ML2 – Second Language Literacies
A blog for the Second Language Literacies course from the MA in Learning and Teaching Processes in Second Languages (ML2) at UPB-Medellín
Critical Literacy and New Literacy Studies – VIRTUAL SESSION 1
Dear students,
This is the forum where we will debate and work our kung-fu when it comes to these two paradigms. You will reflect on two issues in particular:
1. The notion of Critical Literacy in the school context. You should start by looking at the Lee and Perry papers, since they summary and critique the idea of critical literacy itself. Those of you interested in working in elementary settings (either as teachers or teacher educators) will find the paper by Gregg and colleagues quite enlightening. Those of you interested in issues of critical media literacy will find plenty of inspiration in the Harste and Albers paper. In fact, reading this particular paper will give you all a point of departure to continue the discussion that bookended our class: How do we bring critical literacy to the classroom? Discussions of consumerism, social commentary in movies.
2. The introduction to New Literacy Studies: Those who had the chance to attend Prof. Street’s Open Lecture Series talk last year (and do not despair, that talk will be in Vimeo very soon!) will recall there was an issue that Brian brought up: The meaning of “New” in “New Literacy Studies” – what is your understand of new? Of new literacies? Why should we pluralize literacy? Those are really big questions, most of which will decide how you frame literacy in your teaching. The chapters by Street himself and Pahl & Rowsell (two very respected NLS scholars) will begin to tackle these questions, while also providing a historical perspective to NLS.
In that sense, there will be some questions that should guide your discussions, which you will post on the blog later tomorrow and Sunday:
- What should novice and veteran teachers alike interested in critical literacy consider to imbue their teaching within such a framework?
- When we talk about “new literacies”, what are we talking about?
- What does it mean to talk about “new literacies” today?
- What does it mean to talk about “new literacies” in the context of learning and teaching second languages?
You are at liberty to post opinions, larger questions that the reading triggers, agreements and disagreements with the readings, etc. Also, engage in scholarly conversation with your peers. Raise questions that you want your instructor to really tackle in the forum.
I will keep track of the action and participate when I deem it appropriate.
See you next week. Until then, keep reading, re-reading and questioning the word and the world.
Yours,
Dr Berry
21 comments on “Critical Literacy and New Literacy Studies – VIRTUAL SESSION 1”
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ML2 - Second Language Literacies 
Not too long ago, I started collecting my thoughts about how to use critical literacy in the L2 classroom, I was wondering in particular how to use movies (using Harste & Albers as a springboard) to elicit discussions on critlcal issues (also as a spin-off from the activity that Shirley mentioned), since that was pretty much how I started reflecting on issues of literacy (see Mora, 2003, 2004 for some ideas).
One possible way to do so is by looking at the covert (and sometimes very overt) social commentary in some movies in light of the “occupy” movement, While “The Hunger Games” is the one movie (and book for that matter) that may come to mind, there are other examples such as “The Dark Knight Rises”.
How would you elicit critical discussions by reading the hidden messages in movies?
Dr Berry
I would like to state that the more I read, The more I understand what Critical literacy is, and is not about and how the introduction of authentic material in our classrooms could facilitate its practice. Most of the activities we often use in class intend to develop students skills Gregg (2012 ), stated that Literacy is reduced to technical skill and approached through a series of disconnected and irrelevant tasks that do not engage the student in an authentic literary experience. The exercise of reading, understanding, considering the messages of the text, synthesizing and evaluating, facilitate the development of critical thinking . However, this is focused on how a text is logically organized and well supported. “Though critical thinking is related to critical literacy, the former defined for example, in Bloom’s taxonomy is inadequate in presenting an overall picture of the latter” Lee(2011).
Critical literacy goes beyond bringing up topics for discussion , questioning or problematizing, it intends for social transformation . The idea of bringing real material such as commercials or, advertisement up to be object of critical analysis could account, if not for the big social transformation, at least for awareness. It is a good way to direct Teachers and student to re-think about everything that surrounds us. Critical literacy invites teachers and students to consider the varied ways literacy practices matter to the participants and their places in the world. Literacy is seen as a social practice, not simply a technical skill (Comber, 2001; Luke & Freebody, 1997).
