scholarly journals `If she's left with books she'll just eat them': Considering inclusive multimodal literacy practices

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosie Flewitt ◽  
Melanie Nind ◽  
Jane Payler
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Social Practice ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Learning Difficulties ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Special Educational Needs ◽  
Literacy Events ◽  
Literacy Experiences ◽  
Inclusive Learning

This article reports on aspects of a small-scale study conducted in the south of England that explored the learning experiences of three four-year-old children with identified special educational needs, who attended a combination of early education settings — one `more special' and one `more inclusive' (Nind et al., 2007). The article reflects on the concept of inclusive literacy, and proposes that a model of literacy as social practice can provide an enabling framework for understanding how young children with learning difficulties interpret and use a range of shared sign systems. Drawing on an ethnographic, video case study of one girl, Mandy,1 the article gives an overview of her observed literacy experiences at home and in the two educational settings she attended, and then focuses on the collaborative, multimodal nature of the literacy events and practices she encountered. Detailed multimodal analysis of a selected literacy event highlights the salience of embodied action and the shapes of inclusive learning spaces, and points to the importance of valuing individuals' idiosyncratic and multimodal meaning-making. The article concludes with discussion of how opportunities for literacy learning can be generated effectively in an inclusive learning environment for young children with learning difficulties. The study was funded by Rix Thompson Rothenberg Foundation (RTR).

scholarly journals Multimodal Composing and Traditional Essays: Linguistic Performance and Learner Perceptions

RELC Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-100
Author(s):  
YouJin Kim ◽  
Diane Belcher
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Social Practice ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Teaching Writing ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Essay Writing ◽  
Multimodal Composing ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Effective Role

Over the past decade, digital multimodal composing (DMMC) in the language learning context has received growing attention. DMMC entails teaching writing as the social practice of meaning making using various semiotic tools (Siegal, 2012). Despite its potential benefits as a way to teach a meaning-making process in the current digitalized era, much concern regarding a lack of language focus has been expressed. The current small-scale exploratory study compared Korean EFL learners’ writing for DMMC and traditional essay writing in terms of syntactic complexity and accuracy as well as the learners’ perceptions of the two composing tasks. Using a within group comparisons design, 18 university students in Korea completed both DMMC and traditional writing on the same topic of their choice as a part of their required writing class. The findings revealed that traditional writing elicited syntactically more complex writing than DMMC using two measures (i.e. the number of words per T-unit, the number of clauses per T-unit). However, there was no significant difference in the accurate clause rate between the two conditions. Students had generally positive perceptions of DMMC, particularly regarding its effective role in meaning making. However, mixed perceptions were found in terms of helpfulness in improving writing skills. Pedagogical implications for English for academic purposes (EAP) contexts are discussed.

Oral reading: practices and purposes in secondary classrooms

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 328-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maneka Deanna Brooks ◽  
Katherine K. Frankel
Keyword(s):  
Oral Reading ◽  
Social Practice ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Literacy Intervention ◽  
Reading Practices ◽  
Secondary Classrooms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Secondary Literacy ◽  
Pedagogical Philosophies

Purpose This paper aims to investigate teacher-initiated whole-group oral reading practices in two ninth-grade reading intervention classrooms and how teachers understood the purposes of those practices. Design/methodology/approach In this qualitative cross-case analysis, a literacy-as-social-practice perspective is used to collaboratively analyze ethnographic data (fieldnotes, audio recordings, interviews, artifacts) across two classrooms. Findings Oral reading was a routine instructional reading event in both classrooms. However, the literacy practices that characterized oral reading and teachers’ purposes for using oral reading varied depending on teachers’ pedagogical philosophies, instructional goals and contextual constraints. During oral reading, students’ opportunities to engage in independent meaning making with texts were either absent or secondary to other purposes or goals. Practical implications Findings emphasize the significance of understanding both how and why oral reading happens in secondary classrooms. Specifically, they point to the importance of collaborating with teachers to (a) examine their own ideas about the power of oral reading and the institutional factors that shape their existing oral reading practices; (b) investigate the intended and actual outcomes of oral reading for their students and (c) develop other instructional approaches to support students to individually and collaboratively make meaning from texts. Originality/value This study falls at the intersection of three under-researched areas of study: the nature of everyday instruction in secondary literacy intervention settings, the persistence of oral reading in secondary school and teachers’ purposes for using oral reading in their instruction. Consequently, it contributes new knowledge that can support educators in creating more equitable instructional environments.

