Connecting Schools with Out-of-School Worlds

In Chapter 1 we trace the ways in which examinations of literacy in out-of-school settings have provided pivotal moments theoretically, turning the field toward new understandings of literacies and into different lines of research. Indeed, we argue that most of the theoretical advances that have been made in the field of literacy studies over the last 25 years have had their origin in discoveries about literacy and learning not in school, but outside it. To talk about literacy these days, both in school and out, is to speak of events, practices, activities, ideologies, discourses, and identities (and at times to do so almost unreflectively, so much a part of our customary academic ways of thinking have these categories and terminology become). Again, we argue that in large part this new theoretical vocabulary sprang from examinations of the uses and functions of literacy in contexts other than school

Locating Literacy Theory in Out-of School Contexts

In public discourse, literacy has long been associated with schooling. Talk about literacy crises is often accompanied by calls for better schools and more rigorous curricula, and images of reading and writing are closely connected to school-based or essayist forms of literacy. However, when we widen the lens of what we consider literacy and literate activities, homes, communities, and workplaces become sites for literacy use. It was in fact in these out-of-school contexts, rather than in school-based ones, that many of the major theoretical advances in the study of literacy have been made in the past 25 years. Studies of literacy out-of-school have been pivotal in shaping the field. Indeed, to talk about literacy these days, both in school and out, is to speak of events, practices, activities, ideologies, discourses, and identities, and at times to do so almost unreflectively, since these categories and terminology have become so much a part of our customary ways of thinking in academic domains. Through an exploration of three major theoretical traditions that have launched numerous studies of literacy, we show that in large part this new theoretical vocabulary sprang from examinations of the uses and functions of literacy in contexts other than school

Effects of self-management strategies on journal writing by college freshman

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Two experiments were designed to test the effects of self -management strategies on journal writing by beginning college writers. Experiment #1 tested the effects of self -monitoring and goal-setting on the journal writing of an intact freshman composition class (N = 18) by means of a multiple baseline design across subjects. Baseline measures (number of lines/entries per week in journals) were initially obtained for all subjects. Then goalsetting and self -monitoring procedures were begun with half of the subjects, while baseline was continued for the other half. Finally, treatment was begun for the second group of subjects. Experiment #1 shows that self -monitoring/ goal-setting can increase the number of lines and entries written per week by traditional freshman composition students. The second study was intended to replicate that effect with basic (remedial) writers (N = 15), while providing a longer baseline and a controlled termination of treatment. In addition, the investigator wanted to find out whether self-determined goals (number of entries/lines per week) would affect journal writing differently than teacherdetermined goals. Both experiments suggest the effectiveness of self-management strategies in increasing the amount and frequency of journal writing by traditional and basic writing students. Besides their applied value, the studies offer implications for a theory of the writing process. National Council of Teachers of English Writing is a complex skill that requires practice for improvement. A common way to practice writing is to keep journals, or notebooks of daily personal reflection. Composition texts and well-known teachers of writing However, these anecdotal accounts deal with benefits that accrue after a student keeps a journal. There are no investigations of how to get students to write regularly in journals to begin with. The problem of how to promote the habit of regular writing is experienced not only by students who are just learning to compose, but by professional writers as well. In a study on techniques used by famous writers, Wallace and Pear (1977) 13

Locating the semiotic power of multimodality

This article reports research that attempts to characterize what is powerful about digital multimodal texts. Building from recent theoretical work on understanding the workings and implications of multimodal communication, the authors call for a continuing empirical investigation into the roles that digital multimodal texts play in real-world contexts, and they offer one example of how such investigations might be approached. Drawing on data from the practice of multimedia digital storytelling, specifically a piece titled “Lyfe-N-Rhyme,” created by Oakland, California, artist Randy Young (accessible at http://www.oaklanddusty.org/videos.php), the authors detail the method and results of a fine-grained multimodal analysis, revealing semiotic relationships between and among different, copresent modes. It is in these relationships, the authors argue, that the expressive power of multimodality resides

Youth designed social networking : literacies, identities and relationships at the intersection of Online and Offline experience

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