustainable
And this kind of support
Resolution actually involved.
school years.
Orientation
throughout their secondary from the
to the writing curriculum, beginning
an omolonal reactlon
Remarkable event
Our success in restoring KAL
enecdote sharing
introducing aspects of functional grammar in
Reaction top down, encouraged
us to begin
that both infants and
Orientation We were able to establish
support of such programs.
the grammar terms as to the genre
ones
exemplum judging character or behaviour
Incident
primary school students took as readily to
2005a). But their teachers, their parents,
Interpretation
(Rothery 1989, Williams 1999a, 2004,
Orientation another story entirely. During this period govern-
descrlptlon descrbing spociic things the media and politicians were and
Descriptlon in-service resources for practising teachers,
ments were severely curtailing
resource centres,
the regional Disadvantaged Schools Program
Classification
class/lyng and describing general things by the mid-1990s

report Descnpuon closed down. So unable to we were
which were so crucial to our work, had been
Phenomenon to do close readings of
explenaton explaining sequences of events provide support they needed to learn
teachers with the
Explanation
Meanwhile, circa 1995/1996, the media and
Purpose language patterns realising genres.
a debate about whether
functional )
Equipment politicians in New South Wales engendered
not understand) should be 'imposed'
procedure how to do an activity
claimed parents could
Steps grammar (which they
on teachers and students in place of traditional grammar
(good old nouns and
Purpose instructive
what to do and not lo do to basics' anti-intellectualism is an one
protocol Rules verbs). This eruption of "back
literacy curricula; Martin 2000a, b explores
Thesis for anyonc interested in renovating
Arguments some of what we learned.
expoelton arguing fora point of view
fervour was that genre con
Reiteration In retrospect, the significant upshot of all this
comfortably into the
Issue sciousness, including terms for genres and staging. slipped
were. But this is getting
ahead of
discusston discussing hwo or more points of view Sides
NSW K-6 curriculum, beneath the radar as it
Resolution
ourselves. For knowledge about genre to be
effective in classrooms it was
how they
tochange not justhow teachers looked at student texts, but )
necessary
far as teaching writing is
taught students as well. So it is to issues of pedagogy
as
took readily to this
Both teachers and students in infants and primary school concemed that we now turn.
like those run
kind of KAL, especially where supported by in-service programs
by the Disadvantaged Schools Program in eastern Sydney (see $2.4 below); by
the end of the millennium, K-6/7 curicula across Australia had been strongly Social Power
2.4 Teaching genre: Language and
influenced by this genre perspective. Critically, assessment practices shifted
of all student writing as a project
formally and informmally from an implicit evaluation
more or less successful nartative (as for Ben's explanation above) to an explicit
2.4.1 Getting off the literacy pendulum
pendulum had
the results of these interveations is the
sample of As we discussed, by the early 1980s the literacy pedagogy
have
One useful point of access for reflecting on so called 'teacher-centred' positions
to con-
student texts, sorted by genre aad assessment, available at the NSW Buard of Studies website, swung radically from traditional,
http://arc.boardofsTudies.nsw.edu.au/
LAMCLIAGE ANC SOCA NWER
al m av
In the aext exampies, Hal's Mum suggests a rezson why Hal migtt not want
o t arhes sone food, three months later, agan n a very simalar coniext, Hal astñes has
w mkey uOorod wrth the
maiony of staients (and wishes on his own
g arN xS *ndIÇeDOUs backgrounds even less bope of
R hz e
CKpac taiuonal one). ComsrucUviSt approaches were
i reacton te ad1tonal ibæracy
pedagogy. and so circumsended
a pat expias
the taikure
of process WTUng to prepare
SA ar
wTRE across the cumoukm in prmAry schodL
Ns schon ad he cTe discipinsry wntng N
ency needed prosper outside education in
po d workc B 1 * werr
jookung for ways to get
z
e off the pendulum
pe ouk work tor all students,
rgardiess of theu soCial
{27 monrhs
ucence hough nteraon in he cotext of shared

