Language and Literacy (Journal)
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Modeling the Relationships between Language Skills and Sentence Comprehension among Chinese Junior Elementary Graders
No full textThe present study examined the contributions of vocabulary knowledge, syntactic skills, and oral narrative skills to sentence reading comprehension among Chinese junior elementary school children. Various language and reading measures were administered to 85 Chinese normally-achieving children at Grades 2 and 3 in Hong Kong. Results showed that vocabulary knowledge and oral narrative skills contributed significantly to word order skills, an important syntactic skill in Chinese. Vocabulary knowledge contributed to word recognition directly and contributed to sentence comprehension indirectly through word recognition and syntactic skills; and syntactic skills contributed to sentence comprehension directly. These findings suggest that while vocabulary knowledge is important for Chinese word reading, syntactic word order plays a central role in Chinese sentence comprehension. The implications of these findings for our theoretical understanding of the Simple View of Reading, as well as reading instruction, will be discussed
Narrative Inquiry as Relational Research Methodology and Andragogy: Adult Literacy, Identities and Identity Shifting
No full textUsing narrative inquiry as a relational methodology and as andragogy, the research puzzle was to deepen understanding of the experiences of women, living with limited literacies and as they engaged in tutoring. This work animates the temporal, curriculum and life making experiences of a tutee and tutor within the context of adult literacy with a focus on learning to write. As the study progressed and as trust developed, tension filled stories were experienced, shared and reimagined. Thinking through the lens of Dewey’s continuity of experience we demonstrate the links between literacies, curriculum making, and efforts to shift identities. Field texts provided textured and nuanced descriptions of narrative inquiry as andragogy, while supporting the tutee to expand her literate identity and the tutor to become more relational. This work invites readers to reimagine the ways in which educators practice alongside adults who are described as struggling readers and writers
Do Books Make a Difference? The Effects of an Indigo Love of Reading Foundation Grant and Teacher Professional Learning on Motivation for Reading in a Middle School
No full textThis study documents, over a three-year period, the effects of an Indigo Love of Reading Foundation grant and teacher professional learning in literacy on the motivation for reading in a large urban middle school. The school-wide focus on literacy included: 1) the development of a Literacy Exploratory, a 50-minute daily period set aside for teachers to help students develop as readers, choose books to read, and have time to be involved in a reading community, 2) ongoing teacher professional learning, and 3) a $125,000.00 Indigo Love of Reading Foundation grant. The grant was provided to support the school’s literacy initiatives through purchasing new books for the library and for the development of classroom libraries for every teacher. Using the Motivation for Reading Questionnaire (MRQ) (Wigfield and Guthrie, 1997), students’ favourable ratings of four aspects of intrinsic reading motivation – efficacy, importance, challenge, and social – increased significantly over the course of the study. Teachers’ perceptions indicate they have valued the school-wide focus on literacy, their principal’s support, and the professional learning opportunities that were offered; they pointed to the effect of the grant on helping them create and use classroom libraries in their instructional practice. Students, too, indicated that their motivation for reading has been positively influenced by the school’s focus on literacy, with the suggestion that teachers continue to offer greater choice in their reading material. The findings of this study do not contradict previous research that shows, overall, motivation for reading declines over the middle school years
Click Here: Unsettling Scholarly Writing Practices and Knowledge Representation
No full textIn fine arts, a diptych usually consists of two paintings that are hinged or bound together to form a single piece that opens like a book. In my interpretation of the form, I have written this paper as a textual diptych. It consists of two halves—each of which provides a slightly different perspective and response to the question: How might scholars work to unsettle conventional practices of academic representation in order to allow for different knowledges and understandings to emerge? Further, I wonder in what ways I might expand how and what I write to include as-yet-unsanctioned thoughts, insights, sources, forms, and habits in order to unsettle conventional academic scholarship. This piece of work is my current contribution to the conversation on what it means to write academically, to represent one’s scholarship
Engaging minds and hearts: Social and emotional learning in English Language Arts
