I work as a Dyslexia Support Tutor for The Open University and a local university. A large percentage of my role is to teach my adult students how to write and punctuate properly because this was not taught at school. Grammar has been missing from UK education for too long and it's time it was brought back.

Much of what we write and talk consists of recycled groups of words that we have read or heard from others (frames). My concern is that some adults have little exposure to reading prior to starting their jobs or FE/HE course which has an impact on their writing skills, ‘Those students who are already most experienced at reading and writing texts will be most able,’ (Martin & Rose, 2007). 

Right then...what follows is my personal experiment to see if this forum can supply some frames for uni students that can be used in essays for media, art history, business (whatever!!)

What I would like you to do is the following:
1) Firstly, think about your subject and using one of the following frames (below), copy it and add in your words.

2) Paste in your comment in the comment box 

The frames: 
There is increasing concern that some ... are being disadvantaged .....
Debate continues about the …… 
This concept has recently been challenged by ……. studies demonstrating …….
One of the most significant current discussions in  ......
The debate continues to take place between .... concerning ......
The controversy about using .... evidence for ....
Questions have been raised about .... 

from www.phrasebank/manchester.ac.uk

YOU MUST USE AN ANONYMOUS STYLE NAME.

Embracing multimodality

I support dyslexic adults in various environments. In an age when we should be encouraging our 'Digitally Native' students to communicate effectively eye-to-eye, should I stop my students from texting others while I am teaching them? I used to. Can they really process all of the assistive software instructions, study skills on how to write and remember while texting? I mostly teach one to one and I used to insist they put their phones away as I presumed my dyslexic students cannot multi-task: they cannot process two lots of information while I am teaching them, but I have been proved wrong. It appears that the information I give them is prioritised as equally important to their real world social context. Maybe this is my problem: learning facilitators need to keep abreast of multimodality and in understanding students can process multi-modes of language maybe we can offer them a 3 dimensional way of learning. So, should I wait for my student to finish texting?

Government funding needed

Back in 2001, with the Labour's manifesto fresh in our minds, adult basic skills was at the fore of Government funding. Now, in 2013, it feels as though the glass is half empty. Much has been done to improve the basic skills of adults in the UK, since 2001, but the journey is a relatively new one. There are no statistics to give us an accurate picture of why adults cannot read and write adequately, but in my previous experience (as a literacy tutor and Dyslexia Specialist Tutor) many of those accessing adult literacy classes in FE, failed their 'O' Levels or GCSEs at 16 for a reason. This could be due to any of the following reasons:

• poorly differentiated support;
• home support;
• not understanding how students can learn; 
• lack of language learning in the curriculum;
• class size. 

Does the Government expect all students to leave with good grades? The answer is, they no. 

What is the matter with education today if the basics aren't being taught and aren't improving? 

I sound old; I'll be complaining about a draft on my neck next, but come on Gove, it's simple! Phonics (without shwa), and parts of speech are the foundation of our language. Teach those first and you can add anything onto that later!

Whose bright idea was it to take these out of the curriculum and not recap on it regularly? Oh yeah, it was teachers in the 1960s, sorry.

Dyslexic students predictably slip through the net. When I taught Level 2 literacy, some of the students I taught had obtained degrees, GCSEs or Level 2s in literacy, but had no idea how to break words down, use spelling rules, write paragraphs and sentences or punctuate properly and so could not function adequately and with CONFIDENCE, in the workplace.

"We have revolutionised the way in which basic skills are dealt with, and through the Skills for Life strategy, have helped more than 5.7 million adults to improve their numeracy and literacy skills," (DIUS spokesman, 2009). You may think so me dook, but don't go blowing your trumpet too soon because those who have their National post 16 qualifications may not have retained anything. I propose a test, to measure the retained learning of those 5.7 million adults, to test their skills. Don't all rush now!



Learning = remembering. If you cannot remember what you have been taught in order to put it into practice, you haven't learnt it!

NIACE research into adult literacy

Adult literacy. The latest research findings from NIACE http://www.niace.org.uk/news/inquiry%E2%80%99s-recommendations-to-improve-adult-literacy?src=fp1st-more: