Adults and Reading Disability: A New Field of Inquiry

This paper first describes the development of adult literacy pedagogy and philosophy in Australia, then reports and discusses two studies of research into reading disability for adults. The first study uses a quantitative approach with a sample of 102 asthma patients and has important implications for the assessment of adults' reading. The second study is a theory‐driven, critical case study of the stated needs for literacy of 11 adult literacy learners. These stated literacy needs are argued to be socially constructed, influenced by the external environment of more general socio‐political contexts as well as particular civic, personal and workplace literacy requirements. These needs are also influenced by the adult learners' reconstructions and memories of schooling and the views about literacy of significant others, all of which affect the adult learners' perceptions of their ‘reading failure.’ The perspectives offered by the two different studies provide understandings and insights into this new field of inquiry.     

Literacy and disadvantage: learners' achievements in the early primary school years

Abstract

Worldwide, research shows that it is not easy to educate children from poor environments. Poor literacy achievement and poverty tend to go hand in hand. In developing countries, where education tends to be characterised by inequalities and disadvantage, there is a dire need to explore ways of boosting literacy levels in highpoverty schools. This article examines the effects of an out-of-school literacy enrichment programme on the literacy skills of Grades 1 and 4 learners at five disadvantaged schools in rural KwaZulu-Natal. A brief overview is given of the Family Literacy Project of which this study was a component, followed by the methodological details concerning the materials and procedures used in the assessment of the Grade 1 (Zulu) and Grade 4 (Zulu and English) learners' literacy skills. The learners' literacy performance is compared with those of learners who had not been in the programme. The findings indicate that greater exposure to literacy activities such as storybook reading in Zulu had a discernible impact on the learners' literacy accomplishments. The article concludes by identifying some educational implications that follow from the findings.     

Boys as writers: perspectives on the learning and teaching of writing in three primary schools

Boys' attitude to writing is widely perceived as an issue in English primary and secondary schools. Prior research has identified a link between negative attitudes to writing and lower achievement and raised the issue of the stereotyping of boys as underachievers in literacy. The study reported here suggests that if we are to understand the problems associated with the underachievement of boys, we should take into account boys' perspectives on their experiences as literacy learners. In this study, boys aged 8–11 drawn from three London schools in the UK, were interviewed in small groups annually over 3 years of their primary schooling. The boys' teachers were also interviewed separately. These interviews generated insights into the teachers' views of the boys and the boys' views of themselves as literacy learners, especially as writers. The data indicated the boys were highly sensitive to the social situation in the classroom. The boys responded best to their literacy learning when their teachers treated them as individuals, valued their ideas and incorporated strategies for developing learner agency into their daily classroom practice. This article concludes that a teaching approach that includes consulting children about what helps or hinders their learning and a fresh teacher focus on gender issues would increase gender awareness.     

Using metaphor to probe students' conceptions of chemistry learning

Changing students' views of themselves as learners and the learning strategies they use requires methods to make their views regarding teaching, learning and their roles as learners explicit to themselves and to teachers. This was an interpretive study that investigated students' metaphors for themselves as learners within a Year 11 chemistry classroom. Students' metaphors were found to be congruent with their views of learning and their learning processes as evidenced from multiple data sources. In making students' views explicit, metaphors can provide valuable information for practicing teachers and researchers who aim to investigate and enhance students' learning processes and encourage metacognition.     

The Use of Story in Critical Literacy Practice

Story-telling and story-writing as pedagogical practices hold a pre-eminent place within critical literacy practices. In Toronto, Canada's largest city, progressive community-based literacy programmes begin the educational process by assisting adult literacy students to learn to read and write by using the language experience method. The educational process is furthered when the programmes publish the autobiographical accounts that these learners have created. They publish these accounts as a way of generating relevant educational reading texts for adult new readers, and more significantly as a form of cultural expression for people marginalised by poverty. Elaine Gaber-Katz, a feminist educator literacy practitioner, explores how critical literacy programmes purposefully seek out the voices of those who have been silenced. She also explores the ways in which these programmes create the spaces for these voices to be heard. Focusing on the use of story, the author assesses the value of publishing these kinds of learners' stories and confronts some of its inherent limitations.     

