Showing papers in "Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy in 2011"

The New Literacies of Online Reading Comprehension: Expanding the Literacy and Learning Curriculum.

Abstract: This commentary explores a central issue for our times, online reading comprehension. It first defines three issues that have largely gone unnoticed as the Internet enters our classrooms: 1) literacy has become deictic; 2) effective online information use requires additional online reading comprehension practices, skills, and dispositions; and 3) misalignments in public policy, assessment, and instruction impede our ability to prepare students for the effective use of online information and communication. It analyzes the Common Core State Standards for Reading and Writing in the U. S. and the Australian National Curriculum in relation to elements of online reading comprehension. It argues that continued misalignments especially jeopardize opportunities for those students in districts that are economically challenged.

Expanding Perspectives for Comprehending Visual Images in Multimodal Texts

Abstract: The texts that adolescents encounter today are often multimodal, meaning they incorporate a variety of modes, including visual images, hypertext, and graphic design elements along with written text. Expanding the perspectives readers use to make sense of the multimodal texts is an important aspect of comprehension instruction. Moving beyond the traditional cognitive strategies often incorporated in instruction frameworks for comprehending written texts, this article presents three additional perspectives for comprehending visual images. Examples from each perspective are included to help middle and high school teachers expand the strategies students draw from to interpret and understand visual images and multimodal texts.

Pain and Pleasure in Short Essay Writing: Factors Predicting University Students' Writing Anxiety and Writing Self‐Efficacy

Abstract: Since the inception of the Writing Across the Curriculum movement more than 30 years ago, scholars have explored ways of enhancing students' writing performance. Faculty members across disciplines are often challenged by students' resistance to writing; resistance that may stem from anxiety, poor academic performance, and lack of recognition that writing is important in their lives. To examine predictors of students' writing anxiety and writing self-efficacy, 127 college students completed a pre- and post-assessment survey. Findings indicated that GPA and gender significantly affected writing anxiety, and leisure writing and writing anxiety were significant predictors of writing self-efficacy. Suggestions for future research and possible interventions for alleviating students' writing anxiety and enhancing their writing self-efficacy and performance are provided.

Defining Identities Through Multiliteracies: EL Teens Narrate Their Immigration Experiences as Graphic Stories

Abstract: Based on a framework of identity-as-narrative and multiliteracies, this article describes Graphic Journeys, a multimedia literacy project in which English learners (ELs) in middle school created graphic stories that expressed their families’ immigration experiences. The process involved reading graphic novels, journaling, interviewing, and integrating written text with family photos and other images to produce original graphic stories with computer software. The components of Graphic Journeys supported a multiliteracies pedagogy in that the students engaged with various linguistic modalities and multiple means of communication, including collaborative learning, composing, visual and graphic arts, and technology. The project also provided a powerful forum where the students could express their individual and family identities, explore their cultural heritage, and share their immigration stories with others. Suggestions are provided as to how the components of Graphic Journeys can be extended to EL academic language and writing development.

Did They Get It? The Role of Fidelity in Teaching English Learners

Abstract: Use of research-based practices for improving content area literacy of English learners is important both because of their growing numbers and their overall poor academic performance. However, how do we ensure that teachers are implementing proven methods with fidelity? This study shows the direct relationship between teachers' level of implementation of such practices on student achievement. Specifically, we report findings from research through the Center for Research on the Educational Achievement and Teaching of English Language Learners (CREATE). In the study, teachers learned and implemented the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) Model of instruction to improve their students' language and content literacy development. The degree to which teachers implemented the model with fidelity resulted in relative improvement in student performance, underscoring the importance of teacher implementation of proven practices.

Books Like Clothes: Engaging Young Black Men With Reading

Abstract: Using 18 weeks of classroom data from a much larger ethnographic study, Kirkland examines the reading ideologies influencing the literacy engagement of a young Black male, Derrick. (To protect participants’ identities, this article uses pseudonyms in place of participants’ actual names.) In doing so, Kirkland theorizes about how young Black males express thoughts about reading through specific statements of identity—what he calls genres of self. He concludes that many Black males read or don't read based on their thoughts about particular reading tasks—which include complex and layered beliefs around texts, contexts (of instruction), and the subtexts that permeate both. Kirkland suggests that young Black men often express such beliefs through grammars of acceptance/rejection. However, when the situation of reading fits them (i.e., corresponds with their reading ideologies), Black males read and find pleasure, interest, and purpose in doing so.

iPoetry: Creating Space for New Literacies in the English Curriculum.

