This paper offers a historically comparative picture of the latest waves of policy and technological changes that have occurred between 2000-2006 and discusses their impact on the practices of secondary school English in the UK. It draws on data from two previous research projects to explore significant moments of micro-interaction in a classroom that can be framed and integrated in the broader macro social and policy contexts of the production of school English. Specifically the paper offers a comparison of two distinct "moments"--2000, when the first data set was collected, and 2006 with a focus on the impact of technological and policy change for English. (Contains 1 table and 2 footnotes.)