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Unlocking the power of reading

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Libraries Connected believes in the power of libraries to change lives.

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Libraries Connected believes in the power of libraries to change lives.

Our vision is an inclusive, modern, sustainable and high quality public library service at the heart of every community in the UK. We work to promote the value of libraries, broker national partnerships, share best practice and drive innovation in the sector.

Made by our members, we represent all the public library services in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

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Libraries Connected believes in the power of libraries to change lives. Our vision is an inclusive, modern, sustainable and high quality public library service at the heart of every community in the UK. We work to promote the value of libraries, broker national partnerships, share best practice and drive innovation in the sector.

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What should fluency instruction look like? And, what can teachers do to help students whose fluency is far behind their peers'? This article can help practitioners effectively use fluency-based assessments and select instructional practices.

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Reading comprehension strategies focus on the learners' understanding of written text. Pupils learn a range of techniques which enable them to comprehend the meaning of what they read. These can include: inferring meaning from context; summarising or identifying key points; using graphic or semantic organisers; developing questioning strategies; and monitoring their own comprehension and then identifying and resolving difficulties for themselves (see also metacognition and self-regulation).

Strategies are often taught to a class and then practiced in pairs or small groups (see also collaborative learning approaches).

1. Reading comprehension strategies are high impact on average (+6 months). Alongside phonics it is a crucial component of early reading instruction.

2. It is important to identify the appropriate level of text difficulty, to provide appropriate context to practice the skills, desire to engage with the text and enough challenge to improve reading comprehension.

3. Effective diagnosis of reading difficulties is important in identifying possible solutions, particularly for older struggling readers. Pupils can struggle with decoding words, understanding the structure of the language used, or understanding particular vocabulary, which may be subject-specific.

4. A wide range of strategies and approaches can be successful, but for many pupils they need to be taught explicitly and consistently.

5. It is crucial to support pupils to apply the comprehension strategies independently to other reading tasks, contexts and subjects.

The average impact of reading comprehension strategies is an additional six months' progress over the course of a year. Successful reading comprehension approaches allow activities to be carefully tailored to pupils' reading capabilities, and involve activities and texts that provide an effective, but not overwhelming, challenge.

Many of the approaches can be usefully combined with Collaborative learning techniques and Phonics activities to develop reading skills. The use of techniques such as graphic organisers and drawing pupils' attention to text features are likely to be particularly useful when reading expository or information texts.

There are some indications that approaches involving digital technology can be successful in improving reading comprehension (although there are relatively few studies in this area), particularly when they focus on the application and practice of specific strategies and the use of self-questioning skills.

Supporting struggling readers is likely to require a coordinated effort across the curriculum and a combination of approaches that include phonics, reading comprehension and oral language approaches. No particular strategy should be seen as a panacea, and careful diagnosis of the reasons why an individual pupil is struggling should guide the choice of intervention strategies.

Shorter interventions of up to 10 weeks tend to be more successful. However, there are some examples of successful longer interventions.

Studies in England have shown that pupils eligible for free school meals may receive additional benefits from being taught how to use reading comprehension strategies. However, the UK evidence base is less extensive than the global average, and UK studies show lower impact for all pupils.

Reading comprehensions strategies involve the teaching of explicit approaches and techniques a pupil can use to improve their comprehension of written text. Many learners will develop these approaches without teacher guidance, adopting the strategies through trial and error as they look to better understand texts that challenge them. However, we know that on average, disadvantaged children are less likely to own a book of their own and read at home with family members, and for these reasons may not acquire the necessary skills for reading and understanding challenging texts.

Reading comprehension strategies work through a number of different mechanisms - all focused on improving the understanding of meaning of text effectively. Common elements include:

explicit teaching of strategies;

teachers questioning pupils to apply key steps;

summarising or identifying key points;

metacognitive talk to model strategies;

using graphic or semantic organisers;

using peer and self-questioning strategies to practice the strategies (such as reciprocal questioning); and

pupils monitoring their own comprehension and identifying difficulties themselves.

Reading comprehension strategy interventions are typically delivered between one to three terms of a school year, either by teachers within class settings, or by teaching assistants with smaller groups.

Evidence suggests that reading comprehension approaches need to be tailored to pupils' current reading capabilities, so it is important that teachers receive professional development in effective diagnosis as well as training in the use of particular techniques and materials.

The average cost of reading comprehension strategies is estimated as very low. The cost to schools is largely based on training and professional development, books and learning resources, the majority of which are initial start-up costs paid during the first year of delivery. Whilst the median cost estimate for reading comprehension programmes is very low, the range of prices between available programmes and the option to purchase additional ongoing training and support for teaching staff means that costs can range from very low to low.

Effective teaching of reading comprehension strategies will also require a moderate amount of staff time, compared with other approaches. Alongside time and cost, school leaders should consider how to develop teachers' ability to use specific techniques for particular pupils' needs and ensure they use texts that provide an effective challenge to readers.

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Reading comprehension strategies focus on the learners' understanding of written text.

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Our Evidence-Based Literacy Solutions

We've drawn upon decades of literacy research as well as our collaborative work with preeminent reading researchers and experts to inform the design, development, and ongoing efficacy testing of our literacy solutions.

Our research-proven best practices help students grow as readers, writers, communicators, and life-ready learners.

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We've drawn upon decades of literacy research as well as our collaborative work with preeminent reading researchers and experts to inform the design, development, and ongoing efficacy testing of our literacy solutions. Our research-proven best practices help students grow as readers, writers, communicators, and life-ready learners.

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Useful for auditing
Especially good from page 57 - Fluency

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Five Ways. A series of short posts summarising some everyday classroom practices. Fluency is a concept in learning that suggests recall from memory with minimal effort and a level of automaticity. …

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From half way - oral fluency

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What is Scarborough’s Reading Rope Model? - Braintrust Tutors

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Literacy researcher Hollis Scarborough created a metaphor for explaining the complex processes involved in reading. Read more here.

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Definition/Description: Echo reading is a rereading strategy designed to help students develop expressive, fluent reading as well as used for print knowledge. In echo reading, the teacher reads a short segment of text, sometimes a sentence or short paragraph, and the student echo it back. "Echo reading works best for short segments of text as particularly well-suited for beginning readers" (Jennings, Caldwell, and Lerner, 2014). Since the strategy can be used to develop both print knowledge as well as fluency there are different techniques within the strategy to be used to differentiate between the two literacy development areas. It is important that in this strategy that teacher make sure to use pointing when reading so students can gain the letter to print concept.

Differentiation:

Start with a few words before whole sentence for new or struggling readings.

Use on one-on-one working times.

Once students understand the concept have them do it in pairs, or small groups that are organize by teacher.

Find leveled and appropriate books.

Find books that will relate to the student, so he or she can connect their prior knowledge and background knowledge.

Make sure to point out visual images and pictures on page, discuss why those help with understand the text.

Teacher is modeling the effectiveness of pointing to each word when reading so student learn to develop print knowledge.

Content Area Examples:
Language Arts: Choose a book that is predicable and related to topic or content being taught Start lesson by activating prior knowledge and build background knowledge. Introduce the book to students and then start reading. First read the entire book modeling what a fluent reader would sound like and do. Then the teacher will continue to model fluency by reading of a short segment, usually one sentence. She will stop and have the students echo or repeat the same sentence. The class and teacher will keep doing this until it is done. At the end go over questions and what happen in book. Have student do an activity to show their comprehension of the book.

Math: Teacher can read a story about a math concept using the shared book strategy and follow lesson up with the activity for examples. A teacher can read a book about adding numbers, go through the reading steps of this strategy and at the end he/she can have students do a math activity that is related to the content.

Science: Teacher can read a story about a specif science content, such as world Photosynthesis or the life cycle. Teachers read the book and then go through the steps. The teacher can finish the lesson with a projects, graphic organizer, or activity sheet that goes along with the science concept and deepens the students understanding.
​
Social Studies: Teacher can read a story about a specif social students content, such as world war 2 or The state of MN and go through the steps of this strategy. Teachers read the book and then go through the steps. The teacher can finish the lesson with a graphic organizer to compare the book or to build on background knowledge or skill.

The picture above demonstrates the importance of tracking and pointing when reading. In this photo you can tell the student is using his figure to identify what the word says. He is using pointing to read or possibly sound out the words.

Echo reading. (n.d). [image of teacher and student point to word] Retrieved from http://www.readingfirst.virginia.edu/prof_dev/phonics/iadswv.html

Echo reading (n.d). [image of teaching pointing to words when reading the big book]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFOIq9W30mo

Gunning, T. G. (2012). Creating literacy instruction for all children in grades pre-K to 4. 2nd Edition. Boston: A and B.

Jennings, J., Caldwell, J., & Lerner, J. (2014). Reading problems assessment and teaching strategies. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Klein, d., (2014). Echo Reading Strategy. [Web video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4Rid_Zn0uQ

Miller, M., & Veatch, N. (2011). Literacy in Context (LinC): Choosing Instructional Strategies to Teach Reading in Content Areas for Students Grades 5-12. Pearson.

Semingson, P., (2012). Echo reading: a method for emergent and beginning readers. [Web video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVBMyRcl10U

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Choosing and Using Instructional Strategies for Fluency

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Choosing and Using Instructional Strategies for Fluency

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Rebecca Lewis recommended

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The ​'reading comprehension house' illustrates that word reading and language comprehension are underpinned by a number of other building blocks of reading.

https://youtu.be/CEPD4txSUpE

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evidence-based recommendations that are relevant to all pupils

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and particularly to those struggling with their literacy. to develop the recommendations

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we reviewed the best available international research and consulted experts to arrive at key principles for effective literacy teaching.  this second edition of the guidance report presents the same recommendations as the first but also offers additional examples

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and resources to support educators to put the recommendations into practice. the report is one of a series of four guidance reports that the eef has produced on the theme of language and literacy. it focuses on pedagogy and approaches to support the literacy development of pupils between the ages of seven and eleven in key stage 2. however

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teachers may also find it useful for older pupils who have fallen behind their peers

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or younger pupils who are making rapid progress.

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Seven recommendations to improve literacy teaching for 7-11 year-olds

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Rebecca Lewis recommended

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Timothy Rasinski is a professor of literacy education at Kent State University. He has written over 150 articles and has authored, co-authored or edited over 15 books or curriculum programs on reading education.

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Rebecca Lewis recommended

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Readers who read with high levels of word recognition automaticity and with good prosody tend to be the most proficient readers. Lower levels of automaticity and prosody are associated with lower levels of comprehension and overall proficiency.

Moreover, research has also demonstrated that a significant number of pupils in secondary school who struggle to become proficient readers also exhibit difficulties in reading fluency.

So, how do we teach and nurture fluency in our pupils?

Simply put, pupils need to:

Be read aloud to: This allows them to hear fluent reading

Engage in assisted reading: Pupils read a text whilst listening to a fluent reading of the same text; and

Be given opportunities for repeated reading: pupils practice reading texts repeatedly until they can read the text in a fluent manner.

The Fluency Development Lesson (FDL)

The challenge for teachers is to find ways to make this practice happen on a regular basis in their classrooms. One approach I have developed with colleagues is called the Fluency Development Lesson (FDL), which combines the science and art of developing fluent readers. This strategy is well supported by evidence in US contexts and we have used it, with great success, as the core reading lesson in our university-based reading clinic for struggling readers.

The immediate goal of the FDL is for pupils to be able to achieve fluency on a new text every single day, an achievement that many struggling readers seldom experience. The texts we use are usually short in length in order to keep the lessons to no more than 20 minutes (poems can work well, as their rhythm and rhyme lend themselves to prosodic reading).

Here is the general protocol for the FDL:

1. 1. Teacher presents a copy of the day's poem to the class, then reads them the poem aloud while pupils follow along silently. The teacher may choose to read the poem multiple times with different levels of prosody. After the reading, the teacher discusses the meaning of the poem with pupils.

2. 2. Teacher and pupils read the poem together chorally. Multiple readings can be made with different groupings of students.

3. 3. Pupils work alone or with classmates to continue practicing the poem independently. The teacher provides feedback and encouragement.

4. 4. Pupils perform the poem with fluency for an audience. The audience could be fellow classmates, the teacher, or others. Pupils are recognized for their good reading.

5. 5. Teacher and pupils engage in a brief study of selected words from the poem.

6. 6. Pupils continue rehearsing and performing the poem for family members at home.

What is truly appealing about the FDL is that it allows pupils to feel successful as readers.