No full textThis article explores English Language Arts (ELA) as the most appropriate venue for Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). Using the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) model of SEL, the author explores the evidence in the literature that there is a natural affinity between ELA content and SEL objectives and that an SEL lens would promote and improve student engagement and facilitate mutually beneficial impacts. The complimentary nature of methods and objectives in ELA and SEL facilitates adaption and minimal disruption to ELA curriculum. Reviewing existing ELA-based SEL programs and examples from the literature of successful integration of SEL concepts by teachers, the author makes a case for developing unscripted, versatile, and integrated approaches to SEL that builds on teacher expertise and student feedback. Additionally, the author outlines the opportunities for integrated learning presented in the BC ELA curriculum. A case is made for a truly integrated model being necessary for creating a fundamental and lasting culture shift towards embedded SEL. Future research directions are discussed
“The term “all genders” would be more appropriate”: Reflections on teaching trauma literature to a gender fluid youth
No full textThis paper reflects on a qualitative case study where a trauma text was taught in high school English for the purposes of analyzing students’ written responses. One gender fluid participant provided particularly compelling ideas and impressions; as such, this project revisits this data. Because self-defined identities are important (Zamani-Gallaher, 2017) and there is a lack of understanding of LGBTQ school experiences (Ressler & Chase, 2009), this paper aims to address this gap. Using intersectional feminism and narrative inquiry, this study finds that the gender fluid participant positioned themselves as ‘the equity person’ (Ahmed, 2017) through ally and accomplice work. 
Creating New Meanings and Understanding with Postcolonial Texts: Teaching Purple Hibiscus in a Grade 10 Classroom
No full textThis article invites readers to share the experiences of a teacher and his Grade 10 students as they read and discussed Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Nigerian novel Purple Hibiscus. The novel was selected as part of a national action research study in which literacy researchers and teachers select postcolonial literature for the classroom and develop new pedagogical strategies for teaching the texts. The article suggests that contemporary international novels such as Purple Hibiscus have potential to raise complex questions of social justice in the classroom and to create new understandings of a changing world
Learning to Read in Multiple Languages: A Study Exploring Allophone Students’ Reading Development in French Immersion
No full textThis article describes a two-year study of the French and English reading development of seven elementary French immersion (FI) students who spoke a home language that is neither English nor French. Given the critical role of literacy in school success and the growing number of third language (L3) learners entering FI, this study focused on L3 learners’ reading experiences. Standardized reading measures were administered in English and in French and think-aloud protocols and interviews were conducted with students. Results suggest that L3 students are similar to, if not stronger than, their bilingual peers with respect to English and French reading ability. They also relied on their knowledge of other languages to support French reading development and evidence of metalinguistic and metacognitive insights is presented. A number of classroom implications for teaching reading in diverse FI classrooms are included
“Technology Brings Learning to Life”: Planning Writing Opportunities through Multimodal and Digital Resources
No full textThis paper illustrates how participating elementary teachers plan their literacy-based curriculum and create learning opportunities for writing through multimodal resources and digital technology tools in their classrooms. A theoretical lens of New Literacies (Coiro et al., 2008; Leu et al., 2013) guides this qualitative study. Through comprehensive interviews and an analysis of activity resources and digital tools, how teachers plan and design writing curriculum with a multimodal focus and create opportunities for collaboration and enhancing authorship are discussed.This paper illustrates how participating elementary teachers plan their literacy-based curriculum and create learning opportunities for writing through multimodal resources and digital technology tools in their classrooms. A theoretical lens of New Literacies (Coiro et al., 2008; Leu et al., 2013) guides this qualitative study. Through comprehensive interviews and an analysis of activity resources and digital tools, how teachers plan and design writing curriculum with a multimodal focus and create opportunities for collaboration and enhancing authorship are discussed
International Graduate Students’ Perspectives on High-Stakes English Tests and the Language Demands of Higher Education
No full textThe internationalization of higher education in Canada has given rise to the increased use of standardized English language proficiency tests as gatekeeping measures in university admission policies. However, many international students who are successful on these tests still struggle with the academic and language demands of their programs. Drawing on a thematic analysis of life story interviews with five international graduate students at a major Canadian university, this study examines students’ perceptions on the skills elicited by the IELTS and TOEFL, the language demands and pragmatic norms of their graduate program in language education, and the university’s language support programs