Definition of Literacy Pamela Z. Spillane RD651 Socio-psycholinguistics and Critical Literacy

Literacy is a socio- psycholinguistic process. Through social, psychological, linguistic, and developmental processes, learners construct meaning.

Social Process Writing, reading, listening, speaking, and thinking are components of literacy, which are developed through social interactions. During literacy events, learners construct meaning and create new knowledge. Literacy is acquired through meaningful, authentic encounters with text, teachers, peers, and other adults (Hayes, 2000; Rosenblatt, 1994; Ruddell & Unrau, 1994). Home-school-community connection is essential for literacy development. Parents, families, and community members bring social and cultural experiences important for literacy acquisition (Anderson, 1994; Goodman, 1994; Halliday, 1994; Harste, Burke, & Woodward, 1994; Moll, 1994; Ruddell & Ruddell, 1994; Ruddell & Unrau, 1994; Schickedanz, 2000).

Psychological Process Literacy is an affective process where readers and writers bring to literacy events their feelings and memories of past experiences. These feelings and memories influence the readers’ and writers’ abilities and motivation (Dyson, 2000; Friere, 1985; Rosenblatt, 1994; Ruddell & Unrau, 1994). Teachers must model their aesthetic and efferent stance for reading and writing. When teachers model their love of literacy, they influence their students’ motivation and purpose for literacy activities. By modeling, teachers create a supportive, authentic environment for their students (Dyson, 2000; Friere, 1985; Rosenblatt, 1994; Ruddell & Unrau, 1994).

Linguistic Process For new information to be constructed, students activate their prior knowledge about language, text, and the world in which they live (Anderson, 1994; Goodman, 1994; Kintch, 1994). Students need to learn the conventions of language through rich oral language activities, wide reading, work with words, discussions, and collaboration (Hayes, 2000; Hodges, 2000; Johnson, 2000). Students need a vocabulary base, knowledge of text structures, and effective linguistic strategies to construct meaning (Ruddell, 1994; Ruddell & Ruddell, 1994).

Developmental Process Students construct meaning as they pass through developmental stages of reading and writing. Students need to learn how, when, and why to use reading and writing strategies. They need to know how to hypothesize, question, and self-monitor during literacy activities (Applebee, 2000; Bransford, 1994; Brown, Palinesar & Armbruster, 1994; Goodman, 1994; Paris, Lipson, & Wixson, 1994; Yopp & Singer; 1994). Teachers must consistently assess their students, plan and implement scaffolding experiences in order to bring readers and writers to the next level of development. Teachers gradually release responsibility to the learner so that reading and writing strategies become part of the learners’ repertoire for success (Applebee, 2000; Brown, Palinesar & Armbruster, 1994; Flood & Lapp, 2000; Forman & Cazden, 1994; Goodman, 1994; Yopp & Singer, 1994).

References Applebee, A.N. (2000). Alternative models of writing development. In. R. Indrisiano & J. Squire (Eds.), Perspectives on writing: Research, theory, and practice (pp ). Newark, DE: International Reading Association. Anderson, R. (1994). Role of the reader’s schema in comprehension, learning, and memory. In. Ruddell, R., Ruddell, M., & Singer, H. (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (4 th ed., pp ).

Bransford, J.D. (1994). Schema activation and schema acquisition: Comments on Richard C. Anderson’s remarks. In. Ruddell, R., Ruddell, M., & Singer, H. (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (4 th ed., pp ). Brown, A., Palinscar, A., & Armbruster, B. B. (1994). Instructing comprehension-fostering activities in interactive learning situations. In. Ruddell, R., Ruddell, M., & Singer, H. (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (4 th ed., pp ). Dyson, A.H. (2000). Writing and the sea of voices: Oral language in, around, and about writing. In. R. Indrisiano & J. Squire. (Eds.), Perspectives on writing: Research, theory, and practice (pp ). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Flood, J & Lapp, D. (2000). Teaching writing in urban schools: Cognitive processes, curriculum resources, and the missing link-management and grouping. In. R. Indrisiano & J. Squire.(Eds.), Perspectives on writing: Research, theory, and practice (pp ). Newark, DE:International Reading Association. Forman, E., & Cazden, C. (1994). Exploring Vygotskian perspectives in education: The cognitive value of peer interaction. In. Ruddell, R., Ruddell, M., & Singer, H. (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (4 th ed., pp ).

Goodman, K.S. (1994) Reading writing, and written texts: A transactional sociopsycholinguistic view. In. Ruddell, R., Ruddell, M., & Singer, H. (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (4 th ed., pp ). Halliday, M. A. K. (1994). The place of dialogue in children’s construction of meaning. In. Ruddell, R., Ruddell, M., & Singer, H. (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (4 th ed., pp.70-82). Harste, J. (1994). Literacy as curricular conversations about knowledge, inquiry and morality. In. Ruddell, R., Ruddell, M., & Singer, H. (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (4 th ed., pp.48-69).

Hayes, J. R. (2000). A new framework for understanding cognition and affect in writing. In. R. Indrisiano & J. Squire. (Eds.), Perspectives in writing: Research, theory, and practice (pp. 6-44). Newark, DE: International Reading Association. Hodges, R.E. (2000). Mental processes and the conventions of writing: Spelling,punctuation, and handwriting. In. R. Indrisiano & J. Squire. (Eds.), Perspectives in writing: Research, theory, and practice (pp ). Newark, DE: International Reading Association. Johnson, D. (2000). Just the right word: Vocabulary and writing. In. R. Indrisiano & J. Squire. (Eds.), Perspectives on writing: Research, theory, and practice (pp ). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Kintch, W. (1994). The role of knowledge in discourse comprehension: A construction-integration model. In.Ruddell, R., Ruddell, M., & Singer, H. (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (4 th ed., pp ). Moll, L.C. (1994). Literacy research in community and classrooms: A sociocultural approach. In.Ruddell, R., Ruddell, M., & Singer, H. (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (4 th ed., pp ). Paris, S., Lipson, M., & Wixon, K. (1994). Becoming a strategic reader. In.Ruddell, R., Ruddell, M., & Singer, H. (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (4 th ed., pp ).

Reading the world and reading the word: An interview with Paolo Friere. (1985). Language Arts, 62 (1), Rosenblatt, L. (1994). The transactional theory of reading and writing. In.Ruddell, R., Ruddell, M., & Singer, H. (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (4 th ed., pp ). Ruddell, M.R. (1994). Vocabulary knowledge and comprehension: A comprehension-process view of complex literacy relationships. In. Ruddell, R., Ruddell, M., & Singer, H. (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (4 th ed., pp ).

Ruddell, R.B., & Ruddell, M.R. (1994). Language acquisition and literacy processes. In. Ruddell, R., Ruddell, M., & Singer, H. (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (4 th ed., pp ). Ruddell, R.B. & Unrau, N.J., (1994). Reading as a meaning construction process: The reader, the text, and the teacher. In. Ruddell, R., Ruddell, M., & Singer, H. (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (4 th ed., pp ). Schickedanz, J. (2000). Emergent writing: a discussion of the sources of our knowledge. In. R. Indrisiano & J. Squire. (Eds.), Perspectives on writing: Research, theory, and practice (pp ). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Yopp, H.K., & Singer, H. (1994). Toward an interactive reading instructional model: Explanation of activation of linguistic awareness and metalinguistic ability in learning to read. In. Ruddell, R., Ruddell, M., & Singer, H. (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (4 th ed., pp ). Pam’s Home Page