The essential subject knowledge text for primary English that will secure the knowledge and understanding needed for confident, creative and effective teaching.

Includes bibliographical references and index

1.Introduction -- 2.Spoken English and Standard English -- Standard English -- Historical variation -- Regional variation -- Individual variation -- register -- 3.The nature of learning -- Approaches to learning -- 4.The acquisition of language -- Theories about language acquisition -- How children learn language -- 5.Representing sound in writing -- The sounds of English -- The symbols of English -- Visual patterns in English -- Morphemic and etymological patterns in English -- 6.Words, vocabulary and morphology -- The origins of English vocabulary -- The structure of English words -- 7.The grammar of the sentence in Standard English -- What is a sentence? -- What kinds of sentences are there? -- The component parts of a sentence -- 8.The components of sentences -- Nouns -- Pronouns -- Determiners -- Adjectives -- Verbs -- Adverbs -- Conjunctions -- Prepositions -- 9.Handwriting -- The decline of handwriting
What does research tell us about the importance of handwriting? -- Some key lessons from research into handwriting, its place and function -- 10.Punctuation -- Punctuation marks -- 11.Cohesion: grammar at the level of the text -- The differences between spoken and written language -- What makes a text a text? -- What is cohesion? -- Cohesive ties -- Why is understanding cohesion important? -- Coherence -- 12.The qualities of stories -- Why are stories important? -- What are stories? -- Story genres -- Story structures -- Evaluating and making judgements about stories -- Criteria for evaluating stories -- 13.The qualities of poetry -- Why are poems important? -- What is poetry? -- Poetic devices -- Rhythm -- Poetry forms -- Evaluating and making judgements about poems -- 14.The qualities of drama -- Why is drama important? -- Analysing drama texts -- Shakespearean drama at Key Stage 2 -- Evaluating drama texts -- 15.Looking at information books -- Looking critically at information books -- 16.Electronic texts -- The characteristics of electronic texts -- Answers to self-assessment questions.