Bringing Language to Consciousness: Teacher Professional Learning in Genre-based Reading Pedagogy

This research aims to better understand the relationship between professional learning (PL) in genre-based literacy teaching and its impact on classroom practice. It is a study of teacher uptake of new knowledge about language and pedagogy based on Reading to Learn professional learning (Rose, 2014) offered to secondary school teachers in London. The professional learning aims to make the role of language in learning visible to teachers so that it can be used as a tool for teaching in all subject areas. Large-scale action research projects in Australia and Europe have previously cited positive teacher responses to this PL through the use of teacher self-reporting methods (Acevedo, 2010; Coffin, Acevedo & Lövstedt, 2013; Culican, 2005; Rose, 2011a; Rose & Acevedo 2006a; Rose & Martin, 2012; Whittaker & Acevedo, 2016). Despite the teacher reports indicating shifts in theoretical positioning and pedagogy with a consequent impact on student learning, data focusing on the specific nature of the classroom implementation has been lacking. This research, undertaken in England, draws on a range of empirical data to study the uptake of the professional learning by observing the practice of a group of teachers who took part in the PL and focusing in detail on the case of one history teacher’s implementation. Using tools drawn from Systemic Functional Linguistics (Halliday, 1978) for discourse analysis and multimodal analysis (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2001), the teacher learning process is examined via the analysis of lesson preparation and classroom implementation. Additionally, to gauge the teacher’s level of consciousness about the impact of the PL on her classroom teaching, the implementation data is compared to the teacher’s perceptions concerning her learning about language and pedagogy. The use of both discourse and multimodal analyses revealed the complexities in classroom implementation that related to issues beyond the new knowledge about language and pedagogy from the professional learning. A range of contextual factors that impinge on teacher uptake of the new learning and the classroom implementation were discerned by an examination of the broad policy and theoretical contexts beyond the classroom. In spite of the impinging factors, this study nonetheless provided detailed empirical evidence of how a teacher consciously developed and implemented significant new knowledge about language and pedagogy from the PL in the classroom. The congruence of the classroom implementation data with the teacher’s perceptions about the learning process demonstrated that the teacher was largely conscious of her own learning process. The precise articulation of the teacher’s linguistic and pedagogical practices at each stage of implementation made visible a ‘linguistically informed pedagogic pathway’ (Coffin, 2006, p. 92) for discipline-based literacy teaching. These findings are particularly relevant to the language teaching context in England where the call for the past century for all teachers to become teachers of English has not yet been translated into practice

Identidade docente na pedagogia da linguagem. Uma perspectiva narrativa a partir da experiência de dois formadores de professores colombianos

This paper accounts for the inspection of two language teachers’ identities and language pedagogy through six conversations in a sixth-month period at two universities in Bogotá, Colombia. By adopting a no-methodology perspective, this study resorts to the notion of narrative to document language pedagogy experiences and inspect how the traditional, yet static notions of teacher identities and language pedagogy, are configured and re-configured through the pedagogical practice. Therefore, findings revealed that English language teachers contest marginal and hegemonic identity constructions through enacting their pedagogy conception. As a result, alternative ways of being and doing are exposed as a mechanism to exist and re-signify what language pedagogy has meant in the English language teaching field.Este artículo da cuenta de la indagación de las identidades y la pedagogía de dos profesores de idiomas a través de seis conversaciones en un período de seis meses, en dos universidades de Bogotá, Colombia. Al adoptar una perspectiva no-metodológica, este estudio recurre a la noción de narrativa para documentar experiencias sobre la pedagogía del lenguaje e inspeccionar cómo las nociones tradicionales pero estáticas de las identidades docentes y la pedagogía del lenguaje se configuran y reconfiguran a través de la práctica pedagógica. Por lo tanto, los hallazgos revelaron que los profesores de inglés cuestionan las construcciones de identidad marginales y hegemónicas mediante la promulgación de su concepción pedagógica. Como resultado, se exponen modos alternativos de ser y hacer como mecanismo para existir y resignificar lo que ha sido la pedagogía del lenguaje en el campo de la enseñanza del idioma inglés.Este artigo relata a inspeção das identidades e da pedagogia de dois professores de línguas através de seis conversas em um período de seis meses, em duas universidades de Bogotá, Colômbia. Ao Adotar uma perspectiva não metodológica, este estudo baseia-se na noção de narrativa para documentar experiências sobre a pedagogia da linguagem e para inspecionar como as noções tradicionais, mas estáticas, de identidades de professores e pedagogia da linguagem são moldadas e remodeladas por meio da prática pedagógica. Portanto, os achados revelaram que os professores de inglês questionam as construções de identidades marginais e hegemônicas por meio da promulgação da sua concepção pedagógica. Como resultado, expõem-se os modos alternativos de ser e fazer como um mecanismo para existir e redefinir o que a pedagogia da linguagem tem sido no campo do ensino de língua inglesa

