Page 169 - Beyond Methods

Fostering language awareness 157
in educational circles to relate language awareness directly to edu- cational policies. Two prominent movements that have recently contributed to such efforts in the West are the Language Awareness movement in the United Kingdom and the Whole Language move- ment in the United States.
The British Movement
The origin of the current Language Awareness (LA) movement in Britain can be traced to a 1975 report of the Bullock Committee set up by the British government to go into “the teaching of reading and other uses of English.” The report was titled A Language for Life, which succinctly captures the essence of LA. It generated serious debates among educationists, leading eventually to several curricu- lar reform proposals. While they differ in emphasis, they all adhere to a rather broad definition of LA: “a person’s sensitivity to and con- scious awareness of the nature of language and its role in human life” (Donmall 1985, p. 7, cited in van Lier, 1996, p. 79).
Reflective task 7.1
Think, in very specific terms, about the role played by your teacher(s) (or anybody else) in promoting your sensitivity to language and its role in your life. If possible, compare your thoughts with those of one other person.
Following the generally agreed upon definition of LA, educa- tionists and language teachers in Britain attempted to develop ped- agogic principles and practices with the view to promoting lan- guage awareness among school-children. They sought to bridge the gap between primary and secondary school expectations of lan- guage related work, and the gap between first- and second-language teaching objectives and activities. In addition, they were also in- terested in promoting linguistic tolerance among learners coming from mainstream as well as from minority language backgrounds. As Eric Hawkins (1984, p. 6), one of the leading proponents of LA, declared: “We are seeking to light fires of curiosity about the central human characteristic of language which will blaze throughout our pupils’ lives. While combating linguistic complacency, we are seek- ing to arm our pupils against fear of the unknown which breeds prejudice and antagonism.”