Anotated Bibliography on Literacy in the Primary Years

In the essay ‘What is literacy?’, James Paul Gee, presents to us a very detailed examination, of concepts that are rather deemed to be similar by most. He explores the definition and meaning of “literacy” by taking into account other related ideas such as “learning”, “discourse” and “acquisition”.

The learning provisions for development in literacy are extremely important and can be reached by using their language skills. They learn to communicate with others through three main ways: they are Speaking, Reading and Writing. These three areas interact with each other and develop the Childs self-expression and imagination. They must be given the opportunity within all different subject areas to use and extend their language so that their thinking skills progress to a higher level.

Literacy: There's More To It Some might consider literacy to be nothing more than having the capability to read and write; in truth, there is deeper meaning to the word. We even unconsciously apply it in our daily lives. There is more to literacy than one would think at an initial start. The two works that portray the significance that literacy has are, "Literacy and the Politics of Education" written by C.H. Knoblauch and "Abby's Lament: Does Literacy Matter?" by Robert P. Yagelski.

In recent weeks all of us have been introduced to the essay “What is Literacy” written by Linguist James Paul Gee in 1987. Within this document we learn Gee is going to employ his learned skills to provide a ‘useful’ definition for the word literacy. Prior to providing us this insight, however, Gee must educate the reader on various definitions, idea and numerous theories in an effort to provide support for his conclusions and ultimately woo the reader into believing the postulations he makes. It is my belief that while Gee is eventually able to turn the reader to his way of thinking, he is not able to as eloquently as he would like. In fact, upon closer examination, I

In “What Is Literacy,” James Paul Gee examines the definition and the meaning of literacy by also observing other related terms such as discourse, learning, and acquisition. Gee opens by mentioning the following as characteristics that define discourse. Discourses are the fundamental concept, they are resistant to internal criticism, discourse is defined positions function as standpoints, each discourse values and certain viewpoints are marginalized by others, discourses is a very much integrated in the power structure of society.

In “Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction,” James Paul Gee introduces a new approach for thinking about Literacy. Rather than think of literacy in terms of language (grammar), Gee suggests that we think of it in terms of social practice (5). Gee claims that this approach has important and interesting consequences.

Learning provision for literacy development is important for pupils for several reasons. When pupils are developing their language skills they are learning to communicate with others in a variety of ways through speaking reading and writing. The three areas of language interact with each other to promote the child’s self expression and imagination. Children need to be given opportunity’s to use and extend their language in all subject areas so they can develop higher level thinking. [ Louise burnham, Brenda Baker,2010,pg206]

The first literacy unit EDC131 Language and Literacy for teachers, opened a greater way of thinking about language for me. It diversified my thinking, and the the way I looked at literacy by introducing multiliteracies, englishes, culture, and language development. In chapter one of the current text we take another look at the developmental process which is important to understand as a guide to assist teachers on students level of development. This guide is useful when assesing children and understanding a child's individual development. As a preservice teacher I have learnt the importance of considering all potential factors that may affect this development, during the first unit. Within chapter two, it refers again to these potential factors

* support structures for learning and language development at home and at school (NALDIC, 1999)

Tompkins, G. E. (2010). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Throughout the article, Gee makes two strong statements regarding what defined literacy dealt with more than simply reading and writing. He argues that language and culture are additional aspects of what builds literacy. These are aspects that are learned and acquired, but those create two different discourses, primary and secondary. The primary discourse consists of the things we have learned within one’s growing environment and first encounters with one’s primary language. As these two discourses moves forward through certain viewpoints, concepts, and values found within the continuous and changing environment. Ultimately stating that language and culture are the building blocks to lead into the acts of reading and writing.

Literacy plays a huge role in many people’s lives everyday, whether it is learning how to read and write for the first time or writing a five-page essay for the hundredth time. We experience literacy differently and have our very own unique stories on how it has impacted our lives and had made us who we are today. It is an essential aspect that I use in my everyday life, such as in relationships, daily interactions with others, and learning. It has become such a powerful aspect and human right in which it allows one to speak his/her mind and in some cases express their opinion to the world. My personal literacy history has shaped me into who I am today because without my experiences I would not have been able to gain the confidence and

Literacy is defined as being literate, that is, being able to read and write in a language. My personal experience with literacy began at an early age, at the age of 4 when I began to sit and read words and letters in the back of my mother’s car. Soon enough, she would bring me a magazine called “Majed” which, in the 90’s, was a popular magazine. With this, I began even more interested in reading and writing and reviewed every word in the magazine associated with each of the short pictured stories. It was the first memory I deeply recall of literacy and it was what laid the foundation for my personal love of reading and writing. The methodology used for this is an interview. There are three interviews which are analyzed and brought together in the form of a narrative. This narrative serves to better explain the emotions and thoughts that the interviewees had about the idea of literacy.

Literacy is the cornerstone to all learning; it is imperative to future academic success. (Tracey and Morrow, 2012). Due to the significance of literacy instruction, there are a myriad of ways to teach literacy. Literacy is a complex subject, honing in on balancing reading, writing, speaking, and listening. As a result of the complexity of literacy instruction, we arrive at the age-old debate of what is the best literacy instruction. My philosophy of literacy instruction centralizes around the Whole Language Theory and Balanced Literacy; however, I also blend in additional theories/approaches to teach effective literacy.

Every day in human life we communicate with one another and how the communication is expressed varies based on the culture or social experience of the individual. Language comes in various definitions and is defined by Lyons (1981) as a conventional symbol system, an object, and “a cognitive phenomenon” (Clark, 1996), a social process. Language comes in two modalities, speech, social, and writing, object and is made of seven functions which are shown through personal, regulatory, interactional, imaginative, representational, heuristic and instrumental dialogue (Halliday, 1975). The study of language can be voiced as an object to be analysed and a social process that develops over time as we learn from one another. The social-cultural nature of language needs to be presented within the classroom to ensure education is inclusive to all levels of literacy. Language as an object and language as a social process will be defined within this text supported by quotes including Green (2006), Gee & Hayes (2011), Halliday (1975), Britton (1982), Clark (1996), Kay (2010), Crystal (2013) and Wittgenstein (1921). Language is dynamic as it is continually changing, words including ‘hath’, ‘thou’ and ‘natheless’ have been altered to develop with society (Oxford, 2017), a social process. This text will clarify how language is analysed as an object but also a social process with examples of how to apply the social-cultural nature of language to the classroom.