expenence
us saast
cvenyaae peak as they grow
up bome we decided look
at
d e r u t c aw to
glidy s and Panmaer cEFUTCS SUcoess forTunately for us 'e hsd a both cases we see the parents interecting with Hai and
through this interacton
e dr
aurtid-bresi.ing work on spoken language development providing a modei tor him of what it is to justity behavzour, then later on,
a (Mziuday 1475 203, fanes 1934, 1991) And even more
s t w t > e abhe to
fortu- comparable coniexts, Hai takes ova this knd of reasoning as hus awo
cmarusaeu P&nter të WTiie her clässic paper
auE on te role What abaut loogr texis? Where do they cone îron Tbe reccuni genre,
icamn to tain
änd oa to write
i dey 19S61. Paimer From whuch many snudents have to draw on in process wntung classroorns, provides
so
Fau optd te indan.cnta! prncple that
successtut ky excpiar liere is un eatly exaenple (rom Haileday. hus son Nigel is aot
g Ng dpensdn t gukdascr througs iateractiou in the coatef
of wa ycars okd (1975. 112) And ix reflectung on a trip to the zoo with his mother
ye
ar ed aspePicsce iacs ai jus" tw aanpits f
pareit-child urier- acd taiher w bere a goal had med to cat a plastic bd he bad picked up when te
Si w33 pettang him. A iew hours laier Halbday recorded the following exchange
tkpaio sacsw tyt id icarning hoa
wy Lat parnsta cetAA kcep up. au ee1ogne
he Aamas ta ad easons. a
enp mootta later iai
22 manths, 14 days]
Leaming to recount storles Auntie Joan cook quack quack for you.
Nigel
Father Auntie Joan cooked quack quack for you, dd she7?
Nigel y eat
Auntle Joan cook greenpes.
Father mat ried to eat the lid?
Nigel
Father And green peas
Nigel ty estl Began shout
Father mat tried to eet the lid? Nige Who began to shoul
goet man said no- goat y eat lid man said no
Mother
Nigel Nila began o shout.
Nigel
Did you? Vhat did you shouf?
Mother
Note bow the father's guiding interaction prepares Nigel for bis more extended
Nigel Greenpea
recount Later that evening his mother provides further support.
child reconstructs the experience on his own, shedding
Later that same day the
Nigel goat ty eat hd m18n said no first time round (and againtakes the
the interactive support his parents provided
Mother Why did the man say no?
the story over and over in ensuing months).
est lid -(shaking head) goodfor it
step of repeating
Nigel goat shouldn t
Mother The goat shouldn 1 eat the ld; ir's not good lor it to shaut
Child Auntie Jean cook quack quack for fou- and green pea- you began
Nigel gost ty eat ld_ man sald no -
goat shouldn 1 eat lid- (shaking head) goodor it
GREENPEA
Halliday comments that this repeated as a whole, verbatim, at
'story is then
about GREENPEA is in fact the very example used
in Applebee
on his own, Nigel's recount
frequent intervals over the next few months', with Nigel recounting and Langer's popularisation of Bruner's notion of scaffolding (a
1983
tem
with
without the guiding interaction of the caregivers who shared this experience the tran-
introduced in Wood et al. 1976). The scaffolding metaphor captures
children to build
sitional role of caregivers' and teachers' guidance, supporting
hin.
at 26 months
In the folowing example from Painter (1986: 75) we see Hal notion of
their competence towards independent control. The scaffolding
was
a real giraffe he had seen at the zoo;
his
cuddling toy girafe
a and recalling course derived from Vygotsky's *zone of proximal development' (ZPD).
mother then prompts some further details about the experience.
development level as determined by

It is the distance between the actual
independent problem solving and the level of potential development
26 mornts as
Hal cuddlinga loy giraffe] in collabo-

determined through problem solving under adult guidance or
I saw a big girae.
ration with more capable peers (Vygotsky 1978: 86).
Mum Yes, what was the girafe doing?
Ha Estng le/ leaves.
and Painter's language
whet about the itle giraffe ? Our model of learning was informed by Halliday's
Mum
theory only )
Remember whet he did7 development studies, noting correlations with Vygotskyan learning
between Halliday's and
Hal Go peepbo later on in our work (Martin 1999a). The connections
and
Mu Yes, he was looking out of the door, wasn 1 he?
Painter's functional linguistic perspective and Vygotsky's learning theory
discussed by Gibbons 2002,
their implications for teaching and learning are
book and coming across a pichure of a 2005 and Wells 1999, among others.
Two days later when reading a picture 2006, 2009, Hammond 2001, Hasan
about Vygotsky's ZPD is that it is an
giraffe Hal recounts the zoo episode on his own.
However, something that is rarely noted
assessment measure, 'determined by independent problem
solving' versus 'prob-
al Thers giraffe. I saw a big giraffe. Big giratfe eatng /o/ leaves;, itle giraffe go peepbo It denotes the ditïerence berween
lem solving under guidance (1978: 86).
tasks, using the spatial metaphor of
a
round l oa assessment
scores on these two
learmers construction metaphor, with learning as
the
likewise uses a
another interaction between Halliday 's son zone'. Scatfolding of
These eramples are very sinilar to
building and the the scaffold'. Both metaphors reify the processes
teaching as
Al 22
Nigel and his parents (Halliday 1975, reported in Painter 1986: 75). learming as abstractions; neither accurately evoke the leaming prOcesses
nonths Nigel tells his father about a meal he has shered with his mother, who involved, and there are many
different interpretations of what
ZPD and
prompts further details
s2LEARNNG TO NRITE. READNG TO LEARN