The effects of the learn to read : reading to learn approach on the academic literacy performance of students in the BCOM4 English language and development programme.

Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.This dissertation reports on a study to determine the effects of using the Learn to Read: Reading to Learn approach (R2L), as developed by Dr David Rose, on BCom4 Access Level students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The aim of the study was to examine the effects of the approach on learners‘ reading abilities and subsequent ability to write and structure texts according to the conventions required by the particular academic context (genre). Forty-six students who registered for the first year BCom4 Access English Language and Development Programme in 2011 participated. All these students come from disadvantaged backgrounds, where there has been a lack of both access to and a culture of reading. The intention of the intervention, if it proved successful in improving the academic literacy levels of participants, was to recommend the implementation of the R2L approach across the additional disciplines of BCom4. An Action Research approach was used, as well as a Case Study, beginning in February 2011 and ending November 2011. The participating students were taught to read selected texts and scaffolded in independent writing of the texts using the six stages of the R2L teaching cycle. Out of the original 46 students, ten were closely tracked. Various data were collected and analysed during the study period. The data from tracked students included pre- and post-intervention reading assessments; a questionnaire; assessments from written texts in the form of assignments, tests and examinations; and data from a focus group interview. Data collected from the entire study group includes written and verbal feedback concerning the effects of the approach. In addition, feedback from other lecturers within the BCom4 course was also recorded and described. The quantitative findings indicate that reading levels of the students increased between one and three levels over the study period, in keeping with the claims that R2L makes about its own efficacy. Comparisons were made of overall results for term and examination marks over both semesters. These consisted of written assignments and tests. The results showed that there was a general decrease in the marks achieved in the first semester of between 2 and 11% in semester scores and between 5 and 18% in the examination scores. This may have been due to the increase in the level difficulty of writing tasks throughout the year. The written assignments of the students also under-went detailed analysis, which indicated a significant improvement in writing at both the macro and micro levels of text, namely referencing, staging, grammar, spelling and punctuation. On a qualitative level, students and academic staff have noted beneficial effects of the approach in terms of the improvement of the reading and comprehension of texts in English as well as in related disciplines such as economics and mathematics. These findings correlate with R2L claims that it is able to improve the literacy performance of students between two and four levels across a one year period. This improvement is independent of the previous literacy history of students and can be applied across the curriculum, from foundational to tertiary education levels. The implications of these findings lead to recommendations that R2L continue to be developed and adapted for South African conditions and that it should be implemented across all modules within the Bcom4 Access programme at UKZN. In order to achieve its full potential in improving academic literacy, the R2L approach needs to function across the curriculum and not just remain in the domain of foundational or English language educators. The seriousness of the poor educational system in South Africa demands that all educators begin to see themselves as teachers of continued reading, whether their disciplines are Mathematics, Science or English language teaching

Reading to learn for secondary schooling: an interventionist action research study within a South African under-privileged setting