Although fluency is often thought of as a competency learned in primary school, if pupils have not achieved fluency by then they are most likely to struggle with fluency and comprehension into middle and secondary school. To adapt the FDL for older pupils requires teachers to find texts that are age appropriate.

Reading fluency has had a history of being misunderstood and neglected in our reading curricula. It is essential that we become aware of the importance of reading fluency and find ways to make fluency instruction an integral and important part of literacy education at all school levels.

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ensuring every child has the necessary skills they need to read is an essential component of literacy education. it enables children to not only learn across the curriculum but also to access numerous aspects of daily life

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influencing the opportunities that they have available to them in the future.  teaching children to read is complex and encompasses a range of skills

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comprehension and fluency. but how do these components build on one another

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to ensure children reach the goal of reading and understanding texts?  evidence has consistently highlighted that both decoding (the ability to translate written words into the spoken the sounds of spoken language) and comprehension (the ability to understand the meaning of the language being read) skills are necessary for confident and competent reading

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but neither is sufficient on its own. so

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where does reading fluency sit with these components?  what do we need to know about reading fluency?  scientific research has consistently recognized the critical nature of fluency as a bridge between effortful decoding and comprehension. a fluent reader is one who can accurately and automatically decode words.  if readers can decode words accurately but have to employ an excessive proportion of their cognitive resources to do so

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they have fewer of those resources available for comprehension. however

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when readers are accurate  and automatic

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they can decode with minimal use of their cognitive resources

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thus allowing them to channel their effort towards comprehending and making sense of what they have read.  you and i are good examples of what we mean by accurate and automatic word recognition. when we read most of the words we encounter are instantly and effortlessly recognized; very few of the words we encounter as adult fluent readers require us to stop and analyse. it is this automatic

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fluent reading which should be our aim for pupils.  another component of fluency that links word recognition to comprehension is prosody (or expressive oral – and silent – reading). think of anyone you would consider a fluent reader: not only do they decode words automatically

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but they also read the words in texts with expression and phrasing that reflects and amplifies the meaning of the text. to read with appropriate expression and phrasing requires the reader to access the meaning of the text.  improving literacy in key stage 2  readers who read with high levels of word recognition automaticity and with good prosody tend to be the most proficient readers. lower levels of automaticity and prosody are associated with lower levels of comprehension and overall proficiency.  moreover

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research has also demonstrated that a significant number of pupils in secondary school who struggle to become proficient readers also exhibit difficulties in reading fluency.  so

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how do we teach and nurture fluency in our pupils?  simply put

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pupils need to:   be read aloud to: this allows them to hear fluent reading engage in assisted reading : pupils read a text whilst listening to a fluent reading of the same text; and be given opportunities for repeated reading : pupils practice reading texts repeatedly until they can read the text in a fluent manner.  the fluency development lesson (fdl)  the challenge for teachers is to find ways to make this practice happen on a regular basis in their classrooms. one approach i have developed with colleagues is called the fluency development lesson (fdl)

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which combines the science and art of developing fluent readers. this strategy is  well supported by evidence  in us contexts and we have used it

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as the core reading lesson in our university-based reading clinic for struggling readers.  the immediate goal of the fdl is for pupils to be able to achieve fluency on a new text every single day

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an achievement that many struggling readers seldom experience. the texts we use are usually short in length in order to keep the lessons to no more than 20 minutes (poems can work well

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as their rhythm and rhyme lend themselves to p

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Professor Timothy Rasinski of Kent State University USA explains the importance of teaching reading fluency.

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Scarborough’s Reading Rope | Really Great Reading

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[row][oneHalf][/oneHalf][oneHalf]What is Scarborough’s Reading Rope?In 2001, Dr. Hollis Scarborough created the Reading Rope using pipe cleaners to convey how the different “strands” of reading are all interconnected yet independent of one another. For many students, learning to read is a challenge. Scarborough’s Rope captures the complexity of learning to read. Scarborough’s

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IMPACT OF	SHORT-TERM	INTENSE FLUENCY INSTRUCTION

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IMPACT OF	SHORT-TERM	INTENSE FLUENCY INSTRUCTION

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Timothy Rasinski

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Rubric from Zutell and Rasninski (1991)

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EEF blog: Shining a spotlight on reading fluency

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EEF’s Sarah Green explains the significance of developing pupils’ reading fluency and how this can feature in teaching.

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KS2 project

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The Herts for Learning KS2 Reading Fluency Project incorporates the strategies of modelled expressive reading, echo reading, repeated re-reading, skilled questioning, challenging text selection and modelling comprehension skills, to improve the trajectory of Year 6 pupils (summer term Year 5) towards the expected standard in reading at the end of KS2.

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Bolton Learning Together website | Learning opportunities for Bolton schools and academies

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Focus Summary:

What is reading fluency and why is it important?

What does the research say about reading fluency?

Quality first teaching of reading fluency.

Reading fluency intervention - identification of target pupils, planning and delivery.

Involving parents.

To implement a coherent strategy to improve pupils' reading outcomes and attitudes to reading that encompasses EYFS, Primary and Secondary schools:

The reading project group comprises representatives from Bolton schools and settings and is facilitated by the LA School Improvement Team.

The intention is to share and further develop effective practice in teaching and learning in reading drawing upon research and professional development to challenge and develop our work.

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Developing Reading Fluency | Bolton Learning Together website

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Why and how? Focus Summary: What is reading fluency and why is it important? What does the research say about reading fluency? Quality first teaching of reading fluency. Reading fluency intervention - identification of target pupils, planning and delivery. Involving parents.

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Introduction

More than any other subject, English - and especially reading - gives pupils access to the rest of the curriculum and is fundamental to their educational success. This is why the introduction to the national curriculum says: 'Fluency in the English language is an essential foundation for success in all subjects'.

But English is so much more than the gateway to success in other curriculum subjects. Through studying literature, pupils' eyes are opened to the human experience; they explore meaning and ambiguity as well as the beauty and power of language. English also has a strong creative and expressive dimension.

This review explores the research literature relating to English. Its purpose is to identify factors that can contribute to high-quality curriculums, pedagogy, assessment and schools' systems for managing the subject. The purpose of this review is set out more fully in the 'Principles behind Ofsted's research reviews and subject reports'.

Aspects of English, particularly how to teach reading, have been the subject of much debate over many years. In this report, we have:

set out the national context in relation to English

summarised our review of research into factors that can affect the quality of education in English

considered curriculum progression in English, pedagogy, assessment and the impact of school leaders' decisions on provision

The review draws on a range of sources, including our 'Education inspection framework: overview of research' and the 3 phases of our curriculum research. However, it does not revisit in depth the research literature on phonics and on what pedagogical approaches to teaching phonics are most successful: these have already been summarised as part of the overview of research.

Our education inspection framework ( EIF) and the research underpinning it are the lenses through which we have considered, framed and presented the research literature in this review.

We hope that, through this review, we will contribute to improving the quality of education in English, thereby raising standards in reading, writing and spoken language for all young people.

Ambition for all

The requirement for maintained schools and academies to offer a broad and balanced curriculum is set out in:

the Education Act 2002, which applies to all maintained schools

the Academies Act 2010, which applies to academies

This expectation is reflected in the national curriculum and is at the heart of the EIF. English has been a core subject of the national curriculum since the Education Reform Act of 1988.

National context

The broad headlines about the performance of pupils in English have remained constant over many years.

National checks, tests and examinations show girls outperforming boys, and pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds achieving less well than their peers. International studies in which England has participated, such as the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study ( PIRLS) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development ( OECD)'s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), show a similar picture.

In 2018 and 2019, 74% of children achieved the early learning goal for writing at the end of the early years foundation stage ( EYFS). In the same years, 77% met the early learning goal for reading. In 2019, 73% of children met the expected level of development across all the combined early learning goals for communication, language and literacy, which include reading and writing.

At the end of Year 1, the phonics screening check assesses whether children can accurately decode a selection of words that include common grapheme-phoneme correspondences ( GPCs): the first step in word reading. Performance overall has improved substantially since 2011, the first year of the check - by 24 percentage points. These figures still show that around 3 in 10 pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds cannot decode at the minimum standard required.

Since new key stage 1 assessments were introduced in 2016, the percentage of pupils reaching the expected standard for reading and writing has remained broadly stable for reading, with an upward trend for writing. In the 2019 key stage 2 national tests, 73% of pupils reached the expected standard in the reading test. However, put another way, over 1 in 4 pupils moved to secondary school having not met the expected standard of the test. This carries implications for their learning both in English and more widely across the secondary curriculum.

Over the last 10 years, the number of pupils studying A-level English has declined: in 2019, 57,912 pupils chose A-level English, compared with 84,037 in 2010.[footnote 13] The same data shows the decline was more marked for boys.

Curriculum and pedagogy

Aims of education in English

English is a complex subject that combines the disciplines of English language and literature. It is beyond the scope of this review to debate the aims of a curriculum for English. Instead, we discuss the nature of the curriculum and the pedagogy that could meet the aims of the national curriculum for English.

The review structure is designed to consider individual national curriculum aims. It draws on research that outlines the progression in curriculum content that best enables pupils to meet each of these aims. The review then discusses what might be the most appropriate pedagogies for learning that particular content. For example, the review considers the aim of improving reading comprehension and how comprehension becomes possible partly through acquiring and deepening vocabulary. Appropriate pedagogies for learning vocabulary are then discussed. The use of this structure avoids confusion between curriculum goals and the means of achieving and nurturing those goals. It also helps reduce repetition when discussing knowledge of language, such as vocabulary, across each of the speaking, reading and writing modalities.

The implications of research into expertise bear out the usefulness of a curriculum structure that places varying emphasis on different curriculum goals as pupils gain expertise.[footnote 16] However, this review also considers the ways in which English is a unified subject across all phases of schooling. There is a separate section on early years, but the insights in the other sections are generally relevant to pupils in both primary and secondary schooling. This is because most of the principles discussed are important at primary and secondary level or are relevant to many pupils in both phases of schooling. Where it is probable that findings of the review are more relevant at primary or at secondary level, we refer to 'younger pupils' or 'older pupils', respectively. We use this wording to be clear that we do not imply there is a specific age when these findings start to apply.

The importance of foundational knowledge for spoken language, reading and writing

One distinctive feature of English teaching is that the modalities of speaking, reading and writing are not only the objects of study but also the means through which the subject is learned. Teaching activities, or pedagogies, to improve speaking, reading and writing will necessarily involve activities that use speaking, reading and writing.

There is a risk that planning for English teaching ends up focusing on using modalities (pedagogy) at the expense of identifying the foundational knowledge of language that pupils need for comprehension or communication in whatever modality they are using. When this happens, means and ends have become confused. For example, there is a body of research exploring the benefits of using discussion (dialogic talk) as a generic pedagogy.[footnote 17] Using such a pedagogy to help pupils learn any objective across curriculum subjects should not be conflated with the prior teaching of the structures of language that would allow effective communication in the first place.

Knowledge of language, which includes linguistic knowledge like vocabulary and grammar, as well as knowledge of the world for comprehension, underpins progression in spoken language, reading and writing. This insight repeatedly emerges from the evidence outlined in this review. The review will explore the important implications of this insight for curriculum design. It argues that, when planning a curriculum, teachers and leaders should prioritise progression in knowledge of language and of its forms, usage, grammar and vocabulary. This knowledge, of the structures of language, can then be used by pupils across their spoken language, reading and writing.

A survey of teachers reported overwhelmingly that if pupils have limited vocabulary, this affects their progress across a wide range of subjects.[footnote 18] Eighty per cent of these teachers said it was 'very' or 'extremely' challenging for pupils with limited vocabulary to read national test papers. This limited vocabulary, or so called 'word gap',[footnote 19] has been an area of interest over decades. A range of research has found that this word gap exists between pupils from different socio-economic backgrounds and within different socio-economic groups.[footnote 20] The nature of this word gap is explored in the section 'The importance of high-quality spoken language'.

Importantly, pupils can use the knowledge learned in the context of one modality to help them in another. For example, they can use vocabulary learned through reading when they are speaking and writing, both in school and their wider lives.

The early English curriculum in schools

Summary

This section will outline findings suggesting that, in the early years and into key stage 1, teachers need to develop children's spoken language as well as accurate word reading and spelling. They also need to teach children fluent letter formation (unjoined handwriting).

