ABSTRACT
This is, arguably, the most ‘difficult’ item identified in the National Literacy Strategy Framework for Teaching, and one that, in our recent experience of ‘delivering’ INSET, many teachers find far from simple to grasp. It is potentially difficult for Year 5 pupils because in analysing a ‘long sentence’ one might need to ask if it is a simple (single clause) sentence – and long only because it has many phrases; or a multiple sentence. If it turns out to be the latter, then a further question arises: namely, is it a compound sentence (two or more clauses of equal status joined by a connective like ‘and’ or ‘but’ or ‘then’) or a complex sentence (a main clause with one or more subordinate or dependent clauses)?
