Knowledge about language: An old controversy in new programmes

Abstract

Abstract Recent proposals to make Knowledge about Language (KAL) an integral part of the teaching of English in Britain and Northern Ireland are discussed. The debate on KAL is traced from the Bullock Report, published in 1975, which effectively ended the teaching of traditional grammar, through a number of subsequent reports in the 1980s, which tried in various ways to reintroduce some kind of substitute for grammar, and finally to the 1990 Programmes of Study published for Northern Ireland. The paper concludes that the debate on KAL is set to continue since little progress has been made on the most basic questions it raises. Among these are the nature of KAL itself, what it includes and what it excludes, how it fits with the other elements of the English programme, what it is supposed to do for the pupil, and how it should be taught. KAL also raises difficult questions about standard versus non‐standard forms, the relation of the written and spoken language, and the role of language in society.