ABSTRACT
It’s obvious perhaps but always worth reiterating that English has been structured by various beliefs embedded in practice throughout its history. In this sense there is always theory at work in the subject. Official ideasofficial theory-in relation to what English is and what its practice should be are explicitly expressed in public documents like examination criteria, The Kingman Inquiry (1988), ‘The Cox Report’ (1988 and 1989), English 5-16 (DES 1985), and so on. Not that these documents necessarily represent the beliefs or reflect the practice of all English teachers, or of all forms of English teaching; rather they represent the authorized version of the subject, produced by various institutions that have some stake in its constitution. The beliefs of practising teachers of the subject may constitute a different body of theory-one that accords to varying degrees with official theory.
