Language and Literacy (Journal)
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Everyday Enchantments: Literacy and the Politics of Representation.
No full textThis short paper refers back to the pre-conference presentation I gave at last year’s CSSE meeting in Montreal. It uses a contemporary example from everyday social practice to discuss the powers of literacy in social ordering
Challenges and Responsibilities Facing Canadian Literacy Researchers Working in Global Communities
No full textThis article addresses issues facing Canadian literacy researchers who are working in global contexts and particularly the potential complications that arise when research conducted in developing countries is funded by sources such as international aid institutions, foreign governments, non-governmental organizations, and donor-based organizations. We focus especially on the issue of development of local research capacity and expansion of the knowledge economy. We first create a framework by describing the types of literacy projects funded by alternatives to the standard research grants of government agencies. We next review tensions that can arise between researchers and these types of funding organizations. We then turn to examples of current Canadian literacy research carried out in developing countries that provide guidance in designing, conducting, and publishing locally-empowering and globally-connected research
Situated Globalization and Racism: An Analysis of Korean High School EFL Textbooks
No full textThis study examines the content of South Korean high school English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks to investigate the ways in which globalization is reflected in the textbooks. A content analysis reveals that the textbooks promote Westerners and their cultures in positive terms while non-Westerners and their cultures are consistently marginalized. The complex interpretations of the division of the West and non-West are suggested, particularly with respect to power, privilege, and unique manifestations of situated globalization in South Korea. The author calls for critical awareness to promote English as a tool for intercultural understandings
Reading Lolita: A Dialogic Encounter with Self and Others
No full textThis paper represents a conversation between two individuals, a blending the tales of two literacy researchers: one who is interested in problems of subjectivity found in reading and in moral learning; one a researcher who is oriented toward understanding self and subjectivity with regard to the role of the researcher and underlying beliefs and assumptions about research. Bernstein (1983) tells us that “only in a dialogic encounter with what is not understood, with what is alien, with what makes a claim upon us, can we open ourselves to risking and testing our preconceptions and prejudices” (p. 195). The paper is a dialogic encounter between two individuals open to understanding, testing, and resolving the ultimate act of war within ourselves
Characters with Disabilities in Contemporary Novels for Children: A Portrait of Three Authors in a Framework of Canadian Texts
No full textA study of 50 contemporary Canadian novels for children and young adults explores patterns and trends regarding the construction of characters with disabilities, becoming a frame for the portraits of three Canadian authors, including a self-portrait. An adaptation of the Bakhtinian notion of the chronotope, applied to literary theory, provides a lens within which aspects of time and space are identified in relation to the internal chronotope of these characterizations, as well as in relation to the external chronotope of particular authors’ iterations, within their work, of actual space and time. A conceptual framework of critical literacy is used to highlight implications for including as classroom resources, texts about characters with disabilities
Scaffolding Student Writing
No full textImprovement of student writing continues to be a focus for teachers. An effective approach to scaffolding student writing is through the utilization of researched-based tools and strategies. This study examined the effectiveness of teacher-prepared criteria/information handouts to the use of a teacher-adapted graphic organizer for improvement of student book-response writing. Through a student-completed survey generalization, or environmental change, was also investigated. Evidence supports generalization, and findings indicate significant increases within student book-response writing for the number of areas included for analysis, number of points made, and number of supporting points. Implications for students, teachers, and future research are considered
“The In-between Crowd”: Contrasting Representations of Minority Language Students
No full textThis paper examines contrasting representations of minority language students in a linguistically diverse junior high classroom in an urban area of Western Canada. The majority of the research participants was of Asian heritage, and spoke English as a second language. Drawing on the construct of learner identity, I explore how these minority language learners’ identities affected their experience in school. The study points to hybrid language practices, with particular attention to academic discourse, as a solution to developing English literacy in schools with students from multilingual backgrounds
Characterizing Johnnieruth: High-school students, “tomboy” characters, and ideological becoming
No full textThis research was focused on how minority characters are constructed in school-based readings of literature. Using microethnographic discourse analyses of a post-reading discussion, we examined how a small group of high-school students characterized a minority protagonist in a short story. We focused on the intercontextual processes for reading literature, the recognition work done in the group, and the themes that emerged as students described the character. We found that students drew on patterns and processes established in the class, but that these practices were disrupted when students began to describe a protagonist that challenged gender-role expectations. These insights can inform efforts to develop critical literacy in literature classes
The Poetry Garden: Ecoliteracy in an Urban School
No full textWhat is the role of poetry in developing ecoliteracy in urban schooling? While current educational and political discourse calls for ‘sustainable’ management of the earth’s resources, leading environmentalist educators state that a shift in practice must bepreceded by a shift in perspective that includes first-hand awareness of local environments. This interdisciplinary, narrative inquiry took place over a two year period to examine how students at a low ranked, inner city elementary school write poetry abouttheir environment as a form of ecoliterate knowledge
(Re)Engendering Classroom Space: Teachers, Curriculum, Policy, and Boys’ Literacy
No full textHow teachers are engaging with a particular Ontario curriculum resource document, Me Read? No Way!, and the problem of boys’ literacy achievement in the context of a globalized neoliberal discourse of ‘failing boys’ has important implications for pedagogy and practice in the classroom. This investigation into teachers’ work adopts a feminist poststructural framework and uses critical discourse analysis to develop two case studies based on focus group interviews with a purposeful sampling of Intermediate level teachers. Not only are boys’ perceived needs and interests driving teacher choices in pedagogy and resource materials, but girls are perceived as not having any particular educational needs at all: boys will be boys and girls will be good. This investigation concludes that teacher professional knowledge must include a more developed understanding of how the social construction of gender is negotiated in the classroom