PETAA Papers

Practical articles focusing on a specific aspect of English teaching

Receiving three new PETAA papers annually and access to the entire digital collection is one of the many entitlements of PETAA membership.

Teaching with AR
Rocks in the head
Authors in schools
Beyond the classroom

Teaching Language, Literacy and Literature using Augmented Reality

By Dr Dr Lynde Tan, Angela Thomas and Alice Chik, with Nita Novianti and Grant Jones

This PETAA Paper — as a preliminary product of the most recent PETAA Research Grant — describes reviews and evaluates augmented reality (AR) apps to provide an introduction to AR apps and their potential for classroom use.

Rocks in the head: Children and the language of Geography

By Beverly Derewianka

This PETAA Paper describes an action learning project involving a class of seven-year-olds in a country school in Australia . Their teacher, Fran Egan, had been introduced to Michael Halliday's Functional Grammar (2007) and was keen to try applying her new insights about language in her classroom.

Writing the Future: authors in schools project

By Tracy Grice

This PETAA Paper by literacy coach and creator of the Writers Read podcast Tracy Grice outlines the work that author-in-residence Louise Park undertook at Concordia College in 2018, with a focus on Year 5 students, as part of PETAA’s Writing the Future outreach supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

Writing beyond the classroom using the community as a resource

By Adam Hall

This paper focusses on and unpacks the rich learning experiences that were created when members of the community were invited into the classroom to share their stories, aspirations inspirations with students, and, using a multilietracy pedagogy, students were able to develop and tell community stories in a This Is Your Life type performance.

Members can explore the full digital list of PETAA Papers below.

Discover a rich back list (including e:updates and PENs) in PETAA’s open access and member archives.

Reflect on evolving teaching practice over time in the archival list of PENs and PETAA Papers.

Digital List of PETAA Papers

If you are not logged in as a member only the open content, freely available PETAA Papers are displayed below. Log in to access dozens more. Membership gives you access to a broad range of publications including PETAA Papers — and that access is just is one of the many benefits of PETAA membership. Discover the benefits of PETAA membership.

PETAA PAPER 217 — Writing the future: authors in schools project

Date of Publication: 6/30/2020
This PETAA Paper in 2019 by Tracy Grice outlines the work that author-in-residence Louise Park undertook at Concordia College in 2018, with a focus on Year 5 students, as part of PETAA’s Writing the Future outreach supported by the Copyright Agency

PETAA PAPER 213 — My language is in my heart and my head

Date of Publication: 10/15/2018
This PETAA Paper by Janet Dutton, Jacqueline D’warte, Joanne Rossbridge and Kathy Rushton in 2018, subtitled ‘Hearing student voices in multilingual classrooms’, complements and extends the approach detailed in the PETAA book Tell Me Your Story

PETAA PAPER 210 — Using children’s picture books to support EAL/D students

Date of Publication: 12/5/2017
This PETAA paper by Janet Fellowes in 2017 explores the value of quality picture books in the English language classroom, drawing together principles for teaching English as an additional language or dialect (EAL/D) and classroom use.

PETAA PAPER 206 — Two weeks with Oliver Jeffers

Date of Publication: 3/16/2017
This PETAA Paper by Robyn Ewing, Kathy Rushton and Jon Callow in 2017 uses an author study of Oliver Jeffers to explore playing with language, exploratory talk, storytelling, drawing and sharing contemporary literature as part of early literacy ...

PETAA PAPER 204 — Building bridges: Dramatic dialogue in early childhood classes

Date of Publication: 8/18/2016
This PETAA Paper by Annette Harden in 2016 describes an approach to pedagogy in early childhood classrooms that introduces children to literacy through engaging them with guided drama and puppetry experiences.

PETAA PAPER 203 — The power of poetry

Date of Publication: 7/14/2016
This PETAA Paper by Catherine Oehlman with Libby Hathorn in 2016 combines the insights of classroom practitioner and poet to explore the empathetic, perceptive and expressive power of poetry for children.