Implementing a teaching approach based on the multiple intelligence theory in a South African school: A case study

Abstract

This article reports on the implementation of a teaching approach based on Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences (MI) at a school in the Hammanskraal area in Gauteng, South Africa. The aim was to determine the impact that such an approach would have on teachers, learners and learner performance. This article discusses the implementation process and the impact thereof on learner results and conduct, as well as learners' opinion on the implementation of the MI approach in the classroom. The study showed that the implementation of a new approach should be monitored regularly and that teachers should receive ample support. An MI approach to teaching had a positive influence on learners' conduct and academic achievement. It also made learners more aware of their own strengths and weaknesses and how to overcome weaknesses. Learners indicated that they prefer an MI approach in teaching.     

Teacher identity in the context of literacy teaching: Three explorations of classroom positioning and interaction in secondary schools

This article presents the results of three separate studies of literacy teaching and learning in the U.S. that explore the social functions of language, specifically focused on the identity development of literacy learners and teachers. Each study offers a detailed account of how literate identities are constructed and enacted and the positive and negative consequences that occur for teachers and students when they are enacted. Taken together, these three studies demonstrate how teachers' and students' understandings of identity can promote or inhibit literacy teaching and learning.     

Exploring the Disciplined Nature of Self-Study Research in Teacher Education

This article reports a study of literacy instruction in our own elementary preservice program. It examines the views and practices of both the preservice faculty who teach literacy and a sample of graduates of the program during their first three years of teaching. The new teachers reported learning many things from their preservice program, including the importance of engaging learners, strategies for developing an inclusive class community, the names of high-quality works of children's literature, and a variety of general teaching strategies. However, there were gaps between what was taught and what the new teachers wanted to learn. The new teachers struggled with program planning, desired more direct instruction on developing a literacy program, and wanted closer links between theory and practice. The teacher educators tried to cover so much material that the new teachers were unable to develop a focused, coherent pedagogy. The authors describe how they are revising their courses in light of these findings, modifying their approach to preservice instruction, and giving priority to certain key aspects of teaching.     

Exploring the interactive patterns of concept map-based online discussion: a sequential analysis of users’ operations,cognitive processing,and knowledge construction

Concept maps can be used as a cognitive tool to assist learners' knowledge construction. However, in a concept map-based online discussion environment, studies that take into consideration learners' manipulative actions of composing concept maps, cognitive process among learners' discussion, and social knowledge construction at the same time are still lacking. Therefore, this study employed lag sequential analysis to empirically explore learners' behavioral patterns in a concept map-based online discussion environment. We explored learners' operations in the concept map tool, and their discussion behavioral patterns of cognitive processing phases and social knowledge construction. The results showed that it was easier for learners to define a node than to define a relationship when they used the concept map. Additionally, the concept map can enhance higher level cognitive processing phases and lead learners to return to the main discussions from off-topic discussions significantly.     

Alternative Assessment Portfolios for Students with Intellectual Disabilities: A Case Study

Abstract

Twenty‐eight classroom teachers identified students in their rooms who were low achievers, at‐risk learners; low achievers, not at risk; average achievers; and special education students. We videotaped these students during reading lessons conducted by their teachers. Using a stimulated recall procedure, we interviewed teachers and asked them to report their thought processes during instruction, especially those that pertained to the target children. We found that teachers reported significantly more negative thoughts about at‐risk learners' than about average achievers' attending behavior and ability‐performance. Furthermore, at‐risk learners received a greater number of comments focused on the need to monitor their performance. Special education students received significantly more positive and negative comments about attending than did average achievers. In addition, they received more miscellaneous positive comments than did low, not at‐risk, and average achievers. Finally, teachers reported making more classroom modifications for this group than for average students. Implications for prereferral classroom interventions are discussed.     