The role of collective identifications in family processes of post-trauma reconstruction: An exploratory study with Kurdish refugee families and their diasporic community

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Kevers ◽  
Peter Rober ◽  
Lucia De Haene
Keyword(s):  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Family Processes ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Refugee Families ◽  
Family Contexts ◽  
Diasporic Community ◽  
And Coping

While collective identifications of diasporic Kurds have attracted considerable scholarly interest, their possible role in familial processes of post-trauma reconstruction has hardly been studied. The aim of this article is therefore to develop an explorative understanding of the deployment and meaning of collective identifications in intimate family contexts by examining the interconnectedness between the transmission of cultural and political belonging and post-trauma meaning-making and coping in Kurdish refugee families. After contextualising diasporic Kurds’ collective identifications through an ethnographic depiction of the Kurdish diasporic community in Belgium, this article reports on findings from a small-scale, exploratory study with five Kurdish refugee families in Belgium. Thematic analysis of family and parent interviews indicates how cultural and political identifications may operate as sources of (1) dealing with cultural bereavement and loss; (2) commemorating trauma; and (3) reversing versus reiterating trauma. Overall, this study’s findings support an explorative understanding of collective identifications as meaningful resources in families’ post-trauma reconstruction.ABSTRACT IN KURMANJIRola nasnameyên komelî di pêvajoyên malbatî yên vesazkirina paş-trawmayê de: Xebateke raveker li ser malbatên kurd ên penaber û civakên wan ên dîasporayêTevî ku nasnameyên komelî yên kurdên dîasporayê ta radeyeke baș bûye mijara lêkolînan, rola wan a muhtemel di pêvajoyên malbatî yên vesazkirina (selihandin) paş-trawmayê qet nehatine vekolîn. Lewma armanca vê gotarê ew e têgihiştineke raveker pêş bixe li ser rol û wateya nasnameyên komelî yên di çarçoveya mehremiya malbatê de, ku vê yekê jî dê bi rêya vekolîna wê têkiliya rijd bike ya di navbera neqlkirina aidiyetên çandî-siyasî û rêyên sazkirina wateyê û serederîkirina li dû trawmayê di nav malbatên kurd ên penaber de. Piştî diyarkirina çarçoveya nasnameya komelî ya Kurdên diasporayê bi rêya teswîreke etnografîk a cemaeta diasporaya Kurd li Belçîkayê, ev gotar encamên ji xebateke biçûk a bi pênc malbatên kurd ên penaber ên li Belçîkayê pêşkêş dike. Tehlîla babetî ya hevpeyvînên ligel malbatan û dayik û bavan nîşan dide ka çawa nasnameyên çandî û siyasî dikarin bibin çavkanî ji bo (1) serederîkirina bi mehrûmiyeta çandî û windahiyên xwe; (2) bibîranîna trawmayê; û (3) kêmrengkirin an, beramber vê yekê, dubarekirina trawmayê. Bi giştî, encamên vê xebatê wê têgihiştineke raveker tesdîq dikin ku nasnameyên kolektîf çavkaniyên kêrhatî ne di vesazkirina paş-trawmayê ya malbatan de. ABSTRACT IN SORANIDewrî nasname bekomellekan le prose binemalleyîyekanî sazkirdinewey paş-trawmayîda: lêkollîneweyekî şirovekarî binemalle penabere kurdekan û civatî ewan le diyasporaLe katêkda nasname bekomellekanî kurdekanî diyaspora le layen şarezakanewe giringîyekî berçawî pê drawe û serincî ewanî bo lay xoyî rakêşawe, bellam sebaret be egerî dewrî prose binemalleyîyekanî sazkirdinewey paş-tirawma be degmen lêkollîneweyek encam drawe. Ke wate, amancî em wutare perepêdan be têgeyîştinêkî şirovekarane lemerr bekarhênan û manay nasname bekomellekan le bestênekanî têkellawîy binemalleyîdaye, ke le rêgey peywendîy nêwan rewtî gwastineweyî grêdraweyî kultûrî û siyasî, sazbûnî mana û herweha rahatin legell kêşekanî qonaẍî paş tirawma le binemalle kurde penaberekanda taqî krawetewe. Dway awirrdanewe le civakî diyasporay kurd le Belcîka, nasname bekomellekanî kurdekanî diyaspora le bestênî xoyda xwêndinewey bo krawe û bem gêreye lem wutareda lêkollîneweyekî şirovekarane bo qebareyekî biçûk le pênc binemalley kurdî penaber le Belcîka dekrê û encamekanî billaw dekrêtewe. Şîkarîyekî babetiyaney wutuwêj legell binemalle û dayk û bawkekan nîşanî dedat ke çon dekrê nasname kultûrî û siyasîyekan wek serçaweyek bo em sê mijare derbikewn: (1) gîrodebûn be ledestçûn û bizirbûnî kultûr; (2) webîrhênanewey tirawma; û (3) pêçewanebûnî tirawma leberamber dûbarebûneweyda. Beşêweyekî giştî, encamekanî em lêkollîneweye piştgîrî le têgeyîştinêkî şirovekarane le nasname bekomellekan dekat ke wekû serçaweyekî giring bo sazkirdinewey binemallekan le dway qonaẍî paş-tirawma seyr dekrêt.