Pupils should be taught to read using a systematic synthetic phonics programme in Reception and this should not be delayed if children are not already phonologically aware. Teaching phonics also supports the development of pupils' handwriting and spelling. Schools should identify early on any children who have not grasped the alphabetic code and intervene swiftly. Children who master the alphabetic code early on make better progress than their peers who do not. Good language development, including vocabulary, has benefits for pupils beyond their reading.

The importance of high-quality spoken language

The components of reading and writing in the early years and key stage 1

Skilled word reading involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words. Underpinning both is the understanding that the letters on the page represent the sounds in spoken words. Good comprehension draws from linguistic knowledge (in particular of vocabulary and grammar) and on knowledge of the world.

The programmes of study for key stages 1 and 2 are organised to reflect these 2 aspects of reading - word reading and comprehension.[footnote 37]

The programmes of study for writing distinguish between 'transcription' and 'composition'. This reflects the approach to reading, and sees writing as its counterpart (with spelling as the counterpart of decoding). Transcription also includes handwriting.

Once children are fluent in word reading, they are able to focus on comprehending what they read.[footnote 38] Similarly, fluency in transcription frees up working memory to focus on composing writing.

Language comprehension and composition can be developed through a literature-rich environment,[footnote 41] for example through interactions between adults and children and by listening to, talking about and learning by heart stories, poems, rhymes and songs.

Starting phonics teaching early

A rigorous review and meta-analysis of research literature on reading by the National Reading Panel ( NRP), from the United States, found it highly beneficial for phonics teaching to begin on entry to school.[footnote 42] According to the NRP analysis, systematic phonics teaching is much more effective if introduced early on rather than after American first grade at age 6. Daily systematic phonics instruction leads to a faster start in early reading and spelling.[footnote 43] Findings from cognitive neuroscience reinforce the importance of early phonics teaching. This allows children to develop efficient word-reading skills.[footnote 44] Children become primed to learn to read.

Our overview of research highlighted evidence that showed a systematic synthetic approach is particularly effective and that children need direct instruction in phonics. This is especially the case for those from lower socio-economic status backgrounds and those who are having difficulties reading.[footnote 45] Phonics represents a body of knowledge needed for successful word reading. Synthetic phonics teaches children to decode words: children look at each grapheme to say each corresponding phoneme in turn, and then to blend the phonemes to say the whole word. They are taught to encode (spell) words, by identifying the phonemes in spoken words first and then writing the graphemes that represent the phonemes.

Young children with well-developed phonemic awareness skills tend to be successful readers, while children without these skills are not.[footnote 46] Shanahan defines phonemic awareness as being about 'hearing and thinking about or manipulating the individual sounds within words'.[footnote 47] However, phonics teaching in Reception should not be delayed if children cannot yet distinguish individual phonemes. This is because children's ability to do this will typically develop as a result of phonics teaching.[footnote 48] Exposing them to letters and the sounds they represent and teaching them about GPCs in phonics lessons help children to distinguish individual phonemes and improve their phonemic awareness.[footnote 49] Evidence from the NRP concluded that phonemic awareness instruction had a greater impact when it was taught with letters rather than without letters.[footnote 50] Children who find it difficult to distinguish between phonemes often benefit from small group or one-to-one teaching to support them to link sounds to letters.[footnote 51]

Drawing on these research findings, the Department for Education reading framework[footnote 52] states that: 'To enable children to keep up, they should be given extra practice, either in a small group or one-to-one, whether or not a specific reason has been found. The extra practice should:

take place in a quiet place, at a regular time every day so that the children become familiar with the routine

be a school priority, with maximum efforts made to avoid disruption or cancellation

be provided by a well-trained adult: teacher or teaching assistant

be consistent with the school's mainstream phonics programme

include activities that secure the important phonic knowledge the children have not grasped.'

Decodable books

The national curriculum requires that children hear, share and discuss a wide range of high-quality books. In terms of their own reading, the national curriculum states that they should practise with decodable books. These are 'books that are consistent with their developing phonic knowledge and that do not require them to use other strategies to work out words'.[footnote 53] During story time, the books that teachers and parents read to children develop their language knowledge. These books do not need to be decodable because the children are not using them to learn to decode.

Pupils who struggle with decoding

Ongoing assessment of all children's phonic knowledge is critical to identifying pupils who need intervention. They need to be taught the alphabetic code as effectively and as swiftly as possible so that they do not fall behind their peers, and so that they have full access to the curriculum that proficient reading gives them.

Fluency

In the early stages of learning to read, it is critical that children achieve both accuracy and sufficient speed in decoding (fluency). The national curriculum says that pupils in Year 1 should be able to read words comprising the Year 1 GPCs 'accurately and speedily'.[footnote 60] Pupils who can decode accurately but cannot do so quickly will not progress towards reading confidently beyond sounding out words in texts. Fluent word reading frees up children's working memory to focus on comprehension.[footnote 61] To develop fluency, children need repeated practice.

Writing

Working towards written composition

In the earliest stages of writing instruction, it may be effective to teach composition and transcription separately. For example, when focusing on composition, pupils can convey their ideas orally. Teachers can model how text is an important vehicle for recording ideas, thoughts and feelings by putting pupils' ideas into writing, modelling spelling and punctuation, or showing how a writer chooses appropriate words and sentence structure to convey an idea. This allows pupils to focus their attention on composition through oral activities. Separate teaching activities can be devoted to transcription. For example, in the early stage of phonics instruction, practising letter formation or writing simple sentences dictated by the teacher can support recall of GPCs for spelling.[footnote 64] Developing written composition is considered in more detail in the 'Writing' section of this review.

Spelling

When young children are taught phonics, they learn the alphabetic code for spelling (encoding) as well as for reading (decoding). This is why spelling and decoding have been referred to as 'reversible processes'.[footnote 65] Reading involves blending the individual sounds of a word to say the whole word, while spelling requires the writer to segment a whole word into its individual sounds (phonemes) and to identify what they are.

As well as the skill of segmenting, children need to know which graphemes can represent the separate phonemes they have identified in the word they want to spell. They also need to know how to spell what the national curriculum refers to as 'common exception words', so called because their GPCs are unusual or have not yet been taught.[footnote 66]

Knowing how to spell a word 'makes the representation of it sturdy and accessible for fluent reading'.[footnote 67] This is because spelling and reading call on the same representation - that is, the order of the letters that make up the word.

The Department for Education's non-statutory curriculum guidance for the early years, 'Development matters', suggests that teachers of Reception-age children should dictate sentences for children to write that contain only the taught letter-to-sound correspondences.[footnote 68] Similarly, the Year 1 national curriculum programme of study requires pupils to write down dictated sentences using 'the GPCs and common exception words taught so far'.[footnote 69]

Dictation gives children opportunities to practise and apply their spelling knowledge and segmenting skills, without having to compose sentences by themselves. It requires them to distinguish between the sounds they hear in order to choose the correct graphemes to represent the sounds and to form the letters correctly. They also have to understand what they are hearing to distinguish between homophones (for example, 'to'/'two' and 'meat'/'meet').

Handwriting

The national curriculum specifies that children should be taught to correctly form letters of the correct size and orientation.[footnote 70] This requires effort and attention, as well as suitable motor skills. There is evidence that repeated practice in handwriting is necessary to go beyond accuracy to fluency in letter formation.[footnote 71] There is no need to start the formal teaching of handwriting before Reception, but children at the end of the EYFS should be able to 'hold a pencil effectively in preparation for fluent writing - using the tripod grip in almost all cases'.[footnote 72]

The national curriculum requires children to learn unjoined handwriting before they 'start using some of the diagonal and horizontal strokes that are needed to join letters'.[footnote 73] Delaying teaching joined handwriting gives teachers and children time to focus on other aspects of the writing process, such as composition, spelling and forming letters correctly.

Research supports the idea that writing letters may be important for supporting children's early reading development, because it stimulates the areas of the brain known to underpin successful reading. A small study with 4- to 5-year-olds showed that practice in writing letters 'stroke by stroke' may be the 'gateway' through which beginning readers learn to recognise the features of each letter, as well as learning which features are not important.[footnote 74]

Based on the above, high-quality English in early years/key stage 1 may have the following features:

Vocabulary is developed explicitly to reduce the word gap in the early years, and to enable disadvantaged children to develop their vocabulary faster.

The school prioritises daily teaching of systematic synthetic phonics from the start of the Reception Year and into key stage 1, until pupils are fluent in word reading (decoding) and transcription (spelling and handwriting).

Daily opportunities for children to apply their knowledge of GPCs by reading 'decodable' books that support their fluency in word reading.

Teachers focus on identifying children who are not able to decode accurately (or are otherwise at risk of not learning to read) early and prioritise teaching them to read.

The programme of reading develops pupils' accuracy and speed.

Children practise composition through oral activities before their transcription becomes fluent.

Children get the practice they need to acquire fluent transcription skills (spelling and handwriting), which is the foundation for their progress in writing.

Carefully chosen dictation activities enable pupils to practise and apply their spelling knowledge and segmenting skill to use the content they have been taught and to do so without having their working memories overloaded by composing sentences.

Spoken language

Summary

This section will outline findings that suggest that a strong command of the spoken word is a crucial outcome of English education. The benefits of spoken language extend beyond just success at school. Becoming an articulate, effective communicator forms the basis of democratic engagement within wider society.

A curriculum for spoken language depends on a range of different interrelated aspects: physical, linguistic, cognitive, and social and emotional. The discipline of rhetoric can provide pupils with insight into how spoken language is used by writers and orators. Opportunities for pupils to develop their proficiency in spoken language require explicit teaching of the knowledge, for example vocabulary, and ideas necessary for effective communication. These opportunities should be planned carefully, both in English lessons and across other subjects. The teacher has an important role in modelling competence as a speaker and listener, contributing significantly to developing pupils' spoken language.

A curriculum for spoken language

This section builds on 'The early English curriculum in schools' section of the review and applies to primary and secondary levels. Research indicates that there is a correlation between pupils' spoken language skills and their academic outcomes, social development and emotional development.[footnote 77] This suggests a link between spoken language development and pupils' broader life outcomes.[footnote 78] Therefore, spoken language is an important goal of the curriculum. Alexander outlines how talk can be undervalued because its function is considered to be primarily social, but talk in classrooms is cognitive and cultural and well as social.[footnote 79]

For pupils of all ages to use spoken language successfully, they need to make progress in interrelated aspects of language:[footnote 82]

physical (vocal control and body language, such as making eye contact and speaking loudly and clearly)

linguistic (knowledge of vocabulary and grammatical constructions, and use of rhetorical devices)

cognitive (knowledge of content, organisation of ideas, and tailoring talk to a specific purpose, such as to persuade or inform). This will include pupils learning about 'exploratory talk' (to explore new ideas and come to new understandings) and 'presentational talk' (to share their thinking with others).[footnote 83] Pupils should learn how to pose questions, and use talk to narrate, explain, speculate, imagine, hypothesise, explore, include, discuss, argue, reason and justify[footnote 84]

social and emotional (considering the needs of different listeners, responding appropriately to others and developing the confidence to share ideas with different audiences)

It is important to note that spoken language is not just about improved speech. Pupils also need to develop their ability to collaborate through conversation.[footnote 85]

A curriculum should link these elements. For example, pupils' success in using spoken language depends on their knowledge of the topic. Even when classroom talk is chosen as a pedagogy to encourage speculative and exploratory discussion, pupils need knowledge of possible areas to explore through discussion and how they can be framed.

Standard English

The register and vocabulary of social talk that pupils might engage in at home and with their peers is different to the academic or formal register and vocabulary used in classrooms, in universities and formally in many workplaces. The national curriculum programmes of study for spoken language and for writing emphasise the importance of pupils being taught to use Standard English. A spoken language curriculum should ensure that all pupils can select and use appropriate grammar and register for audience and purpose, including Standard English where necessary.

Teaching activities for spoken language

There is an important distinction between what primary and secondary school pupils need to learn for success in spoken language and the teaching activities that might promote learning spoken language. This distinction is important because it cannot be assumed that pupils will learn the knowledge necessary for effective spoken communication, for example vocabulary, simply by being encouraged to speak more or through unstructured activities. That knowledge can be identified and directly taught and is also acquired through reading.[footnote 86]

Opportunities for pupils of all ages to develop their proficiency should be planned carefully, both in English lessons and across other subjects. Classroom activities should allow opportunities for teachers to model competence as a speaker and listener. This modelling contributes significantly to developing pupils' spoken language.[footnote 87]

Teachers should therefore model language forms that pupils might not encounter away from school, as well as introducing potentially unfamiliar vocabulary, returning to key words and phrases to embed new knowledge. This might include teachers reframing pupils' spoken language and asking pupils to repeat back the reframing.