Young learners: teachers' conceptualisation and practice of literacy in Australian preschool contexts

This paper examines how literacy is defined and enacted by teachers in early childhood programmes pointing to the differing ways views of early literacy impact practice. It is argued here that early literacy development during the years before school is dependent on children's experiences of having literacy activities modelled around them and the ways in which adults include them in their everyday literacy interactions. Early childhood teachers reveal differing understandings of early literacy during the years before formal school and this impacts their decisions concerning literacy activities and practice within their preschool rooms. Three early childhood teachers are presented here, through video clips and video-stimulated interviews around their literacy activities with preschool children. They demonstrate a range of practice which is shown to depend on their views of young children's literacy development. These vignettes have implications for further professional discussion and learning.     

The benefits of metacognitive reading strategy awareness instruction for young learners of English as a second language

This paper presents a small‐scale study examining the effects of metacognitive reading strategy instruction on English language learners' reading comprehension in a Hong Kong international school. Twenty‐five primary school (Grade 5) students who learn English as a second language participated in this study. Metacognitive instruction was incorporated into 10 process‐based reading lessons. Data were collected from notes learners took during reading, post‐reading reflection reports, teacher‐facilitated group discussions and two types of reading tests. Results revealed that the young learners could articulate several knowledge factors that influenced their reading. In addition, learners reported a better understanding of the nature and demands of reading, a deeper awareness of metacognitive knowledge in improving reading comprehension and increased confidence in handling reading exercises. The learners also showed enhanced reading performance compared to those in a control group without metacognitive intervention. This study highlights the potential of metacognitive instruction to enhance primary school English learners' reading literacy.     

Effects of textual enhancement on English as a foreign language learners' anaphor resolution performance and reading comprehension in Taiwan

Successful anaphor comprehension in reading is related to the explicitness of the antecedent–anaphor relation. It mirrors one of the purposes of textual enhancement (TE), which is that it raises learners' awareness of linguistic forms by enhancing the salience of input. Therefore, learners notice the enhanced form and discover the rule or relationship after they have become relatively explicit. This study investigates the effects of TE on second language learners' anaphor resolution performance and reading comprehension, to reveal the interaction among learners' comprehension, anaphor performance and noticing. Sixty EFL learners in Taiwan were divided into the control and TE groups. Participants' posttest responses were compared with respect to their anaphor resolution performance and their reading comprehension degree. The results showed that the TE group had better anaphor resolution performance, and participants' form processing did not impede their reading comprehension. These findings are discussed with both theoretical and pedagogical implications.     

Developing Scientific Literacy in a Primary School

The science education literature demonstrates that scientific literacy is generally valued and acknowledged among educators as a desirable student learning outcome. However, what scientific literacy really means in terms of classroom practice and student learning is debatable due to the inherent complexity of the term and varying expectations of what it means for learning outcomes. To date the teacher voice has been noticeably absent from this debate even though the very nature of teacher expertise lies at the heart of the processes which shape students' scientific literacy. The research reported in this paper taps into the expertise of (participating) primary teachers by analyzing the insights and thinking that emerged as they attempted to unravel some of the pedagogical complexities associated with constructing an understanding of scientific literacy in their own classrooms. The research examines the processes and structures within one primary school that were created to provide conditions to allow teachers to explore and build on the range of ideas that presently inform the scientific literacy debate. The research reports these teachers' views and practices that shaped their actions in teaching for scientific literacy.     

Learning awareness: constructing formative assessment in the classroom,in the school and across schools

This article gives details of the Portsmouth Learning Community Assessment for Learning (AfL) project from 2002 to 2007. A context of research is given and a reframing of formative assessment suggested. Qualitative, positive effects are indicated resulting from teachers' collaborative action research and learners' involvement in classroom experimentation and curriculum design. Classroom and institutional cultures are characterised as more or less open to decision-making by learners and stakeholders. A heuristic, hermeneutic framework is presented, outlining what teachers and learners, as well as stakeholders, managers and leaders, can make explicit for any phase of activity. Conditions thought essential to sustainable development are noted.     