“Language not just as words”: Supporting new literacies through a design project in disadvantaged schools in Chile

2020 ◽  
pp. 204275302098216
Author(s):  
Patricia Thibaut ◽  
Lucila Carvalho
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
New Literacies ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Phase 1 ◽  
School Students ◽  
Disadvantaged Schools ◽  
Analysis And Design ◽  
Digital World ◽  
Everyday Classroom

Young people are increasingly connected in a digital and globalized world, but technology-mediated interactions alone do not necessarily lead to a culture of meaningful participation and meaning making processes. Students from disadvantaged contexts are especially vulnerable to this. Drawing on the Activity-Centred Analysis and Design framework this paper discusses a case study situated in disadvantaged schools in Chile. Phase 1 of the study revealed that high school students’ literacy practices in the everyday classroom mostly reflected low conceptual and procedural understanding of new literacies, confirming that these young learners enacted passive forms of technological use in and out-of-school spaces. Phase 2 of the study involved the development and implementation of a digital project at a Chilean school. Results offer insights on how alterations in tools, learning tasks, and social arrangements, led to reconfigured literacy practices. Findings also show that the relationship between access, use and outcomes is not straightforward, and students’ cultural capital varies, even in disadvantaged schools. Implications of the study stress the pivotal role of schools and the potential of well-orchestrated educational designs, for introducing and encouraging meaningful literacy practices, and for leveling up the access to the digital world.

scholarly journals Affinity Spaces and Ecologies of Practice: Digital Composing Processes of Pre-service English Teachers

2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Howard
Keyword(s):  
Communication Systems ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
English Education ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Cultural Literacy ◽  
Student Experiences ◽  
Traditional Schools ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Unique Experience

English educators are responsible for preparing pre-service and in-service teachers to consider the ways in which people engage in meaning making by using a variety of representation, interpretive and communication systems. Today new technologies are radically changing the types of texts people create and interpret even as they are influencing the social, political and cultural contexts in which texts are shared. This research project was designed to immerse pre-service English education students in the creation of multimodal, multimedia texts as part of a digital composing workshop. For the purposes of this paper, three student experiences were drawn from a group of twelve pre-service English education students participating in the project. Each student represents a unique experience from which we may draw insight and direction as English educators. Despite the ever present barriers to integrating afterschool (Prensky, 2010) literacy practices into traditional schools and to ensure what we are teaching has the important element of “life validity” ( Mills, 2010) and reflects the evolving socio cultural literacy practices of contemporary society, English educators  must provide authentic, engaging opportunities for pre-service teachers to learn about and through multimedia, multimodal digital technologies.