scaoiding (soe $o.15 below for
ean
examples). For us the scattolding meta-
phr ds reintorce strongy enough the fact that
guidance takes reconceived consultative process, with tenchers in an
as a
authortatíve mentoring
thrgh untvdhng dialogue, in which teachers prepare leamers for tasksplace role. And Rothery's currieulum
genre as a whole is front-louded it introduceu
kow u with elabvanvas and what students need to know
up front, and constnucts a text inteructively with
them before asking
them to write on their own. So
drafting and publishing have a
0anoui genrefr heaching wnbng difforent function in the currioulum
gonre as a wholo, drawing as thgy do on
knowledge about language and genre. We are taking the tenn 'curriculum
Joan Rolbery was the firsi member of our group to try and translate the notion of here from Christie (e.g. 2002) and genre'
gudance through inieracion in the context of shared experience' into using it to focus on classroom practico
aching practce She reasoned that if we coukd make learming to read andliteracy
interpreted as a family of spoken genres which wo explored nlong the sane linos
more bke learning to
write as our
exploration of written gonres illustrated ubove in Table 2.1.
speak, then murv students would be successfully appren- This model was presented by Jim in a
Worxing with Year plenary acddress to the 1986 meeting of
a
2 and also a Year 5 elass Rothery developed the the Australian Reuding Association in Perth. On the
basis of the Perth presen-
fodowing cumcuhum genre for teaching wrting (Table 2.2). Rothery referred to tation, Jim and Joan were approached later that year by Mike
er maiel sa language based approach'. NSW Callaghan of the
Disadvantagod Schools Progrum, to work with him and his
colleagues on
teaching writing to the predominantly working-cluss, migrant and Indigenoun
Tabie 22 Rothery's initial curriculum
genre for tesching writing students in the inner-city schools he was
responsible for. As oue of his principals
had cautioned him, "Don't bring us any more of that
Moseln a gerre mizRY thugh reasing to and by class: e g. read process writing ***; it
doesn't work with theso kids!" This led to the
Genre Language and Social Power
project, which ran successfully with a focus on infants und primary schools in
Fasneon AAxeing a ganre arniY by namng ts stages: e.g. kdenttying the
collaboration with Sydney University's Linguistics Departnent over the next few
Gare e s *Orientator, Compücation and Resouton In the tele of Litke
years. Alongsido the production of materials focusing on different
genres
mentioned above, this project worked hard devoloping the
Teacw and cass compase the
genre under tocus, the teacher guidas
pedagogy with Joan, -
Mike, Mary Macken-Horarik and others playing key roles.

NagrsN * onpston of the text throuph questons and aomments that One of their first steps was to recontextualise
Gerre prvoe the saKIg for the stages of the genre, eg. ina narative Rothery's sequence of stagos as
he tokwing qesdons may poinx iowarts a Resoiuton stage how wiR -
a
teaching/learming cycle (TLC) which could be entered at different points and
X escape on he widch? Doas she do R alone or does someone re-cycle specific stages depending on the needs of studonts (Disadvantaged
help
Schools Program 1989, Macken-Horarik et al. 1989). Over time the
Reseuchins Fscs wnrany usely involves tesearch teaching/learning cycle was reconceptualised in various forms, which developed
and foregrounded different aspects on the
Seciny msaeriai tor resding pedagogy. In the initial phase the
Noe maiung and sunmersing major stages were referred to as Modelling, Joint Negotiation of Text and
Assenckny ntonaion bafore wntng Independent Construction of Text (Figure 2.2).
A first aTeT ai
wnting t e genre under focus
6 Correncng Teacherup? gonsuston - direct relerence to the meaninas of the
wnlr's teAt ag qusstons that help the wnter to
resolve the
Compicatn ssge of a neratve. Young writers find
Complication
easy but neschving thei cherecners probiems is oten hard.
Conlerenang s gemng "into the texx, not stending aside trom it
Pcishing Wmang a fins drat that may be published for the class ibrary, thus
provedáng anoter n s of genre modeis and a great deal of enjoyable

reading
Mary Macken-Horarik in fact undertook her pedagogy and cumiculum research as part of a joint
LERN (Litcracy and Education Research Nerwork) and NSW Department of Education
The names of the last three of these stages were boTowed from process writing initdianive, before joiniug the DSP. LERN was formed by Bill Cope, Mary Kalantzis, Gunther
cuTicuhm genres, thereby providing some
contnuity for process writing Kress and Jin Marttn in 1987 with a focus on post-progressive developments in language and
eachers,but with significant renovations.
Conferencing, for example, was social science educanon (Cope and Kalantzis 1993). One ofshoot is the regular intemationa
LERN Coaferences organised by Cope and Kalantzis.
traditional paradigms could often make

or progressive
have succeeded in either
Successive organised for smaller
cycles could be
do with just a Modelling stage. in
class more students were able to write independently
in as
groups of students
a
AODELLNG
also found that successful implermentation of
the genre. Our educational linguists
teachers in their
on consultants working alongside
coTEXT
TEXT the cycle generally depended to
demonstrations and face-to-face feedback as a follow-up
rc classrooms through of shared
unteraction in the cootext
in-service presentations. Guidance through
learning this mixed-
fe in other words was just as important for teachers
expenience'
as for their students
mode curmculum genre (invoiving speaking and scribing)
the transtormation of speaking into wTiting).
written one (involving
learning a 2.3
Based on teachers
feedback from early TLC was revised as Figure
this
HAprotmation
Contol of below (Murray and Zammit 1992).
Genre
a0TIATINGPIELD]H
WOLNHISN0O LNW3ONad3ON
LN
w
uu ngn
L
e n ta yt o
coNTET OF CuIvT
e ne er
ONTEXT OF STTUATION/
DECONSTRUCTION
Power project teaching / learning cycle
igure 22: Earty Language and Soclal Approximation
to Contro
Gente
involved setting the genre in its cultural
As Figure 2.2 ndicates, Modclling
Joint Negotiation of Text
context and duscussing its stages and language features.
a different but related topic
volved first buidng up the ficld for a new lext on
a text, with the students mak1ng
satnt genre and then jointly constnucting
e
butcher papper
HA 4
and thhe tcacher sdapting thcm for writung on the board,

gstof SNO IN NOALDHISH0
ot OHP n front of the class Independent Constniction of Texi involved
sut-stages building up another ficld, writing the subnitting