The study examined the contribution that Rose’s (2005) Reading to Learn (RtL) methodology made in development of advanced literacy abilities recommended in the schooling system. RtL was influenced by Bernstein’s theory of pedagogic discourse, Bruner, Vygotsky’s social learning theory and Halliday’s systemic functional linguistics theory. The study used the same cohort of learners during Grades 11 and 12 in a black township secondary school in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa. RtL was birthed in Australia with the intention of accelerating literacy development of learners in disadvantaged communities. Based on its success in Australia, I implemented the methodology against a backdrop of continuously declining literacy standards in South African primary and secondary schools. Researchers on literacy acknowledge that socioeconomic and geosocial circumstances cannot be divorced from poor literacy performances in South African schools. Although these two factors play a role in regressing literacy, pedagogical approaches play a role. RtL was employed as an intervention strategy with learners whose literacy abilities were found lacking in comparison to curriculum demands. Despite the focus being on learners whose performance was below expected academic levels, the able learners were motivated to further their advanced abilities. The learners whose performance was previously compromised performed to par with their able counterparts. RtL provided all learners an opportunity to apply, with less difficulty, the language approved by the schooling system. The two research questions sought to illuminate the role RtL played in developing learners’ ability to read, so that they could converse with text and put into writing practice what they had read. In this regard, creative and transactional assignments were written, and performance assessed to evaluate the RtL intervention. Secondly, the research allowed me to get an insight through interviews with learners as to how they were positively or negatively influenced through RtL in learning English as a First Additional Language. The study was a longitudinal action research study which had a life span of 22 months. It was dominantly qualitative with a thin quantitative strand. Data to evaluate effectiveness was generated from learners’ written work and interviews. The learners’ work was analysed using an RtL assessment tool adopted from Rose (2018), for the purposes of uniformity and reliability. Findings from interviews highlighted various views regarding the positive impact of RtL. What emerged from the findings is a reflection of the positive impact RtL had on literacy development. Significantly, learners’ work improved across the board, true to Rose’s assertion that learners exposed to teaching using RtL principles experience accelerated literacy development. Based on these findings, RtL implemented in a township setting in South Africa yields results similar to those in Australia and other countries

Of the new dominant: a preliminary exploration of the dominance of ‘IT literacy’ in organizational processes

This paper takes a preliminary look at an emerging dominant literacy, IT literacy, and its potential impact on some members of the communities within which it is becoming dominant. Drawing on the perception of literacy as social practice, the paper locates organisational processes within institutions as belonging to a specific social practice and explores the pattern of dominance of IT literacy that is beginning to emerge within this practice. From analysis of interview and survey data, the study conducted a preliminary exploration of the views of staff within one organisation on the impact of this new dominant literacy. Some of the emergent views elicit the notions of exclusion, inadequacies, and imposition. I draw on this study in this talk to challenge us to think about how we respond to this imminent situation

Small Libraries, BIG Ideas

The Oregon library community consistently amazes me with its innovative, enterprising, and patron-focused activities. Indeed, we hear about these many activities through Libs-Or, OLA conferences, and this journal. While certainly not by design, many of the voices we hear come from libraries along the I-5 corridor. Cool things happen in those libraries, of course, but this issue of the OLA Quarterly amplifies voices we hear less frequently: the rural institutions that constitute the majority of the libraries in Oregon. There are so many aspects of rural librarianship that set it apart from working in larger libraries. Sometimes those differences seem small. For instance, try shopping for groceries without running into a patron. Sometimes the differences are more significant. A single person could be the cataloging, finance, adult services, and maintenance “departments” all rolled into one! In addition to fostering a problem-solving attitude, working in a rural library instills in you an important lesson for all libraries: you don’t merely serve the community, you are the community, just like your patrons

As práticas discursivas nas interações verbais em contexto pedagógico : contributos da sociolinguística interacional para o estudo do discurso na aula de português

