Autobiography, talk and the power of the personal in the teaching of English

This article looks at three examples of using language autobiographies in English Education. The first example comes from using this approach when teaching in inner London to unlock the cultural and linguistic knowledge of secondary school children. The second example looks at how this approach was...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEnglish in education Vol. 52; no. 2; pp. 91 - 104
Main Author Coultas, Valerie
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Routledge 04.05.2018
Subjects
Autobiographies
College Faculty
English (Second Language)
English Instruction
English Teachers
Foreign Countries
Graduate Students
Masters Programs
Metropolitan Areas
Native Language
Program Descriptions
Second Language Instruction
Second Language Learning
Secondary School Students
Secondary School Teachers
Self Concept
Story Telling
Student Attitudes
Teacher Attitudes
Teacher Education Programs
United Kingdom (London)
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Summary:This article looks at three examples of using language autobiographies in English Education. The first example comes from using this approach when teaching in inner London to unlock the cultural and linguistic knowledge of secondary school children. The second example looks at how this approach was adapted in the training of secondary English teachers in the Graduate Teacher Programme of the West London partnership at Kingston University. The third example considers how it was utilised in an MA (Education) English Language Teaching programme to reflect on the learning of both our native language and the learning of a second or third language. Using samples of pupils' work, student and lecturer reflections and discussions in seminars as evidence, I suggest not only that spoken language is valuable in learning but also that our personal experience and community identity are central to our engagement with the subject of English.
ISSN:0425-0494
1754-8845
DOI:10.1080/04250494.2018.1452601