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Philosophy on literacy
Literacy journey essay
Literacy journey essay
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The Intricate Journey of Literacy
Literacy is a very intriguing topic; it seems simple yet it is so vast and complex that it takes some people their whole lives to understand it. If I say the phrase ‘Discourse Community’ most people in a random selection from the population would just stare at me waiting for me to finish my sentence, as they would not understand the gravity of the phrase. A discourse community is a group with similar interests that uses communication and other devices together to expand their knowledge of a subject and accomplish goals. Readers from a young age do not understand the fact that they are contributing to their community before they even know of its existence. By communicating to their teacher that they are having issues with a certain area and that this type of learning helped them to understand it, their teacher can then reiterate to the community what the issue was and how it was resolved so that
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People learn in a multitude of different ways and at a large variety of paces. Because at a young age everyone is just starting to figure out what style of learning works best for them and also at what pace they learn best, and not everyone is going to be the same. Some people are going to be way ahead of others while others are going to be a few steps behind, and those who are a few steps behind are sometimes seen as incompetent when that isn’t the issue. The issue is that their learning style and pace are different than those in the class and that they need more time to be able to learn what they’re being taught but the teacher has twenty some other students to teach and does not have the time to wait. Each and every persons learning style is as unique as they are and everyone needs to understand
My literacy journey commenced at a young age. My story begins with the typical bed time stories and slowly progresses into complex novels. Some points in my literacy journey have made me admire the written word but other times literacy frustrated me. These ups and downs within my story have made me the person I am today. My parents noticed that my reading was not up to par with other children in kindergarten and I was diagnosed with mild dyslexia at the age of five. My parents provided me a reading mentor named Mrs. Mandeville who has shaped my literacy journey in many ways. Events in my childhood have shaped my literacy in various ways.
Writing is a form of communication that has changed over the years, whether that is the way it is used or the meaning it has for some people. In the generation that I grew up in, writing has been around in many different ways, such as texting or instant messaging friends. I remember using Facebook at an early age and communicating with my friends and family through a different form of writing. Compared to my elders, the way they were taught and the way they used their writing has changed immensely. Since I grew up in a newer generation than them, my writing experience has been partially different in a good way. My literacy narrative will reflect that difference.
In this paper, James Paul Gee states his opinion on the definition of literacy. He begins by redefining the word “discourse” and uses it frequently throughout the paper. Gee defines discourse as a group that you are socially linked to through your actions and thoughts. This group defines who you are in society. He then uses the beginning of his paper to continue explaining “discourses”. The main points he covers are that discourses are defined by history and culture and therefore, change through time. Also, he explains that one is involved in many different discourses. This might cause one to break rules or understandings of one discourse to align with a dissimilar one.
In the chapter “What is Literacy?,” Gee (1998) attempts to define “literacy.” To do so, he first defines and discusses the term “discourse.” According to Gee, discourse is “a socially accepted association among ways of using language, of thinking, and of acting that can be used to identify oneself as a member of a socially meaningful group or ‘social network’” (p. 1). He then elaborates on his definition: 1. discourses contain values, viewpoints, and ideologies; 2.) discourses mark one as an insider; therefore, they resist internal criticism and self-scrutiny—only outside discourse can scrutinize and criticize it; 3. discourse-defined positions oppose contradictory discourses; 4. in proposing its values, viewpoints, and ideologies, a discourse will inevitably marginalize other discourses; 5. discourses relate directly to the social power hierarchy; some discourses are socially dominant (p. 2).
My ongoing journey of literacy began in 1993. I was four years old. The memories I have of my first few years of school is very blurred, as they happened over twenty years ago. However, these early years of my life is where I believe my literacy journey began to take form.
Discourse communities and literacy sponsors are very useful terms to know while in college reading and writing in order to understand and finish the course. This paper is a great example as a whole on why these two terms are indeed useful, without them this paper could not have been written. Everyone is involved somehow with a discourse community and literacy sponsor so it is always good to understand what these things are that you are involved with and how to notice them in college reading and writing along with the world.
