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Changes in the role and nature of metalanguage used in schools, brought about by the National Literacy Strategy (DfEE, 1988), instigated this paper, which investigates teacher representations of language in relation to assessment contexts. Drawing on Freeman (1994) we analyse not only what is represented in the teachers' use of metalanguage, but also how it is presented – in terms of expression, voice, and source. This study is part of our research into the language assessment of young (5–7 years) learners with English as an Additional Language (EAL) by language-support teachers working in the mainstream context of Key Stage 1 of the National Curriculum in England and Wales. Our analysis is based on interviews with teachers, transcripts of lessons and classroom-based assessments, formal written profiles of children's language development and achievement, and relevant curriculum and policy documents. Our findings question the extent to which representations of language are simply a conglomeration of different fragmentary models of language, or whether they are chameleon-like: teachers speak with different voices as they move through the different discourse communities involved in the assessment process.
