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TOWARDS A SOCIAL UNDERSTANDING OF LITERACY

Cairney (1996) says “Literacy is no longer viewed simply as a cognitive skill” As Haas

Dyson points out, literacy learners are seen as 'social negotiators', exploring and exploiting

the power of symbolic tools like literacy as a form of social mediation. Literacy is used as a

cultural tool to construct symbolic meanings and to engage with others. First, people learn to

be literate primarily in groups as they relate to others to accomplish social and

communicative functions.

Second, literacy is purpose-driven and context-bound. What we think we know can

never be removed from the social context within which we have come to know. All texts are

implicated in social relations. We learn to read and write by 'being apprenticed to a social

group'.

The emergence of the study of the reading process

In particular, the role of background knowledge was stressed, with it being theorized

that reading is a process dependent on both reader and text-based factors that are driven by

the reader's search for meaning. Goodman (1965, 1967) suggested that rather than

comprehension being dependent on sequential text processing, it begins with reader-based

attempts to make meaning which leads to the sampling of print to confirm or refute the

reader's predictions. These researchers proposed that reading involves a transaction between a

reader and a text which leads to the creation of a new text that is unique to each reader. In

recent times, these views have been given some support by eye movement research, which

has suggested that readers do in fact process print more systematically and comprehensively

than previously suggested by psycholinguists like Goodman.

Nicholson attempted to replicate Goodman's early research, which required students

to read words in context than to read them later in isolation. He concluded that the effect of

context was not as pronounced as claimed by Goodman, and that reading was far more text-
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driven than had been theorized. However, despite these debates concerning the extent to

which reading is dependent on automatic decoding and the serial processing of text, it is

universally agreed that reading is a complex meaning-based process requiring the interaction

of text and reader- based factors.

The emergence of writing as a 'serious' pursuit

It was not until the 1970s that the first serious attempts were made to examine the

writing processes of children. As Wilkinson indicates, very little research was done at all on

writing in education until the 1970s. Initial interest in writing research had its roots in the late

1960s and early 1970s. One of the first great steps forward came with the funding of the

largely descriptive research projects Writing and Learning Across the Curriculum and The

Development of Writing Abilities.

A significant turning point in writing research came in the early 1970s as the first

research projects to focus on the writing process began to emerge. The key initial works were

published by Emig and Stratta et al. Similarly, this was characterized by a concern for the

processes involved in spelling, something that was in stark contrast with decades of

methodological research. This research emphasized that spelling is an integral part of the

composing processes of writers and was able to describe a range of strategies used by writers

beyond the use of phonological and orthographic processing. What Graves offered was the

first detailed description of what children did and said as they were engaged in the writing

process. “The key dimensions: the stimulus; a pre-writing phase; starting to write; composing

aloud; reformulation; stopping; contemplation of the product; and teacher influence on the

piece” (Cainey, 1996)

Graves not only examined the products of writing, he observed children as they wrote

and talked about their writing. This, in turn, led to an emphasis on research on literacy. From

the early 1980s, we saw the emergence of integrated studies of how children engage in
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reading and writing. Rather, the purpose h a d been to challenge teachers to become observers

of their children who could make informed curriculum decisions based on their detailed

understanding of the children's writing processes.

With this also came an artificial distinction between process and product an d a

reluctance on the part of teachers to intervene in children's writing.

The social construction of meaning

What is clear about literacy is that one learns about it within a social context, as an

extension of relationships with other people.

Language is a complex human endeavor

As my discussion has already made clear, in recent times there have been serious

challenges to narrow skills-based definitions of literacy. One of the major changes that

occurred in the 1980s and early 1990s has been a broadening of definitions of literacy.

To quote Margaret Meek

We are aware that, in our history, literacy has exalted the poor to the level of the

powerful. In the lives of ordinary people across the centuries, literacy has had an importance

beyond its usefulness, beyond its function in public networks of social cohesion and the

techniques of its production. However, and wherever people learn to read and write, literacy

adds to their sense of human worth and dignity. At the same time, we should understand that

literacy, so natural-seeming to us is not universal.

One response is simply to suggest a major societal change to remove social injustice

and inequality. If we accept that schools cannot realistically change at a pace out of step with

broader society, we are faced with the realization that if students who are not socialized into

the discourse practices of schooling are to succeed they must eventually be socialized into

them if they are to acquire the literacy practices that will ultimately empower. As part of this

process, however, we have a responsibility to introduce children to the literacy practices that
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do offer the greatest potential for educational success, employment, and personal

empowerment.

SECOND PART

How does the reading material relate to other things you have read or spoken about in

this course or other courses?

The reading is based on an investigation where the best ways of executing a teaching-

learning of literature can be analyzed, and it gives us its beginnings where literature was

understood as the knowledge that was taught according to the teacher. As the chapter

progresses, it tells us how the research was carried out where they discovered that to give

good contribution to the teaching of literature it was also necessary to analyze the contexts of

the students in which they lived in order to be able to relate the teachings to their daily lives.

And the importance of literacy is analyzed as a foundation to start new teachings.

Through my process at the university, I have been able to understand that it is

necessary to analyze the contexts where the students live in order to give a good teaching

because as Cairney expresses, the students learn more and understand if the teachings can be

related to the experiences they have had since the human being is a being that relates. In my

opinion, it is necessary to be able to understand the various situations through which the

students have passed or are passing to be able to find answers to the questions that we as

teachers generate during our teaching; There are times when, as a teacher, we are frustrated to

see that our students do not have the best learning process, but we do not understand that

perhaps there are reasons in their context hat prevent the student from having an adequate

process, either due to trauma or lack of support at home, which is why it is necessary to be

able to analyze the different social contexts, not only at school but also outside of it.

How is work related to your life, experiences, feelings ideas?

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Work is an essential area in all human beings who are adults since at work we spend

most of our time of the day or we even have moments where we get home we arrive thinking

about things we can do to improve the work experience or simply what we can do to facilitate

our work. Thank God I have the opportunity to be able to work in an educational institution

as an English teacher, which has generated pleasant and unpleasant experiences; I think that

the teacher's life is full of ups and downs since there are many moments where we get

frustrated as teachers when we see that our students do not understand what we are talking to

them OR we are just happy to see the progress that their students have in the foreign

language, As a personal experience I am happy to be able to say that I am an English teacher

AND to see how my students are progressing, despite the fact that it is a slow process, the

results can be observed over time.

Did the material change your perspective in any way? Did your understanding of a

particular topic increase?

This material has contributed in my personal life to the fact that students must be

analyzed as a natural person and not simply as subjects to whom their heads must be filled

with knowledge, otherwise, it allows me to analyze what is necessary to present learning

effectively if you want to obtain student results and in order to achieve effective learning it is

necessary to understand that students have a different foreign language learning among

themselves because not all have a similar literacy process but each one The literacy process

comes through the experiences, feelings, routines that they can experience from the point of

view of the foreign language, which facilitates the relationship of experiences and learning

and therefore the memorization in themselves.