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Name: Peta Jinnath Andersen

Subject: ETL411
Due Date: 5.1.15 (extension request granted)
Literacy is a key component of any educational setting: it is a necessity of communication,
particularly when viewed as a collection of modalities including but not limited to aural, oral, and
written traditions. In Literacies, Kalantzis and Cope take the approach that written language has
become the primary mode of communication and that the written word has primacy over its spoken
counterpart (logocentrism vs. ethnocentrism). Further, they argue that spoken language is a necessary
literacy which has been increasingly ignored by the current educational system, but which has much
commonality with the multimodal literacies required for success in the modern workplace (Kalantzis
and Cope, 2012); as such, they recommend approaches which allow for students to be better groomed
for their ultimate work scenarios. In short, literacy is important because it teaches students to
communicate and transmit information effectively; having a range of literacies at ones disposal
increases a students effectiveness across a greater gamut of scenarios (Kalantzis and Cope, 2012).
In considering the teaching of English as a language and a system of communication, it is important to
consider the multitude of ways in which humans express themselves and their potential psychological
interactions. Language cannot be taught in a vacuum; Saussures system of difference and Nietzsches
idea of language as an agreed upon collection of metaphors have implications in any classroom
scenario. Why does this word mean what Mrs. Plato says it means? Why is a report structured in the
way Mrs. Derecho demonstrated? In teaching literacy and language, the educator teaches students to
recognise and interpret agreed upon societal and linguistic norms1. Such recognition and
interpretation allows students to move fluidly between the range of languages used in the everyday2
(Bakhtin, 1935) , which correlate to the way in which Kalantzis and Cope define literacies. This is in
line with Deweys authentic approach, wherein he considered:
language as a social, purposeful thing rather than something that was abstract and formal. The
most effective language learning involved students having something to say rather than having to say
something (Dewey, in Kalantzis and Cope, 2012, Kindle Location 2200).

This allows the English educator greater latitude in embedding cultural diversification and discussion in the classroom.
Case in point: during my practicum, the Year 10 Othello unit allowed for discussion of race in Australia and the US and
recent events in Ferguson, Missouri.
2 As

per Bakhtins concepts of heteroglossia and polyphony, in which there is a multitude of languages possessed and spoken
by every individual, some of which interact on a horizontal level, and some on a vertical (top-down) level (Bakhtin, 1935).
Horizontal language use may include sibling-to-sibling or friend-to-friend within a given context, while vertical language
most often describes political or governmental usages and controls. Specific field jargon may also be considered horizontal
the language of the civil engineer paralleled with the language of the architect or medic.

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In chapters 3-6 of the set text, Kalantzis and Cope set out four approaches to literacy learning:
didactic, authentic, functional, and critical. Although the necessity of multiple literacies and
approaches thereto may seem immediately apparent to the twenty-first century educator, it is the
advent of modern technologies that has driven growth in the field (Kalantzis and Cope, 2012); the
primacy of the written word over the spoken one remains an ongoing theoretical debate in other
academic circles.

Fig 1.1: Literacies, represented in a similar fashion to Bakhtins concept of heteroglossialiteracies listed here are
necessary to navigating the world at large. (Kalantzis and Cope, 2012, Kindle Location 870)

Within the modern English classroom, however, the above-listed approaches are necessary to the
successful teaching of language; unlike other subjects, in which language use and ability may be
secondary to another type of learning, English requires the study and implementation of language as a
whole, in such a way that the learner is functionally literate and capable outside of a school setting. In
such language and literacy teaching, however, there is more at stake than word usage: it is in the
English classroom that students stand the best chance of becoming culturally aware and engaged, able
to interact with the languages surrounding them in both a vertical and horizontal manner3. Some of
this interactivity is seen in the embedding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in the
classroom4.
In presenting their interpretation of didactic and authentic approaches to literacies, the authors discuss
the use of two styles of phonics (synthetic and analytic), the teaching of reading, and the basics of
sentence and language unit construction. While they make clear the flaws in didactic and authentic
approaches to literacy learning and reading/construction, they do not suggest an alternate viewpoint,
but rather move on to contrast this specific subject matter with higher order literacy activities in their
chapters on functional and critical approaches to literacy. As such, there is an uneven weighting in the
authors discussion of student learning and experience, and I feel they neglect the use of didactic
modelling in higher order activities; although not student-centric, some use of a didactic approach
may provide students with a scaffold and help less independent learners move outside their comfort
zone.

