Bringing ethnography to a multimodal investigation of early literacy in a digital age

In this article I reflect on the insights that the well established traditions of ethnography can bring to the more recent analytic tools of multimodality in the investigation of early literacy practices. First, I consider the intersection between ethnography and multimodality, their compatibility and the tensions and ambivalences that arise from their potentially conflicting epistemological framings. Drawing on ESRC-funded case studies of three and four-year-old children’s experiences of literacy with printed and digital media,1 I then illustrate how an ethnographic toolkit that incorporates a social semiotic approach to multimodality can produce richly situated insights into the complexities of early literacy development in a digital age, and can inform socially and culturally sensitive theories of literacy as social practice (Street, 1984, 2008).

Download Full-text

Research Roundup: Brain and Body Working Together

Children and Libraries ◽

10.5860/cal.18.1.38 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 38

Author(s):

Betsy Diamant-Cohen ◽

Katie Scherrer

Keyword(s):

Young Children ◽

Early Literacy ◽

Motor Skills ◽

Literacy Development ◽

Literacy Practices ◽

Fine Motor ◽

Fine Motor Skills ◽

Youth Services ◽

Early Literacy Development ◽

Working Together

Using movement in the storytime setting is not new. Most presenters know that, at minimum, movement is a great tool for helping young children “get the wiggles out” and have fun before resettling for the parts of the program that require more attention and focus.However, much like the use of songs, props, and conversation in the days before youth services staff were well-versed in the development of early literacy competencies, the use of movement in storytime is often intuitive rather than intentional. The great news is that these instincts to utilize movement are right on track! Not only does movement help children build gross and fine motor skills, emerging research indicates combining movement with early literacy practices actually boosts early literacy development as well.

Download Full-text

Teachers’ discourses of literacy as social practice in advantaged and disadvantaged early childhood contexts

South African Journal of Childhood Education ◽

10.4102/sajce.v6i2.454 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 10

Author(s):

Colwyn D. Martin ◽

Hasina B. Ebrahim

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Early Literacy ◽

Social Practice ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Dominant Discourse ◽

Early Literacy Development ◽

Narrow View ◽

Theory Of Discourse ◽

Literacy As Social Practice

This article examines two teachers’ discourses of literacy as social practice in advantaged and disadvantaged early childhood centres for three- to four-year-olds. The intention is to make sense of the dominant discourse of literacy, its constitutive nature and its effects on children, teaching and learning. Foucault’s theory of discourse is used to make salient the influence of interpretive frames of references on the understanding and practice of literacy. The data for the study was produced through a qualitative approach using in-depth semi-structured interviews. The findings show that teachers in both the advantaged and disadvantaged contexts are located in the dominant discourse of early literacy as a technical, autonomous skill. This discourse foregrounds children as adults-in-the-making (the becoming child) and a maturationist-environmentalist view of readiness for early literacy development. This narrow view of literacy discounts young children’s positioning as social actors, issues of diversity and contextually situated practice.

Download Full-text