a
it TRUCTION
3ONaON
iext,
q e n c e of
tor cmuitation with the tcacher, ediing and publishing', and as a final siep
EaKIDg tari for crcative cxploitation of the genre once it had been masiered
(pilaced iast sancc we concurred wit: Éa hin's notian that creativity depenas on
asicry of tir geutc, Bakhun 1986)
Orver un acbers apernience was thal at icast one cycle benetited all
stuudena, aithough so student necded moTe cycles of modelling and joint 3 i Later Language and Soclal Power project teaching/learning cycle
Figurs
conaucin tha otthc belurt wnling on hen ow11, and wniers who would
Joint
Tbe ma stages now c o a a t ot Deconatrnuction (formerly Modelling),
Consuct0a and mdependent Constnuction of Text, in addiüon a tourth stage,
t disovB y a r d 149i, bakiln s cgAum f vhai lt calril yeeuh penr ( egeusing Freld, has been added, to cmphasuse the importance ot shared exper
poriaid fngis a 19h arveurmil àncades rari)
w FenaTt.ahly plc i p a pwT
Foregrounding ticld in this way
TCE ot the ubyect mater when teacbing genre.
made it easier for teachers to see how to build genre
writing into thematic units The introduction of a 'critical orientation' alongside 'control' reflected our
of work across the cumculum ('writing to learn' as the notion of
embedded
iterary teaching was phrased at he time). Negotiating field can draw on a
response to the concerms of the critical theorists that teaching the genres of power
zumber of different research activities, afer which the information (as they were referred to in DSP materials and Cope and Kalantzis 1993) in some
gathered can
be usefuly organised by teacher and students in
point form as a resource for
sense denigrated other genres (for example, the spoken genres of working-class,
WTing n one or another stage. migrant and ladigenous communities) and ran the risk of subsuming non-
The introduction of the term mainstream students into mainstrearn (e.g. patriarchal, bourgeois,
'Deconstruction', and 'cntical literacy' under homophobic)
Endependen! Constructioa, reflects the influence of educators drawing on cultural cultural norms." Our response was twofold. On the one hand we decided as an
stdies and cnúcal theory (cf. New London Group 1996). In other issue of social justice that it was important to make the genres
words, the required for
main anuery about geare-based literacy programs had shifted from the success in education and life beyond school as widely available as
effect of possible. On
the other we concluded that a critical perspective on genre
genre riting on creativity to itS ef+ect on students" ability to critique the texts depended on both
they were reading and the social realities they naturalised mastery of the genres being critiqued and mastery of the genres being used to
The TLC was reined in the next stage of the research, the Write it critique.
Right
pjet outimed in Chapter 3 below, as the eiegantly presented three-stage model
n Fige24 2.5 Negotiating meaning: teacher-student
interactions
DEC
TRUCTIO In
this section we will look at teachers and students in different kinds of
negotiation, depending on the work they were doing in one or another phase of
the TLC as a whole. in reviewing these
episodes we aeed to keep in mind that
both globally and locally genre writing pedagogy is
designed to hand over
control to students by first establishing comnmon ground and then
making mean-
SLS
cantroy ing with them - before asking them to write on their own
The examples of interaction we will show are taken from a Year 6 class of
NCWLEDse
ation
aNGUAGR
mainly migrant snudents (Vietnamese and Middle Eastern background). They are
working on expositioa, have been through one cycle of Deconstrucuoa, Joint
re Construction and Independent Construcion and have already writen indepen-
CONSTRUCT10
JOINT
CONS dently on the issue of whether voting should be compulsory (which it is in
Tbe teacher is emberking on a second cycle to
Austalia). improve their control
of the genre, so they already have a lot of shared KAL to draw
on
In particular, the teacher is working on the challenge of previewing arguments
in the Thesis stage (the introduction to an exposition) without actually giving the
arguments, and then making sure everything mentioned in the preview is picked
up in the Argument stage (the body of 2n expositicn) without being repetitive
Figure 24: Write it Rignr vaning/earnirg cycle (Pthery 19s4)
As c e sa Aenes of criecal deriSs ar de ame are discussed in Fairciough i992, Freedmar md