I dare to say without fear to mistake that the transformation of Critical literacy has begun to change us.
Tatiana Hoyos
1. How would you elicit critical discussions by reading the hidden messages in the movies?
To provoke the reading of movies´ hidden messages, it is important to take into account that students “(…) need to do more than superficially respond to stories; they need to understand how language works, question the cultural story being told, and decide how to act on their new awareness.” (Haste 2003). A critical discussions produced by this exercise means that one as a teacher should prepare an experience related to the topic, topic which the movie in itself is underpinning. The discussion should start form students perspectives and previous knowledge. Then, the teacher has the possibility to question students about the topic which is going to be developed. For example, the movie The Matrix, students watch the movie and then the teacher question them about the differences between real and virtual world. Then, the teacher based in their answers can share the hidden message of the movie not only through a discussion, but also planning a meaningful activity such as talking about their own experiences, visiting and focusing in a determinate place around the city, to compare and reveal how reality is different and transformed by the experiential subject who “read both the word and the world critically”. (Freire & Macedo, 1987) Therefore, choosing the place is an analytical process made by the teacher, who has to take into account those places which usually mutes into different places according the moment of the day. For example, some principal squares around Medellin like: San Antonio or Bolivar.
I wanted to talk about The Matrix not only as an example about hidden messages of movies, but also to share an example about what I think about Literacy. It is related to that social constructions which let human beings named and create their reality through lot of forms of the language, connecting each other. Cities in themselves are the result of literacy; creations are made by reading, writing, re-reading and re-writing. There, the language takes the form of the city, the form of a community, or myself form. Understanding “new literacy studies” as a social practice (Street 1985). This entails the recognition of multiple literacies, varying according to time and space, but also contested in relations of power… and asking “whose literacies” are dominant and whose are marginalized or resistant”. (Perry, 2012) If that multiple literacy varying according to time and space; therefore, the cities are like a virtual conjugation of the language uses in which is possible to transform the reality, as a product of social agreements, into multiple other realities by the uses of the power letting superimpose some realities (uses of languages) above others.
,
To provoke the reading of movies´ hidden messages, it is important to take into account that students “(…) need to do more than superficially respond to stories; they need to understand how language works, question the cultural story being told, and decide how to act on their new awareness.” (Haste 2003). A critical discussions produced by this exercise means that one as a teacher should prepare an experience related to the topic, topic which the movie in itself is underpinning. The discussion should start form students perspectives and previous knowledge. Then, the teacher has the possibility to question students about the topic which is going to be developed. For example, the movie The Matrix, students watch the movie and then the teacher question them about the differences between real and virtual world. Then, the teacher based in their answers can share the hidden message of the movie not only through a discussion, but also planning a meaningful activity such as talking about their own experiences, visiting and focusing in a determinate place around the city, to compare and reveal how reality is different and transformed by the experiential subject who “read both the word and the world critically”. (Freire & Macedo, 1987) Therefore, choosing the place is an analytical process made by the teacher, who has to take into account those places which usually mutate into different places according the moment of the day. For example, some principal squares around Medellin like: San Antonio or Bolivar.
I wanted to talk about The Matrix not only as an example about hidden messages of movies, but also to share an example about what I think about Literacy. It is related to that social constructions which let human beings named and create their reality through lot of forms of the language, connecting each other. Cities in themselves are the result of literacy; creations are made by reading, writing, re-reading and re-writing. There, the language takes the form of the city, the form of a community, or myself form. Understanding “new literacy studies” as a social practice (Street 1985). This entails the recognition of multiple literacies, varying according to time and space, but also contested in relations of power… and asking “whose literacies” are dominant and whose are marginalized or resistant”. (Perry, 2012) If that multiple literacy varying according to time and space; therefore, the cities are like a virtual conjugation of the language uses in which is possible to transform the reality, as a product of social agreements, into multiple other realities by the uses of the power letting superimpose some realities (uses of languages) above others. And I said cities because there, time and space are conjugated in a single form, it depends of what city and citizens, or what urban and pedestrians are inhabiting it.