Teachers can support pupils in developing the ability to collaborate in conversation by providing ground rules.[footnote 91] For example, they can ensure that all pupils contribute, without any individual dominating. Effective talk involves turn-taking, managing interactions, active listening and responding appropriately.

Rhetoric

For older pupils, the discipline of rhetoric can give an insight into how writers and orators use spoken language.[footnote 92] Pupils can learn how spoken language is constructed and produced, and the connections between words, sentences and whole texts or in speech, from individual utterances to dialogues and speeches. Pupils can learn about the meanings and nuances of the spoken word, the craft of a writer or speaker, and the ways in which spoken language conveys, explores and manipulates meaning. They can grasp the role and effect of rhetorical devices, the range of registers and social contexts of spoken language in use, the interplay of speaking, reading and writing, the artistry of spoken language and the knowledge and skills that underpin that artistry.

Based on the above, high-quality English may have the following features:

An effective spoken language curriculum identifies the components that pupils need to learn for successful spoken communication. It focuses on interrelated aspects that constitute effective spoken language (physical, linguistic, cognitive, and social and emotional).

Teachers equip pupils with the right knowledge and vocabulary for them to be able to speak on a topic effectively.

Pupils learn how to take part in exploratory talk and use talk to present ideas.

There is a focus on ensuring that pupils can select and use appropriate grammar and register for audience and purpose, including Standard English where necessary.

Teachers model spoken language for pupils. This includes language that pupils might not encounter away from school.

The curriculum provides frequent opportunities for pupils to practise, refine and apply their spoken language knowledge and skills.

Reading

Summary

This section sets out findings that suggest that skilled reading requires accurate, speedy word reading and good language comprehension. Urgency is necessary to ensure that pupils learn to decode accurately and with automaticity at the start of primary school. This also allows pupils to form positive attitudes to reading.

Pupils of all ages need to be taught a broad curriculum that will allow them to comprehend increasingly complex texts. Reading comprehension is supported by practising strategies to uncover the meaning of texts. However, teaching these strategies is time-limited in its usefulness and unlikely to benefit pupils before they can read sufficiently fluently, which is most likely to be in upper key stage 2. Reading comprehension requires knowledge of vocabulary, context, syntax and narrative structure and the capacity to read fluently. Carefully choosing texts to be studied in English can support progression, as will reading in other relevant subjects.

In this section of the review, we will go beyond discussion of what children need to learn in Reception. We will consider the goals of a high-quality curriculum in reading for primary- and secondary-age pupils.

Progression in comprehension

Factors that underpin reading comprehension

Three factors underpin reading comprehension and their significance to comprehension is explored, in turn, below. These factors are:

knowledge - for example, linguistic knowledge, orthographic knowledge and general knowledge

processes - for example, decoding, word identification, meaning retrieval, sentence parsing, inferring and comprehension monitoring

general cognitive resources: for example, memory[footnote 93]

Knowledge informs comprehension

References to knowledge as it informs comprehension can be understood in different ways:

in research, references to knowledge for comprehension include syntactical and lexical knowledge. Thus, the knowledge necessary for comprehension is 'broadly conceived and may include information such as the meanings of words, rules of grammar, knowledge of events and temporal relations, episodes, scenarios, emotions, and characters'.[footnote 98]

in English schools, references to knowledge for comprehension can sometimes more specifically refer to a more limited consideration of 'background knowledge', understood as a pupil's knowledge of the text's context. This might be topic knowledge provided by the teacher to help the pupil make sense of the text or - more particularly - knowledge that the pupil can supply in their answers to comprehension questions.

A narrower discussion of knowledge, limited to context, may lead to confusion when discussing the knowledge needed for comprehension. This is because it is difficult to disentangle the types of knowledge used in comprehension. For example, it can be unhelpful to consider vocabulary separately from contextual knowledge. For comprehension pupils will need knowledge of vocabulary as well as knowledge of the text's context, and these are closely intertwined. To understand the text's vocabulary requires a grasp of the context in which those specific words have been used. This is because the words that readers know represent concepts and information. Therefore, these concepts have to be understood to appreciate the meaning of the words that are read.[footnote 99]

In this review, we will consider knowledge broadly. Where the term 'background knowledge' is used, this will not preclude an appreciation of how vocabulary serves as a label for concepts pupils understand from their contextual knowledge to allow comprehension.

Text complexity and progression in reading comprehension

For example, the primary curriculum should prepare pupils during key stage 2 to read independently in different subjects and to read a wide range of fiction and non-fiction. The key stage 2 curriculum should prepare pupils for key stage 3, at which point texts will include prose, poetry and drama, Shakespeare plays and seminal world literature, both contemporary and pre-1914. The key stage 3 curriculum should prepare pupils for the reading demands of key stage 4, including literature on the GCSE examination specifications.

Factors that may affect text complexity for pupils of all ages, and therefore their comprehension, include:

linguistic features, such as longer or more complicated sentence structures or less-common, academic or domain-specific vocabulary[footnote 103]

textual references to concepts and objects, and knowledge drawn from experience, including cultural experience[footnote 104]

cohesion - both in the ideas explored across a text and the language used to articulate those ideas[footnote 105]

levels of meaning - texts with a single level of meaning are often simpler to understand than those with multiple levels, for example allegorical or satirical texts[footnote 106]

text structure - texts with simple, linear, chronological structures are often easier to understand than those that have non-linear time sequences or other structural irregularities and manipulations[footnote 107]

style of narrator - texts with a single, reliable narrator are often more accessible than those that contain unreliable or multiple narrators[footnote 108]

allusions, cultural references and intertextuality (relationships or references to other texts)[footnote 109]

These factors are discussed in further detail in the 'Literature' section of this review.

The curriculum should ensure that pupils of all ages acquire the knowledge they need for improved comprehension through reading increasingly challenging texts at each stage. These can provide a smooth ramp from listening to stories and poetry in the early years to reading Shakespeare and 19th-century texts as well as pre-20th-century literary non-fiction.

First in reading The Magician's Nephew, they are alerted to the fact that people spoke differently then. Over time, they begin to pick up some of... [the text's] rhythm and quirks but at an accessible scale and wrapped in a story that is engaging... perhaps later they read something that has been written fifty years before that. It is the first step in a process that gives students access over the long run to the texts of the past.

Incremental exposure to increasingly difficult texts alone may allow some pupils to acquire the knowledge they need to read challenging material independently. However, an effective English curriculum will explicitly identify what it is that pupils need to learn in order to understand progressively more complex texts. It is this knowledge, listed below, that teaching should highlight and develop.

Progression in reading should come from reading a broad range of increasingly challenging texts. Reading these texts can gradually increase pupils' 'readiness' for reading the ambitious literature that is the end point of the national curriculum. The knowledge gained through this reading is explored in the 'Components of comprehension and effective pedagogies to teach them' section.

Components of comprehension and effective pedagogies to teach them

Vocabulary: what words should instruction focus on?

Teachers can select texts that contain some vocabulary that is likely to be unfamiliar but that are not overwhelmingly difficult to understand. While pupils of all ages will gradually learn vocabulary through repeated encounters as they read, there is evidence showing that it is beneficial to identify and explicitly teach some vocabulary.[footnote 118]

An effective curriculum is also likely to teach pupils the meaning of roots and affixes (prefixes and suffixes).[footnote 121] Research has shown that learning the meaning of common affixes such as un-, dis-, -able and -ing can help pupils to understand unfamiliar words, as well as being useful for spelling.[footnote 122] Building knowledge about morphemes (the smallest meaningful units of language) in English can develop vocabulary by helping pupils to make informed guesses about the possible meanings of new words, linking new words with familiar ones.[footnote 123] Awareness of how in English the meaning of words can be changed by adding inflections such as -s, -ed or -er as well, and knowledge of the history of words (etymology) and how this can affect meaning, will also support pupils' vocabulary and reading comprehension.[footnote 124]

Ways of teaching vocabulary

Knowledge of morphology, which is also vital for spelling, plays an important role in comprehension. Activities can be designed to help pupils recognise that similar-looking words might be related in meaning, even if they are pronounced differently - such as 'inquire' and 'inquisition'. These activities can help pupils' understanding because there is a strong correlation between spelling and comprehension.[footnote 131]

Knowledge of context

As outlined in the 'Knowledge informs comprehension' section above, it is difficult to clearly delineate knowledge of the context of the text from other knowledge needed for comprehension, such as knowledge of vocabulary. This is because understanding a text's vocabulary requires a grasp of the context in which those specific words can be used. The background knowledge needed to understand the words, phrases and ideas in a text goes well beyond socio-historical background to the text or topic knowledge. However, readers with good topic knowledge will have better comprehension of texts related to that topic than of texts that they know less about.[footnote 132] As knowledge development is related to reading, weaker readers often have less relevant knowledge than their peers.[footnote 133]

Teaching, therefore, needs to provide the contextual knowledge that pupils require to adequately comprehend a text. This does not, however, mean that it is necessarily useful to pre-teach swathes of background to an individual text if that knowledge is not essential for adequate comprehension of that text. Indeed, through reading itself, pupils can find out about the world beyond their own experience, including what they learn in other lessons on the curriculum. Teachers should therefore give pupils an abundant and rich variety of accessible texts to read in relevant classes across the curriculum as well as independently. Over time, this reading can gradually broaden pupils' horizons and their knowledge of words, phrases and ideas and ensure that they become increasingly able to comprehend the texts they will encounter in their later education and through life.

Knowledge of narrative structure

From the early years onwards, pupils should become increasingly familiar with the structures and features of narrative texts, such as setting, character, plot and conflict. This is not the same as knowing the meaning of these terms but rather an increasing familiarity with different structures and features of texts that can come through broad and deep engagement in a rich variety of texts provided by the teacher. Once pupils are fluent readers, teachers can draw their attention to these features to better enable pupils to recognise them in future reading. Older primary-age pupils can use texts that contain a much wider range of structural elements, such as subplots and multiple problems.

Knowledge of syntax

Pupils who can read fluently should increasingly encounter texts that contain more, and more complex, multi-clause sentences. An effective curriculum can include teachers reading accessible but more complex texts aloud. Pupils need to hear and read these texts regularly to help them become familiar with the structure of sentences and therefore increase the likelihood that they will be able to understand the texts they read independently.[footnote 139]

When pupils understand the meaning conveyed through a sentence structure, they are better able to read aloud with an understanding of the possible and intended phrasing, rhythm, expressiveness and stress of sentences (also known as prosody).[footnote 140]

Rasinski suggests a focus on 4 aspects of prosody:[footnote 141]

Prosody is important because it connects children's knowledge of written sounds and words with spoken language and allows children to read with meaning. It 'completes the bridge by connecting to comprehension'.[footnote 142]

Teaching reading fluency

Research found that simultaneously listening to and reading along with texts was a valuable strategy with struggling readers. The teacher's reading shows how the text should sound and, in doing so, highlights the 'prosodic cues' in a text to pupils. However, the demands on working memory of this activity suggest that pupils' comprehension might be lower when reading-while-listening.[footnote 151] This possible limitation should be considered when deciding whether this strategy will fulfil the aims of the lesson. It would also seem counterproductive to undertake this sort of activity before pupils have mastered the alphabetic code.

A third strategy considered in the same review was discussing the wording in a text before reading it. Pupils can practise key words in the text before they read it for themselves.

Comprehension processes and the limits of teaching comprehension strategies

A range of processes allow knowledge to be activated and processed. These processes include decoding, word identification, meaning retrieval, sentence parsing, inferring and comprehension monitoring.

