Abstract
Literacy is a critically important and contemporary issue for educators, scientists, and politicians. Efforts to overcome the challenges associated with illiteracy, and the subsequent development of literate societies, are closely related to those of poverty reduction and sustainable human development. In this paper, the authors examine literacy from the lens of text and discourse theorists who focus on the higher-order comprehension processes involved in literacy. Discourse processing models make the assumption that comprehension emerges from the construction of a mental model of the text, which relies on the reader generating inferences to connect ideas within the text and to what the reader already knows. The article provides a broad overview of the theoretical models that drive research on text comprehension and production, as well as how this research shapes literacy instruction and effective interventions. The authors focus on two interventions with proven success in improving deep comprehension and writing, iSTART and the Writing Pal. Increasing literacy across the world call for a greater focus on theory driven strategy interventions to be integrated within classrooms and community at large.
Highlights
Correspondence regarding this article should be addressed to Kathryn S
We provide a broad overview of the theoretical models that drive research on text comprehension and production, as well as how this research shapes literacy instruction
We have recently argued that the information we have gleaned from years of research on the text comprehension process should be used to inform further research on writing (McNamara & Allen, 2018)
Summary
Correspondence regarding this article should be addressed to Kathryn S. The article provides a broad overview of the theoretical models that drive research on text comprehension and production, as well as how this research shapes literacy instruction and effective interventions. Literacy is a human right; it is key to achieving many developmental goals, be it improved nutrition and health, increased productivity and poverty reduction, enhanced political participation, empowerment of women, or sensitization to environmental issues. Underlying all of these benefits of literacy is perhaps the most critical aspect of literacy – it provides individuals the opportunity to learn and share information with others (Hanemann, 2015a, b). We conclude with a discussion of future directions regarding literacy interventions
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