Postgraduate Module Descriptor

EFPM318: Writing: the Future

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Module Aims

The principal aim of this module is to enable you to develop a stronger theoretical understanding of writing and the teaching of writing which will have a direct impact on your own pedagogical practices and a direct impact on your students’ outcomes in writing.

Specifically, the module aims to:

  • develop your understanding of theoretical models of the writing process;

  • support your ability to make connections between theoretical models and your own classroom practice;

  • enable you to articulate and enact an effective pedagogy for writing;

  • nurture your own writing development and sense of ‘teacher as writer’;

  • develop your subject knowledge of grammar and your pedagogical knowledge of teaching grammar; and

  • support your ability to manage effective classroom talk about writing.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here - you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. demonstrate systematic understanding of theoretical models of writing;
2. demonstrate understanding of students’ learning needs in writing and interpret these learning needs in order to plan, teach, assess and evaluate lessons and schemes of work which involve writing;
3. demonstrate critical awareness of conceptualisations of creative writing and the role of teacher as writer;
Discipline-Specific Skills4. critically evaluate the relevance of writing research to classroom practice;
5. synthesise relevant writing research literature in support of an argument;
6. use appropriate technologies for data handling and writing in education;
7. present data and findings in a form appropriate for educational contexts;
Personal and Key Skills8. manage your own learning and show the independence required for professional development;
9. learn effectively and be aware of your own learning strategies;
10. demonstrate effective communication by expressing ideas and opinions, with confidence and clarity, to a variety of audiences for a variety of purposes; and
11. think creatively about the main features of a given problem and develop strategies for its resolution.

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

Hillocks, G (2006) Research in Writing, Secondary School 1984-2003 L1 Educational Studies in Languages and Literature 6 (2) 27-51

Myhill, D.A and Wilson, A.C. (2013) Playing it safe: Teachers’ views of creativity in poetry writing Thinking Skills and Creativity  10: 101– 111

Myhill, D.A. Jones, S and Watson, A. (2013) Grammar Matters: How Teachers’ Grammatical Subject Knowledge Impacts on the Teaching of Writing  Teaching and Teacher Education  36:77-91

Wilson, A.C. and Myhill, D.A. (2012) Ways with Words: Teachers’ Personal Epistemologies of the Role of Metalanguage in the Teaching of Poetry Writing  Language and Education  26  (6):553-568

Cremin, T. and Oliver, L. (2017). Teachers as writers: a systematic review. Research Papers in Education, 32(3) pp. 269–295.

Lefstein, A. (2009). Rhetorical grammar and the grammar of schooling: Teaching powerful verbs in the English national literacy strategy. Linguistics and Education, 20(4), 378-400.

Sandiford, C. and Macken-Horarik, M. (2020) Changing stories: Linguistically-informed assessment of development in narrative writing. Assessing Writing  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2020.100471

Love, K and Sandiford, C. (2016) Teachers’ and students’ meta-reflections on writing choices: An Australian case study International Journal of Educational Research 80, pp.204-216

Banaji, S., Burn, A., Buckingham, D (2010) The Rhetorics of Creativity:A literature review. 2nd ed. London: Creativity, Culture and Education. https://www.creativitycultureeducation.org//wp-content/uploads/2018/10/rhetorics-of-creativity-2nd-edition-87.pdf

Myhill, D. Newman, R. and Watson, A. (2020)  Going Meta: Dialogic Talk in the Writing Classroom. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy.   43 (1)  5-16.