Pandemic meaning making: messing toward motet

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Beth Schaefer ◽  
Sandra Schamroth Abrams ◽  
Molly Kurpis ◽  
Charlotte Abrams ◽  
Madeline Abrams
Keyword(s):  
Participatory Research ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Research Team ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Musical Form ◽  
Content Type ◽  
At Home

Purpose In this child–parent research study, three adolescents theorize their meaning-making experiences while engaged in exclusive online learning during a three-month stay-at-home mandate. The purpose of this study is to highlight youth-created understandings about their literacy practices during COVID-19 in order to expand possibilities for youth-generated theory. Design/methodology/approach This child–parent research builds upon a critical dialectical pluralist (CDP) methodology, which is a participatory research method that looks to privilege the child as a co-researcher at every stage of the inquiry. In this research study, the adolescents work together to explore what it means to create and learn alone and then with others via virtual platforms. Research team discussions initially were scaffolded by the parent–researchers, and the adolescents developed their analyses individually and together, and their words and insights situate the findings and conclusions. Findings The musical form of a motet provides a metaphor that three adolescents used to theorize their meaning-making experiences during the stay-at-home order. The adolescents determined that time, frustration, and space were overarching themes that captured the essence of working alone, and then together, in messy, orchestrated online ensembles. Originality/value In this youth-centric research paper, three adolescents create understandings of their meaning-making experiences during the stay-at-home order and work together to determine personal and pedagogical implications.

Early career development in the public sector: Lessons from a social constructionist perspective

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 43-51
Author(s):  
Todd Bridgman ◽  
Annie De’ath
Keyword(s):  
Social Constructionism ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
State Sector ◽  
Recent Graduates ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
Collective Construction

This article explores the contribution a social constructionist paradigm can make to the study of career, through a small-scale empirical study of recent graduates employed in New Zealand’s state sector. A social constructionist lens denies the possibility of an individualised, generalised understanding of ‘career’, highlighting instead its local, contingent character as the product of social interaction. Our respondents’ collective construction of career was heavily shaped by a range of context-specific interactions and influences, such as the perception of a distinctive national identity, as well as by their young age and state sector location. It was also shaped by the research process, with us as researchers implicated in these meaning-making processes. Social constructionism shines a light on aspects of the field that are underplayed by mainstream, scientific approaches to the study of career, and therefore has valuable implications for practitioners, as well as scholars.

scholarly journals Outside Practices: Learning within the borderlands

2009 ◽  
pp. 5-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sondra Cuban
Keyword(s):  
Social Practice ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Practice Research ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Learning Contexts ◽  
Educational Philosophies ◽  
Marginalised Groups ◽  
The Us

Social practice research can be seen to illuminate the practices of marginalised learners in ‘borderlands’, areas outside of formal educational frameworks. This paper examines the issues and challenges of social practice researchers as they explore borderlands logic set against a critique of the prevailing skills-based educational philosophies that dominate in the knowledge-based economies of the US and England. Social practice research highlights meaning-making through a wide-angled view of the learning contexts of marginalised groups. This paper introduces the themes and sets the scene in a series of papers in this volume from leading social practice researchers.

scholarly journals Hand preference and Mathematical Learning Difficulties: New data from Greece, the United Kingdom, and Germany and two meta-analyses of the literature

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marietta Papadatou-Pastou ◽  
Despoina A. Panagiotidou ◽  
Filippo Abbondanza ◽  
Ursula Fischer ◽  
Silvia Paracchini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Learning Difficulties ◽  
Hand Preference ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Special Educational Needs ◽  
Mathematical Learning ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Combining Data ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
Mathematical Learning Difficulties

Increased rates of atypical handedness are observed in neurotypical individuals who are low-performing in mathematical tasks as well as in individuals with special educational needs, such as dyslexia. This is the first investigation of handedness in individuals with Mathematical Learning Difficulties (MLD). We report three new studies (N = 134; N = 1,893; N = 153) and two sets of meta-analyses (22 studies; N = 3,667). No difference in atypical hand preference between MLD and Typically Achieving (TA) individuals was found when handedness was assessed with self-report questionnaires, but weak evidence of a difference was found when writing hand was the handedness criterion in Study 1 (p = .049). Similarly, when combining data meta-analytically, no hand preference differences were detected. We suggest that: (i) potential handedness effects require larger samples, (ii) direction of hand preference is not a sensitive enough measure of handedness in this context, or that (iii) increased rates of atypical hand preference are not associated with MLD. The latter scenario would suggest that handedness is specifically linked to language-related conditions rather than conditions related to cognitive abilities at large. Future studies need to consider hand skill and degree of hand preference in MLD.

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