Disciplinary Literacy Research Articles

Controversial Public Issues Discussion: A Vehicle for Disciplinary Literacy in Civics

This article describes the experience of five high school seniors in a discussion-based, Advanced Placement Government course, in which the teacher of the course frequently implemented controversial public issues (CPI) discussions. By analyzing the ways in which students experienced CPI discussion in their government classroom, the author seeks to better understand the ways in which discussion strategies support the aims of disciplinary literacy in civics. Overall, the discussion-based strategies were successful in supporting the development of disciplinary literacy in civics; however, more intentional connections between CPI discussion and the aims of disciplinary literacy may further enhance the effectiveness of this practice.

Developing Emergent Bilinguals’ Science and Engineering Disciplinary Literacy with Targeted Language and Developmental Scaffolds

Developing Emergent Bilinguals’ Science and Engineering Disciplinary Literacy with Targeted Language and Developmental Scaffolds

Vastasaapuneiden oppilaiden tiedonalakohtaisten lukutaitojen arviointi: Kielididaktinen näkökulma oppimisen tukeen

The purpose of preparatory education is to familiarise newly arrived pupils with the language of instruction and the school system so that they achieve the skills needed in attending basic education. In this paper, we introduce and examine an assessment tool, “Valu”, designed to assess newly arrived pupils’ disciplinary literacy skills in Finnish in this critical phase. We analyse assessment data and our observations from the first piloting round of the tool, to gain understanding about how primary school pupils’ literacy can be assessed in Finnish language and literature, and mathematics, and about the support the pupils need in completing the tasks. Our findings highlight the importance of teachers’ interactionist support, even though the pupils show signs of learning how to utilise the interventionist support within the Valu tool. Newly arrived pupils studying Finnish language and literature, and mathematics can be supported by recognising what kind of support they need and where.

SOME IMPORTANT ASPECTS USED IN ENHANCING STUDENTS’ PROFICIENCY WHILE TEACHING SPECIALIZED ENGLISH

The teaching of specialized English encompasses a multifaceted approach that integrates the four fundamental language competences - writing, speaking, reading, and listening - within the context of specific professional domains. This article synthesizes the most important aspects in teaching specialized English, elucidating the significance of genre-based instruction, authentic materials, task-based learning, and formative assessment in fostering language proficiency and disciplinary literacy. Drawing upon theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence, we delineate pedagogical strategies and approaches that empower learners to navigate the complexities of language use within specialized domains with confidence and competence. Knowledge of specialized English is an indispensable tool for people who want to excel in various professional fields, where effective communication is essential for success. That is why teachers should analyze thoroughly the students’ level of English and provide them with necessary information and authentic materials in order to develop their skills and help them become high quality specialists in their domains.

The Collaborative Development of an Online Planning Tool for Teachers in Norway: Study Protocol for DigUp

Instructional planning is acknowledged as an important factor influencing the quality of classroom teaching. DigUp is a Research and Innovation in the Public Sector project which has received funding from the Research Council of Norway. Using a design-based research methodology, the objectives of DigUp are to design, trial, optimise and disseminate an online, didactic planning tool for teachers and to investigate how teachers use and experience the digital planning tool. The innovation part of the project has been developed in a close collaboration between researchers and practitioners in primary and lower secondary school. It applies perspectives from backward design, inquiry-based learning and disciplinary literacy. A combination of quantitative and qualitative data has been collected, providing the empirical basis for a research-based online tool that supports teachers in their planning. This protocol paper presents the background, design process and future research plan for the project.

Teachers' perceptions of disciplinary literacy: A critical discourse analysis

Teachers' perceptions of disciplinary literacy: A critical discourse analysis

Disciplinary Literacy as Curricular and Instructional Practice in Music Teacher Education

Disciplinary literacy focuses on subject-specific practices, vocabulary, and texts for P–12 students to better understand, interpret, and apply their knowledge within a discipline. This type of literacy invites students to actively take up the roles and processes established in the content area. Early experiences are essential in shaping preservice teachers’ understandings about disciplinary literacy; yet, few opportunities exist for learning about disciplinary literacy as an instructional approach, particularly from a musical and sociocultural perspective. In this article, I explore disciplinary literacy as curricular and instructional practice in music teacher education. First, I outline competing views of literacy and define disciplinary literacy in music education. Then, I provide examples of disciplinary literacy—through projects, assignments, and instructional techniques—to support preservice teachers in their development and generation of lessons and curriculum. Within these examples, I propose recommendations for music teacher educators as they cultivate positive, sustainable experiences for disciplinary literacy instruction.

Columns: Teaching Multilingual Learners: Disciplinary Literacy Is for Multilingual Learners, Too! Drawing on Linguistic Knowledge for Meaning-Making with Texts

Teacher educators offer insights about supporting multilingual learners’ meaning-making with texts by leveraging their linguistic resources through the disciplinary literacy moves of generating, weaving, and cultivating.

