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English Language Arts Literacy

Dion Deguzman

Arizona State University

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Knowledge Is Power, Adolescent Literacy

The idea of literacy is backed by the common saying, “knowledge is power,” and if

knowledge is power, then the ability to be literate is the key to the kingdom. Dating back to times

where the ability to read and write was only accessed by people of power and wealth, the idea

still plays a part on this side of history in a different way. You can see “knowledge is power,”

playing its role in the classroom, as teachers must know how to, “…provide for multiple learning

styles, multiple intelligences, and multiple lenses through which to view a concept,” in order to

reach the student’s goals and success (Barry, 2012, 603). Now, living in a digital age, things such

as articles and journals are more accessible, leaving time for adolescents to comprehend new

knowledge that is at their fingertips daily. Although, the access is there, a teacher must have the

capability to teach multiple different learning styles in order for adolescents to be able to

comprehend the texts given. These students who lack the literacy skills to find, understand and

evaluate all this written information, will have a difficult time in being able to utilize content or

synthesize it in a way to boost or support their cause.

It becomes counterproductive if a teacher believes that teaching a student to just read and

write will lead to success in all of the different subjects they are learning in school every day.

Almost every teacher’s goal in their classroom is to be able to have their student read and write

fluently, which is an attainable goal. Yet, in the context of disciplinary literacy, Cynthia Hynd-

Shannon speaks on the emphasis on understanding the under lying differences among

disciplines, past just reading and writing about their said content (Hynd Shannon, 2013, 94). It is

the understanding between, what these up-incoming young adults should pay attention to, how

sentences are constructed, and what counts as evidence to back up statements made in those said
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classes. The importance is to understand that a student’s “toolbox” is more than just, how to

apply a reading strategy to both history and English, but how that strategy blossoms, grows and

differs when reading a novel in comparison, to a history textbook. Adolescent literacy is the

steppingstone to allowing kids to liberate themselves from being dependent on the information

put in front of their face and begin to question and weigh out the evidence that is present. Going

past the classroom and into the real world, an adolescent finding the key to knowledge puts

themselves on the cornerstone of freedom.

English Language Art Literacy, The Breakdown

Adolescent literacy in the content of English widely varies throughout the course content

itself. In English you are covering, not only Reading but also Writing which requires this sense

of literacy to be developed quickly in order to gain the necessary knowledge to continue

flourishing in the classroom. When this idea of Adolescent English Literacy comes into play, this

becomes the precursor for literacy in other content classes, as they are able to differentiate

between contents and what is necessary in each class to succeed. For a young adult to become

literate in writing for the English classroom, they must understand that, “…writing is not writing

is not writing, but that virtually any act of writing requires specialized knowledge,”

(Smagorinsky, 2015, 142). To put Smagorinsky’s statement into fruition, as an example, Science

teacher A assigns a report on the effects of carbon dioxide on the Earth’s atmosphere, while

English teacher B assigns a report on symbolism used in The Great Gatsby. Although both

assignments are fundamentally a report, the adolescent must understand the different knowledge,

formatting, writing style and expectations needed to write a lab report for teacher A, and the

guidelines to write a book report for teacher B. Broken down to the most simple of terms,
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students have to know how to begin and end sentences for a report, or piece of writing, to make

sense in the context that it is being used.

With the understanding of Writing literacy, then comes the understanding of Reading

literacy. There is a big gap between the two, as an example, how is one able to write poetry and

how does one read poetry effectively? That is what is asked of a student to be literate in the

contexts of English Language Arts. Put oneself in the shoes of the reader and attempt to break

down the components when reading a piece of work. What information do you need to pull out?

