Old-school grammar lessons, the phonics method of learning to read, and classic texts such as Shakespeare, Dickens and Austen will be reinstated in English classrooms across the country under reforms to provide a national curriculum.
The Rudd Government's National Curriculum Board will announce today that grammar, punctuation and spelling will be at the heart of English learning and that the modern ''whole language'' approach to reading will be replaced with the old-fashioned phonic method or getting children to sound out each letter of the alphabet.
The board says, ''The explicit teaching of the [grapheme-phoneme correspondence] and of other aspects of written and spoken English should be regarded as an important aspect of an English curriculum and therefore as routine.
''It should be conceptualised, put into practice and consolidated as part of a program in English education and it should be available to students throughout the school years.''
While it is clear the board is also keen to ground school reading lists in the classic genres of international and Australian literature such as Patrick White, Tim Winton and Peter Carey it also recognised the English curriculum needed to be expanded to include digitally delivered literature.
In the fourth and final preliminary national curriculum to be issued this week after history, science and maths the board announced grammar, punctuation and spelling were crucial to allow students ''to develop a coherent body of knowledge about how the English language works in its significant oral, written and other forms.
''The development of this body of knowledge should be regarded as a fundamental responsibility of the English curriculum.
''A focus on grammar, spelling and conventions of punctuation will be necessary across all stages of schooling. Students need to know how to correctly construct a sentence.''
In what will be a controversial stance to teachers who have embraced the modern ''whole language'' or ''whole word'' reading method where students are taught to recognise a word rather than being able to put it together letter by letter the board has noted ''many students in their early experiences of books may need systematic attention to phonological awareness and sound-letter correspondences''.
Board deliberations included significant debate about the merits of the whole language system, given research showing between 20 and 40 per cent of students cannot learn to read using whole language instruction alone.
The board's advice says exposure to literature ''should begin in the early school years and be systematically broadened and deepened as the school years progress''.
''Engaging with literary texts is an educational experience that is worthwhile in its own right. Literature and other arts-related learning experiences can also enhance imaginative approaches to learning more generally as well as flexibility of thought and motivation to learn.''
Literary texts included different forms, including picture books, multimodal texts, novels, short stories, poetry and drama, and a variety of non-fiction forms.
The advice refers to a role for works that ''have become regarded as worth special attention ... why literature ... has persisted in mattering to individuals and cultures.''
Exposure to literature ''should begin in the early school years and be systematically broadened and deepened as the school years progress''. The board has not yet devised a recommended reading list other than referring to ''a strong focus on analysing the historical genres and literary traditions of Australian literature and world literature''.
There is also a recognition of modern school settings with the board noting the need to address ''new digital settings of English use''. This would include broadening the category of ''literary texts'' to include digital and multi-media formats.
The advice was prepared by the advisory group, led by Professor Peter Freebody, of the faculty of education and social work at the University of Sydney. The National Curriculum Board was established earlier this year by the Federal Government to develop and implement a national curriculum in English, maths, science and history for all students from kindergarten to Year 12.
The Proposed National English Curriculum Initial Advice will be discussed at the board's National Consultation Forum in Melbourne today by more than 250 representatives from government, Catholic and independent schools, universities, industry, federal, state and territory agencies and the wider community.
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