Language and Literacy (Journal)
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Searching for Culturally Responsive Formative Reading Assessments: Retellings, Comprehension Questions, and Student Interviews
No full textHow do formative reading assessments influence educators’ ability to assess readers’ understandings in culturally responsive ways? This study examines three formative reading assessments to explore the capacity of each measure to fairly represent readers’ understandings without being influenced negatively by social and cultural diversity. The guiding question is “How do these three formative assessments inform and support culturally responsive literacy instruction?” Participants in this study include 10 young adolescent African American male readers. Data collection and analysis took place in a Midwestern urban university in the United States and makes use of a cross case comparison format. Interviews reveal that readers are the best informants regarding their own understandings about texts. Comprehension questions and retellings reveal discrepancies across readers’ understandings. It is crucial that students are given the benefit of responsive assessments in order to accurately demonstrate academic strengths and areas of instructional need
Other Duties as Assigned: The Hidden Work of Reading and Writing Assessments in Two Primary Classrooms
No full textThis article presents findings from a qualitative investigation into the literacy work of two Ontario primary teachers. Informed by the writing of Dorothy E. Smith, we construe the literacy curriculum as a social accomplishment, the product of many people’s work. Through a critical examination of field notes and teachers’ accounts of their work, we explicate ways in which required reading and writing assessments were mediating a hidden curriculum. Specifically we discuss a paradoxical finding that both teachers organized their literacy curriculum in ways that facilitated the collection of assessment data, yet neither teacher explicitly employed assessment data when making pedagogical decisions and neither teacher mentioned assessment work when describing her school’s literacy curriculum
Primary Students’ Book Club Participation
No full textThis study is an examination of first grade students’ participation in Book Club at a high achieving, high poverty urban primary school in Detroit. In spite of the school’s high performing record, teachers are constrained by having to adhere closely to the pacing guide and the exclusive use of curriculum literature to preserve the school’s high achieving status. Irrelevant curriculum materials surrounding the themes “Keep Trying” and “Being Afraid” led to a teacher and researcher collaboration to use relatable supplemental texts. An examination of peer-led discussion groups demonstrated deep comprehension and students’ ability to mediate personal connections and multiple perspectives.
EFL Textbook Analysis: A Case Study
No full textThe purpose of the present study was to determine how well Malaysian EFL Secondary Curriculum prepares upper secondary students for tertiary reading in English. This study is explorative in nature. The data for this study were acquired from a Malaysian national EFL upper secondary textbook. The data were in the form of comprehension reading passages in the selected EFL textbook. In this case study, reading instructional design in the EFL textbook was analyzed in terms of types and the grade-level length of passages used in the textbook. The findings show that reading instructional design in the EFL textbook significantly emphasizes the use of narrative passages with the majority of the passages being below grade-level texts
“English Language Learners”: An Analysis of Perplexing ESL-Related Terminology
No full textIn today’s globalized world it is increasingly important to consciously consider the terminology used when referencing others. The purpose of this paper is to explore and discuss the perplexing array of loosely defined ESL-related terminology in Education. A literature search revealed various terms referring to the same group of learners, the most common being English Language Learner. Through a deconstruction of related terms, an alternative term is proposed: Learner of English as an Additional Language (LEAL). The language learning aspect should not be utilized as a defining characteristic. LEAL is a respectful and culturally appropriate term that utilizes person first language
‘There’s No Going Back’. Roxie’s IPhone®: An Object Ethnography
No full textIn many of the countries of the developed world, young people live in a web of what Miller and Madianou (2012) have described as ‘polymedia’. That is, many young people, including those that took part in the study underpinning this paper, have an array of media from which to choose when creating and accessing text. Adding a layer of complexity, many of these media forms, along with the lives of many young people, are increasingly mobile. Taking this into account, this paper takes as a specific focus one of the artefacts that constitute this polymedia web, specifically the textual practices that follow for one young person called Roxie. To this end, the paper develops an object ethnography of Roxie’s mobile phone as a way to consider the role of this mobile, technological artefact in the construction of her everyday realities and the textual practices that emerge around this interaction.
Narratives of “Dynamic Movement” in Disciplinary Literacy
No full textThrough a narrative inquiry involving a semi-structured interview and autobiographical reflection, the author explores the similarities and differences in literacy pedagogy between a literacy leader and a science teacher. Disciplinary literacy provides an opportunity for both teachers to better understand scientific literacy, and their different perspectives contribute to a rich conversation. Themes of similarities which emerge include embracing multiliteracies, investigation, a critical stance, and wonder Themes of differences include separating writing skills from form and confidence with numeracy and statistics. A collaborative approach to the implementation of disciplinary literacy and to further research is recommended
Visual Literacies: An Ecology Arts-based Pedagogical Model
No full textThe study explores visual literacies and critical literacies students may experience utilizing photography aimed at engaging youth in thinking more deeply about their relationships to the environment and the communities they live in. This is a case study based on interviews with a total of 5 participants. I argue that visual literacy expands students’ opportunities to build productively upon print-based literacy practices, evens the playing field to some extent for English Language Learners, and connects youth in creative ways to think about being citizens in their communities and the world
“Thanks for the Assignment!”: Digital Stories as a Form of Reflective Practice
No full textIn this article we examine pre-service teachers’ digital literacy stories and post-assignment reflections for evidence of transformative pedagogy. The language arts course design employs both a new literacies approach (Lankshear & Knobel, 2006) and a multiliteracies pedagogical framework (New London Group, 1996). These frameworks are also applied to help us examine the pre-service teachers’ digital stories and reflections. The data consist of approximately 150 digital stories and written student reflections collected over three years. We are encouraged by the finding that the multimedia nature of the assignment appears to help pre-service teachers construct new understandings of literacies, particularly when the digital stories are shared as part of the adult classroom experience. We conclude that digital stories hold potential to encourage pre-service teachers to think critically about how they were taught relative to the teachers they wish to become