e aga sening otat snd building ficld are aow more Medway 194a b, Greea and Lee 194, Lee 1996, Leke 1996. Some of ther coecems ar
2ppprasiy t T E s
e oocceTs of eacb rzge of he cycle. At be centre adiresses a Cranay-Ftuncis nd dMarnia 1993. 1994, 1995. Macker-Horank 1997,. 1998,
e iel. te gal bes bes zized u Towards cunirol of azd crinical Marte 1991, 19992 d, Matia and MaTComack 2000, Veet 1995. Marti 2000c md Maria an
Rose 2003/2007 dsees the coerecs berae oa înciocal lingusc pproech ea
soeie e
fgrr 2i sp -
samely, e ea thar genzes coasist of alyis and critcal discrse snalysis {CDA)
meanrgs Or thank i e MaCowage eod r snadents az Lskembs Pbëc Schoo! ortbeir enbusiasic
parterpatcr e develspmeat of te TLC pedapgy xd t achglaning yce Éoa
68 LEARNING TO WRITE, READING TO LEARN LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL POWER 69
the
(see Figure 2.5). So in effect we are in a second Deconstruction phase, looking Further on, sbe invites the students to give this information back to her, using
critically at models of the genre produced by the class at the end of the first teacher device of saying the words up to the desired response, with a rising
cycle. Recycling in this way allows sudents to benefit from the feedback on tone."
individual expositions.
Teacher So whatever you memtion in your introduction. you nave to moke suro you
exposiion
menion in ycur-7
hesis Argumen/s Sludents Arguments
rinroduction)
nestatement
body (concluslom Teacher in your Agumenis
As we can see, the notion of guidance through interaction in the context of shared
exposidon
of the pedagogy. The teacher first makes
experience shapes the micro-struchure
her point about the introduction on her own; then she reconstructs ber message in
Theis Argument/s Restatement
an exchange of ums (Martin and Rose 2003/2007) with the students supplying
pasibon preview toprC elaboraton review restate
the information in tum of their own.. By the end of the stage, the stu-
missing a
dents construct the relevant points on their own in full responses to relatively
Figure 2.5: A pathway of genre development for axpositlon
open trigger questioas.
We will look first at how the principle of handover is managed locally in the Teacher O.K. So there s a lew things to think about What are some of ihe things
Deconstruction and Joint Construction stages, and then look at handover globally do this loday? Filippa?
mentioned you are ging to tny to ihink about wnen
we one
from the perspective of the TLC as a whole. Filippa Not to, um, put an Argument into the Thesis.
Teacher Good. Rlght.

Teocher Something alse, to think about Yes
2.5.1 Deconstruction stage
The Argument hat you ra doirng has to De ike the fopic or Thess hat you choose.
Linh
From a perspective, the
local teacher begins monologically, considering a
suc Teacher Rignt So you make sure you mentoned all your Arguments in your Thesis. Good.
cessfully organised exposition

Globally, we find the same pattern, on a longer wavelength as it were. The
Negotaing Deconstrucdion teacher works through several student texts, reinforcing her point that the first
Can everyone see that7 And
Argumenis.
paragraph has to introduce the arguments but not actually present themn. At this
Teacher OK So she's vey cesry given her threa
the very interesting thing is thet she lets you know in the Intoduction what those stage the teacher is doing most of the alking, building up deeper shared under
hree Aguments are going to be. She hasn1 told you what they're going to be;
standings about the genre developunent she is addressing.
she's just mentioned them
So, you can see very cleariy she has just stated he reasons. (poining at mode/ tex) Now
about including too muchb
She then continues, in the same tum, with a waming ney gave t e
detail in the Thesis.
some
pecple., the other day when they did it, when they were giving tre reesons,
whole explanaton 9Nd hey gave a l their exposihon in he introducion. You dont give -
axplain in
detail. You just mention the reason.