Why did the author write this sentence? What purpose does this piece of work hold? How does

reading a fantasy novel versus a play by Shakespeare differ? Those are questions asked when

Reading literacy deals its hand in the classroom. To understand this concept, Todd Reynolds and

Leslie Rush speak on the idea of discourse in their article regarding English Language Arts

Literacy. They explain that there is concept, normal discourse, which is a group of people who

see a piece of writing through the same lens, agreeing and mildly debating about a topic. Then,

there is nonstandard discourse, which they preach as a higher-end Reading literacy attribute,

where a person can disagree with a group, but their statements are backed by evidence and

justifications, as they could read between the lines and develop their own opinions from a piece

of writing (Reynolds & Rush, 2017, 201). This is Reading literacy, it is the ability to not only

know how to read, but the differentiation between knowing how to read different types of texts

and how to pull useful information from them to develop an opinion. An adolescent can have the

ability to read every word in the dictionary and speak every sentence with the correct diction and

emphasis, but were they able to truly understand and break down the complexities of that said

text? That is the question of Reading Literacy.

Complexity in Language
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The idea of an adolescents being literate in both reading and writing, almost seems too

simple to a person. Although, being able to read and write with literacy, becomes a difficult

concept to grasp when trying to understand a complex language such as English. When studying

linguistics, and adding the sense of literacy within its realm, the understanding of English

Language Arts literacy becomes more difficult. Language then becomes known as the, “…most

vexing challenges presented to teachers of ELA,” among English content teachers across the

country (Smagorinsky, 2015, 144). In the curriculum of linguistics, one can learn that there are

several different dialects and accents of the English language beyond what teenagers may see on

their phones or the screen of their television. Different English dialects and accents share the

same conventions, yet each dialect creates and sets a different foundation for students to be able

to fluently write and read English. In a time where travelling and moving for families is

prevalent, these students that are consistently changing their scenery to different states and

regions, can struggle to read and write to the same prowess as their new environment.

Language is a concept that not only gets difficult by location, but it also different in every

context or content area it is being used within at schools. Adolescents must not only understand

how to use language effectively in their specific subjects, but also know how to move among

them with ease. As much as an English teacher can reveal underlying themes and ideas within a

said text, the students themselves must have the capability to know, “…when and how to interact

with various texts… [and] knowing when and how to produce (and challenge) knowledge within

various fields of study,” (Rainey, 2012, 77). English Language Arts Literacy is taught in

conjunction with English core standards and practices, yet in other subjects, literacy is not taught

as seamlessly. Smagorinsky recalls, in his article, an exchange with an upset History teacher

regarding their students not knowing how to format a paper within the content of History, and
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instead are formatting and writing as if it is for English class (Smagorinsky, 2015, 141). With

this example at hand, it shows how students will naturally take what they have learned, when

reading and writing in English class, and apply it to other subjects although the disciplinary

literacy is different. Language creates a barrier within content classes if all teachers are not able

to specify and differentiate the expectations of reading and writing for their specific subject.

Although English Language Arts Literacy may sound subjective to some, it is a difficult concept

to grasp for not only students but also teachers.

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References

Barry, A. (2012). “I Was Skeptical at First”: Content Literacy in the Art Museum. Journal of

Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 55(7), 597–607. https://doi.org/10.1002/JAAL.00071

Hynd-Shanahan, C. (2013). What Does It Take? THE CHALLENGE OF DISCIPLINARY

LITERACY. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 57(2), 93–98.

https://doi.org/10.1002/JAAL.226

Rainey, E. (2017). Disciplinary Literacy in English Language Arts: Exploring the Social and

Problem-Based Nature of Literary Reading and Reasoning. Reading Research

Quarterly, 52(1), 53–71. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.154

Reynolds, T., & Rush, L. (2017). Experts and Novices Reading Literature: An Analysis of

Disciplinary Literacy in English Language Arts. Literacy Research and

Instruction, 56(3), 199–216. https://doi.org/10.1080/19388071.2017.1299820

Smagorinsky, P. (2015). Disciplinary Literacy in English Language Arts. Journal of Adolescent

& Adult Literacy, 59(2), 141–146. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.464

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