“like the perspective of Literacy as social practice, multiliteracies emphasizes the real – world context in which people practice literacy. This theory also places significant emphasis on the role of power relationships in shaping literacy and literacy learning”. (Perry 2012)
Gloria Gutiérrez Arismendy
Nowadays new types of literacy have emerged and is important to be adapted to the new social changes ,”Eco-social proach” (Gee ,2010).
I think new literacies are at the same level of “traditional” literacies.Young and adult people have been influenced by new technologies, but most people still like Reading printed books and study with some traditional methods or mix them.(traditional and technologies). One important issue is the teacher is able to conntextualize his/her teacher practices to the requirements of the students.
It is not going where everyone goes. it is to know how to go.
To Answer Dr Berry’s question on how to promote critical literacy in movies, In my opinion, the first key to elicit discussion about hidden messages in movies is in the selection of the movie itself. A film rich in social scenarios, diversity of characters and action is a good way to promote debate among students in our classes. After that, Setting the goal or goals of the activity is very important as well; it means, deciding if we want students to focus on only one particular circumstance or several ones. After that, elaborating questions that guide our students towards the analysis of the selected topic pre, while and post watching the film; pre- watching, because it is important to sensitize students about the selected topic or topics, bring about their previous knowledge and opinions; while –watching, to guide students focus on specific scenes, and post – watching, to generate exchange, deliberation and argumentation. Finally, extra activities such as asking students recreate a different end , or questioning them about how things could have been different or better would also be fun , promote their imagination and interaction as well as facilitate reaching the goal for the critical literacy analysis of the film. For the elaboration of the questions, it is important to note that they should be directed in the reflection of the facts rather than only comprehension.
Mikhail Bakhtin’s wrote that he “lives in a world of others”. Our reality is deeply connected with other peoples’ realities; it is in our nature to be interested in what happen in the world of others around us. Watching films brings along this possibility. There, one can feel, think and almost predict what a character would experience in the film scenario and consequently elaborate on the analysis of judgments of characters behaviors, relationships and actions. It also facilitates students recreate a parallel between their reality and the reality of the movie.
One of the movies that I find likely to work critical literacy with is “cloud Atlas” directed by Lana Watchowsky, Tom Tykwer and Andy Watchowsky. It is a review of several people interacting and coexisting in six different times. This is a good movie to reflect on problematic situations since it not only approaches the enigma of the reincarnation and how somewhat no matter the time we are surrounded by the same people , but also the relation among power, subjugation and rebellion, homosexuality, roles of power and politics, different ways of discrimination, and social satire. It also provides several images of what the future may be like. The movie is not only entertaining and exciting but also full of scenarios and situations to be explored as objects of analysis and discussion.
Tatiana Hoyos
Students and teachers in Colombia should engage in communities of practice in which, as Wenger (as cited in Gregg et al. 2012, p. 19) proposes, participants are active individuals in both, the practices of social communities and the construction of identities related to such communities. In this way, we will be detaching a little bit from standardized formulas and will get closer to find local identities within our own communities, keeping a balance that neither will deprive us from the world, nor steal our idiosyncrasy.
Felipe, your comment has made me wonder about the right way to approach and analyze our own idiosyncracy through critical literacy. How would you establish that relationship in your classes?
Effectively, as Professor Mora stated, Gregg and colleagues’ paper is quite enlightening if we want to get to understand better the idea of critical literacy. On page 20 we can find, in the theory and literature review of their paper, five characteristics that; according to Leiand, Harste, Ociepka, Lewison, and Vasquez (1999); literacy texts should have.