Abstract: This article explores the use of digital poetry in a secondary English classroom and its implications for adolescents’ multimodal composition and identity development. The authors—an English teacher and a library media specialist—collaborated over the course of three years to design, implement, and reiterate a digital poetry curriculum. Through their work, they sought to infuse new vitality into literacy practices in order to enhance students’ engagement, increase their awareness of audience, and encourage their progressive use of media and technology. After students read, critiqued, and wrote poetry using traditional print text, they then employed digital tools to reinterpret those poems using multimodal elements. The authors argue that if teachers are to successfully implement new literacy practices in their classrooms, they must first establish a community of practice with other like-minded educators in order to engage in ongoing, critical dialogue around issues of literacy, learning, and technology.

Reading “Further and Beyond the Text”: Student Perspectives of Critical Literacy in EFL Reading and Writing

Abstract: Critical literacy is widely practiced in classrooms in many countries and across levels of education. Research that explores critical literacy in English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms, however, remains scarce. The few studies that do exist focus on development of critical literacy without explicit attention to development of language skills (see, e.g., Burns & Hood, 1998a; Kuo, 2009; Wallace, 2003). These studies also do not systematically examine students’ understanding of critical literacy in relation to their language development. Merely exploring the potential of critical literacy implementation from the instructor’s perspective is not enough to provide a holistic picture of its implications for ESL and EFL learning. Therefore, in this article I explore how critical literacy and conventional literacy can be simultaneously promoted in an EFL reading and writing course. I also examine students’ perspectives of critical literacy in relation to language development, discussing specifically what critical literacy means to them, how critical literacy helps their reading and writing, and how their EFL literacy improved as a result of the course.

Microblogging as a literacy practice for educational communities

Abstract: Microblogging is an emergent adolescent and adult literacy practice that has become popularized through platforms such as Twitter, Plurk and Jaiku, in the rise of Web 2.0 – “the social web”. Yet the potentials of microblogging for literacy learning in educational contexts is currently underexplored in the research and literature. This article draws on new research with 150 adolescent and adult participants in school and university contexts, which was made possible through cross-disciplinary collaboration between specialists English and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) educators. Strategies are provided for teachers to establish their own microblogging networks, with suggested activities to enhance the literacy learning of adolescents in educational contexts.

A Social Semiotics Framework for Conceptualizing Content Area Literacies

Abstract: The author outlines ways in which conceptions of texts and literacy may be distinctive across academic disciplines. Framed in theories of social semiotics, she asserts that each discipline is recreated through a series of texts, defined broadly to include any instances of communication. Texts in each content area not only instantiate a particular body of content, but also instantiate social practices and roles in relation to that content. After outlining how content and social roles may vary according to each discipline, the author concludes that content area literacy instruction can include encouraging students to recognize and reflect on these differences in texts and the practices surrounding them, thereby helping students to develop metadiscursive frameworks for navigating content area literacies.

Embracing the Squishiness of Digital Literacy

Abstract: The thing about digital literacy is its inherent squishiness. Educators argue whether the tool or the purpose matters most. They debate whether something being “electronic” constitutes “digital.” Does it need a screen? A keyboard? More than that, teachers must decide what it means to read and write digitally and how to assess those skills. Just as teachers were working to conclusively define literacy, digital literacy arrived on the scene and the discussion started again. In fact, the most solid of ground to be found in the debate surrounding digital literacy is the agreement that, whatever it is, it is important to the success of our students. Even then, not everyone is in agreement.

Adolescents and “Autographics”: Reading and Writing Coming‐of‐Age Graphic Novels

Abstract: Students at two different sites (a 12th-grade English class focused on workplace preparation and an alternative program for students who had been expelled from school) read graphic novels and, using ComicLife software, created their own graphic sequences called “autographics” based on their personal experiences. The authors explore how image, text, and sound converged to make meaning for these adolescents as they read and wrote graphic novels and describe the literacy skills the learners developed.

What It Is They Do: Differentiating Knowledge and Literacy Practices Across Content Disciplines

Abstract: This study addresses the gap that exists between literacy educators’ knowledge of content disciplines and the literacy strategies often suggested for use in content classrooms. The authors worked with disciplinary experts in mathematics and geography to understand the differences that exist in their conceptions of the disciplines and what it means to be literate in them. Study results were categorized into themes, which include “major understandings of the field,” “literacy in the discipline,” and “practice of the discipline.” Further subcategories include texts used in the discipline; the types of strategies used to become literate in the discipline, and the types of questions addressed within the discipline. Implications for teachers and teacher candidates are also addressed.

Take It out of Class: Exploring Virtual Literature Circles.

Abstract: Fifteen graduate students enrolled in an English methods class were organized into three book clubs to participate in online literature discussion. Participants' posts about their reading included evidence of group harmony, text focus, text connections, and aesthetic responses. The findings suggest that an online format allows for natural, sophisticated discussion around text.

