Language and Literacy (Journal)
Not a member yet
446 research outputs found
Sort by
Accessing a ‘Very, Very Secret Garden’: Exploring the Literary Practices of Children and Young People Using Participatory Research Methods
No full textDespite the wealth of publications on children’s and young people’s participation in research, the connections between participatory research methods (PRM) and literacy studies remain unclear. The aim of this paper is to understand why it is particularly pertinent to use PRM in literacy studies (particularly New Literacy Studies). In order to capture the complexity and plurality of these methods, we discuss two studies, one conducted with children in Chile and the other with young people in Québec (Canada). We argue that by using PRM, researchers can support participants in the appropriation of an alternative and potentially empowering view of literacy
Le développement de l’oral à l\u27école fondamentale : l’impact de deux activités spécifiques en parler-écouter
No full textLa didactique de l’oral étant en voie de développement, nous avons cherché à savoir quels sont les effets produits par deux activités programmées pour travailler l’oral des élèves de première année primaire (6-7 ans). Quatre classes ont été mobilisées : trois pour l’expérimentation des activités et une classe contrôle. Une étude statistique sur les résultats à plusieurs temps du dispositif a été menée, ainsi qu’un focus qualitatif pour comprendre les progrès des élèves. In fine, il ressort qu\u27enseigner l’oral par ces activités spécifiques a montré des effets positifs sur les habiletés tant orales qu’écrites des élèves de l’échantillon
Legitimizing Linguistic Diversity: The Promise of Plurilingualism in Canadian Schools
No full textPolicies and practice related to the production and treatment of human difference and diversity figure prominently in educational discourse related to language and identity (Piccardo, 2013; Schecter & Cummins, 2003; Wenger, 1999). In this article, we undertake a historical review of Canadian language and multicultural policy and how it has shaped educational practice in Canadian schools. In response, we advance a critical understanding of plurilingualism as it more accurately reflects changing communities and conditions of diversity within the global context. Focusing on students as social actors and their ability to use languages for intercultural interactions, our review yields important pedagogical implications for leveraging the dynamism and interconnectedness of language competencies to reimagine Canadian classrooms.
“I am no Othello. I am a lie”: A Consideration of Reader-Response Theory as Language Learning Pedagogy and Teacher Philosophy
No full textThis paper seeks to articulate the understanding of transactional/reader-response as theory and its use in the language classroom as both teaching philosophy and pedagogy. First, I map the terrain of reader-response theory, its history, in general, and how it has been articulated in literary studies, in particular. Next, I briefly synthesise studies that sought to empirically study reader response in the classroom and question why these inevitably fail to engage meaningfully with it - and seem to instead only result in teacher “lesson plan” ideas. I offer a case study of a language student’s responses to the novel Season of Migration to the North (Salih, 2009) to argue that reader-response should be central to teaching philosophies that hope to centre learners in inclusive educational processes
The Techno-literacy Practices of Young Children from Diverse Backgrounds
No full textTo complicate the notion of a digital divide along economic and cultural lines, this paper describes techno-literacy practices within the homes of children from diverse backgrounds. Data were drawn from two ethnographic case studies examining the home literacy practices of pre-school aged children. Participants were three Karen refugee families and two English-speaking, middle-class families. The findings suggest that children initiate interactions with digital tools within the cultural and economic landscapes of the home. In so doing, they develop operational competencies to access digital texts in order to scaffold their current learning and enable their participation in 21st century society
Elementary Teachers’ Perspectives on the Use of Multicultural Literature in Their Classrooms
No full textThis qualitative study set out to determine how multicultural literature was used and perceived by US elementary school teachers, and how the beliefs of teachers shape perceptions, selection, interpretation, and the teaching of multicultural literature (Ketter & Lewis, 2001).Twenty-six (26) elementary school teachers across the country responded to this study. An invitational email with a web-survey hyperlink was utilized. Variables pertaining to participant background, definition, selection acquirement and application of “multicultural” literature, the elementary school community and district mandates were addressed in the web survey. Findings revealed that all participants used multicultural literature sometime during the school year. The majority of participants were Caucasian females teaching in suburban schools, which did not have a mandated multicultural curriculum. Regardless of mandates, the majority applied a “narrow” definition for multicultural literature using the words “cultural”, “race,” and “nationality.” Other findings indicated that elementary school teachers used multicultural literature more frequently when they had strong administrative support, regardless of their students’ or their own ethnicity
Mobilizing students’ interpretive resources: A novel take on subjective response in the literature classroom
No full textResearch on literature pedagogy still refers to traditional, text-oriented methods in practice (Todorov, 1982; Peirce, 1977), with occasional consideration for students’ subjectivity through reader-response exercises involving reading logs, surveys, or journals. When addressing subjectivities in individual and collective classroom contexts, researchers should direct attention towards the strategies students mobilize when reading. Owing to Sauvaire’s (2013) typology of interpretive dimensions in reading, this qualitative case study investigates patterns emerging from students’ written and verbalized expressions of their subjectivities in a 9th-grade literature classroom. The data point to conclusive results explaining pathways for interpretive strategies, which vary in group and individual settings
Teachers’ Responses to Teacher Images in Picturebooks
No full textMany studies look into the responses to literature of students and how these responses may affect their identities. However, rarely do studies look into teachers’ responses to literature as far as their teacher identities are concerned. This study focuses on a beginning teacher’s responses to select children’s picturebooks and how his responses reflect his current school contexts and experiences, his emerging teacher identity, and the values he holds in teaching
Teaching Multimodal Literacy Through Reading and Writing Graphic Novels
No full textScholarship suggests that writing teachers and instructors looking to integrate multimodal composition into their secondary or post-secondary classrooms should consider graphic novels as a mentor text for multimodal literacy. To help those pedagogues unfamiliar with graphic novels, we offer three titles—The Photographer, Operation Ajax, and Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow—students have responded positively to. Herein we offer a summary for each text, a discussion of their uses to teach multimodal literacy, a range of multimodal assignments to pair with each text, and a variety of assessment methods.
A Provocative Approach for Communication with Low-Proficient Children: Examining How the Interactive Role of Teachers and Children Changes
No full textLow-proficient children need to be engaged in high-quality oral interaction as soon as possible. Educational design research was conducted to discover elements of a provocative approach to enhance language and thought development of these children. These elements are presented and illustrated. Interactions were analysed in order to assess how teachers and children changed their role in the interactions, when teachers applied the approach. Results show that change is indeed possible, but not for everyone, nor to the same extent. Implications for teaching and professional learning initiatives are proposed