Understanding Literacy as Social Practices

Kucer Chapter 9

In the English language (and every language) we have a set of rules that helps our language operate. We all have an understanding of these rules and use them to interact with (and listen to) others and interact with text. Although English has a common set of rules, language can change based upon different social and cultural groups.

"The way in which literacy is used or performed by the participants within a particular social configuration (i.e., literacy practices) reflects the very nature of the group and the group's position within the society (literacy performances)" (p. 230).

Examining Our Own Language Practices

Although not intentionally, sometimes we can view our literacy behaviors as superior to others. When this happens, others are seen as multicultural or ethnic and are believed to have a dialect, but we do not. This is an unfair privilege that we give ourselves that can be dangerous.

Dr. Beach had us list our last 10 literacy experiences. From looking at the responses, many were similar to mine. We use e-mail and read textbooks for educational and work purposes, and many of us read blogs and lesson plan books to help us with our teaching career. It makes sense that we would have similar literacy experiences since we are all teachers and live in a social country with internet access everywhere. But, if we were able to look at the last 10 literacy experiences of someone with a much different occupation, like a singer or an actress, I can imagine the experiences wouldn't look the same. The experiences may involve reading scripts, looking at lyrics, or writing a new song. Similarly, if someone is from a different country or has a different socioeconomic class, the list may look different. Someone with less financial privilege may not have the ability to interact with online text and may have a limited access to books in general.

Impact of Belonging and Group Membership 

We self-identify ourselves with certain groups. For example, we are all students, in graduate school. teachers, living in Oklahoma, etc. We might also belong to a church or other religious or social organization. Each of these groups has a set of standards that are expected, and these standards affect our behavior and beliefs. Sometimes these beliefs are stated, and sometimes they are not. Also, it is important to note, that an individual could belong to a group without sharing the exact same values. This particular situation brings to mind the recent OU SAE situation. It is my belief that not all of the students of that fraternity agreed with the racist chant. It was just those particular members of the video that chose to participate in the chant, and therefore made a bad name of the entire fraternity.

Social groups are always evolving. As the members and the leadership change, the group can change along with it. I am positive that if the OU SAE ever gets reinstated, it will have different leadership and different rules than before.

Multiple Literacies and Social Identities 

Our social groups affect how we use language. But, as previously noted, most of us belong to multiple social groups which each can have their own rules.

"Group conflict can occur, however, because different discourse communities hold different preferences for how language is to be used and may see other forms as illegitimate" (p. 240).

Before we go further, we need to make an important distinction: Discourse vs. discourse

• "discourse, with a lower-case d, is defined as a connected stretch of language that is unified (coherent) and meaningful to some social group."
• "Discourse, with an upper-case D, signified the appropriate way to use discourse within a particular social setting as part of the membership within a particular social group". 
• In other words, discourse is the language of a social group and Discourse is the language rules within a social group. 

It is also important to note that within a particular social group there is variation. Individuals may not use the discourse and may not agree with the Discourse (rules) in all instances. 

Literacy in School 

Schools can be a melting-pot of sorts for different cultures, languages, and social groups. Schooling often requires a change in the student's language practices. These changes vary depending on the student. 

1. "Affirm, build on, and extend the way in which language is used in the child's home
2. May require adaptation in how thought and language are used as regulatory systems
3. May directly contradict home language patterns" (p. 241). 

There are regulations for school literacy performance, and some students may need more assistance than others in order to achieve this literacy performance. The text mentions how a school literacy form, the essay, goes against the usual literacy and social rules. Essays are usually written to present information in a informative, unbiased manner, and there is a clear distinction between the reader and writer. 

There are also norms for school lessons and interactions between teachers and students. Many classes use the IRE question sequence. 

• I - Initiation - teacher asks the question; teacher knows the answer
• R - Reply - student(s) replies to question 
• E - Evaluation - teacher evaluates the response, usually openly 

This type of questioning often leads to very fact-based discussions in order for students to share their knowledge. IRE questioning is great for students in the early stages of reading. 

The literacy demands of schools on students can be different depending on the circumstance. Different settings: independent reading, small group reading, and group reading can all affect a student literacy experience. Also, a student's book choice can affect understanding, as each text has it's own code that has to be unlocked to make meaning. 

Literacy at Home and Worship

Literacy at home can have a great impact on students in the school setting. Children usually come into schools with some knowledge of literacy, but the extent of knowledge and the context can vary greatly. An interesting study by Heath showed a study of three different cities. Maintown (middle class with African Americans and European Americans), Roadville (working class with European Americans), and Trackton (working class with African Americans) were the three communities. Maintain children were the most successful in literacy development and school success. Roadville kids succeeded in the primary grades and tended to fall behind later in schooling. On the other hand, Trackton kids struggled from the start of schooling, and it did not get better. 