Teacer Con you ses tie ailtorence? Because peope staned in that introduction going on
Lal's havea look al aotner one
You don
o the Argument You don 1 mention (sic)i there; ou onty mentan t
tgo So once again, nat person is vey ceany- tovd you what the p3ragraphs are gaing to be
into he-giving the reasons lor the Argument. Can you see the diference?
about me ouher hing is if you mention an argurnent in your introducton, ar your thess. you have
did the ouer day wa5 hey 3l nad ihese
n a subsequent turn she makes the point that previewed arguments must be lo maka sure r's in your- arguments. Whst some peopie
wGndeTul dess in heir inuoducDon or Uhesis and wss all ready to read adout them andI got to
expanded iater
Teace The other ting s dyou menton an Argument in you introducton, r your Thesis, foot) silent before he
"Techaically speaking the teacher introeduces a break in the rhythm (a
u nave to meko sure Ms in your Arguments into the/./giviag the/reasons for
Tonic syllable (Halliday and Greaves 2008): /*you don'/go
the/Argument
LEAPG TO WRITE, READING TO LEARN
LANGUAGE AND 3CAL POVER
ne erd en ey tant aed sbodef rese ings that they told me thoy were gong to ted me
teacher is not using this pattern of nteraction to build
Se's caly erplsrsd her spuea she? Her up koowedge about yenre,
sn agumet s, um, peope may not
rather, she is using it to confirm the
zte ed ters s she reeded to soy. he peoplg may rot voe, and e n she's gone an o
understandings she has alreaty invesed in
the students. From a generie perspective this is a
say that o oe wos get eeced. ten e candicele odd pet uheir Iierds to voto for them and dialogic enample
of tbe protocol
genre, in which the teacher and her mudents are consolidating guidelines about
heebret a be far gd soR B 2 would be represented and others wouldnt be fpooplo
how to wite an exposition. The protocol thus culminates the
dnt vte Ser ectay erpaded on ter -
spuments. Rermenber. you dont have to erpand on
Deconstruction
h e - reoAdn Youjst ave D mention them
stage of the TLC, before starting the Joint Construction
2.5.2 Joint Constrution stage
Once he eacher has worked through enough examples to make ber
point she
shifs to a much more dizlogic forn of interaction to consolidate the new knowl Satisfied that the students are ready to move on, the teacher rnoves to the Joint
edge ebout genre. Construction stage of the TLC, where the first task is to build up a Dew ficld. The
argument this time is about reasons for going to school. The teacher initiates thas
Teace OK So sere's a lew hinga o mink obou activity as follows:
some
Whet are
trings af the
mendoned yau as gong b y o hink about when we do tris one today? Flppa?
Fho Na to, u pl an spumei inlo e thesis Negotatng od Construn
Teacher Gord Paghm Something etse. Teaceriou. Wmal we ro going to do s - 1 tavn1 Laked abal his very much - t
Pacterd Dontreest yourse reasons io go h school I wam yov o got logether in a proup. s od abons b
Teace Doi repe Ezasen Sametig ese mo think d peopla (you can organisa yoursaves) ad jot down, just jt down ho deas Yo
cen sometiing? Yes
Don put ary other ideas in to peragraph yau are lahng ebout dont have to wrts it in senterces r paragrephd or anythurg else.
-
Was jst
Teeze Good gin Keep al ve paragragh uniied. Don 1 stan introducing new idoas Inio joring down deas -r9a5ona y yau hink s imponant hat chidren do go
e saTe e Sometturng etse, io thnk acot Yes schood or rnasons y you think hat chidren shouldn1 go o scea Ok Make
Li re argumen sure theyre sens/bie; rake sue thare kokcaOk _ and agonised Doo
hai ore
doing has to be lke the topic or thesis thal you choocs
Teace Rgm Sop ntke sureyou mentioned all your arguments in your hesis. Good. anyone wo lo 9ek ary questons tirst belore thoy go away and hove & go
Fitert e snother word whic refert to AlnghL Can you got his computer psper out, Richard, pisase?
secondiy and thirdy.
Teace Ya, here yau can nd some otter words Got yoursedves into a group. Have ane person joring dhe notos as esyone gves
Uheir ldeas
yrene naparayn
Teece Pign Yes. Flpoa
FRp Un, t um, o u ws umaler peragraphs you coud expard them She then encourages the groups to start organising their ideas:
T e Yes You hGve to ty io bink o ways to espand hem. And what we are going to
D e monng s iy and brirg some of aur kdens together to get used to doing Teacher a t / want you o do is now reod vovgh your list ofdees, go nohnt Draugh
Unem, check hel you've gol si he main points thal you wantod io got down, and
Make sare you spas k stan a poragraph. then, 3omo peopte mil have alrvsdy started dong thíis, Wrking eny similor idoas
God boy. Meke sre you spoce, so who knous there s a paragrapn thero7 togother So joan them up, any deas tat you tnink would go togather, wert wea
The person tars readingh. togother.
Tete Codgn. ANyaeg ece tut you can think af7 vho can think Ainight onco you've done hat, onca youve inked Hall vp and youro qute happ
of another point hot
was Tenianed ha m o T g Any other losues ? with i, como and sit on the nat. Yau've got wo minures then 1o ink the tings
Fppe Remember imertsian. ogeior
Teece Right Thers úne. He have
mentionod that Anytung ditterent? OK. Thank-you.
In the next phase the teacher works with the class to jointly organise the ideas,
Here we see the familiar Initiation Response Feedhack
(IRF") triadic interaction as exenplified below. The basic task here is to familiarise students with the ideas
noted by Sincleir and Coulthard i975 for classroom interaction. colected trom ditferent groups and sort them into packages of infomation which
Critically the
will later constitute the arguments of the exposition. The results of this phase
(wbich could be forrnulated as word maps, tables, lists etc.) have to be kept
Relerred w by Meben 1979 Lniation Rephy Ealuatiu (1RE);
s
Gibbons (2002, 2006, 2009) visible for the whole class (via white board, black board, butcher paper, OHP or
develops this perspective m relation to alilding sod her work oo whar the calls "bridging stnart board) during Joint Construction. The interaction here is sirnilar to that in
discose
the forthcoming Joint Construction phase, with students making suggestions krowedge ard utimately helo ou in choasing our career. Finaly ts a place where rou eam to
based on their discussions in small groups and the teacher guiding them to socialise and deveoo in 3 wam end mendy aimasphere
oganise their ideas.

