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My primary research agenda involves the integration of linguistic knowledge into K-12 teaching. I am currently involved in a number of projects through several different organizations that work toward this common goal.
That knowledge of language is important is reflected in teacher education programs in many states that offer (and even require) linguistics courses for prospective teachers (at least for English | language arts teachers).
Also, collaboration between linguists and educators has begun to emerge on a national scale, producing work that aims to identify what aspects of linguistic knowledge are most useful for teachers to know
(such as
What Teachers Need to Know about Language, Adger et al.
). Courses in linguistics, however, are not enough; prospective teachers also need help in learning how to apply their knowledge of language in the classroom in effective and productive ways. My work has begun to try to bridge that gap most recently with the publication of
Language in the Schools: Integrating Linguistic Knowledge into K-12 Teaching
(Lawrence Erlbaum and Associates, 2005).
I have also published articles and presented talks, primarily to linguists and teachers.
(See CV and some of the downloadable papers and handouts: (Most of this work is targeted at linguists and teacher education students.))
What Kids Should Know about Language Change, Language Endangerment, and Language Death
Linguistics in a One Room Schoolhouse
Ludlings Teach Language Diversity and Change: From Pig Latin to Ubby Dubby
The Importance of Culturally-Relevant Materials
Learning Grammar through Studying Language Change
A Practical Grammar Course: A (partially) annotated syllabus - Kristin Denham and Anne Lobeck
Linguistics First, Then Grammar
National Science Foundation grant proposal: Western Washington University Teaching Project
Acquiring Prescriptive Rules
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Language in the Schools: Integrating Linguistic Knowledge into K-12 Teaching
Original Art used for 'Language in the Schools'
First Grade
by Rachel Denham
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Another way in which I am involved in the integration of linguistics into K-12 education nationally is through the
Linguistic Society of America’s
(LSA)
Committee on Language in the School Curriculum
which fosters collaboration between linguists and educators. I was chair of this committee from 2005 through 2006 and served on the committee prior to that. Through this committee, I have organized four national symposia and workshops on Linguistics and Education.
I am also a member of
NCTE’s Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar (ATEG)
and was the editor for three years of
ATEG’s journal Syntax in the Schools.
Establishing these associations and collaborations across disciplines and professional organizations and with practicing teachers is critical to the success of integrating knowledge of language into the K-12 curriculum.
Anne Lobeck and I have a National Science Foundation grant, ''The Western Washington University Teaching Partnership Project: Improving Teacher Education through Partner Teaching and Curriculum Design.''
This project focuses primarily on teacher education (through fieldwork with partner teachers).
Improving the way we teach about linguistics to future teachers is another very important part of its integration into school curriculum.
Also, Anne Lobeck and I were commissioned by
Thomson/Heinle
to write an introductory linguistics textbook for English majors and future teachers.
This book is under contract and will be completed in the fall of 2006 and published in 2007.
An important piece that is missing from the collaborative project on Linguistics in Education is useful classroom materials and lesson plans that satisfy the academic learning requirements (set by the states for each grade) and which satisfy the goals laid out in the No Child Left Behind Act.
Though a handful of linguists are working with teachers across the country, most of that collaboration is resulting in successful, but small-scale, projects
(including
Wheeler and Swords 2004,
Sweetland 2005, Rickford, Sweetland,
and Rickford 2004,
Wolfram and Reaser).
Nationally we are at a point now where schools of education have recognized the importance and the benefits of linguistic knowledge; therefore, many teachers have had some linguistic coursework. We are also at a point now where books and articles for pre-service and in-service teachers about the importance of linguistic knowledge have begun to appear
(Denham and Lobeck 2005;
Adger et al. 2002, Wheeler 1999a, 1999b).
However, we now need curricula and materials for the elementary and secondary classrooms: classroom materials, lesson plans, and activities that make use of linguistic knowledge and reflect the advances of modern linguistics, but also—importantly—that satisfy local, state, and national education standards.
The development of such materials is what I am currently working on.
The importance of linguistic knowledge for K-12 teaching has been established by linguists and accepted by educators. The next phase of this national project is to bring some of the disparate pieces of various projects together and begin to bring more scientific-based knowledge of language into the schools.
Adger, Carolyn Temple, Catherine E. Snow, and Donna Christian (2002). What Teachers Need to Know about Language. McHenry, IL: Delta Systems Co., Inc. and The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL).
Denham, Kristin and Anne Lobeck (eds.) (2005) Language in the Schools: Integrating Linguistic Knowledge into K-12 Teaching. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Rickford, John R, Sweetland, Julie, and Rickford, Angela E. (2004) ''African American English and Other Vernaculars in Education: A Topic-Coded Bibliography.'' Journal of English Linguistics 32:230-320.
Sweetland, Julie. (2005) ''Evaluation of Contextualized Contrastive Analysis in Language Arts Instruction,'' Stanford dissertation.
Wheeler, Rebecca S. (Ed). (1999a). Language alive in the classroom. Westport CT: Praeger.
Wheeler, Rebecca S. (Ed). (1999b). Workings of language: From prescriptions to perspectives. Westport CT: Praeger.
Wheeler, Rebecca and Rachel Swords (2004) ''Codeswitching: Tools of language and culture transform the dialectally diverse classroom.'' Language Arts of the NCTE.
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