Posted by Annabel Mary Watson
13 January 2020Ruth is recruiting schools / English teachers for a major research project investigating talk for writing.
What’s the project about?
The research project, which is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), will investigate the impact of high quality classroom talk on children’s writing. In particular, the study will build on research which suggests that metatalk (talk about writing) may be important for the development of metalinguistic understanding. While there is extensive evidence that high quality classroom talk supports learning, very little research has examined the impact of talk on writing specifically.
What will the project look like?
We will work closely with 6 teachers from 6 different schools to investigate the impact of high quality classroom talk on KS3 students’ writing. The study will not require teachers or students to diverge from the requirements of the KS3 National Curriculum for English. Each teacher will work with three different KS3 classes: one class for exploration in phase 1, one class for development in phase 2, and one class for intervention in phase 3. Phase 4 will involve outreach activities, including developing pedagogical and professional development materials.
What commitment does this project require?
The project spans 3 years, from January 2020 – December 2022 but the time commitment for participating teachers’ will vary depending on the phase of research. For example, phase 1 (January – July 2020) will involve 2 meetings and 2 school visits; while, phase 2 will involve 4 meetings and more data collection. The timeline below shows the expected dates of each research phase and the supply cover provided.
| Phase | 1: Exploratory | 2: Development | 3: Intervention | 4: Impact & Engagement |
| Dates | January 2020 – August 2020 | September 2020-August 2021 | September 2021-August 2022 | September 2022-December 2022 |
| Supply cover | 5 days | 10 days | 7 days |
What are the benefits of participating?
The new pedagogical approaches developed in the study are likely to benefit the students involved, both in terms of classroom practices and in improving their writing proficiency. For teachers, this is a rare opportunity for deep, sustained professional development in the teaching of writing. The collaborative nature of the project will also build teachers’ understanding of research processes, and their capacity to engage in knowledge exchange activities with other teachers and researchers.
If you would like to know more about the project, or are interested in taking part, please get in touch: R.M.C.Newman@exeter.ac.uk