It was finally time to head to gym class in the afternoon where we were instructed to take part of a physical test. This test would determine how fit or unfit we are based on a system that was implemented by those with greater authority, on which concluded that it was on such a scale society should be based on. So it was that afternoon that I preformed the tasks that were instructed on to me and my peers. I was able to completed them to my utmost potential which can be consider to be something not so distinctive. It was on this day that I was mocked by one my peers of my lack of ability to preform the instructed physical tasks, that was a no brainer to such a fit individual like himself. It
As a child, I have always been fond of reading books. My mother would read to me every single night before I went to bed and sometimes throughout the day. It was the most exciting time of the day when she would open the cabinet, with what seemed to be hundreds of feet tall, of endless books to choose from. When she read to me, I wanted nothing more than to read just like her. Together, we worked on reading every chance we had. Eventually I got better at reading alone and could not put a book down. Instead of playing outside with my brothers during the Summer, I would stay inside in complete silence and just read. I remember going to the library with my mom on Saturdays, and staying the entire day. I looked forward to it each and every week.
Throughout my childhood, the idea of having a college education was greatly stressed. As a result, it was my duty as the next generational child, to excel in my studies and achieve a life of prosperity and success. Learning became the basic foundation of my growth. Therefore, my youth was overtaken by many hours spent reading and writing what was known to be correct "Standard" English. I first found this to be a great shortcoming, but as I grew older, I began to realize the many rewards acquired by having the ability to be literate.
Developing as a writer is an important skill you need for the rest of your life. My papers have not been the greatest but they do reflect me as a writer. I chose to revise the works that I thought I worked hard on and did my best to get my point across in a neat and consistent manner. The papers I chose were the literacy narrative, the synthesis essay, and the argument essay. I thought these papers really reflected how I have grown as a writer and developed better writing skills.
The story of my history as a writer is a very long one. My writing has come full circle. I have changed very much throughout the years, both as I grew older and as I discovered more aspects of my own personality. The growth that I see when I look back is incredible, and it all seems to revolve around my emotions. I have always been a very emotional girl who feels things keenly. All of my truly memorable writing, looking back, has come from experiences that struck a chord with my developing self. This assignment has opened my eyes, despite my initial difficulty in writing it. When I was asked to write down my earliest memory of writing, at first I drew a blank. All of a sudden, it became very clear to me, probably because it had some childhood trauma associated with it.
Literature is a key component when speaking of literacy. Teachers need to provide students with endless amounts of practice experiences in reading to build their fluency rate. This should be done with different genres of texts and different levels. Reading a wide variety of literature help children develop rich vocabularies.
My relationship with literacy began when I started elementary school and that was the first starting point of my positive relationship with literacy. I really started to grow as a reader and writer throughout my middle school and high school years. Throughout my years of going to school I had many positive experiences that shaped my view of literacy today. My literacy skills have also enhanced throughout my educational years.
It was not until I found My Spark Like most people, my literacy skills began to develop when I was a young child. My first memories of learning literacy skills started with the typical bedtime stories by my parents. The growth continued to expand even more when I got to school and teachers molded my style and shape literacy skills of reading and writing. I believe that the reason I developed my literacy skills was that of need and not of want. Anyone who wants to be successful needs to know how to write and read. I became aware of this at a very early age, but my procrastination and my drive were lacking. I learned that it was necessitated write, even when it felt like a punishment. I passed my classes and graduated high school. It was evident that I am compelled
As a teacher, you need to encourage all attempts at reading, writing, speaking, and allowing children to experience the different functions and use of literacy activity (The Access Center, n.d.). Moreover, it is crucial for educators to understand phonological awareness and phonics; know what constitutes good children’s literature and how to use it; know children who need additional assistance with beginning reading and writing (Cunningham et al, 2004 as cited in McLachlan et al, 2013, p. 112). Educators also need to plan effective activities to assist children experience reading aloud, listening to other children read aloud, listening to tape recordings, and videotapes so children have opportunities to integrate and extend their literacy knowledge (The Access Center, n.d.). Morrow (1990 as cited in The Access Center, n.d.) notes that classroom with greater teacher facilitation promote literacy behaviours, so it is educators’ role to provide literacy rich