The parents and communities of Maintown valued education. In these towns, "children has been socialized at home to interact with language in a manner that parallel rear of formal school instruction" (p. 245). Roadville shared similar values, but did not provide a running commentary of responses as they read to children, an important literacy practice that teachers use often during read alouds. Since these children did not have experience linking text to themselves and their own experiences, these children began to fall behind after third grade. 

For the Trackton students, their literacy events at home usually did not connect with literacy events at school. Most of the children also had a limited access to books and book-based activities and games at home. As a result of their limited literacy interactions, many of these children entered school to encounter unfamiliar types of questions and demands. "What" questions, idolization and identifying items, labeling features, and responding to questions about the text were considered to be difficult tasks by many of the students examined. 

Heath (1983) suggested that the Roadville and Trackton communities needed to build on the abilities that the students bring to the classroom. It is important to remember that it is not the student's fault for a lack of learning. The social and economic forces surrounding the student strongly impacts the literacy learning. 

A valuable instructional practice to help students build upon their home literacy background is cultural modeling - out-of-schools literacy practices and routines are linked to school literacy practices to support academic learning. This requires the teacher  to have a great knowledge of her students and an understanding of home literacy practices. For example, if any student translates language at home (such as Spanish to English) we can relate that skill to summarizing or paraphrasing. 

A child's worship home can affect literacy development as well. Many sermons and religious services are written in such as way that they require dialogue from the congregation. The services often have readings that are to be recited every week and exactly as they are written. In contrast, schools often change what text they read daily and deviations from the exact text are common. Oral reading is also not common outside of the primary grades. 

Literacy Among Those Living in Poverty 

Of course, we should not assume that someone of color or low socioeconomic status has limited literacy abilities or exposure. Each family and community is unique. 

One of the trends of a literacy study (Purcell-Gates, 1996) found that low-literacy families often use literacy just for entertainment purposes. This could involve watching tv or reading a recipe. High-literacy families engaged with literacy eight times more often than low-literacy families. Socioeconomics, however, is not reliable on predicting literacy abilities. In fact, many families in urban areas value reading, own books, and engage in various types of reading at home. Also, parents are usually aware of how they are sometimes perceived by teachers (not caring, lazy, etc). This often discouraged their involvement in the school and with working with the teacher. 

Low-income communities often have a limited number of print available compared to middle-income communities. In low-economic neighborhoods, coloring books are more readily available than books, magazines, and comic books. Also, street signs often lack color or are damaged in some way that affect the print. On the other hand, middle-class communities are surrounded by businesses with plenty of print and environmental print is easier to read. 

Literacy Among Adults 

Cohen, White, and Cohen (2011) conducted a study examining adult literacy habits. Adults wrote and interacted with documents more so than prose. Documents were defined as lists, tables, and forms, and prose was defined as continuous text of at least one sentence. The researchers believed this result was due to the efficiency and the ability of documents to fulfill a purpose. 

Literacy's Effect on Cognitive and Social Development  

"Literacy as Development"
"From a developmental perspective, literacy is believed to create a "great divide" between those who are and are not print oriented" (p. 254). This type of thinking regards meaning as being found within the text itself. Readers only use the evidence provided in the text, rather than relying on outside sources. This view encourages an "us vs them" way of thinking.

Smith (1989) - "When literacy is promoted as the solution to all economic, social, and educational problems, it is easy to assume that inability to read and write creates those same economic, social, and educational problems" (p. 256).

"Literacy as Practice"
This understands literacy as embedded and operating within our social groups and during our social activities. Literacy is not isolated from the world, but it is part of the world and a part of our everyday lives.

*QUESTIONS!!

1. Do you think the importance of essay writing (especially in secondary schools) is harmful for developing students that are critical thinkers and students that think for themselves (rather than relying strictly on the text)?

2.  Along those same lines, do you think that we need to allow students to do more document writing in school (lists, forms, notes), since that is the dominant form of writing amongst adults?

3.  How can we prevent an "us vs them" way of thinking when it comes to literacy? I feel that this can be hard to avoid when dividing groups based on literacy abilities.

4.  Were there any terms in the text that you weren't as familiar with? I wasn't aware of the differences of discourse and Discourse!

5.  Is there anything you'd like to ask our discussion group, or just something you found interesting while reading?

I invite you to incorporate these terms in your discussion! literacy event, literacy practice, literacy performance, identity, intersectionality, social group, multiple literacies, discourse/Discourse, funds of knowledge, cultural modeling, literacy as development, literacy as practice