Tese de Doutoramento em Estudos Portugueses na especialidade de Linguística Portuguesa apresentada à Universidade AbertaO presente estudo pretende contribuir para o conhecimento das práticas discursivas, da organização estrutural da interação conversacional e dos processos interpretativos dos participantes, em situação de ensino e aprendizagem do Português, em duas turmas do 5.º ano de escolaridade, na perspetiva do modelo da Sociolinguística Interacional. A análise do discurso pedagógico realizada tem como objetivo a tomada de consciência, pelos professores, do funcionamento dos discursos no contexto institucional escolar e da importância da interação verbal para se alcançarem objetivos de aprendizagem da leitura e escrita e consequente desenvolvimento da literacia. O estudo inclui ainda como objeto de análise específico as estratégias discursivas e os dispositivos conversacionais na interação verbal, no âmbito do programa pedagógico Ler para Aprender (“Reading to Learn”) e as potencialidades da pedagogia genológica para a aprendizagem da língua portuguesa. Para a realização do estudo, registou-se a interação oral ocorrida durante um conjunto de aulas de Português, que incluiu um subconjunto de aulas nas quais se adotaram as propostas da pedagogia genológica (segundo o programa Ler para Aprender,) e procedeu-se à sua transcrição para a constituição do corpus. A análise tomou como eixos as estratégias discursivas, a ritualização das práticas interlocutivas e interacionais e os processos de figuração nas interações verbais na coconstrução da aprendizagem, no contexto específico da aula de Português, sob a perspetiva da Sociolinguística Interacional. Os resultados da análise deste corpus de transcrição do discurso oral, no contexto pedagógico das aulas de Português das duas turmas, à luz do modelo da Sociolinguística Interacional colocam em evidência que, nas interações verbais, professores e alunos desempenham os seus papéis discursivos no cumprimento de “rotinas verbais”, nas respetivas funções de ensinar e aprender, tendo em atenção as pistas de contextualização. As estratégias conversacionais na coconstrução das aprendizagens e na partilha de sentidos dos textos orais e/ou escritos são múltiplas e diversificadas, tendo por base a estrutura triádica constituída pelas perguntas do professor, as respostas dos alunos e o feedback avaliativo que constituem regularidades discursivas próprias da aula. O programa Ler para Aprender consubstancia-se num conjunto de atividades pedagógicas específicas que ampliam e densificam essa estrutura triádica, por meio da integração de dispositivos conversacionais específicos, baseados no apoio em interação por parte do professor. Esses dispositivos revelam as suas potencialidades para o desenvolvimento de processos inferenciais e interpretativos, na leitura, e para mobilizar os recursos linguísticos e discursivos, desvendados por meio da leitura, para o desenvolvimento da capacidade de escrita dos próprios alunos.The present study aims to contribute to how we understand discursive practices, the structural organization of conversational interaction and the interpretative processes of interactants in the context of teaching and learning Portuguese in two 5th-grade classes. Adopting the perspective of Interactional Sociolinguistics, the purpose of this analysis is to make teachers aware of the functioning of discourses in the institutional setting of the school and of the importance of verbal interaction in achieving learning objectives in the area of reading and writing and the resultant development of literacy. The study specifically addresses the discursive strategies and conversational devices found in the verbal interaction that occurs within the framework of the Reading to Learn pedagogical program as well as the potential of genre-based pedagogy for learning the Portuguese language. The study focuses on the oral interaction that took place during a set of Portuguese classes that included a subset of two in which the precepts of genre-based pedagogy were adopted (in keeping with the Reading to Learn program), followed by a transcription of the classes for the purpose of constituting a corpus. From the perspective of Interactional Sociolinguistics, the analysis spotlighted the discursive strategies adopted, the ritualization of interlocutive and interactional practices, and the face work in the verbal interactions that took place during the joint construction of learning in the specific context of the Portuguese classes. The results of the analysis of the corpus of transcribed oral discourse show that, in the verbal interactions that took place in the pedagogical setting of the two Portuguese classes, the teachers and students play their respective discursive roles as they fulfil “verbal routines” in the teaching and learning processes, bearing contextualization cues in mind. The conversational strategies deployed in the co-construction of learning and the sharing of the meanings of oral and/or written texts are multiple and various. They are based on a triadic structure that consists of the teacher’s questions, the students’ responses and the evaluative feedback, the discursive regularities that are specific to the language class. The Reading to Learn program is based on a set of pedagogical activities that amplify and expand this triadic structure by integrating specific conversational devices based on scaffolding interventions on the part of the teacher. These devices are essential to developing inferential and interpretive processes in reading and to harnessing the linguistic and discursive resources that are unlocked by reading for the purpose of developing students’ writing skills.N/

Towards a blended ecological pedagogy for advanced EAL academic writing.

This ethnographic research project explored the application of selected ideas relating to grammar from M.A.K.Halliday\u27s theory of systemic functional linguistics in the context of developing the academic writing skills of upper secondary students studying English in West Jakarta in 2009. Results showed significant development in students writing and grammatical awareness