PETAA PAPER 202 — Engaging and supporting all our students to read and learn from reading

Date of Publication: 5/12/2016
This PETAA Paper by David Rose in 2016 outlines a set of strategies, based on practical classroom research, that are designed to help teachers meet the complex requirements of curriculum, student behaviour and individual needs

PETAA PAPER 200 — Connecting research and practice

Date of Publication: 8/28/2015
This PETAA Paper by Marcelle Holliday celebrates its status as Number 200 by exploring the methods and collaborative potential of action research, using PETAA publications and resources for professional learning

PETAA PAPER 196 — The critical conversation about text: Joint construction

Date of Publication: 11/3/2014
This PETAA Paper considers theory related to learning and pedagogy, particularly in regards to the joint construction of knowledge and language, and then applies those ideas to practice by considering the design of teaching and learning ...

PETAA PAPER 195 — Talk moves: A repertoire of practices for productive classroom dialogue

Date of Publication: 7/4/2014
This PETAA paper will assist teachers (through practical examples) to recognise the particular talk moves which form a repertoire of classroom talk practices specifically aimed at supporting the development of language.

PETAA PAPER 190 — Literacy within, across and beyond the curriculum

Date of Publication: 8/30/2013
This PETAA Paper by Lorrae Ward in 2013 argues that to ignore the rich learning experiences beyond the school gates and outside the curriculum is to trivialise the world young people inhabit and risk making school irrelevant.

PETAA Paper 188 — Literacy as behaviour, process, and social activity

Date of Publication: 12/5/2012
Also published as PETAA Paper 188, the companion essay to Project 40 Part 1 — a three-part video, in which Professor Peter Freebody reflects on PETAA's anniversary and interprets the journey of forty years, with reference to key PETAA publications.

PETAA PAPER 185 — Choosing texts for teaching and learning

Date of Publication: 7/30/2012
PETAA Paper 185 by Kerry Gehling (updated in 2015) lucidly addresses the questions ‘What makes literature that is best for use in our classrooms?’ and ‘How do teachers make that judgment as they choose texts?’

PETAA PAPER 183 — Teaching EAL/D learners in Australian classrooms

Date of Publication: 5/25/2012
This PETAA Paper by Michèle de Courcy, Karen Dooley, Robert Jackson, Jenny Miller and Kathy Rushton covers the areas of identifying learners, the importance of oral language development, code-breaking instruction, vocabulary and comprehension ...

PETAA PAPER 178 — Writing persuasive texts

Date of Publication: 6/15/2011
This PETAA Paper by Penny Hutton explores the broader context, structural, rhetorical and grammatical features of persuasive texts, referencing related Australian curriculum content descriptions, and provides assessment advice

PETAA PAPER 177 — Why bother Blogging?

Date of Publication: 10/1/2010
This PETAA Paper by Georgia Constanti (originally published as e:update 015 in 2010, updated in 2015) explores the role of blogs in developing students’ literacy and presents a practical approach to starting your students’ blogging.

PEN 162 — Planning the learning environment for refugee background students

Date of Publication: 9/11/2008
In the series later re-named PETAA Papers, this PEN by Pam Luizzi and Janet Saker outlines the very different needs of students from refugee and disrupted schooling backgrounds and provides background knowledge in planning a literacy program

PEN 150 —Teaching students who speak Aboriginal English

Date of Publication: 9/22/2005
In the series later re-named PETAA Papers, this PEN by Yvonne Haig, Patricia Konigsberg and Glenys Collard explores the relationship and differences of Aboriginal English to Standard Australian English and the implications for teaching.

PEN 120 — Language tracks: Aboriginal English and the classroom

Date of Publication: 6/15/1999
In the series later re-named PETAA Papers, the purpose of this PEN by Lee Simpson, Geoff Munns and Sue Clancy is to encourage teachers of Aboriginal students to see how Aboriginal English is a pivotal element of their classroom relationships

PEN 093 — Aboriginal English

Date of Publication: 7/1/1995
In the series later re-named PETAA Papers, this PEN by Diana Eades focuses on issues for Aboriginal children and English language teaching in primary schools, including the language skills and strengths, and needs of Aboriginal children

Explore the digital list for contemporary and landmark PETAA Papers (and PENs) in digital format. Discover a rich back list of articles (including e:updates and PENs) in PDF format in PETAA’s open access and member archives. Reflect on evolving teaching practice over time in the archival list of PENs and PETAA Papers. The key icon in the digital list denotes member access.