There is good evidence that significant aspects of these processes happen automatically, for example inference generation.[footnote 154] Skilled readers may unconsciously use a range of comprehension strategies to uncover the meaning of texts. However, pupils may need to be taught to use strategies that prompt comprehension processes. For example, teachers may recognise the phenomenon of a child who sounds fluent but has limited understanding of what has been read. This may be particularly the case when pupils regularly do not have all the knowledge (outlined in the 'Components of comprehension and effective pedagogies to teach them' section above) that they may need to readily comprehend a text and therefore may have never grown to expect to understand the texts they read even if they can decode them. Therefore, some pupils may need to build the habit of constructing meaning as they read. There is plentiful evidence of the benefit of teaching pupils reading comprehension strategies that direct them to pay attention to the meaning of the text.[footnote 155] The NRP found that those approaches that emphasise pupils' understanding of the reasoning and mental processes involved in reading strategically were most successful.[footnote 156]

The implications of these findings are significant, given that it could be assumed that if pupils struggle to comprehend texts, then more teaching of strategies must be necessary. Beyond some time-limited instructional and practice sequences, comprehension strategies are unlikely to be useful as a continued learning objective for most pupils. Willingham and Lovette argue that this is because these strategies are not skills that can be honed through repeated practice regardless of context. Rather, they are useful metacognitive strategies, or maxims, that will be applied successfully when pupils have enough relevant knowledge of the text to do so.[footnote 160]

This underlines the importance of ensuring that pupils read a breadth of literature. This will allow pupils to embed strategies they have learned even when they no longer need the time-limited instructional prompting of the teacher, as well as ensuring that pupils encounter the range of knowledge they need for successful comprehension. Comprehension strategies do not provide an ongoing progression in reading. Progress comes from developing the knowledge needed to understand increasingly challenging texts. This can be illustrated when considering inference.

Making inferences

Inference depends on a reader's vocabulary knowledge, contextual knowledge and knowledge of language structures. The reader needs this knowledge to make links between different parts of the text and construct a robust mental model of it. This is because language is 'surrounded by a cloud of taken-for-granted, unspoken knowledge, without which the said cannot be understood'.[footnote 161]

Readers use these links and background information to fill in details not explicitly stated by the author.[footnote 162] Therefore, knowledge of the text content is needed to make inferences and this is why general practice in making inferences will not lead to a general inferencing skill.

To illustrate this point, in the following example, the reader unconsciously draws from background knowledge, for example of vocabulary and context, to realise that it is Alison's birthday, although we are not told this: 'As the singing came to an end, Alison blew out the candles. Everyone clapped.' The reader integrates the new information from the text with their existing knowledge - in this case, about birthday parties.

Comprehension monitoring

Skilled readers monitor their comprehension and detect when it breaks down. For example, when they spot an apparent inconsistency, they re-read or apply their background knowledge of the topic. In the 'Comprehension processes and the limits of teaching comprehension strategies' section above, we discuss how pupils may not expect to understand a text when they regularly do not have all the knowledge that they may need for comprehension. These less-skilled readers may not know that it is important to think while reading.

This 'comprehension monitoring' correlates closely with wider reading comprehension. As we might expect, older pupils and more expert readers tend to be better at detecting when their understanding has broken down. For this reason, pupils need to be alerted to the importance of thinking about what they read and understanding the content.

Comprehension strategies have an ongoing use as a pedagogical tool

When pupils no longer need to be taught to use comprehension strategies, it is reasonable to continue to use these strategies as a pedagogical tool. When a teacher needs pupils to think carefully about a certain meaning of a particular text, they might direct pupils to apply a particular strategy they have learned, for example summarising or identifying the main point. In this situation, the primary curriculum goal is not to teach or practise a strategy (when pupils are already familiar with the strategy from prior teaching). Rather, the teacher can direct pupils to use a strategy to draw out a particular aspect of the text and its meaning, which may not otherwise have been readily apparent to pupils, given their current knowledge.

Through applying the strategy to consider a feature of the text, pupils acquire new knowledge that may enable them to comprehend other and more challenging texts in the future. While there might be good reasons for selecting comprehension strategies as a pedagogical tool, this does not mean that there is a benefit from pupils discovering an insight (about a text or otherwise) for themselves over learning such an insight from their teacher.[footnote 165]

Implications of limits to working memory

Reading independently and for pleasure

Research on the benefits of pupils' reading for pleasure is extensive.[footnote 169] This research indicates a positive correlation between pupils' engagement with reading and their attainment in reading, motivation to read and their self-confidence in reading.[footnote 170] Research also suggests a link between pupils choosing to read and improved general knowledge;[footnote 171] a wider vocabulary and better language development;[footnote 172] and improved attainment and more positive attitudes to writing.[footnote 173]

Reading for pleasure is highly desirable. However, an emphasis on reading for pleasure does not mean it is wise to ignore the positive impact on all children of exposure to increasingly challenging texts in relevant lessons across the curriculum. Initiatives like dressing up as book characters, collecting points and certificates, or creating elaborate displays might also help to raise awareness of reading. Yet they could also be a distraction, taking time and energy away from reading itself.

A curriculum for reading for pleasure

The manifold benefits of reading for pleasure might lead to the assumption that the best starting point is to encourage pupils to read. However, research suggests that it is the more accomplished readers who choose to read more.

A meta-analysis of research with children aged 5 to 18 considered predictors of long-term motivation to read.[footnote 174] This analysis suggested that achieving short-term motivation to read is not a predictor for the long term when compared with pupils becoming accomplished readers early. The latter is a stronger predictor of later motivation. In other words, if children struggle with reading early on, they may not be persuaded to read more. The findings emphasise the overriding importance of children getting off to a successful start with reading, as this is the strongest predictor of later motivation.

For many, reading for pleasure is something that develops at home, when books and other reading material are available, and where parents and carers read with children and also read themselves.[footnote 175] For others, it is vital that the curriculum and wider school culture nurture reading for pleasure.

Research suggests several strands that form a 'coherent strategy' that schools can draw on when designing a curriculum that supports reading for pleasure. These include:

developing teachers' knowledge of children's literature and other texts

developing teachers' knowledge of pupils' current reading practices and preferences

establishing a 'reading for pleasure pedagogy' that includes reading aloud and time for pupils who can read fluently to read independently

creating social reading environments, and providing time for informal book talk and recommendations

supporting staff to become 'reading teachers' who read widely and reflect on their own and others' reading

creating reading communities, both in and out of school[footnote 176]

Children may enjoy reading but prefer other activities. Making the option of reading the most readily available seems sensible. When the option is visible and attractive, it can make it more likely that children will read.[footnote 177]

Based on the above, high-quality English may have the following features:

The reading curriculum enables pupils to read increasingly complex and whole texts.

Teachers develop pupils' reading accuracy, automaticity and prosody.

Time is given to pupils reading a lot of text, across the school curriculum, to develop their reading fluency.

Instruction in reading comprehension strategies is time-limited and explicit.

Knowledge necessary for comprehension is taught explicitly and includes vocabulary, knowledge of narrative structure, lexical and syntactical knowledge, as well as knowledge of context and ideas in the text.

Teachers emphasise the relationships between words, helping pupils to explore morphology and etymology to support their comprehension and spelling.

Teachers encourage pupils to read for pleasure while ensuring that they become accomplished readers as soon as possible.

Planned and spaced recall helps pupils to retain the new vocabulary they have learned.

Writing

Summary

Fluent writing depends on transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition, which involves knowledge about the topic and discourse knowledge about how to write effectively. Explicit teaching of foundational skills, including spelling and handwriting, sentence construction, control of grammar and use of vocabulary, allows all pupils to write effectively. Cycles of planning, drafting, revising and editing can improve writing but do not significantly improve motivation to write or improve the quality of struggling writers' compositions.

Features of an effective writing curriculum in primary and secondary schools

... well-structured formal expository and narrative essays; stories, scripts, poetry and other imaginative writing; notes and polished scripts for talks and presentations; and a range of other narrative and non-narrative texts, including arguments, and personal and formal letters.

An effective writing curriculum will give pupils opportunities to develop their proficiency in 2 interrelated areas of writing:

transcription (spelling and handwriting)

composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech and writing)

Transcription

Fluent transcription skills are the foundations of writing. If pupils master these, they can then focus their attention on developing, organising and communicating their ideas. If spelling and handwriting are not fluent, pupils' working memory is overloaded and it becomes difficult to focus on composition.[footnote 181]

An effective writing curriculum should give time for pupils to be taught and to practise the component skills of transcription, at least in the early stages of primary. Kellogg has argued that, if pupils do not develop sufficient fluency in handwriting (or typing) in primary school, this significantly affects the development of the higher-order processes, such as planning and generating ideas, and writing and reviewing texts.[footnote 182]

These transcription skills should continue to be the focus later for any pupils who lack sufficient fluency. If they struggle with the process of writing as a whole, interventions aimed at writing overall, like asking them to do further extended writing, are likely to be ineffective. Instead, research suggests the focus should be on more time spent practising individually the specific components of writing that need attention.

Spelling

encouraging them to draw on their knowledge of phonics to identify the sounds in more complex words[footnote 190]

relating spellings to the content being taught (rather than teaching spelling from 'decontextualised word lists')[footnote 191]

pre-teaching spellings of challenging words and anticipating common errors[footnote 192]

ensuring that pupils practise spellings, for example by using new spellings in their writing or writing words from dictation[footnote 193]

focusing on a word's etymology to show how spelling is related to meaning and drawing attention to shared morphemes in words, even when the sounds in the related words differ (for example, 'vine' and 'vineyard')[footnote 194]

adding morphemes (where possible) to words in the national curriculum Years 5 and 6 word list to spell many related new words (for example, correspond > correspondence, corresponding, correspondingly, correspondent)[footnote 195]

combining vocabulary development with spelling instruction, including explaining the meaning and function of prefixes and suffixes[footnote 196]

teaching irregular words by grouping these together where there are useful similarities (such as grouping the irregular spelling 'two' with associated regular words such as 'twin', 'twice' and 'twenty')[footnote 197]

Composition

Knowledge of grammar

Pupils need secure knowledge of English grammar for composition. This enables them to express themselves clearly and creatively through writing. The grammatical structures of a text carry much of the writer's intended meaning. Exploring these choices in texts allows the writer to understand the writer's thoughts better.[footnote 200]

Research with secondary school pupils suggests that pupils benefit from being taught how to combine and construct sentences. This not only improves the sentences they write but also improves their writing quality and accuracy.[footnote 201]

The curriculum can therefore be organised so that pupils are taught to write using a variety of sentences. Teaching should focus on sentence recognition, construction, meaning and accuracy. A logical progression might start with the concept of a sentence, including capitalisation and other basic punctuation, before progressing from single main clauses to constructing multi-clause sentences.

For expertise to develop, pupils will benefit from direct instruction and modelling, followed by extensive, deliberate practice until they are fluent. Effective practice may consist of short, focused tasks, interspersed with feedback, before pupils apply what they have learned to their independent writing.[footnote 202]

Research suggests that it can be effective for teachers to focus on the function and application of grammar within the context of writing.[footnote 205] Teaching pupils grammar as part of writing lessons, emphasising the connections between linguistic features and the effects they can produce, can have a positive impact, at least for more able writers.

Vocabulary knowledge

Pupils without a specialised vocabulary for different types of text will struggle to express ideas and opinions in writing.[footnote 206] A broad and deep vocabulary leads to better writing.[footnote 207] Teaching vocabulary is covered in 'Ways of teaching vocabulary' in the reading section.

A curriculum for writing

In practice, teachers can ensure that pupils have knowledge of the world that provides content to write about, for example by ensuring that pupils write about the curriculum content they have studied. Teachers can help pupils to build discourse knowledge by making sure that they understand the characteristics of texts written for specific purposes and audiences, and by providing models of effective writing.[footnote 210] This gives pupils a repertoire of features to draw on for their own writing.

Models of writing development suggest that pupils move through several stages as they become more mature and proficient as writers.[footnote 211] Research highlights the starting points and assumptions of novice writers and how their writing can improve. Pupils need to become increasingly aware of:

how writing can be used to share new interpretations of their ideas

their reader's needs and existing knowledge

how that reader might interpret what they write[footnote 212]

Knowledge of the writing process and how to teach it

Repeated meta-analyses have identified several factors that are positively linked to teaching pupils to write effectively:[footnote 213]

explicit teaching of foundational writing skills (sentence construction and control of grammar and syntax, as well as spelling and handwriting), aiming for fluency

a 'process approach' to writing (see below for an explanation)

direct instruction about writing knowledge and targeted practice

encouraging pupils' self-regulation, such as pupils monitoring their own performance, setting goals for improvement and making self-assessments of their writing

opportunities to write frequently

opportunities to work cooperatively on different aspects of writing and stages of the writing process

A process approach

The process approach involves pupils learning to plan, draft, revise, edit and publish their writing, and practising these processes. This can develop pupils' proficiency.[footnote 214] Eventually, they can apply their knowledge independently.