Functional linguistics in life: an embodied approach in teacher education

Abstract Pedagogies developed from systemic functional linguistics are seen as valuable in supporting diverse students in both mainstream and language classrooms. Over the past decade, SFL also became a crucial component in teacher education programs particularly in the North American context, as it advances teachers’ knowledge of language and curriculum design focusing on the development of disciplinary literacy of minoritized multilingual learners. Drawing from data collected in a year-long classroom ethnographic study in the Southeastern U.S., this paper explores (1) how a range of embodied inquiry activities were designed as an integral part of a teacher education curriculum and (2) how these activities created entry points for diverse pre-service teachers and the teacher educator to grapple with functional linguistics and critically engage with their language use in everyday lives. Data analysis includes theory-informed thematic analysis and a mediated approach towards participants’ material-discursive trajectories across spatial and historical contexts. Findings show the affordances of using embodied activities to support teachers in making sense of key constructs from SFL in relation to their own lived experiences and cultural epistemologies. Implications point to the significance of innovative, culturally sustaining approaches toward both the teaching and use of SFL as well as the need for continued critical reflections and actions in changing classroom contexts.

Specialized Knowledge, Text-Based Discussion, and Preparing Elementary Teachers for Disciplinary Literacy in English Language Arts Classrooms

ABSTRACT Text-based discussion is a form of disciplinary literacy that engages students in collaboratively building understanding of texts. It is a form of instruction that benefits students’ reading comprehension, but is rarely used in classrooms, despite its potential. This rarity may be because facilitating discussion requires teachers to have specialized knowledge of text. Specifically, teachers must understand how authors use discipline-specific text features and language patterns to convey meaning and how readers notice and evaluate these aspects of texts as they build textual understandings. This mixed methods study adopts a convergent-parallel design to investigate the effects of a 14-week intervention on pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) acquisition of specialized knowledge and its application to text-based discussions conducted with students in field placements. Findings suggest that the intervention improved PSTs’ specialized knowledge and that teachers felt more prepared for their discussions after applying their knowledge when planning discussions. However, even at the end of the intervention, PSTs continued to demonstrate gaps in their specialized knowledge, which influenced their ability to lead text-based discussions. The findings have implications for teacher educators attempting to prepare novice teachers for text-based discussions.

The integration of virtual reality-enhanced multimodal meaning-making improves knowledge acquisition and disciplinary literacy development in science classrooms

The integration of virtual reality-enhanced multimodal meaning-making improves knowledge acquisition and disciplinary literacy development in science classrooms

Language, disciplinarity and identity: an autoethnography of an international interdisciplinary doctoral student

PurposeWhile higher education has been encouraging interdisciplinary research, few studies have been conducted to understand how interdisciplinarity shapes the identity construction of scholars, especially doctoral students who may already strive to socialize into academia.Design/methodology/approachTherefore, this study adopts the approach of autoethnography to analyze my lived experience of developing disciplinary literacy and constructing interdisciplinary identity as a Chinese international doctoral student at a North American university. Communication theory of identity (CTI) is the theoretical framework through which I understand the negotiation among my personal, enacted, relational and communal identities while communicating my research through diverse literacy practices.FindingsThis autoethnography reveals that interdisciplinary doctoral students can flexibly use discursive resources from different disciplines and literacy practices in both English and their first language to dynamically create interdisciplinary identities communicable to different discourse communities. Their identities in different disciplines can develop simultaneously, rather than suppressing one for the development of the other as they do interdisciplinary research.Originality/valueThis study first extends current scholarly discussion of disciplinary literacy to a less-investigated setting, i.e. doctoral education in higher education. Second, it adds an additive and current layer of interdisciplinarity to the existing understanding of international doctoral students’ identity construction. Third, it helps to understand how the development of disciplinary literacy can facilitate disciplinary identity construction and how disciplinary identity construction can facilitate the development of disciplinary literacy.

Form, criticality, and humanity: topic modeling the field of literary studies for English education

PurposeResearch on disciplinary literacy in English has struggled with how to represent large-scale disciplinary communities and consider issues of justice and power. The purpose of this study is to offer insights into the disciplinary practice of a community of literary scholars.Design/methodology/approachUsing statistical topic modeling augmented with complementary qualitative analysis and interpretive rhetorical analysis, the authors describe patterns in a corpus of 4,039 articles published in the year 2018 and drawn from 215 peer-reviewed literary journals, a corpus comprising 15.5 million words.FindingsAnalysis suggests that contemporary literary scholars collectively build knowledge that considers diverse matters of form, including literary and linguistic forms, literary works and other representational forms; criticality, including critical theories and critical concepts; and humanity, including humanistic themes, human institutions and people/places.Originality/valueThis manuscript offers detail about the nature of contemporary literary scholarship as evident through linguistic patterns in and across published works.