“Aren't These Boy Books?”: High School Students' Readings of Gender in Graphic Novels

Abstract: The author, a former library media specialist, often heard female students describe graphic novels as being “boy books” and sought to examine how a group of high school girls and boys read gender in three graphic novels. Through focus group and individual interviews, the participants indicated that they enjoyed reading graphic novels to varying extents, and they did not feel that graphic novels were geared only toward boys. Despite this conclusion, the students' responses revealed points of contention in terms of how they identified themselves as graphic novel readers and how they considered graphic novels to be forms of school knowledge.

Problematizing Literature Circles as Forums for Discussion of Multicultural and Political Texts

Abstract: In a six-week literature circle unit in a tentth-grade classroom, one group of students discussed Dorothy Allison's novel Bastard out of Carolina. By criteria frequently used to judge the quality of discussion, this literature circle was successful. However, several key moments are highlighted that point to the limits of literature circles as they are typically implemented for engaging students in the full critical depth of multicultural and political texts. Finally, suggestions are offered for rethinking literature circle pedagogy with the goal of offering students a more nuanced and robust experience with such texts.

TECHnology and Literacy for Adolescents With Disabilities

Abstract: Students with disabilities benefit when technology is used to promote their literacy learning. The authors describe TECH, a framework educators can use to select, implement, and monitor the impact of technology in relation to literacy goals. The framework is shown in action for mathematics vocabulary and reading comprehension skills for a student with Asperger's syndrome and for a struggling writer with learning disabilities.

Transmediation in the Language Arts Classroom: Creating Contexts for Analysis and Ambiguity

Abstract: When a language arts curriculum provided students with the opportunity to translate meaning across sign systems (that is, from poetry to dance), numerous benefits were noted. Transmediation, the translation of meaning from one sign system to another, led students to analyze compositional structures and to enhance their use of academic language across disciplines. Excerpts of teacher and student conversation around multiple artistic modalities and discussion of student written work are included in the findings presented.

“Rap Universal”: Using Multimodal Media Production to Develop ICT Literacies

Abstract: Through a multimodal media production literacy intervention in an extended-day program, culturally and linguistically diverse youth developed valuable information and communication technology literacies, including • Specific how-to skills useful in future academic, professional, social, and civic contexts • Abilities to critically interpret and produce media • Understanding of the value of skills and literacies across contexts Instead of teaching reading and writing as universally applicable neutral skills, teachers taught students to use multimodal media production as a relevant sociocultural practice that demanded school-based literacies.

Practices of Productive Adult Book Clubs

Abstract: This article examines two adult book club members’ responses to literary texts over a 23-month period to identify practices that contribute to productive book club participation. Members were interviewed regarding their book selection procedures, preparation for and perceptions of the discussions, and what they valued about the discussions. Discussions were analyzed in terms of book club members drawing on their knowledge and expertise to interpret texts, developing topics based on the number of different turns per topic, and adopting “point-driven” versus “story-driven” stances. Three basic factors are identified as contributors to productive book club participation: (1) the use of codified, vetted selection procedures; (2) collaborative sharing of knowledge and expertise to provide insights into books in ways that transcend members’ individual responses; and (3) the development of discussion topics through building on members’ interpretations.

Mountains and Pit Bulls: Students' Metaphors for College Transitional Reading and Writing

Abstract: In this article, we describe an approach to uncovering learners' literacy-oriented conceptualizations while they are enrolled in transitional, or developmental, reading and writing classes in a college context. This approach entailed eliciting and then analyzing the metaphors for academic literacies produced by students in 15 sections of a mandatory paired reading and writing course. We examine major themes that emerged from our analysis en route to promoting and discussing the utility of short stem prompts as being beneficial to instructors for understanding their students' conceptualizations of reading and writing for their own pedagogical purposes. We conclude with an extended pedagogical implications section, wherein we provide narrative descriptions of the use of metaphors in a college transitional reading class as practical suggestions for how such prompts can be used in classroom settings to support students' apprenticeships into academic literacy practices.

Which New Literacies? Dialogue and Performance in Youth Writing

Abstract: Measurements of literacy learning in schools, the authors argue, have settled into static and individualized understandings of what should be the most invigorating and social aspect of schooling for youth. By contrast, this article explores the place of aesthetic, dialogic, and performative forms of literacy in the adolescent classroom by excavating ethnographic data from an urban multicultural high school. Close examination of student writing, field notes, and teacher interviews illustrates how the space of the drama classroom creates a laboratory for experimentation with many forms of “new literacies” through rich engagements with the lives inside and the worlds beyond the classroom. The authors reason that drama pedagogies are both creative and critical forms of literacy that offer empirical weight to newer theories of literacy and lead to new modes of theorizing the multiple acts of literacy in schools.