Research suggests that explicit instruction about writing knowledge and strategies can develop older pupils' writing.[footnote 217] Self-regulated strategy development ( SRSD) is an approach to teaching writing strategies that has been found to be effective in helping pupils learn the specific discourse knowledge needed for effective writing. This knowledge includes general and task-specific writing strategies, the background knowledge needed to use these strategies, and procedures for regulating these strategies.[footnote 218] The 6 stages of SRSD are:

1. Pupils are taught the background knowledge they need to use a writing strategy effectively.

2. The teacher explicitly describes and discusses the purpose and benefit of the strategy.

3. The teacher models how to use the strategy.

4. Pupils memorise the steps/components of the strategy.

5. The teacher supports and scaffolds pupils' mastery of the strategy.

6. Pupils use the strategy independently.

At each stage, pupils have opportunities to learn and practise the main components. This can be particularly effective for less confident writers.[footnote 219] Because the strategies break up the complex process of writing into manageable smaller parts, each of which can be taught, practised and combined, SRSD instruction helps pupils to overcome the limits of their working memory and processing capacities. Research also suggests that these strategies are motivating for young writers, because pupils can write successfully and are likely to attribute their success to something they can control, such as following a specific process or working hard on a task.[footnote 220]

Although discourse knowledge of the features of certain text types and genres of writing is important,[footnote 223] listing the features that pupils must include in a piece of writing can lead to writing to follow mark schemes, as noted in the 'Assessment' section. This might lead to pupils using textual and language features without understanding why they are useful and what purposes they serve.[footnote 224] This might be avoided by emphasising the audience for, and purpose of, the writing and encouraging pupils to tailor their language and structure to these rather than trying to replicate the features of a specific genre or text type.

Motivation

Research suggests that motivation to write, and a classroom and school environment that promotes it, is correlated strongly both with pupils' attitudes to writing and their skill as writers.[footnote 225] Factors associated with motivation include:

writing for real audiences and purposes

writing collaboratively with peers

a choice of topic

the desire to share ideas with an audience[footnote 226]

Motivation can come from enjoying or being engaged with writing itself. It can also come from external factors, such as:

pride in creating a pleasing piece of work

accomplishing something after overcoming difficulty

mastering something that will be important when obtaining qualifications for the workplace

Based on the above, high-quality English may have the following features:

The curriculum secures the knowledge needed for successful writing: knowledge about the topic and knowledge about how to write.

Pupils' accuracy and automaticity in transcription are developed early on and secured by lower key stage 2, so that older pupils are able to pay attention to the higher-level processes of composing, planning, writing and revision.

Pupils write frequently, for a range of audiences and purposes (once they have sufficient accuracy and automaticity in transcription).

Teachers directly teach sentence construction, control of grammar and syntax, so that pupils can use them with accuracy, confidence and increasing flair.

Teachers teach older pupils to master the components of how to plan, draft, revise and edit their writing.

Pedagogical approaches for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities

The general principles from research into effective teaching outlined in this review are just as relevant for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities ( SEND), whether learning English or any other subject. Research shows that pupils with SEND do not generally benefit from differentiated teaching, activities or resources to achieve a curriculum goal.[footnote 227] Differentiation is not the same as targeted teaching to break down or reinforce aspects of the curriculum, for example repetition of important phonic knowledge.

Teachers may attribute weaknesses in reading to a pupil having dyslexia rather than having gaps in their phonic knowledge. This can also lead to teachers using reading interventions that have an alternative approach rather than teaching systematic synthetic phonics. However, reading requires the same phonic knowledge for all children. Teachers can help pupils overcome difficulties by ensuring that they learn GPCs; pupils with SEND are highly likely to need much more frequent repetition. Assessment should be used to identify a child's specific knowledge gaps. These gaps and their identification are considered in the 'Assessment' section of this review.

Based on the above, high-quality English may have the following features:

Teaching does not rely on differentiated teaching, activities or resources to achieve a curriculum goal.

Reading interventions incorporate training in knowledge of letter-sound correspondences, and how to apply knowledge of phonics to reading and spelling.

Struggling pupils have more opportunities for repetition where necessary. This can secure essential knowledge to automaticity.

Literature

Summary

An English literature curriculum should identify the knowledge pupils will need to make progress in English literature. Pupils need to learn epistemic knowledge of how critics apply different perspectives as well as knowing about influential readings of specific texts and how interpretations of texts can be reached. Pupils also require contextual and aesthetic knowledge to appreciate a text.

Knowledge can be acquired through studying carefully chosen and sequenced texts that become increasingly complex in style and substantial in content and themes. Studying carefully sequenced texts can gradually increase the knowledge pupils have, which in turn allows them to comprehend new literature. This learning will best be achieved with some explicit teaching and modelling, for example, of different interpretations.

The study of English literature

Literature is at the heart of the subject of English. It has profound effects on our thoughts and on the ways in which we experience the world. It can shape our inner lives, and our identity. Novels provide scope for the exploration of worlds: real and imagined; far and near. Drama can depict intense moral dilemmas, domestic conflicts and powerful moments in history. Poetry, because it works in special ways, can convey heartfelt emotions and epiphanies. Literature also contributes to the big debates in society and to political and social discourse.

The language in literature - the words writers choose and how they use them - can fire our imagination and introduce us to new ways of knowing. The study of literature as a discipline seeks to explain this power.

This section discusses how the content, scope and sequence of the literature curriculum, which is not necessarily specified in the national curriculum, can best enable primary- and secondary-school pupils to achieve the goals of the national curriculum. There is no fixed demarcation between this section and the previous parts of this review that discuss reading comprehension and reading for pleasure. However, this section explores the specific body of knowledge, additional to that already discussed, that enables the disciplinary study of literature.

This part of the review is different in character from other sections because the empirical literature is more limited. We have, however, drawn on a wide and diverse range of sources including opinion pieces and theoretical articles. In some cases, the overarching argument presented in these sources is not fully aligned to the principles of the EIF, but we decided to include them because they are indicative of the highly nuanced nature of the topic. The EIF and the research underpinning it remain the lenses through which the insights and research on literature is considered, framed and presented.

Literary knowledge

As pupils advance through school, the curriculum in English, including literature studies, should include the subject-specific prerequisite knowledge needed for achieving the subject's curriculum goals.

A strong curriculum will develop pupils' epistemic knowledge, defined by the OECD as 'the understanding of how expert practitioners of disciplines work and think'.[footnote 228] Some commentary uses the term 'disciplinary knowledge' to describe a similar idea. Epistemic knowledge helps pupils to 'find the purpose of learning, understand the application of learning and extend their disciplinary knowledge'.[footnote 229] For literature study, this might include learning how critics apply different perspectives (critical positions) to key concepts, as well as knowing about influential readings of specific texts. It also might include knowing that literary scholars and critics use evidence from the text and other relevant contemporaneous texts to justify their interpretations.

This review draws on Atherton, Snapper and Green to define 4 fields of literary knowledge. The following table is an adaptation of the 5 areas of literary knowledge identified by Atherton, Snapper and Green for teaching English literature at 16 to 19. The 4 areas described in the table, and what each covers, focus on those that relate to the EIF and the national curriculum.[footnote 230]

The history and development of literature

This includes: history of literature; literary forms; narrative; genre; poetry; drama; the novel; non-fiction; literary movements; how significant aspects of literature (for example, narrative or character) function in different forms, genres or even other media; how literary texts respond to historical or ethical events; and the relationship between literature and broader social and cultural movements.

The craft of the writer

This includes: how and why writers, including the pupils themselves, use language, form and structure, genre and conventions to respond to social and cultural contexts and respond intertextually to other works.

The response of the reader

This includes: how and why readers, including first and foremost the pupils themselves, respond to, interpret and value texts, balancing personal enjoyment with judgement and understanding of wider social and historical contexts; understanding works of literature in the context of life; and making and judging inferences.

The nature of literary study

This includes: the role of literary study, literary criticism and literary theory; how different approaches and ways of reading impact on what and how we read; how students value the study of literature; how to analyse perceptively, and write and develop their own critical voices in discussion; and the use of context.

The 4 fields above also draw on contextual knowledge, which is transferable between texts. In the case of historical context, this knowledge needs to be carefully selected. For example, pupils studying the Victorian novel may not need an extended preamble on key events in the reign of Queen Victoria. Rather, the specific knowledge that enables pupils to enter the imaginative world of the text should be identified. Historical context for a work of literature is not an end in itself. It might be useful to know that in Victorian times streets were cobbled and richer people travelled in hansom cabs. This knowledge may need to be explicitly taught or it may emerge through the study of the text rather than through teaching before reading.

The fields above also draw on aesthetic knowledge. This knowledge enables appreciation and thus enjoyment of a literary work. For example, knowing that, in Shakespeare's time, a nunnery was also slang for a brothel means that Hamlet's command to Ophelia, 'Get thee to a nunnery', is even more heart-breaking and emotionally charged. Enjoyment and knowledge can grow through text-based conversations, discussions and debates.

Progression in literature through carefully chosen and sequenced texts

Through the study of carefully chosen literature (see the 'Sequencing text choices for progression: building readiness' section), pupils' epistemic knowledge and capacity to appreciate literature can grow over time. For instance, pupils can gain an increasing understanding of the craft of the writer (including the specific language, grammar and syntax used in each text) through studying a carefully chosen sequence of texts over time. They also gain knowledge of the main characters, the plot and the literary techniques employed, and will have a progressively better grasp of the role of the reader and the nature of literature. This allows pupils to make increasingly meaningful connections between specific knowledge from different texts. This could be through a selection of texts that allow pupils to learn how writers use certain tropes in specific genres (for example, entrapment in gothic literature gives pupils a conceptual framework for connecting characters in 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' with characters in 'Jane Eyre').

Appreciation of English literature and key components

Our review has identified that there is specific component knowledge needed for comprehension and that novices benefit from learning these components. While pupils might engage meaningfully with unmediated text, it is the purpose of the curriculum to identify what they may need to learn, step by step, to be successful. This is not to say that some key aspects of a literature curriculum that work holistically can never form part of the earlier curriculum while components are still being mastered. For example, the curriculum can include meaningful personal responses to narratives that might be possible even if the components necessary to more fully understand those narratives have not yet been learned. In the very early stages, this form of literary knowledge can be developed by discussing stories that teachers read aloud to children or by asking pupils about how a story read aloud makes them feel.

Standish suggests that pupils can reach a possible 'transitional' point somewhere between late key stage 2 and early key stage 3.[footnote 231] At this point, pupils may have the capacity to understand different interpretations of literature. Teachers might introduce pupils to interpretations of literature that pupils can choose, adapt or reject. This would not be to stifle original interpretations, but to give pupils a useful framework for developing their own interpretations, as well as knowledge of subject-specific terminology.

Novices learn more efficiently by studying worked examples, while experts can learn from inquiry-based activities that allow them to apply their broad conceptual knowledge.[footnote 232] Expertise in English literature is characterised by the ability to carry out critical inquiry, engage in debates about meaning and explore how the text functions as a work of art. However, these practices need to develop over time. This will best be achieved through some explicit teaching and modelling different interpretations (worked examples) and the necessary component knowledge that underpins them.

Pedagogy for novices in literature is different than for experts

There are possible implications of the novice/expert research mentioned in the paragraph above.[footnote 233] If teachers use a purely inquiry-based approach from the start - in which pupils are expected to produce responses to texts with minimal guidance - the potential for success may be limited. For example, pupils may not learn what determines a credible or justifiable interpretation. They may also lack the background knowledge required to produce one.

Implications for pupils' written literary analysis

From their earliest years, children benefit from listening to adults read to them and recount stories verbally. Ongoing reading of carefully chosen and sequenced texts can ensure that pupils learn more about how stories are structured and how plots work. These understandings in turn make pupils better writers as well as readers.

Analytical writing is a composite process that involves multiple individual components, some learned through studying literature and some being explicitly part of the writing curriculum. Pupils need to be able to embed evidence, use appropriate subject terminology, apply precise vocabulary and evaluate interpretations, including their own interpretations. If pupils are to succeed at analytical writing, they need to be secure in each of these components. The curriculum should therefore include a range of subject-appropriate writing activities that require the use of the components for writing that pupils have learned.

Applying insights from cognitive psychology such as spacing and interleaving

Tharby suggests that insights from cognitive psychology can be used to ensure that pupils learn the literature curriculum and that this will allow them to appreciate that 'literature is a beautiful, throbbing nexus, not a set of unrelated texts'.[footnote 234] He qualifies this, stating that he has 'deep misgivings... about a crude scientific application' of cognitive psychology to curriculum planning. He suggests that the literature curriculum should be structured so that carefully selected content is revisited. He advocates spacing and interleaving content in literature to create a spiral-structured curriculum.

