L1-Educational Studies in Language and Literature
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Beware of the optimism of the Internet Age: In response to Rupert Wegerif\u27s \u27Applying dialogic theory to illuminate the relationship between literacy education and teaching thinking in the context of the Internet Age\u27
Get PDFThe present article is written in response to Rupert Wegerif\u27s recent discussion of the dialogic affordances of the Internet. While not trying to negate this dialogic potential, this contribution takes a rather more critical look at the multiplicity of voices present on the web, and argues that this multiplicity alone will not guarantee that our thinking becomes more dialogic. Rather, in order for this potential to be fulfilled, it is necessary to help users develop communicative and critical skills that will allow them to engage and interact effectively with the vast amount of knowledge made accessible on the Internet
Applying dialogic theory to illuminate the relationship between literacy education and teaching thinking in the context of the Internet Age
Get PDFI begin with the argument that literacy practices taught in school are not external to thinking but that they shape both how we think and how we value thinking. I use some findings of neuroscience and a discussion of the Flynn effect to argue that thinking changes in history as a result of literacy education and changes in literacy practices. The advent of the Internet as the new emerging dominant mode of communication restores some of the affordances of oracy but in a new form. I examine some of the new literacies that are emerging mediated by the Internet and apply dialogic theory to argue for a convergence between the idea of teaching thinking and the idea of teaching for literacy in the context of the Internet Age. This response is not another ‘new literacy\u27 but the proposal that we locate both literacy education and the project of teaching thinking within a larger context, the context of dialogu
Assessment of writing ability in secondary education: Comparison of analytic and holistic scoring systems for use in large-scale assessments
Get PDFAlthough writing is an important subject of language teaching in secondary education, it is often neglected in large-scale assessments. We report results of a study with 1,365 German high school students in Grade 8 that was conducted in the context of national monitoring of educational achievement. Student responses on seven different persuasive and informative writing tasks were evaluated with two different scoring systems: (i) analytic scoring with 14 dichotomous criteria capturing specific aspects of content, text structure, and language usage, and (ii) holistic scoring based on a comprehensive rating scale similar to the NAEP Holistic Scoring Guide accompanied by semi-holistic scales for content, style (i.e., language usage and organization), and language correctness. We inspected both scoring systems in terms of inter-rater and intra-rater reliability, dimensionality on the construct level, and convergence of the scoring results. Special attention is given to the generalizability of the findings across different writing tasks and text genres. The results showed better reliability for the holistic and semi-holistic scales than for most of the analytic criteria. For both scoring systems, content and structural aspects were closely associated whereas language correctness was a clearly distinct dimension of writing ability. Both scoring systems measured the same latent construct
The use of complex reading materials in first grade
Get PDFTeachers in France tend to use complex reading materials as supplements for instruction. The present research explored the relationship between such materials, teachers\u27 instructional choices, and students\u27 reading comprehension, focusing on disadvantaged schools. We combined detailed analyses of two books taught to first grade students with classroom observations and assessments of students\u27 comprehension.
Although the two books appear simple, they include a number of aspects that complicate their comprehension by children. The teacher dedicated a lot of instructional time to the books and used a wide variety of approaches, including prediction and comprehension discussions, to support children\u27s understanding of the texts\u27 different levels of meaning. Nevertheless, many students failed to understand three aspects of the stories. Analyses of oral interactions in the classroom revealed how activities such as prediction led to misunderstandings, and why these misunderstandings persisted in many students\u27 minds, despite the teacher\u27s attempts to clarify the texts.
Prediction and comprehension discussions are recommended techniques that are used by many teachers in France and abroad. However, our study shows that these techniques can be counter-productive when they are used with complex reading materials in classes with large numbers of disadvantaged students and when teaching practices engender metacognitive confusion. Our findings challenge the use of complex reading materials with disadvantaged classes, and question the consequences of doing so in terms of educational equity
\u27Reading it my way\u27: Responding to literature in a conflicted multicultural setting: The role of language
No full textThe article presents two case studies focusing on lexical and linguistic characteristics of a written discourse between two members of a national and religious minority and their lecturers who are members of the majority. The students are Arab women teachers, who took part in literature courses at Hebrew Israeli colleges of education. The students responded in writing to novels they had to read in Hebrew, their second language, as part of their graduate studies. The study analyzes phrases, metaphors, choice of words in the reading responses. It also questions the lecturers\u27 responses to their students\u27 papers language. The findings reveal the powerful effect of social, cultural, linguistic, and political context on the interpretation of the works read, the insights that readers extract from such works in intercultural situations, and their influence on the discourse setting: what is expressed in the setting and what is silenced. We use the terms \u27minor writing\u27 and \u27minor reading\u27, extending Deleuze and Guattari\u27s term \u27minor literature\u27 (1980; 1986) to explain our findings concerning the role of the language in the context of the study. This study can inform and be relevant to teachers who teach literature in classrooms populated with minorities\u27 students, in a tense political and cultural atmosphere
Recognising debate types within the classroom: An expansion of prevailing conceptual divisions