Now they are working on their irst and second arguments. The texi the
Teache Richt O.K Now, er's ty and get these into an order so we can organise how teacher seribes on the board is in quotes below. Her guiding role involves taking
many pareagraphs or how many new idess rE are going to introduce. Can the spoken suggestions of the students and reworking them as necessary into
soneone sot cf hep me work thet out7 kind of interaction gives all students the
appropriate written expression. This
OR Who can see the main thing that keeps coming- the whole way
through with an expert before writing on their o w
experience of writing collaborati vely
Lisa? and makes learming to write much more like learning to talk than in alternative
Lean about a wde range d subjects
traditional and progressive pedagogy encounters. Decades of working wit
Teacer Righ This seens to be one of the most important things, doesn 1 t? So we can
teachers has convinced us that successful Joint Construction is the most powerful
s a y a e r t fot Where el'se does if corme up again ?
classroom practice currently available as far as leam1ng written gcnres is
P that wmith the 1 pcinting at the notes
Fighi S o w e c a n pur T a g a i n s t that - i h a t c o u l d all b e p a r t o f t h e s a m e .
concerned
peragrepi hen. couddn T if? Somewtiere else the seme sort ol thing where we
an ink it together? Can you find any other links? Fllppa? Teacher Right. So Firsty. you lesm atoul a mde range of subjects. for exampie, maths
SCerce, computers, social studies, SDelling. a t crat ading. language.
Fikop Use our eaucaton to get e good job
Righi Now, woud hat be a new ides ? Or is it the s8me, do you tunk? 1 all ibrary scTiptura, ieemimg a new language ieammg 3 new lsnguege
Teece
her OK. Keep going. What odse - ? Yes. Siraj
olows on veything leeds to help you to the net thing but you' ve got lo t and
orpenise t so you ve got one complote. Remember that gluo - tying to get that Sira we ledm a0oul oiner inings - Peope s cuitures snd reigrons.
perapraph to sto together? We want to have a complete paragraph and then Teacher ignt. We've got hero Firsty, you learn abouta mde ronge of sutyects. Maybe
anater complete paragraph. Oo you think that one would work as e foow-up ? we can put sner suojects um of suoyscts, cuihures and pecpis couid w
kter yau ve got your knowiedge and you 've applied all these skils, whet ere you put thot n there? So we could put thal in. So Firsty, you leam aboul a wmde
pong to be sbte o do there? range of subjocis, cuiures ard pecple For exampie, and then we couid go on
to our lor axamplo. So that gots some of ine other things in Fiippa
Safia Suppor our famity
e Suppon pur lamuy by wha? lopa Wa also learn about spot
eacet res vve, 17 put sport in there, because sport wasnt mentioned. r l put t i n
Safra
Teace A jot So tiet woud really be arother parmgraph, wouldn t R? That woutd be thst there, sport. O.K. So we can put it in ihere. Anyting ese, thers7 Um, e
paregrap, together, Lalking about that Yes, Linn sport and heaih. OK. What else have we got up there on the Doard mih 17
Good koas on tow o behave n d how to hve So once we ve done al these things, wmat have e gained 7
um Lean atout o wmde range of sutyocts and good ideas on how to behave
Yes SLdens Knowledga /teacher scribes, some chiidron rsad aiong)
u D n any thing s, Dough wtials going9 to happen to his paragraph ? lfs gong
T 4acner OR s0, um, uimafeiy, hIs ailow US to acheve a
greaer undersianing od ihe
to be atsotoy- Sa - kong huge warid and increase Our knowiedge. O K. Sa, nex Lefs havea ook
paragrapn
Huge o miayte wo Can aimost have sub-paraorahs of the same ining ine Who can start7 LoOA at ihe number hars anoNer
nOw gocd arqumenM7
c say al Cir educalian and leaming in Dhei parayraph, ihese Bre m e Um, Sañ7 Um, um, Rana
s A t i r Bkiis aren 7 #iey 7 petting iter. leaminp hou w behave biowng Rana It grves you an ducabon to heo ycu gel a j00 and ho
work
ris i e y c o i a l tarm ore paragraph, coudn 1 hey ? So l we p i t gord o e s
Teacrsi ALngni NOw, Jecondy we realy need lo in hai a are bi rih he s t
r i e n d a t a t d le al of 1 paragrapn. so what couid w* 14y secody, Oy cheving ts, what dkd

#cgve 7 res.
* jusi
By the pon the teacber and ciass have ucgotiated a Thesis stage for their Teacher ard Tha Nncwiege
CApsilun, wuch previewi reasons fo going o school Suce3