Mr. Bedoya, do not you think that the title “I Could Just Go Free in My Mind” by Gregg and colleagues is suggesting critical thinking, not critical literacy if we take into consideration that critical literacy is not only about reading and writing, it is philosophy of existence- Freire?. If we analyze the discourse in this article, we will find some issues like: How do I compel young learners to become critical literacy thinkers? And, of course. How can I find time to facilitate these rich discussions in my classroom? The words “literacy thinkers” show on one hand, the mere goal of literacy thinkers not the literacy doers. On the other hand, the goal “find time to facilitate these rich discussion” gives us certain idea of doing something to fulfill a curriculum or standards, instead a being priceless means to fulfill life’s needs. If we see Comber (2001) notes when teachers and students engage with critical literacy, they will ask questions related to “language and power, people and lifestyles, morality and ethics, and who is advantaged by the way things are and who is disadvantaged”. Yet questions yielded in the study in which some students read and analyzed the Holocaust show an understanding of the tragedy but not necessarily something that provokes a change in students’ lives or attitudes: Why did they [the Nazis] think Jews were wild?. Why did the soldiers kill everyone?, and Why did the Nazis hate the Jews? Instead, students should reflect on: do I hate anyone? What do I do to get along with everyone in my family, at school? In other words, language teachers cannot think that promoting critical thinking is sufficient to be critically literate.
Adriana Teresa Rozo Carvajal
Hi Adriana, Definitely what these critical texts are aiming for in the end is critical thinking. And you very well give us an image with the questions that the literature texts used in the study by Gregg and her colleagues raised in these multicultural third graders. I simply considered the five characteristics that a critical literacy text should have, a good element to get closer to the understanding of critical literacy itself.
To Answer Dr Berry’s question on how to promote critical literacy in movies, In my opinion, the first key to elicit discussion about hidden messages in movies is in the selection of the movie itself. A film rich in social scenarios, diversity of characters and action is a good way to promote debate among students in our classes. After that, Setting the goal or goals of the activity is very important as well; it means, deciding if we want students to focus on only one particular circumstance or several ones. After that, elaborating questions that guide our students towards the analysis of the selected topic pre, while and post watching the film; pre- watching, because it is important to sensitize students about the selected topic or topics, bring about their previous knowledge and opinions; while –watching, to guide students focus on specific scenes, and post – watching, to generate exchange, deliberation and argumentation. Finally, extra activities such as asking students recreate a different end , or questioning them about how things could have been different or better would also be fun , promote their imagination and interaction as well as facilitate reaching the goal for the critical literacy analysis of the film. For the elaboration of the questions, it is important to note that they should be directed in the reflection of the facts rather than only comprehension.
Mikhail Bakhtin’s wrote that he “lives in a world of others”. Our reality is deeply connected with other peoples’ realities; it is in our nature to be interested in what happen in the world of others around us. Watching films brings along this possibility. There, one can feel, think and almost predict what a character would experience in the film scenario and consequently elaborate on the analysis of judgments of characters behaviors, relationships and actions. It also facilitates students recreate a parallel between their reality and the reality of the movie.
One of the movies that I find likely to work critical literacy with is “cloud Atlas” directed by Lana Watchowsky, Tom Tykwer and Andy Watchowsky. It is a review of several people interacting and coexisting in six different times. This is a good movie to reflect on problematic situations since it not only approaches the enigma of the reincarnation and how somewhat no matter the time we are surrounded by the same people , but also the relation among power, subjugation and rebellion, homosexuality, roles of power and politics, different ways of discrimination, and social satire. It also provides several images of what the future may be like. The movie is not only entertaining and exciting but also full of scenarios and situations to be explored as objects of analysis and discussion.
Virtual session 1
Article Myths about Critical Literacy: What Teachers Need to Unlearn
Cheu-jey Lee
I find this article very interesting as it illustrates, four myths about critical literacy in a very friendly way: Critical literacy is critical thinking (Certainly they are different), critical literacy is meant for high ability students (It is for everyone), critical literacy is an instructional strategy (It is philosophy of existence- Freire), critical literacy is only about reading and writing (It is social practices not just isolated skills).