Get PDFAlthough much research has previously addressed elements of classroom discourse and the practices of pupils\u27 debate and discussion, I argue there is a need to expand the framework for analysing the forms of such oral classroom activities, particularly regarding expressions of differences in opinion. Commonly applied analytical tools generally recognise just two forms, adversarial and deliberative. By operationalising a conceptual set of categories defining how differences in opinion are expressed within the classroom, I show that this is too narrow. A third form (agonistic) can be recognised based on Chantal Mouffe\u27s theory of democracy and politics, and another form is what I call the relativistic. Thus, I propose an analytical framework with a set of four forms to address the nature of debate. By providing empirical classroom examples to support each form, this article is intended not only for researchers but also to benefit practising teachers
Improving students\u27 narrative comprehension through a multiple strategy approach: Effects of Dialogic Strategy Instruction in secondary school
Get PDFThis article reports on an intervention study using a multiple strategy approach—called Dialogic Strategy Instruction (DSI)—to improve seventh grade students\u27 narrative comprehension in terms of students\u27 ability to generate inferences and develop interpretations of characters and events. DSI combines strategy instruction with dialogical principles for classroom discussion and response writing. After a 13-week intervention period, students in the intervention condition demonstrated significant improvement in generating inferences and interpretations compared to pre-test results. However, the average effect was small and the improvement was not significantly different relative to controls. An analysis of students with low pre-test scores showed that the intervention group had made significant and strong improvement relative to controls. Results for middle- and high-achievers were non-significant in this respect. Therefore, although DSI appears valuable for low-achievers, results indicate that the instructional principles implemented may not offer instructional support for all children. Possible reasons for the absence of a general effect are discussed and directions for future research are suggested
Spanish language, cultural knowledge and teachers\u27 professional development in an English-only environment
Get PDFThis study documents the findings of action research projects generated by two teachers with different cultural backgrounds and grade levels; one is a bilingual Spanish-English high school teacher and the other is an English monolingual first grade-reading teacher. Teachers\u27 cognitive and professional development is examined by taking into account the results of the action research project on the literacy needs of their students. Qualitative data from teacher interviews and reflections have been collected and analyzed. These teachers as researchers of their own practice plan and integrate cultural interpretation produced by the children to better understand how learners construct knowledge through primary language and in the acquisition of English. In the kindergarten/first grade classroom, the teacher cannot use the native language of the children and must use non-fictional text to teach beginning reading. The teacher uses a culturally graphic text with English prose to see if children respond positively to the ethnic representation in the symbolic art. This teacher is documenting children\u27s reactions to the text and her own learning process as a result of the use of these texts with Spanish speaking children. In the high school context, the teacher is teaching in the native language of the students. Student writing samples have been generated based on a literary prompt at the beginning of a literature unit and at the end. These are analyzed based on literary elements that also include an oral language presentation in the native language
Writing for life? A case study of affordances of writing in four L1 upper secondary classrooms
Get PDFDuring the period of 1994–2011 all programmes in Swedish upper secondary school comprised a set of core subjects with the aim to entail equity on the policy level. However, a division between programmes still prevailed on the school level, particularly in the core subject L1 Swedish. The main purpose of this study has been to explore how the teaching of writing in two academic and two vocational programmes differs, which writing repertoires are developed and how writing is assessed. The study is part of a long-term ethnography of writing in upper secondary school (Andersson Varga, 2014). The data produced during the two-year field study contain field notes from writing lessons, lesson observations and talks with four teachers, as well as recorded and transcribed, semi-structured teacher and student interviews, instructions on writing tasks, student texts and teachers\u27 responses to student texts. This article focusses on the preparation for the National Test, the afforded assignments, the realisations of the student texts and the assessment. The teachers in the four programmes handle the national syllabus in relation to the students, resulting in four different curricula in the classroom. Thus, issues of inequity, disparities in curricula as well as different expectations on students, depending on programme, became obvious. To understand the processes of social reproduction, we use Bernstein\u27s sociology of education (1996, 2000) and the concept of the pedagogic device and pedagogic identity. However, we also show one example of interruption (Singh, 2013) in one of the four classrooms. Thus, the main results demonstrate how one particular teacher brings about change to a group of working class girls
Writing education and assessment in Norway: Towards shared understanding, shared language and shared responsibility
Get PDFThis article reports on a study of writing and assessment in upper primary school, focusing on how teachers develop assessment competence through professional discussions in interdisciplinary groups. The empirical data consist of dialogues between teachers assessing and giving feedback on students\u27 texts from different subjects. To support their evaluations, the teachers used and referred to a defined construct of writing and norms for expected writing proficiency. The analyses reveal a complex picture of the teachers\u27 use of the assessment resources and their processes of appropriating a broader understanding of writing, including acquiring an extended meta-language. Three thematic categories are crystallised: an instrumental approach and a flexible and functional approach, appearing as two ideal typical points on a continuum, linked together by an overarching category labelled learning in progress. The article argues for an analytical reading as a basis for formative assessment in general writing education, and points to the need for knowledge on writing, text and linguistics—traditionally seen as domains for L1 teachers. The findings are discussed in light of the L1 teachers\u27 responsibility for both the specific subject discourses of literacy and Bildung, and for providing their students with general knowledge on language and text to support their overall writing competence. Critical implications of this double responsibility for the L1 subject are presented and reflected upon