‘What We Think We Can Safely Say…’: Primary teachers’ views of the nature of science

Since science became part of the core curriculum in England and Wales for children aged five upwards, primary school teachers have moved from widespread diffidence to positions of some confidence and success in teaching it. In the process, their views of the nature of science and the purposes of teaching it can be expected to have developed. The importance of the teacher in relation to the quality of students' learning, and to the ideas about and orientations towards a subject that students develop, is well documented. There are good reasons to believe that teachers' views of the nature of science form part of a ‘hidden curriculum’ in their science teaching: thus, an understanding of them is necessary to an understanding of learners' experiences of science teaching. The research reported explored such views through both case study and survey methodologies. The case studies showed the depth and subtlety of some teachers' views of science. The survey data yielded six factors, explaining 82% of the variance in respondents' views of science, provisionally named scientism, naive empiricism, ‘new-age-ism’, constructivism, pragmatism and scepticism. The views of science expressed by teachers in interview, and those inferred from and made explicit in their practice, were in most cases consistent with their positions on these factors. These enable interesting insights into the representations of science communicated by primary teachers in their science teaching, which could inform curriculum development in relation to the nature of science, at both primary and secondary levels.     

Effectiveness of Online Discussion Strategies: A Meta-Analysis

This study addressed the argument that online courses rarely use discussion strategies that are specifically designed and constructed for soliciting learners' cognitive presence and higher-order thinking. Prompted by this argument, the authors conducted a meta-analysis of the empirical studies that examined the effectiveness of discussion strategies in online learning. More specifically, the meta-analysis was to reveal whether learners perform better in a strategic discussion session than when they engage in a conventional online discussion and under what conditions the learners' differences in performance are greater or smaller. Furthermore, the investigation examined the extent to which the online discussion strategies that included instructional elements and the pedagogical recommended by the literature make a difference in learners' performance.     

Accommodating differences: variations in differentiated literacy instruction in Grade 2/3 classrooms

Although teachers are acutely aware of variance in students' literacy needs, many are unsure exactly how to support these needs in the dynamic classroom. This study reports on compelling evidence from Grade 2/3 classrooms in which teachers differentiated instruction in a variety of ways to benefit all students. In particular, teachers provided additional scaffolding for struggling literacy learners by offering a menu of tiered work products, expert tutoring and additional supports. At the base of instruction were common essential understandings grounded in best literacy practices: shared reading and writing, guided reading, excellent texts and literacy centres. The article emphasises the critical importance of responding to the needs of diverse and at‐risk learners in the regular classroom. Differentiated instruction is suggested as a powerful organising framework in the language arts classroom.     

Practitioners’ perceptions of dyslexia and approaches towards teaching learners with dyslexia in adult literacy classes

Learners with dyslexia are likely to be over-represented in adult literacy classes because of the convergence in perceptions, causes and understanding of literacy problems and dyslexia. Given the great amount of apprehension about practitioners’ and policy makers’ understanding of dyslexia itself, it is important to carry out an exploration of the perceptions of literacy teachers, who increasingly have responsibility for teaching learners with dyslexia. This study reports such an exploration. It employed a questionnaire survey and a focus group interview to collect data on the perceptions of literacy teachers on issues around the teaching of learners with dyslexia. The data collected were analysed using the conceptual analysis strand of concept analysis. It found that their perception of dyslexia and their approaches to teaching learners with dyslexia were informed by a dominant discourse which derives from a deficit model of dyslexia and which concurs with the metaphor of dyslexia and illiteracy as a form of disease. Furthermore, participants in this research revealed that they had limited confidence in the long-term value of the tuition they provide to their learners. The study concludes by highlighting that there is a need to explore alternatives in terms of perceptions and approaches if learners with dyslexia are to succeed in literacy classes.     

Production and reception formats: an alternative participation framework for analysis of classroom discourse?

This article aims to offer an alternative to traditional participation frameworks used to analyse teacher/pupil talk in the classroom. Within curricular areas where learners are encouraged to articulate their own meaning and be creative in their use of language, a traditional participation framework, such as Intitation, Response, Follow‐up, may not be appropriate to capture the interaction that takes place between teachers and learners, nor how the learners' developing understanding may be tracked effectively. Examples from the modern languages classroom are used to illustrate the way Goffman's production format and Wadensjö's reception format can be employed effectively in the analysis of classroom discourse to track the way teachers scaffold pupils' learning through interactive processes leading to successful expression of understanding.