Worlds Apart: a comparative analysis of discourses of English in the curricula of England and Australia

A comparative analysis of English in the primary curricula of England and Australia reveals markedly different policy perspectives of the functions and purposes of language, literacy and literature in these two Anglophone countries. Whilst the Australian curriculum incorporates ‘the basics’ with bro...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Gardner, Paul
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2017
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/56725
_version_ 1848759923280707584
author Gardner, Paul
author_facet Gardner, Paul
author_sort Gardner, Paul
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description A comparative analysis of English in the primary curricula of England and Australia reveals markedly different policy perspectives of the functions and purposes of language, literacy and literature in these two Anglophone countries. Whilst the Australian curriculum incorporates ‘the basics’ with broader socio-linguistic views of language in an attempt to construct breadth and balance, the English curriculum is predominantly a didactic adherence to ‘the old basics’. Using discourse and content analysis, a systematic review of the two curricula is undertaken and evaluated by applying Cox's five models of English and Kalantzis et al.'s four paradigms of literacy. The results of this study have important implications for teachers, academics and policy-makers in all Anglophone countries, especially the two countries that are the focus of the study.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T10:07:35Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-56725
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T10:07:35Z
publishDate 2017
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-567252018-01-09T05:58:50Z Worlds Apart: a comparative analysis of discourses of English in the curricula of England and Australia Gardner, Paul A comparative analysis of English in the primary curricula of England and Australia reveals markedly different policy perspectives of the functions and purposes of language, literacy and literature in these two Anglophone countries. Whilst the Australian curriculum incorporates ‘the basics’ with broader socio-linguistic views of language in an attempt to construct breadth and balance, the English curriculum is predominantly a didactic adherence to ‘the old basics’. Using discourse and content analysis, a systematic review of the two curricula is undertaken and evaluated by applying Cox's five models of English and Kalantzis et al.'s four paradigms of literacy. The results of this study have important implications for teachers, academics and policy-makers in all Anglophone countries, especially the two countries that are the focus of the study. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/56725 10.1111/eie.12138 restricted
spellingShingle Gardner, Paul
Worlds Apart: a comparative analysis of discourses of English in the curricula of England and Australia
title Worlds Apart: a comparative analysis of discourses of English in the curricula of England and Australia
title_full Worlds Apart: a comparative analysis of discourses of English in the curricula of England and Australia
title_fullStr Worlds Apart: a comparative analysis of discourses of English in the curricula of England and Australia
title_full_unstemmed Worlds Apart: a comparative analysis of discourses of English in the curricula of England and Australia
title_short Worlds Apart: a comparative analysis of discourses of English in the curricula of England and Australia
title_sort worlds apart: a comparative analysis of discourses of english in the curricula of england and australia
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/56725