Language As Social Practice Academic Essay Plan

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Language As Social PracticeAcademic Essay Plan
Language as social practice is learned as part of
the wider socio-cultural activities in which we
are engaged in, as we become members of our
families and communities. That is We learn to
do literacy as we learn how to behave and
belong in our families and communities. (Breen
et al. 1994) Discuss this statement in relation
to the concept of Discourse communities and the
socio-cultural approaches to language and
learning. How can these theoretical
understandings be applied to language and
learning in the context of schooling?
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Introduction

• What is language?
• Language is a form of behaviour that takes place
  in a social and cultural context. It is the
  communication of thoughts and feelings through
  speech, writing and gestures. Our use of language
  is adjusted to the situations and circumstances
  in which we find ourselves, and varies according
  to the different social and cultural groups in
  which we associate with. Language development is
  a continuous process, in which every child is
  engaged in the construction of the ability to
  mean (Halliday 1990).
• What is literacy?
• Literacy is an individuals ability to read,
  write and speak, compute and solve problems, at
  levels of proficiency necessary to function at
  work, in the family environment, and in society.
• The ideas of language development and literacy is
  explored in a variety of ways during the essay,
  and continually relates to the ideas proposed by
  theorists, such as Zygotsky and Halliday.
• The main themes throughout the essay are the
  concepts of Discourse communities and
  socio-cultural approaches to language and
  learning, and how these understandings can be
  applied in the context of schooling.

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Discourse Communities

• What is a Discourse community?
• A group of people who share a set of common
  goals, and use communication, that of, thinking,
  feeling, believing, and valuing, to achieve these
  goals. Discourse communities often share similar
  beliefs, values and interests which can be seen
  throughout their meaning making systems.
• How do you become a member of a Discourse
  community?
• In order to become a member or insider of a
  Discourse community, awareness of the particular
  language situation must be acquired. The
  outsider needs to be empowered of the social
  and cultural practices of that Discourse
  community.
• What are some examples of Discourse communities?
• Some Discourse communities that we may associate
  with include, family, school, work, sporting
  groups, and social and cultural groups. For
  example, the Aboriginal culture are a common
  example of a Discourse community, as clearly
  their socio-cultural background ultimately
  influences their language development.

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How do teachers apply the concept of Discourse
communities to schooling?

• The role of the school is to recognise the
  culture or language that the child brings form
  home while at the same time introducing the child
  to the Discourse of mainstream society, to
  enable all children the chance to be insiders
  (Green 2000).
• When applying the concept of Discourse
  communities to schooling, research has shown that
  students benefit when teachers draw on community
  knowledge (Nelson 2001).
• The outsider needs to be empowered of the
  social and cultural practices of that Discourse
  community.

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Socio-cultural approaches to language and learning

• Social and cultural approaches to language and
  learning emphasise the dependence of, both the
  social and individual processes, in the
  construction of knowledge.
• Some socio-cultural approaches to language and
  learning include techniques such as
• Scaffolding
• Modelling
• The Zone of Proximal Development
• The Teaching Learning cycle

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How do teachers apply these approaches to
language development and literacy in the context
of schooling?

• By building on the childs current knowledge
• Providing a model of more advanced language
  production that the child can copy for future use
• Through use of demonstrations and visual
  representations
• Engaging students to build a shared pool of
  knowledge with other students (Love et al)
• By getting students to reflect on their learning
  process (Love et al)
• Teachers need to provide positive feedback to
  students, in a way that keeps their motivation
  levels high and keeps the child stimulated

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Conclusion

• Discourse communities and socio-cultural
  approaches to language and learning, are used in
  the context of schooling to assist students in
  their development of language, and ultimately to
  enhance their literacy skills.
• It is apparent that children bring a number of
  diverse language and literacy skills to school,
  that is, from what theyve learnt through
  acquiring knowledge from their families and
  communities, through trial and error, life
  experiences, and attaining commonsense knowledge.
  
• Language development is a continuous process in
  which every child is engaged in, it is the
  construction and ability to mean (Halliday
  1990).

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References

• Halliday, M 1990, Three aspects of childrens
  development, in Oral and written language
  development impact on schools, Goodman, Y (ed.),
  International Reading Association and National
  Council of Teachers, pp.7-19.
• Love, K, Pigdon, K Baker, G, with Hamston, J,
  2002, BUILT building understandings in literacy
  and teaching, 2nd edn. CD-ROM. University of
  Melbourne Melbourne.
• Nelson, G 2001, Ways with community knowledge,
  PEN, Vol. 128, pp.1-8.
• Diaz, CJ 2001, Multilingual literacies in the
  primary classroom making the connections, PEN,
  Vol. 130, pp.1-8.