‘That’s you being a good reader’: The impact of training in cognitive stylistics for teachers of English in UK secondary education

This article argues that opportunities for teachers to develop subject-knowledge in cognitive stylistics can support the teaching of English in secondary schools. In 2022, the Aston Stylistics Research Centre ran three workshops on cognitive stylistics for teachers of English from across England. This article analyses interviews with six of these teachers three years later, exploring their experiences of applying cognitive stylistic frameworks at Key Stages 3-5. We examine any long-term impacts in the schools at which the teachers taught, and beyond, including any changes to teachers’ subject knowledge and attitudes, and to those of their students. Several recurring themes emerge from analysis of the data. Teachers describe an ongoing lack of language training for English teachers and the positive impact of the workshops on their skills and confidence, in some cases having a transformative effect on how they viewed the subject. Teachers also describe the focus on the reader, and the processes underpinning reading, as having positive effects for students’ confidence as readers, by encouraging them to see their own responses to texts as valid and valuable. Finally, the teachers provide an insight into experiences of disseminating the training with colleagues, and some of the challenges faced in doing so.