However, I think there is hidden antithesis in this article. On one hand, for Freire’s (1984) the second stage of critical literacy is a pedagogy of all men in the process of permanent liberation. The issue to me here is the words “Permanent liberation”. Permanent liberation from what, perhaps, ignorance? If even philosophers like Socrates praised and preached the docta ingnoratia, (learned ignorance). To elaborate this, Socrates claims “As for me, all I know is that I know nothing. This Socratic quote is full of humbleness, a quite important virtue these days in our society to avoid conflicts and even war. On the other hand, setting free from ignorance seems to be a keystone for the society as who lacks knowledge, ideas and arguments; fights, threats, and kills.
What do you think?
Adriana Teresa Rozo Carvajal
As I understand it, Feire’s critical pedagogy is an attempt to raise people’s awareness of their role as active social agents empowered with a free will to fight oppression, injustice and inequity. In this sense, the concept of liberation has to do with the elimination of every single tie which stops people from being free, critical and transformative. In consequence, education is suppossed to empower citizens not only to erradicate ignorace for the sake of better life conditions but also for the search of a more equitable society where no one suffers from exploitation or discrimination of any kind. Therefore, virtue would be one of the expected outcomes of education; and it would serve both as a foundation for wisdom and as a tool for social dialogue.
“I’m Riskin’ It”
TEACHERS TAKE ON CONSUMERISM
A counterad activity in the classroom in which students uncover the hidden messages of advertisements and reveal the effects and causes of believing everything they show and say would be a smart beginning to introduce critical literacy in our school environment. This will allow teachers and students to “become consciously aware of how media texts—specifically, advertisements—work” (Harste & Albers, 2013).
I want to base my comment on the statement “Educational policies ,the curriculum standars and a race to the top ,dictate and limit deeper connections and understanding of the worl in which we live by creating curriculum standars that often feel separate and descontextualized of individual lives” (gregg et all ,2012).
Are teachers who propose the curriculum and in its creation teachers rarelly take into account individual lives and just recently a few teachers are proposing to create a curriculum where teachers participate in literary events or propose to form “communities of practice “(Lave and wenger,1991).
I disagree wih the statement ” Educational policies limit deeper connections and understanding of the world”(Gregg et all 2012).
Are teachers who stablish deeper connections in their classrooms.
Based on Luz Elena’s point of view as for educational policies, I would like to say that one of the reasons why education tends to be stuck in traditional practices is precisely the existence of rigid policies which do not foster transformative action to emerge. No matter how innovative and committed to change teachers may be, the lack of flexibility inside educational institutions is still a barrier for new meaningful processes to take place. Academic authorities are expected to be the pioneers of change so that teachers get to count on autonomy, not just to transform curricula but also to implement contextualized and effective methods and strategies inside their classroom, according to the expected outcomes in both teaching and learning.
My comment is on regard to Street’s (2013) article on New literacy Studies: Language, ethnography and education. To answer Dr. Berry questions on the topic of New Literacies:
Since the beginning the term “literacy” was coined to refer to the process of how young children learn to read and in relation to “word recognition, phonics, spelling and vocabulary”(p.10).
When we talk of new literacies, we are not saying that we will be teaching new ways to read and wirite; new literacies refers to the way literacy is understood, not as a set of mechanical skills, but as a way of analyzing the world around us, and connecting literature, poetry, reading and writing to cognitive development and critical thinking.
Brian Street (2013) talks about how Literacy cannot be seen as a set of skills given neutrally and that are available to all. I think that it is vital today to think about literacy as an ever-changing aspect of society’s development, one that varies between contexts, between cultures. As Street states, literacy must be viewed with from an ideological model; ideological in the sense that literacy is seen as a social practice, where the ways how people see reading and writing are always “rooted in conceptions of knowledge, identity and being” (p.5) . In this sense, literacy is always tied to a specific way to understand the world, and as such, can be a weapon to undermine other literacies from other cultures, as for example, how western world literacies tend to overpower literacies from other parts of the world. Thus coining the term “multiple literacies”. When we take Literacy as only the ability to count or read, the definition falls short, when adults who are considered illiterate can and do count, and bring previous knowledge to the learning arena. Also function well in society, handling money, letters and other means of written communication.
