Examining the “Social Turn” in Postsecondary Literacy Research and Instruction: A Retrospective View of JCRL Scholarship, 2005–2013

Abstract

This article describes the results of a research synthesis that analyzed more than 60 articles published in the Journal of College Reading and Learning (JCRL) between 2005 and 2013. The goal for the research was to gain understanding about the extent to which the social turn in literacy studies is impacting postsecondary pedagogy and research. One primary research question guided the study: What pedagogical practices are being emphasized to support the literacy learning and development of college-aged readers? A secondary question—What theoretical frameworks are being employed by postsecondary researchers to interpret and support study findings and conclusions?—was used to gain additional insight into the pedagogical trends identified in the dataset. Findings indicate that although JCRL regularly publishes articles that use social constructivist, social learning, and social cognitive theoretical frameworks to interpret data, the overall instructional focus conceptualizes literacy as an individual cognitive action and achievement, and acts of reading and writing typically are viewed as primarily text based.