See EATSIPS for further information: http://indigenous.education.qld.gov.au/eatsips/Pages/default.aspx

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Of the approaches discussed in the set text, the three I have found most useful within the classroom
are didactic, authentic, and functional5. Authentic and functional approaches are student-centric and
discovery-led, with outcomes which can be individualised such that learning programs are more likely
to address a students specific needs. They are also suited to adaptation with Blooms taxonomy.
Using my interpretation of these approaches to literacy in the text, I have developed a unit activity to
encourage the development of multimodal literacies in the lower SES Year 9 and Year 10 classroom.
The activity design draws on Graves idea that children:
must choose their own topic in order to gain a sense of ownership. From this starting point, the
writing process has a driving force called voice. Writing in the classroom is conceived, not as a
matter of learning and correctly applying conventions, but as a number of steps (Graves, in Kalantzis
and Cope, 2012, Kindle Location 2163).

Functional Approach
Modelling: joint &
independent construction
Text purpose
Text stages
Structure and function

Blooms
Taxonomy
Remember
Understand
Apply
Analyse
Evaluate
Create

Authentic Approach
Content/what learners need
to know
Natural learning/learning to
mean
Individualised learning
Generating motivation
Valuing authenticity
Learning for modern world

Fig 1.2 Adapted from Kalantzis and Cope, chapters 3-4.

At the end of the term, students articles will be collected and printed in a class magazine. As such,
students will undergo multiple revisions and pre-writing and research techniques.

In my personal experience, a critical approach, while helpful, has been of lesser use in implementing English learning in
the middle grades; when teaching Senior English and English Extension, a critical approach has been successfully
implemented.

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Curriculum Units: Memoir/Celebrities, multi-pronged approach, Year 9 English learners within a
public school. The majority of students are in low socioeconomic bands (low SES), with little access
to computers outside of school, though most possess smartphones; those who do not have access to
smartphones outside school.
Term-Long Unit Activity: In week one, students are presented with a set of celebrities across a
variety of fields, such as Music, Fashion, and Sports. They may pick oneor two, if the persons are
linked (such as by marriage)to research in order to produce three pieces of work over the course of
the term. This is in conjunction with the memoir and interview units in Years 9 and 10. Students will
be sorted into hi-lo6 groups.
Proposed work pieces:
feature article detailing the effect the celebrity in question has had on their industry/their life/why
the given students demographic is interested in said celebrity;
student-created booklet identifying certain grammatical and structural features used within the
pieces researched;
presentation to other students expanding on a chosen grammatical or structural feature uncovered
during the research process.
Although not strictly a worked piece, students will also be asked to turn in copies of their research
periodically such that the teacher may assess strong and weak areas within the students approach.
This will, in turn, influence the teachers creation of appropriate scaffolds.
Literacies used:
written
oral/presentation
aural/interpretation
social networking/personal communications/polls
Teacher provided material and scaffolds:
Although authentic, functional, and critical approaches to literacy, in conjunction with discovery and
student-led learning, have been linked to positive outcomes (Kalantzis and Cope, 2012) they fail to
address the needs of the teacher dealing with rubrics presented by the extant educational system.
Conversely, a didactic approach to literacy addresses the needs of the rubric and the teacher without
addressing the needs of the student. In order to bridge this gap, a set of scaffolds within the
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Hi-lo groups: groups in which more independent and competent learners are placed alongside less independent and
competent learners. Such grouping allows the independent learner to help drive the less competent learners knowledge
acquisition while also cementing the formers learning (Dunne, 2007).

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parameters set by the teacher will be prepared and presented. To promote authentic and functional
literacy approaches, such scaffolds will use textual features to codify key information in such a way
the student is drawn to it without the student realising he/she is being led to identify important facts
and/or features. Although creating such scaffolds may initially be time-intensive, the likelihood of
repeated use in ensuing years negates the higher time investment.
Examples of scaffold inspiration:
In creating scaffolds, the teacher will use a functional approach, using visual and font techniques from
media students commonly interact with to draw attention to key information. In this way, the educator
allows the student to focus and imbibe metalanguage in an organic way7. This may include the use of
graphics, captions, and call outs, differences in font and illustration placement, and the use of bold or
italics to highlight different sources within a given text. (Later, students may be taught to identify
these techniques while using numeracy skills; for the purposes of this unit, however, the key is to
draw the students attention in a more subtle, functional way.) Edited videos and radio interviews/
other aural sources may be used. Depending on topic, social networking polls and personal
communications may be used.

