Mini curso 2007 Day 3 Local knowledge: Literacies and representations Reaction slips, Some points 1. Can you prepare a research project without a theory? (Framework or Bed of Procrustes?) 2. If local knowledge isn´t a methodology or an instrument how can we characterise it? 3. Is there such a thing as ´pure´ non-interventionist research? 4. Is ethnographic research always LK? 5. What do you do with subjects/informants who detest researchers? 6. Is LK research always long term/longitudinal?

Mini curso 2007 Content of sessions Day Three Discussion of Street article Texts in LK research, examples. The importance of the literacy event Analysis of an ‘event´. Day Four Identities and representations Examples from research

Mini curso 2007 Questions from Street Is the written word less important now? (compared to the 1970s for example) Do we need to talk about ‘multimodality´ rather than literacy? What do you think are the `New’ needs of users of the written word? Do you agree with Street? How can we do research using texts? Is it important to find out literacy practices of your informants even if you´re not researching literacy?

Mini curso 2007 Text analysis from LK 1. Examples from Eritrea What can the children´s drawings tell us? 2. Academic writers Measurements and perceptions of writing development: Omani academic writers in English Anwar Al Balooshi, Jassim Al-Beloushi, Shamsa Al Rasheedi, Nasra Al Sa’adi, Ewen Arnold, John Holmes, ELTJ (forthcoming)

Mini curso 2007 Text analysis: students´writing RQ: How have the students developed as academic writers over the BA course? Data: texts from different moments in the BA course (pre-, 1st assign., final assign.) Measurements: Fluency accuracy and complexity Perceptions: Retrospective protocols

Mini curso 2007

Measur e No MeaningHow measured Fluency 1 Number of words (tokens) divided by number of T- units W/T 2 Number of words in error-free T-units divided by number of error-free T-units WE/EFT Grammatical Complexity 3 Number of clauses divided by number of T-unitsC/T 4 Number of dependent clauses divided by number of T-units DC/T Lexical Complexity 5 Number of word types divided by number of T-unitsWT/T 6 Number of lexical word types divided by number of T-units LWT/T Accuracy 7 Number of error-free T-units divided by number of T- units EFT/T 8 Number of errors divided by number of T-unitsE/T

Mini curso 2007 MeasureAlia first assignment Alia last assignment % changeDifference Fluency W/T %  WE/EFT %= Grammatical Complexity C/T %  DC/T %  Lexical Complexity WT/T %  LWT/T %  Accuracy EFT/T %  T/E %  Ave % change+3%= Figure 2 Measures of writing development for Alia

Mini curso 2007 Findings Measures: Complexity and fluency measures increased Accuracy measures did not increase consistently Perceptions: Retrospective protocols spoke of increasing risk- taking, e.g.instead of direct quotes, using paraphrase and summary. Mistakes became more complex.

Mini curso 2007 Other findings Retrospective protocols were very useful for helping writers reflect... Perceptions linked to feedback in the development process. Feedback should focus on ideas and content and not language. Learning about T-units helped to develop linguistic complexity.

Mini curso 2007 Literacy Events ‘Literacy is a social activity and can best be described in terms of people´s literacy practices which they draw upon in literacy events.´ Barton 2007 (P.35) The first basic unit of analysis.... Events: reading stories..making shopping lists ‘ A vision of literacy pouring through the house...´(P.149)

Mini curso 2007 Analysis of a literacy event Bogu: 9th-11th March 2007 Friday 9th: Installation of solar power, children watch videos (in English) Saturday 10th: Community (men) paint the school and classrooms. Sunday 11th: formal event (memeraka)

Mini curso 2007 The main event Participants: Men and women, guests from education offices, ATEI and UK, many children Music and dance: men and women (Blin) 2. A quiz for guests and teachers (Tigrinya) 3. Speeches from guests (Blin, Tigrinya, English) 4. Present-giving for guests 5. Reading letters to the ´donors´. (English) 6. A poem on the advantages of electricity (Blin) 7. Dances and songs: women (Blin) 8 Two short sketches: students (Blin) songs between.

Mini curso 2007 Event continued Dance to the lunch venue Meal served (buffet..) 11. Speeches in Blin 12. Praise songs (Blin) 13. Jokes, and anecdotes (Blin) 14. Dancing departure of guests... So, in what way was this a literacy event?

Mini curso 2007 UNIVERSAL KNOWLEDGE BASEDLOCAL KNOWLEDGE BASED AimPublication and citation establish reputation of writer and home institution Solve, tackle or identify a problem for those involved AudienceFirst: Community of researchers or senior pedagogues First: Local community colleagues, authorities, planners JustificationGap in the episteme (cf. Swales’ article intros, 1990) Problem that has arisen in the writer’s experience MethodologyNon-interventionist `Scientific’ > ethnographic Interventionist Ethnographic>`cientific’ Identity of writerAcademic, researcherMember of or contributer to local community Identity of informants SubjectsInterlocutors, participants, collaborators BeneficiariesWriter, Writer’s institution,Writer, colleagues, home institution, informants communitys DangersIvory tower; topic already coveredReinventing the wheel, uncritical acceptance of status quo; self- interested polemic, political sensitivities Crime/SinPlagiarismExploitation of community Creating a romantic vision