Grammar and Meaning

Students in primary and secondary school use language as a resource for learning. Students also use language to display what they have learned in order for their progress and achievement at school to be assessed. As students progress through the school years, in all areas of the curriculum, the language and literacy demands placed on them increase and this has implications for literacy and learning. This book presents teachers with an approach for talking about language with students to help them expand the meanings they can make, in other words, to expand their language repertoire. The book encourages teachers to think about language as a system of resources used to make meanings in order to achieve social goals. If we think about language as a resource for making meaning, knowledge about language can be thought of as a 'toolkit' we can use to make our meanings increasingly effective. If teachers are able to share this toolkit with their students, they are equipping them with a powerful means for improving achievement at school, and in the long term, for enhancing social, cultural and vocational opportunities in all areas of their lives.