Some research suggests that spacing and interleaving might be useful for structuring some content in the literature curriculum. Appel and Richter show that some subject-specific 'habits of mind' that come from reading fictional narratives, such as empathy, do not present themselves immediately.[footnote 235] This pause before the results show is known as an 'absolute sleeper effect'. For sleeper effects to occur, a gestation period is required. In this time, pupils can rethink and relive what they have read. Spending some time on unrelated activities can be beneficial.

Elliott suggests that interleaving might help pupils make connections between 'texts and concepts, to create a larger schema of how literature works'.[footnote 236] She adds the caveat that 'like all tools, they are not good in and of themselves: it is the content that makes the difference'.

Sequencing text choices for progression: building readiness

We have already explored text choices in the reading comprehension section (see 'Text complexity and progression in reading comprehension'), but there is additional detail that is especially relevant when selecting texts specifically for English literature, which is explored below. Additionally:[footnote 237]

It is important to recognise that the books students read and study in school are finite - a scarce and valuable resource... these few books form the foundation of their knowledge of how literature works within and interacts with society, so teachers must select them like the precious resource they are.

Over time, texts studied should become increasingly complex in style and substantial in content and themes. In the 'Literary knowledge' section, we identify the range of knowledge pupils need to comprehend a text. Quality literary narratives tend to use a greater variety of sentence structures than simpler, easier narratives. This is important because it enables pupils to gain important grammatical knowledge that they can use in their own writing. It also builds 'readiness' for the complex syntax used in 19th-century narratives that are studied in key stage 4. Therefore, text selection is not as simple as moving more archaic texts or texts with adult themes to key stages 2 or 3. If pupils are required to read texts but do not have the knowledge they need to read fluently and understand them, whatever the ambition, pupils will not gain the hoped-for outcomes from reading those texts.

Texts may be chosen because they prepare pupils for later texts that they will study or writers they will encounter. Counsell calls this 'curriculum readiness' and argues:[footnote 238]

We need to take seriously the possibility that a curriculum can turn (say) a disadvantaged, vocab-poor Year 5 into a pupil who carries such reference points in poetry that they are ready to notice what is new and startling in (say) Romantic poetry before they hit Year 10.

Stoneman describes this readiness as 'deliberate crafting' in which 'we help knowledge to manifest itself indirectly but dynamically in future learning of other curricular content'.[footnote 239] It is very different from GCSE texts being taught in key stage 3. This would narrow the curriculum rather than create readiness for those texts when they are studied at GCSE.

An example of text choice for curriculum readiness might be reading 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time' to create readiness for Perkins Gilman's novella, 'The Yellow Wallpaper', because one is more accessible than the other but both use unreliable narrators. Building readiness is not solely about themes and content of texts.

A coherent sequence of texts

In the section above, we discuss the importance of sequencing carefully selected literature texts so that they are increasingly complex in style and substantial in content and themes. Through the study of carefully chosen literature, teachers can develop pupils' epistemic knowledge so that their capacity to appreciate literature can grow over time. Therefore, as well as text complexity being a criterion for selecting individual texts, the sequence of these over time can enable a coherent progression.

Didau explores different curriculum possibilities that provide coherence.[footnote 240] For example, he suggests choosing texts that illustrate the development of English language or texts that illustrate the story of literature and its forms over time. Alternatively, a thematic approach might be chosen that weaves the threads of metaphor, story, argument, pattern, grammar and context as enablers of disciplinary considerations for pupils learning literature. Didau does not argue for any one of the models above but suggests that coherent text choices will allow pupils to appreciate past literature.

Studying complex and whole texts

Studying one substantial complex text can do a lot of curricular 'heavy lifting'. It can support pupils to develop and use knowledge across the categories detailed in this section. A text like this might use a complex narrative viewpoint to tell a story, and explore multiple or sophisticated themes. It might also contain allusions, cultural references and intertextual links.

In some circumstances, carefully chosen extracts from literary texts can have a purpose in the curriculum. However, there is research that suggests that whole texts read aloud and at a faster pace than usual (as opposed to extracts) are important, including for weaker readers. Research by the University of Sussex with 343 pupils aged 12 to 14 in 10 schools found that weaker readers made 16 months' progress in reading comprehension when they read 2 challenging novels in class in 12 weeks.[footnote 241]

There are other disciplinary-focused arguments for the study of whole texts. Sehgal Cuthbert suggests that, as the reader works their way through a whole work of literature, meaning is built up and layered and their responses evolve.[footnote 242] In addition, some specific forms of the novel need to be read in their entirety for the form to realise its intention. For example, the Bildungsroman, which aims to show the development of the protagonist's mind and character from childhood through to adulthood, needs to be read as a whole to achieve that aim.

A disciplinary-based approach to relevancy

According to Applebee, a focus on relevance has led to curriculum inequity, where only advantaged pupils get the chance to read texts that are distanced from their reality.[footnote 246] This has led to the narrowing of the literature curriculum for some groups of pupils, who only access texts that reflect their own lives rather than different times or settings. Some types of literature can provide knowledge of other times and places that, in turn, helps pupils to comprehend texts. Additionally, reading more literature from other times, places and cultures can enable pupils to both develop and expand what they might consider meaningful to them.

A range of perspectives

Teachers and critics advocate a greater range of perspectives in the choices of literature that pupils study.[footnote 247] It is beneficial for pupils to see people similar to them represented as the heroes and protagonists in the books they read.

However, ideas about writers' intentions can be over-simplified if they are viewed solely through the prism of our current political landscape or contemporary issues. This can also lead to reductionist interpretations: readings that fail to do justice to the many layers within the text and their meanings. It can also lead to significant, influential texts being removed from the curriculum or texts being included only because they address contemporary issues rather than due to literary merit.

Within the aims of the national curriculum, any rationale for choosing texts should be based on the knowledge, practices and traditions of the subject itself. Other purposes, for example learning about a particular contemporary social issue, such as 'homelessness' or 'social media shaming', should take a back seat to literary merit.

It may be useful for teachers and leaders to develop a set of criteria for choosing texts. Didau suggests questions to consider when choosing a text that include notions such as:[footnote 248]

an entitlement to read certain texts

whether texts have been read already

the extent to which texts introduce pupils to new knowledge

whether the text offers a genuine variety of voices and perspectives (including older, less popular voices)

whether the text has 'conversations' backwards and forwards with other texts

Based on the above, high-quality English may have the following features:

The curriculum has been designed to develop in pupils a genuine love of literature, and an ability to respond to texts personally.

The curriculum has been designed to enable pupils to deepen their understanding in the 4 domains or fields of knowledge in literature, and to apply the key concepts from each field using disciplinary methods in their writing.

The curriculum includes a range of ambitious whole texts in different forms and genres, which have been carefully chosen using subject-specific criteria.

Over time, teachers build pupils' 'readiness' for future encounters with texts and critical views. They do this in a meaningful way so as not to narrow the literature curriculum.

Teachers introduce pupils to texts that they would not choose to read for themselves, especially from other times and places and with a range of perspectives.

Assessment

Summary

This section outlines how formative assessment can allow teachers to assess pupils' knowledge and plan next steps. Feedback should be specific, challenging and related to the learning goals. Success criteria can be useful but do have their pitfalls. Similarly, problems can arise when mark schemes designed for summative assessment are used in place of a curriculum that identifies the range of knowledge pupils need for success in each written task. Multi-tiered systems can assess difficulties that pupils have with reading.

Formative assessment

Effective feedback for teachers

Effective formative assessment will allow the teacher to identify gaps in pupils' component knowledge and adjust the curriculum and pedagogy to take account of these. However, grade descriptors created for summative purposes may not function effectively to provide formative feedback for teachers. For example, grade descriptors probably will not allow the teacher to assess whether pupils had the specific knowledge of vocabulary and context that would allow them to comprehend a text.[footnote 251]

More useful formative tasks could ask pupils a series of questions on a particular section or aspect of a text or include specific practice activities, focused on areas where pupils need to improve, such as specific spellings or learning to use particular punctuation, embed a quotation or conclude an essay. The narrow focus in these tasks means that the teacher can identify precise knowledge gaps and misapprehensions.

Effective feedback for pupils

Research suggests that feedback should be immediate and precise when pupils are learning new knowledge and skills in order to prevent them from making errors and developing misconceptions.[footnote 259] For example, when pupils are learning how to embed examples in text through practice activities, teachers should give them instant verbal feedback that focuses on accuracy.

There is an important balance to be drawn here: the immediacy and frequency of feedback should be dependent on the stage of instruction and the pupil's level of expertise.

Success criteria

Sharing learning intentions and success criteria are common ways that teachers draw pupils' attention to what they need to learn. For example, if pupils are learning to punctuate direct speech, it is useful if they know what they should be able to do by the end of the lesson. It is helpful to use a worked example to draw attention to specific features before using those features as success criteria for pupils' own writing. For example, teachers could discuss the features of a persuasive letter, before using those features as success criteria for pupils' own writing.

However, there are a number of possible pitfalls when using success criteria. It can be unhelpful to give different pupils in the class different success criteria. This may result in pupils doing different tasks that require them to have been previously taught different component knowledge. This in-class differentiation has also generally not been shown to have much impact on pupils' attainment.[footnote 262]

Pupils need to understand the success criteria used to judge their work, but this can be problematic. Some approaches that are designed to avoid this problem, such as extended writing, can 'oversimplify the complexity of a good piece of writing'.[footnote 263] Marshall and Wiliam argue that this runs the risk of pupils following a rule or formula at the expense of meaning and writing becoming formulaic. Similarly, a learning intention such as 'To use the features of an effective story opening' is likely to be too broad for pupils to understand what a successful opening might look like. Success criteria amount to maxims that can only make sense to pupils who have enough expertise to appreciate how they can be applied.

Teachers and pupils might 'co-construct' success criteria derived from worked examples. However, this is not entirely straightforward. Since the teacher knows more about the subject than the pupils, the teacher would be abdicating their responsibilities to 'let whatever the students feel should be valued be adopted as learning intentions'.[footnote 264]

Alternatives to written feedback and marking

Written feedback can be time-consuming for teachers. There is also a risk that the pupils might not read feedback, or that they might not be able to understand it or act on it independently.[footnote 265]

Assessment of learning: summative assessment

Internal summative assessments allow schools to measure standards, see how effective teaching and the curriculum are across year groups, report to parents, and monitor pupils' progress and wider outcomes. It is crucial that schools are aware of the limits to the inferences that can be drawn from summative assessments, which check performance in complex tasks rather than the component knowledge necessary for success.

Reliability and validity of summative assessment of writing

The validity of assessment is an issue when using criterion-referenced assessments, where writing is assessed against a set of criteria describing particular levels of performance. Scoring rubrics with lists of criteria can be limiting, effectively narrowing the concept of quality and excluding legitimate responses that fall outside the descriptors.[footnote 271]

Problems with using mark scheme criteria as a progression model

Progression in English, as outlined in the curriculum section, depends on far more than just knowing how to approach test or examination questions. Mark scheme levels typically describe differences in the quality of final written outcomes that pupils produce. Mark schemes do not identify the range of curriculum content that pupils need to learn incrementally to succeed in the specific written tasks they are set. Therefore, treating examination mark schemes as the curriculum for pupils to master (that is, as a 'progression model') will mean that pupils may not acquire the very prior knowledge they need for final summative assessments.

Assessing reading

Word reading (decoding) and comprehension, the 2 aspects of reading discussed earlier (in 'The early English curriculum in schools' section) require different types of assessment to ensure validity.

Pupils' reading may be assessed through available standardised tests. However, these are not necessarily as effective as diagnostic tools.[footnote 274] One implication that the importance of prior knowledge has for reading comprehension assessments is that pupils' background knowledge of the topic being tested can vary and this can affect scores. This is because pupils' relevant prior knowledge is the most significant factor in successful reading comprehension. Difficulties with decoding are another possible explanation of why pupils might struggle to read a text. Standardised tests do not generally identify the reasons for pupils' reading difficulties.

Based on the above, high-quality English may have the following features:

The curriculum breaks learning down into component parts, which are assessed formatively. This enables teachers to identify precisely pupils' misconceptions, gaps and errors. Teachers use information from this assessment to adapt the curriculum.