Fig 1.3: Visual layout and textual use to draw attention to key information in a text. Such use helps
students identify key comprehension points independently while also allowing the educator to
effectively lead them to the required material.
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This presentation of information also has commonality with the use of extensive reading in EFL teaching: students learn to
glean functional information first, then read more intensively for necessary detail (International TEFL Academy, n.d.).

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Fig 1.3 continued. The magazines chosen focus on a celebrity or celebrity adjacent idea. (See
bibliography for sources.)

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Reasoning:
In teaching this unit, didactic, authentic, and functional approaches to literacies are used in
conjunction with multimodalities. Rather than the teacher taking a didactic approach, however, the
student is encouraged to do so in their presentation. This cements the students role as learner-inaction while implementing Dewey and Montessoris early visions of authentic learning. In
conjunction with Murray and Graves idea of process writing, this activity uses one broad parameter
and allows students to focus and unearth skills by drawing connections independently.
Piece 1: a feature article detailing the effect the celebrity in question has had on their industry/
their life/why the given students demographic is interested in said celebrity.
gives students the opportunity to engage with a variety of texts within the memoir genre and
consider their own mode of interpretation.
provides local context and knowledge, while encouraging the student to engage with material in
which they are interested within the authentic approach.
In using provided information scaffolds, students develop a functional eye through which they can
consider how to best present own material, in line with the set texts statement that:
In functional literacy, there is a lot of reading, but it is not reading by itself - it is reading closely
interconnected with writing. The students are looking for language patterns and choices as well as
developing content knowledge through their readings that they can use in their own written
texts (Kalantzis and Cope, Kindle Location 2460).

Piece 2: a student-created booklet identifying certain grammatical and structural features used
within the pieces researched.
combines didactic, authentic, and functional approaches:
using available texts and scaffolds, student is asked to analyse a text and derive meaning from
features.
Shorter, in-lesson didactic segments which clearly identify phrases/clauses/comma usage etc.
provide a grounding for students to begin identifying such features
helps grant importance to said feature while also allowing the student to see use in a text in which
students are interested, combining functional and authentic approaches.
Piece 3: a presentation to other students expanding on a chosen grammatical or structural
feature uncovered during the research process.
purely didactic in nature
with student in the role of educator, student is able to cement learning and build confidence
learning will carry over to his or her use of language features in later assessment items.

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Bibliography:
Bakhtin, M. M. (1935). Discourse in the novel. The Novel: an Anthology of Criticism and Theory
19002000, 481-510.
Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (Eds.). (2000). Multiliteracies: Literacy learning and the design of social
futures. Psychology Press.
Dunne, M., Humphreys, S., Sebba, J., Dyson, A., Gallannaugh, F., & Muijs, D. (2007). Effective
teaching and learning for pupils in low attaining groups.
Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2010). Chapter 1. Scaffolds for Learning: The Key to Guided
Instruction. Chapter 1: Guided instruction how to develop confident and successful learners ().
Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).
Kalantzis, M., & Cope, B. (2012). Literacies. Cambridge University Press. Kindle edition.
Ma Rhea, Z., Anderson, P., & Atkinson, B. (2012). Improving teaching in Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander education: Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. Australian Institute for Teaching
and School Leadership, Melbourne. Prepared in partnership with Monash University. ISBN, 978-0.
Nietzsche, F. On Truth and Lying in a Non-Moral Sense. (2001) The Norton Anthology of Theory and
Criticism. Norton, 2001. 870-884. Print.
Nietzsche, F. (1887) On The Genealogy of Morals.. Trans. Kaufmann, W. (1969). Random House,
1969. 12-13. Print.
Saussure, F. (2001) General Course in Linguistics. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism.
Norton. pp 956-977. Print.
EATSIPS: http://indigenous.education.qld.gov.au/eatsips/Pages/default.aspx
(2010). English Senior Syllabus. Queensland Studies Authority. Retrieved from https://
www.qsa.qld.edu.au/11703.html

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Magazine Sources, Fig 1.3:
N.A. (2015, January). Jacqui Lambie: The Single Mum Dividing a Nation. The Australian Womens
Weekly, 26-33.
N.A. (2015, January). Nissan 370Z Nismo. Motor, 20-21.
Bentman, J. (2015, January). Rocky Mountain High. Australian Motorcycle News, 66-76.
N.A. (2015, January). Hot Shots. New Weekly, 3-6.
N.A. (2015, January). Even Stars Have Bad Angles. New Weekly, 40-41.

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