4. Some
definitions
―The ability to ‗read‘ a specific
subject or medium;
competence or knowledge in
a certain area‖ – Oxford
English Dictionary
Literacy is generally fluency
in a practice (whether
reading, writing, dancing, me
dicine…).
You can also think of it as
―ways of being in the world‖
(Gee).
5. Literacy is a Sociocultural
Practice
―It should not be surprising to see differences in literacy
between members of different ethnic groups, age groups,
sexes, socioeconomic classes, etc.‖ – John F. Szwed
Affected by our backgrounds, cultures, and communities!
6. Multiliteracies
Many scholars and Because we participate
researchers in writing in many different
studies, education, discourse communities
linguistics, and related and use many different
fields feel that literacy discourses, we each
is about more than just have many different
the ability to read and literacies (plural)
write.
―Texts‖: in writing
James Gee has argued studies, a text can
literacy is also about simply refer to an
the meaning behind artifact, not only a
what we say, not just document wth printed
the language itself words.
7. What is discourse?
Systems of language used by communities, cultural groups
(sometimes called dialects), etc.
8. discourse
―Language in action‖— either an instance of language (―His
discourse was terse and harsh‖) or a collection of instances
that demonstrate a quality (―Legal discourse is __‖). – Downs
and Wardle
Amy Tan describes her many ―Englishes.‖
9. Gee and
Discourse
―Discourses are ways of being
in the world; they are forms of
life which integrate words, acts,
values, beliefs, attitudes, and
social identities as well as
gestures, glances, body
positions, and clothes.‖
―A Discourse is a sort of
‗identity kit‘ which comes
complete with the appropriate
costume and instructions on
how to act, talk, and often
write, so as to take on a
particular role that others will
recognize‖ (484).