Feedback to pupils is specific and provides them with a 'recipe for future action'.

Low-stakes assessment of knowledge and retrieval tasks are also used to improve pupils' retention of the content.

A multi-tiered approach to assessing reading problems leads to accurate identification and diagnosis of difficulties and pupils receive targeted support.

Teaching focuses on building pupils' prerequisite knowledge rather than on practice for answering examination questions.

Systems at subject and school level

Summary

The leadership roles of senior and middle leaders in primary schools are critical in ensuring that all pupils learn to read. Teachers' content knowledge in English is fundamental to pupils' progress. Continuing professional development (CPD) should be relevant to teachers' specific needs and capabilities, but it must also ensure that they understand the rationale for what they are being asked to learn.

Leadership

Leadership of English begins with primary school headteachers making sure that the youngest pupils grasp the basic knowledge and skills of reading. This will include a complete programme for, and resources to support, the teaching of systematic synthetic phonics.

Senior leaders cannot, of course, be expert in every aspect of curriculum.[footnote 279] Middle leaders - subject leads in primary schools and heads of department in secondary schools - therefore play an important role in ensuring positive outcomes for pupils and developing the knowledge and practice of other teachers.[footnote 280] However, their effectiveness depends on their knowledge of the subject and of effective pedagogy, and the extent to which they have autonomy and control over the curriculum, drawing on their subject expertise.[footnote 281] Senior leaders need to give them this autonomy as part of the school's shared vision and accountability framework for English.[footnote 282]

Continuing professional development

A study by Coe and others reviewed existing research and identified 4 'dimensions' that teachers need in order to understand the content of a subject and how it is learned:[footnote 283]

deep and fluent knowledge and flexible understanding of the content you are teaching

knowing the requirements of curriculum sequencing and dependencies in relation to the content and ideas you are teaching

knowing the relevant curriculum tasks, assessments and activities

knowing pupils' misconceptions and sticking points

Teachers' professional learning is most effective when the content and the activities are directed towards the needs and existing capabilities of teachers.[footnote 284]

There is some evidence that a fortnightly to monthly rhythm of CPD sessions and/or support may be most effective in improving teachers' knowledge.[footnote 285]

Based on the above, high-quality English may have the following features:

In the early years and key stage 1, leaders prioritise the expert teaching of systematic synthetic phonics.

Regular, subject-specific CPD focuses on improving disciplinary and pedagogical content knowledge.

Conclusion

This review shows how curriculum content and sequencing, as well as subject-specific pedagogy, best enable pupils to achieve the national curriculum aims for English. Our review has identified some themes that relate to an effective English curriculum.

Strong foundational knowledge for reading, writing and spoken language are essential aspects of the early years curriculum

Automaticity in the basics of reading and writing early on enables pupils to rise to the challenges of an ambitious curriculum. It is critical that young children achieve both accuracy and speed in reading. Effective communication through writing depends on younger pupils developing foundational transcription skills (spelling and handwriting). Alongside this, they should develop knowledge of the world around them from stories and talking with adults. For both reading and writing, repeated practice is key to gaining proficiency.

Vocabulary is fundamental to pupils' progress

Vocabulary is the foundational knowledge for reading, speech and writing. Narrowing the word gap between pupils who are word-rich and word-poor is vital. Vocabulary development and wider language development feed into reading and writing. Adults' engagement in dialogue with young children supports their language development. Sharing books and stories introduces not only a wider, deeper range of vocabulary than is found in speech, but also shows how the meaning of words is context-dependent.

An effective reading curriculum ensures that pupils read large amounts of text and it focuses on providing pupils with the knowledge they need for comprehension

Once pupils have secured the basics of reading, they can develop skilled reading through a curriculum that includes exposure to large amounts of text and progressively more complex text. Teachers explicitly introduce the specific knowledge to pupils needed for comprehension. Over-simplistic approaches to reading (such as comprehension skills like summarising, drawing inferences or making predictions) do not work in isolation.

There can be unhelpful confusion about the term 'background knowledge'. It is often used quite narrowly and excludes vital syntactical lexical and literary knowledge. Research suggests that 'explicitly teaching background knowledge should be considered foundational to increasing competency in reading'.[footnote 286] Pupils benefit from exposure to background knowledge in a specific and sequenced way.

A reading curriculum is supported by the careful choice of increasingly challenging texts

The focus on literature-rich texts in the curriculum starts with sharing stories and rhymes at home before children start school. Throughout the curriculum, the choice of texts studied is critically important. An effective English curriculum will feature increasingly challenging texts at each stage. Different factors contribute to the challenge of a text. A clear understanding of this enables the construction of a curriculum that builds readiness for future reading. Pupils are likely to benefit from opportunities to read whole texts.

Carefully selected knowledge of literary studies is needed for pupils to make meaningful interpretations in keeping with the disciplinary tradition of literature. In a strong literature curriculum, this knowledge will be skilfully combined with aesthetic, epistemic and contextual knowledge.

The English curriculum for novices is structured differently in many aspects from the curriculum for experts

Different approaches to teaching may be more or less appropriate depending on pupils' level of expertise. Novices are likely to learn more effectively through direct instruction where they are 'explicitly shown what to do and how to do it'. Once they have gained this knowledge, they can apply it to future tasks.

Finally, teachers should be aware that novices may be less able to successfully produce their own meaningful responses without guidance. Securing foundational knowledge is a prerequisite. Once secure, teachers should carefully design more complex tasks so that pupils can attempt these successfully and without developing misconceptions. There is strong evidence for the value of using worked examples with novice learners. The idea of scaffolding has also been proven to guide instruction and reduce cognitive load.

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More than any other subject, English - and especially reading - gives pupils access to the rest of the curriculum and is fundamental to their educational success. This is why the introduction to the national curriculum says: 'Fluency in the English language is an essential foundation for success in all subjects'.

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Try Text to Speech and Audio Books as well!

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5 Ways to Create an Inclusive Reading and Writing Program

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Get practical tips to help you design your inclusive language arts program, including ideas about your classroom library, integrating technology, using graphic organizers and other basic tools, and giving students choice.

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Reading beyond the lesson to include all learners.

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Assistive technology (AT) can be a powerful way to help children with reading issues, including kids with dyslexia. This guide is an introduction to AT tools for reading and where to find them.

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Vocabulary is an essential component of reading comprehension and learning. The challenge for teachers is that it is hard to know where to begin when teaching vocabulary. Too many words, too little time. In their influential book, Bringing Words to Life, Isabel Beck, Margaret McKeown and Linda Kucan attempt to provide some structure to this challenge by suggesting that vocabulary can be divided into three tiers:

Tier one: Common words that students are likely to pick up through everyday conversation. (E.g. dog, through, chair, know.)

Tier two: High-frequency words for "mature language users". In other words, the sort of words that are useful and that appear across learning domains, but that students might not experience in everyday language. (E.g. distribute, analyse, context.)

Tier three: Subject-specific words. (E.g. photosynthesis, alliteration, refraction.)

Beck et al argue that teachers should pay particular attention to tier two words due to their high utility and because students may not be exposed to them otherwise. To facilitate this, they point to academic word lists made up of tier two vocabulary. This is a useful jumping off point, but this raises two questions for primary teachers:

1. Which tier two words that are not on these academic word lists should we teach?

2. Which tier two words on the academic word lists are most appropriate to teach at primary school? (As ever, there is a balance between aspiration and practicability.)

To answer the first question, I read various lists of the most common words in the English language, found the tier two words within these lists and then added them to the original academic word list to make a longer hybrid list.

My answer to the second question is, inevitably, a judgment call. I resorted to using my best guess to decide which words from this new hybrid list should be removed and left for secondary school. I have worked in year 5 and 6 for the last decade - briefly teaching key stage 3 students before that - so my 'best guess' is also, I hope, a somewhat educated guess. Nonetheless, I recognise that there is something entirely subjective about judging whether or not a year 6 pupil should be taught, for example, the word 'subsidiary'. I suspect that no single teacher would agree with every one of my chosen omissions, but I hope that this doesn't entirely devalue the list itself.

The end result is the list of 345 words you see below. In compiling the list, I had to decide whether to keep words in the form in which they were found or to convert them to different forms. (E.g. Keep 'accurate' in its adjective form or whether to change it to the noun 'accuracy'.) I decided on the former, but I would hope that any teaching of these words would involve the explicit sharing of the related forms. You might spot glaring omissions in the list or think that certain words don't belong. You may well be right. Regardless, I hope that this list of 345 tier two words - one I have imaginatively titled 'the 3-4-5-list' when discussing it with colleagues - might prove useful:
abandon, abstract, absolutely, access, accompany, accurate, achieve, acquire, adaptation, advantage, affect, aid, alter, alternative, analysis, announce, annual, anticipate, appearance, appreciation, approach, appropriate, area, assessment, association, assume, assumption, atmosphere, attached, attained, attitudes, attract, audience, authority, automatic, available, aware, basic, benefit, bond, brief, budget, capable, category, cease, channel, circumstances, civil, clarity, code, collapse, combine, comment, commit, common, communication, community, compare, complex, component, conceived, concept, conclusion, condition, confirmed, confined, conflict, conscious, consequences, consider, consistent, constant, construction, contact, context, contract, contrast, contribution, control, controversial, converted, convinced, co-operation, core, couple, create, crucial, cultural, cycle, data, debate decline, definite, definition demonstrate, deny, design, despite, detect, develop, device, dimension, discrimination, display, distorted, distribute, diversity, document, dominant, draft, duration, dynamic, economy, efficient, eliminate, emerged, emphasis, enable, encounter, energy, enhanced, ensure, entire, environment, equipment, error, establish, estimate, ethical, evaluation, eventually, evidence, evolution, examine, example, exceed, exchange, excluded, exhibit, exist, expansion, experience, expert, exploitation, external, extract, factor, familiar, features, file, final, flexibility, focus, format, foundation, framework, frequent, furthermore, generated, global, goals, government, guarantee, hierarchy, highlighted, identical, identified, ignored, image, impact, imposed, incident, indicate, individual, inferred, influence, initial, innovation, input, insert, insight, instruction, intelligence, intensity, intention, interaction, internal, international, investigate, involved, isolated, issues, justification, label, layer, limit, link, literature, location, logic, maintain, major, market, maximum, media, medium, mental, method, migration, military, minimum, monitoring, motivation, national, necessary, negotiation, neutral, nevertheless, nonetheless, object, objective, obtained, obvious, occur, odd, option, organise, outcomes, overall, overcome, overseas, period, persistent, perspective, phase, phenomenon philosophy, physical, political, popular, positive, possession, potential, precise, predicted, previous, principle, prior, priority, procedure, process, prohibited, propose, prospect, public, published, pursue, quotation, random, reaction, recognise, recovery, refine, region, rejected, related, release, reluctant, removed, represent, required, research, reserve, resources, response, restore, retained, revealed, reverse, revision, revolution, rigid, role, route, schedule, scheme, section, security, select, sensitive, separate, sequence, series, severe, shift, signal, significant, similar, site, society, solely, source, specific, stability, standard, strategies, structure, style, subsequent, substitution, sufficient, suitable, summary, supply, support, survive, sustainable, symbol, system, target, technique, technology, temporary, tension, text, theme, theory, traditional, transfer, transform, transport, transition, trend, trigger, typical, underlying, unique, united, variation, via, visible, visual, volume, voluntary, whereas
Here are some resources I used in compiling this list and others that you might find useful:

Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction. New York: Guilford.

Quigley, A. (2018). Closing the Vocabulary Gap. Abingdon, Oxon : New York, NY : Routledge
https://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/resources/academicwordlist https://www.wordfrequency.info/compare_bnc.asp
https://corpus.byu.edu/coca/compare-bnc.asp

https://www.lextutor.ca/freq/lists_download/longman_3000_list.pdf

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Tier two vocabulary for primary teachers - the 3-4-5 list

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Vocabulary is an essential component of reading comprehension and learning. The challenge for teachers is that it is hard to know where to begin when teaching vocabulary. Too many words, too little time. In their influential book, Bringing Words to Life, Isabel Beck, Margaret McKeown and Linda Kucan attempt to provide some structure to this...

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Teaching vocabulary is complex. What words are important for a child to know and in what context? In this excerpt from Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction, the authors consider what principles might be used for selecting which words to explicitly teach.

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EEF Vocabulary The Importance of Background Knowledge 

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EEF Vocabulary The Importance of Background Knowledge 