Tece We wf Dw hen wa?
Stea
FG A
stend the schaal in a posvon /some students resding akong) O.K. So can
you d you-
a d hot for me, Nicove 7 Nícole
ESL Everyone
Tescher Good Ard whal else ? Can we develop that a Ble bit more? s there ayahing teacher
e r e thst ou en add to thet mom tne Dosrd? Dusd7
Teacher Back to oveyone, the word indiauals" and the word her and thy whien
Daad And you c3n supoort our family yoursef fom
ar
your job makes l _ what?
Teacher Aught: Um, so this wil enable the individual to then support themseives or thel
Ss general
funison amites Teacher Everyone Not 5pece Alnghi Ihenks.
You noteed ere lve usd the word indviduel rather than say mysel. I could
sy msef d i was wnting t for myseil, but considering 1'm not, I'm wting tor
This sbift reflects the absence of any shared linguistically informed knowledge
eveyone, thsr's why lm using the word indidual you wern wrng t. dyou
ere tying to convimae your audience, you could take wo ways lyou used tho
about grammar, an issue we will address more fully in Chapter 5, taking this
word indhidual, & meens everyone that ever goes to episode as a point of departure.
school *which is a stronger
sstemert than Jt'sjst yor own statement relerng to- you. Se, you have to
iok abeut that when you're writing, hink about who 's roding R and which is 2.5.3 Writing outcomes
ang to make the svronger statement Words r e thet will elither meke it
The inal version of the text jointly constructed in this lesson is presented below,
Stranger and make mora, make ihe plece af writing moro ponertul, wtich is
and provides another model of the genre for the class in addition to the 25-30
y o u wanted do. snt#? You want to make the reedorreely believe what
exposiions written at the end of the first cycle, the exposition jointly constructed
yavre seyng Sa, sometimes you have fo chaose your words: ir's not ahways a
in that cycle, and the model used in the Deconstruction stage
god des to w7ite rom yor own personal thing. Me, me, me or l, or we or us or there.
you Somatmes you mght make it broader and make ii the whole, all children
n general, s/ schoos in genara. So Uhat's something you heve to think 2.16] Exposition (Year 6)
abou
when you're wrling aS well.
strongy beleva children shoula go to school for t fodowing raasons: educavian a res,
Tae interactions we are iooking at here make explicit reference to knowledge can un your tme, parents can work and they won't have io womy sbout you whde you a r al
abcut genre, which has been introduced in the previous cycle. The genre is school You can leam about a wide ange of subjecs, which wil give youa remendous omunt of
expoStioa and ns stages are refered to more and less technically (as intro- knowiedge and ultimately help you in choosing yor corsar. Forally, t 5s 3 place where you leam to
ducton or Tbesis, and as Arguments, explanation the or reasons). In addi tion, as sociallse
and develop na wam and rend)y atmasphere
inai tarn by the tescber above indicales, there is discussion of specific word Frstly, you leem about 3 wider rango of subyecs, auras and people. For axample, in maths
cbonces in reiation to the purpose of the genre. In particular, the teacher is
cuSSg e choice of first or third person in relation to specific or generic
dis science. aomputers. social studies, speling. an, crat reecing, kanguags, hbrary, sport neath,
CTpture eaming a new language and many moe suljecrs. So usiratey tns allows us o
reference, but without using any tems from either traditional or functuonal schiove a grester understanding of the wond and inrease cur knowiedge.
gram
Secondly, ater ochieving this knowiedge, it mil then give al ihe naividueis wto attend school
Towerds tne end of this TLC, in discussion with the teacher, an ESL teacher e t e r cnance to pusue heir own career r ob pmspects, Ths wl enable ve ndrisal o
wbo was observing the lesson does
explicitly refer to this issue using the term SuPport thsmseves or their tamulies
third person, but this is subsequently followed up
non-lechnically with the class Fnaly, al sohool, peope eam hou to dehave saciase wih otrer childrer, share wh each
by e r teacher oUher, play, havs tn, laam o de rasponsitie. have thoir own selkdiscpline, ocoy the school nules
end fom inendships which they may keop fbr te.
t y idi carge ton w o iaviduais, ron 'our to ' t e Ther own 3ef. hope fve ca7wced you hal chidren shud aenod schad or he reasns hsve
dsoyica. r d tam erasps we make' mentoned, 3nd hopetuiny every individua wil have De nondertd opporunity to snand scool
lo ay make7
Bacause T I e t a l g abot ane person, were taikrg abouf o lot of peopio.
Ercaier Gcod gn And there will soon be another 25-30 models produced at the end of cycle two.
Bscase up rere n o hat iopsspapns. (Emember we taked aboul i Here's one of them, considenng the civic issue of whether to build an
gareraiy, wt dart u atad tbeg ou or aursetves" So when s gut doun amphitheatre in a park just down the road from the school.
e
Tdparayaph m taned taking about ingvidusls en
refering lo
sayry a s d wo ard
us
tey, so we hod o go baci to genorady speskung insis40

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28 LEARNING TO WRITE, READING TO LEARN

textualised examples of words, word groups and clauses.

Goannas The Coolest Sherk in the World

Students'forexplanation texts were

students in constructivist classrooms, and in part because very litle

222 (212] An earty narratve (K)

2.13) A more developed narratve (Years 1/2)

1Een rad 28.10e eizs

whereI was standing in the swamp. I thought I heardstrange gurgling noise.

our process writing teachers, with

were able to figure out from their own reading

U closer iSES e fac t h lo bia euS_

SND 25-02: CS Eboar Lo08 aanday.

LANGUAGE ANO SOCAL POVER

48 LEARNING TO WRITE. READING TO LEARN

skin, the elastic nature of their

skeleton and their size.

mr stingray, he. himm

A shark Is shaped liko a torpodo.

of their behaviours are described, including sharks, they, they

Generally indefinite reference is used to refer to these generic participants.

hoy will slnk or Buffocate. hamless

sharks, some shorks

Sharks have up to forty wo pups.

since the biology involved by and large

Writing. There are 350 type of shark

Eey e aeetre ses my san teresy.

The engurs hia she s The

sèzis, -tich serves overwbelmingly

Easc ne gest whe sha

As Rothery has doted (e.g. 1904; cf. Martin

The cao e r Goor Thirs shes smart

E re Oaopa tuas sas furny

wsrgay ures ses pecon ad adorabie

Figura 2. L: Ganra raaiised through language - language construing genre

56 LEARNING TO WRITE. READING TOLEARN

in tems of how effectively they accomplished their

introducing aspects of functional ammar in

descripton descrbing specihc things the media and politicians were

by the Dsad vantaged Schools Program Sydney (see $2.4 below), by

LEARNING TO WRITE, READING TO LEARN

class/lyng and describing general things by the mid-1990s

ucence hough nteraon in he cotext of shared

development level as determined by

Hal cuddlinga loy giraffe] in collabo-

LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL POWER 3

Mike, Mary Macken-Horarik and others playing key roles.

provedáng anoter n s of genre modeis and a great deal of enjoyable

64 LEARNING TO WRITE. READING TO LEARN

traditional paradigms could often make

and thhe tcacher sdapting thcm for writung on the board,

sut-stages building up another ficld, writing the subnitting

As c e sa Aenes of criecal deriSs ar de ame are discussed in Fairciough i992, Freedmar md

Teacher Good. Rlght.

cessfully organised exposition

detail. You just mention the reason.

oganise their ideas.

r i e n d a t a t d le al of 1 paragrapn. so what couid w* 14y secody, Oy cheving ts, what dkd

CApsilun, wuch previewi reasons fo going o school Suce3

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