Learning from Our Mistakes: What Matters When Incorporating Blogging in the Content Area Literacy Classroom

Abstract: This manuscript explores the inclusion of blogging as a pedagogical tool with preservice secondary teachers from a variety of content areas. The authors focus on data collected over two and a half years with preservice teachers in the content literacy classroom setting, specifically highlighting the qualitative data collected to determine students’ perceptions of blogging as a pedagogical strategy. Once the study is discussed, and qualitative findings outlined, the authors provide suggestions for other practitioners considering the use of blogging in their classrooms.

“Wiki-Ed Poetry”: Transforming Preservice Teachers’ Preconceptions About Poetry and Poetry Teaching

Abstract: This article focuses specifically on teacher candidates’ preconceptions about poetry and poetry teaching and how these preconceptions shift as they work through various tasks on a wiki. Through an analysis of their definitions of poetry and ideas about poetry pedagogy captured in online discussion, survey, and interview responses, the authors explore ways in which beginning teachers can develop confidence in teaching poetry.

From Resistance to Advocacy for Math Literacy: One Teacher's Literacy Identity Transformation.

Abstract: Secondary preservice teachers often articulate the belief that literacy instruction is irrelevant in their future content-area classrooms. Resistance is not a new concern in literacy teacher education programs, but the longevity of this belief and the absence of content area literacy instruction in the majority of secondary classrooms are distressing realities. This article documents one math teacher's initial negative beliefs about literacy instruction and his teacher literacy identity transformation to openly embrace and advocate for literacy instruction. In order for beliefs to shift regarding content area literacy instruction in secondary social and cultural contexts, teacher educators must focus on the developing teacher literacy identities of the preservice teachers sitting in their classrooms; that is, their conscious and confident view of self as responsible for and in control of improving the literacy learning of self and the competency to enact engagements to guide the literacy learning of students.

Reading Multimodally: What Is Afforded?

Abstract: Technological changes and the proliferation of digital devices have created new reading experiences for students. The rapid transition from print to digital texts is evident in the movement toward the adoption of an e-book standard, increasing sales of e-book readers and tablet devices, and projections that universities and public schools may use more e-textbooks and e-book devices than print curricula in the near future. Considering these changes, it is necessary to examine the digital tools and the theoretical perspective of affordances, a term originally coined in ecological psychology. This column discusses how affordances are related to multimodal texts. It examines three promising tools with multimodal affordances and argues that this perspective might offer educators a new way of conceptualizing how to use emerging digital technologies.

Writing in the Dialogical Classroom: Students and Teachers Responding to the Texts of Their Lives. Bob Fecho. 2011. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.

Abstract: Getting the books writing in the dialogical classroom students and teachers responding to the texts of their lives now is not type of challenging means. You could not lonesome going once books heap or library or borrowing from your contacts to read them. This is an certainly simple means to specifically acquire guide by on-line. This online statement writing in the dialogical classroom students and teachers responding to the texts of their lives can be one of the options to accompany you later having extra time.

Questioning the Separation of In-School from Out-of-School Contexts for Literacy Learning: An Interview with Donna E. Alvermann.

Abstract: Donna E. Alvermann, Distinguished Research Professor of Language and Literacy Education at the University of Georgia in Athens, received recognitions and honors as a scholar/leader in adolescent literacy. Her thoughts about contexts for literacy learning challenge that the divide between in- and out-of-school literacy learning is real and needs bridging. Alvermann sees educators creating learning conditions, especially with interactive multimodal communication technologies, that cannot be classified according to a particular context. She began questioning this divide while observing young people's discussions in classrooms and after-school Read and Talk clubs. Educators can tap the potential in youth's multiple literacies as they pertain to motivation, self-efficacy, and engagement. Educational researchers who share this view can increase what they say about learning in general. Metaphorically treating context as a sieve, rather than a structured, impermeable container, can open possibilities for questioning the assumption that literacy learning is qualitatively different in different contexts.

How Popular Culture Texts Inform and Shape Students’ Discussions of Social Studies Texts

Abstract: In this article, I examine how 6th-grade students used pop culture texts to inform their understandings about social studies texts and shape their discussions of it. Discussions showed that students used pop culture texts in three ways when talking about social studies texts. First, students applied comprehension strategies to pop culture texts to help them interpret social studies texts. Second, students used pop culture texts as evidence to support their arguments about social studies texts. Finally, students used pop culture texts to shut down interpretations of social studies texts that they did not agree with and silence students who expressed alternative ideas.