In the past centuries, education has been empowered to guide and foster people’s cognitive, cultural and sociopolitical development. In this sense, it is supposed to trigger every individual’s potential, critical thinking and transformative action in the frame of meaningful learning environments. Nevertheless, the reality of most educational institutions reflects the lack of efficacy of pedagogies as for the development of pupils in all of their dimensions. Current teaching approaches seem to be decontextualized and obsolete before complex social processes and accelerated technological advancement which involve new types of relational habits as well as multiple interpretations of reality.
21st century educators are facing both a series of instructional challenges which emerge mostly inside the classrooms and external factors that have a strong influence on the way students interact with the world and with knowledge itself. One of them is mass media which exposes individuals to an unmeasurable amount of input coming from different sources, being TV and the internet the most privileged ones thanks to their easy accessibility and also to the great range of tools they provide. In consequence, teaching demands not only the existence of appropriate and pertinent curricula for enduring and meaningful learning to take place, but also a set of properly contextualized sociocultural practices which promote fair relationships among the agents of the educational processes, as well as their transformative participation in society as citizens who engage in social, political and cultural processes actively.
Such sociocultural practices depend on individual interpretations of the world which are permeated by beliefs, habits, and moral codes. However, regardless of the complexity of these practices, school and university curricula should involve them for students to have the possibility to move from theory to practice while they approach the world to truly understand it. One of the paramount types of social practices is literacy which leads individuals to question their beliefs about knowledge and the nature of knowledge through critical thinking and autonomy in settings where other people’s perspective is taken into account to favor pluriculturality, social dialogue and social construction. According to Giroux (2004), “Knowledge is about more than understanding; it is also about the possibilities of self-determination, individual autonomy and social agency.”
Unfortunately, critical literacy demands educators who are not just eager to innovate their everyday practice but also who assume the challenge of learning about literacy themselves. In other words, the incorporation of a critical curricula approached through literacy implies teacher qualification and teacher development in this field. The first step to be taken is the awareness of multiple discourses in society, which should be approached by means of meaningful tasks carried out through dynamic strategies aiming at getting the most out of students’ critical thinking. Critical literacy enables individuals to really understand and question social discourse in order to become more active citizens. As Janks (2010) states, “Awareness of discourses (such as consumerism) is the first step in social action.”
Undoubtedly, the implementation of critical literacy in curricula may appear to be quite a complex challenge due to the paradigm changes it involves. Nonetheless, simple teaching strategies concerning the analysis of graphic sources and the media, depending on students’ profile and proficiency level, will surely contribute to the revitalization of the class dynamics as well as to a meaningful interaction with the reality where educational processes take place.
As language teachers we should be updated on tendencies, approaches, methods or simply strategies that help us to improve our teaching practices and make them become meaningful for learners who are, at the same time, expected to develop their potential and personality in order to accomplish a role in our society. In this sense, this new paradigm of critical literacy to approach language teaching should be considered for teachers not only as a tool to be taught but also as a transversal attitude that allow us to establish relationships among people, school, education, society and culture.
The way some scholars have addressed the process of literacy has been changing since last decades; most of them see it as a “social practice” involving relations of power and justice. Others, as a pedagogy (Gregg) that can be taught and practiced in the classroom. However to talk about new literacies is most of all to talk about making a change in the way we make sense and represent, at the same time, our world. This vision of critical literacy as a social practice has made scholars as well to think “who is advantaged by the way things are and who is disadvantaged” (Comber, 2001), or “who profits?” (Street). In that sense, we realize that the so called crisis in our country such as failures on English communicative competence, for instance, is benefiting mostly the publishing industry. Therefore, new literacy studies is a call to read “the word and the world” (Freire), also to analyze how the system works and why it does it in that way.
Finally, there is an invitation for language teachers to integrate the world of our students, their contexts, and take them to the classroom. In that way, students can make sense of what are they learning for, and what can they do to change their reality and living conditions. Similarly, there is an invitation to consider students’ values, knowledge and practices that can connect the school with the real world and vice versa.
Luisa Zapata
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