LIN 344 - Prof.

Janzen
Aline Teixeira
Jennifer Palmer
Joshua Tanski
Julie Harmon

Essential Questions
 What is Literacy?

Literacy is a complex concept that goes far beyond the ability to read and
write. It encompasses a set of various skills necessary for an individual to
become an active and integral part of his society, through communication,
expression and his socio-economic development.
Literacy is a concern for all disciplines, not just English or Foreign
Languages. The modern concept of Literacy also includes the skills to access
knowledge through technology and the ability to assess complex contexts.
The four aspects of Literacy are:
1. Linguistic:
The Linguistic aspect of Literacy corresponds to Language and the areas
related to speech, meaning (Semantics), word formation (Morphology), the
construction of word order (Syntax), different styles of texts (stylistics), etc.
2. Cognitive:
It’s the processing you do in your head. For example, when you make
inferences and contextualize a specific text.
3. Sociocultural:
It’s related to how people construct their identity through language and
culture. It has to do with all the different social, economic, religious and
cultural groups people belong to; how the individuals interact within these
communities and how the different groups interact with one another.
It can also affect the way you speak, read and write.
4. Background Knowledge:
The previous knowledge a person possesses, whether concerning academic
fields (Math, Science, etc.) or nonacademic topics.

 Why is this class required? Why did New York State adopt the Common
Core State Standards?

Literacy is the cornerstone of our freedom, as individuals and as a society.

The Common Core State Standards attempt to provide a North concerning
the skills necessary for students to succeed in college and throughout their
careers.
As educators, it is important that we are aligned with these standards and
aware of our responsibility when it comes to effectively preparing students to
achieve success in many contexts.

Text 1 (novel)

 Recognizing the meaning of Tier II words.

 Making inferences
 Understanding the sociocultural background/ issues (background knowledge)
 Understanding your own sociocultural background and standing in order to
interpret a text. The group that you belong to influences how you understand
the text.
 You need to have a high knowledge of more sophisticated English words.
 Text 2 (speech)

 The individual needs to have background knowledge to be able to understand

the different states that are spoken about.
 Geography background knowledge
 More specific information is given than the first text.
 Trying to reach different audiences
 Novels are generally organized chronologically. However, this text starts is
not just telling you a story. The purpose of this story is very different.
 Genre - appeal to the designated audience
Text organization? Linguistic

Text 3 (Math problem)

 Reaching a specific audience.

 Trying to get the audience to reach one specific answer.
 Finding out what is important in the text and what is not.
 Need background knowledge of math terms
 Designed to appeal to the designated audience
 Sociocultural. Different people will read different texts differently. Reading
differs across disciplines. Students with different backgrounds are going to
understand or maybe even try to evaluate the text differently depending on
their sociocultural background.

Text 4 (Academic text)

 Vocabulary
 Background knowledge in Physics
 Classic academic text organization
 Able to identify the critical statements because of your knowledge of text
structure
 Cognitive processing
 Deliberately structured in order to allow the reader to focus on the important
formation

Text 5 (French Fairy Tale)

 Expected way to start a fairytale

 Looking for cognates (also sociocultural)
 Need a linguistic background
 Grammar is a big issue to understand a piece of text
 The way the words and sentences are structured.
 Metacognition - thinking about thinking. Monitoring comprehension.

How to read the textbook

1. Use the external text structure (headings and formatting of the text) while you
read;
2. Read the text in short bursts.