English and literacy

The terms English and literacy have various connotations and definitions in international contexts and these also change over time. For example, in the current time, the disciplinary field of English language and literature studies is called ‘English’ in Australia and the United Kingdom, ‘Language’ in Canada, and ‘Language Arts’ in the United States of America. Despite these differences, key similarities exist between the aims and goals of English teaching in these nation states and the way they seek to advance agendas around linguistic diversity and literature in its multiple new forms. Specifically, these curricula all promote a valuing and respect for different versions of English communication, and they all extend reading and writing goals to also include the new literacies of multimodal text. Similarly the curricula documents from these countries all include a focus on literacy, whether embedded under the umbrella terms English/Language/Language Arts or as a separate conceptual thread. In the Australian Curriculum: English (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, 2018a), literacy is considered language in use, with language and literacy as foundational to teaching and learning in all learning areas such as science, mathematics, history, geography, health education, design technologies and so forth. Throughout this chapter, we explore definitions of key terms mentioned here including language, literature and literacy. This chapter will focus on the English and literacy needs for primary years students where students are typically aged seven to 11 years of age. Learning for students in this age group must be underscored by an understanding of their particular needs, characteristics and interests as discussed in earlier chapters of this book. The learning needs of this age group differ considerably from their early years counterparts (Kitson, 2011).