Enhancing Bilingual/ESL Teachers’ STEM Instruction with Targeted Content and Disciplinary Literacy Professional Development: A Study on Knowledge and Practice Outcomes

Background: The increasing presence of English learners (ELs) in U.S. schools underscores the need for effective instructional strategies tailored to their diverse needs, especially in STEM subjects. Previous research primarily focused on self-reported teacher knowledge and specific curricular programs, often neglecting the integration of content and language knowledge. The study aimed to evaluate the impact of a professional development (PD) program aligned with a previously reported teacher training knowledge framework aimed at improving bilingual/ESL teachers’ subject matter knowledge (SMK), pedagogical knowledge (PK), and disciplinary literacy knowledge (DLK). Methods: This study employed a quasi-experimental design involving 30 teachers in three cohorts, each experiencing different levels of subject matter and disciplinary literacy knowledge. The program was assessed over four time points using multiple-choice tests on math and science knowledge and an instructional strategy rubric to evaluate teaching quality. Results: Significant improvements were observed in both content knowledge and instructional quality across all cohorts, with the greatest gains in cohorts that started the PD with a focus on SMK. Teachers’ understanding of disciplinary literacy and its integration with subject matter knowledge significantly enhanced their teaching effectiveness. Conclusions: The findings suggest that structured PD programs that integrate disciplinary literacy with content knowledge effectively enhance teacher professional knowledge and classroom practices. Starting PD with a strong focus on content knowledge prepares teachers to better apply disciplinary literacy strategies, thereby supporting more effective instruction for ELs. Implications: This study highlights the importance of considering the sequence of professional learning and the integration of content and disciplinary literacy strategies in PD programs. Future PD efforts should focus on these elements to maximize the impact on teacher development and student outcomes in bilingual/ESL settings.

A Study on the Methods of Cultivating Literacy in Secondary School History under Disciplinary Literacy

A Study on the Methods of Cultivating Literacy in Secondary School History under Disciplinary Literacy

Doing critical disciplinary literacies in teacher education: A pedagogical framework

Doing critical disciplinary literacies in teacher education: A pedagogical framework

Deconstructing the Richness of Understanding the Nature of Language, Learning, and Social Change: A Journey Through SFL Action Research for Teachers in Pursuit of a Multilingual Equity Agenda

This essential volume, edited by Meg Gebhard, illustrates how K-12 teachers use Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) and action research to support the development of disciplinary literacy among diverse learners in high-stakes school reform contexts. With contributions from teachers, teacher educators, and researchers, this book empowers teachers to be agents of change in their schools by designing and implementing of curricula, instruction, and assessment that build on students' cultural and linguistic knowledge. This book provides a framework, tools and resources for teaching and supporting multilingual students and ELLs through case studies and contexts. This book aims to improve teachers' professional practice through critical SFL pedagogy and to support teachers in combating racist and xenophobic (anti-immigrant) rhetoric by contributing to their schools' equality agenda.

“We don’t have it in my mother tongue”

This study explores the experiences and evolving stance of a newly arrived adolescent student, Hamid, regarding the use of his first language as a tool for learning in the transition from introduction classes to vocational education and training (VET). The article is based on fieldnotes and interviews from a larger linguistic ethnographic fieldwork and draws on a critical sociolinguistic framework. It reveals that while Hamid initially intended to distance himself from his first language upon transitioning to the mainstream school system, it ultimately emerges as an indispensable linguistic capital for navigating the language and literacy practices of VET. Such a finding challenges prevailing educational policy and practice in Norway, which prioritizes linguistic scaffolding based on students’ first language(s) only at the outset of their educational trajectories and assumes its diminishing relevance over time spent in the country. In the analysis, Bourdieu's (1977) concept of capital is employed as a conceptual lens to interpret Hamid’s experiences and reflections. Furthermore, the study considers how scaffolding (Bruner, 1966) and disciplinary literacy interact and influence Hamid’s stance.

At the intersection of multiliteracies and glocalisation: a case study in a university in Taiwan

ABSTRACT This study introduces a pedagogical framework incorporating multiliteracies, a new literacy concept proposed by the New London Group (1996, A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60–92. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.66.1.17370n67v22j160u), and glocalised marketing, the adaptation of marketing strategies to fit local markets, within an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) setting. The article first reviews ESP research that adopts a multimodal approach and outlines the main features of a multimodal pedagogical framework, which is then expanded to encompass a pedagogy of multiliteracies and glocalised marketing for an English for advertising and marketing curriculum. In doing so, the framework is further connected with disciplinary literacy, a subject-specific skill set combining knowledge construction and language communication that can be cultivated through the pedagogy. The study presents findings from multimodal projects and surveys completed by 28 university students from a university in Taiwan. Using case study analysis, the study investigates the effectiveness of the pedagogical framework in promoting multimodal meaning-making practices and assesses participants’ perceptions of the learning benefits of this approach. The study hopes to provide pedagogical insights for ESP teachers to cultivate learners’ communicative competence in a digitalised and globalised society.

Supporting Knowledge and Language Acquisition of Secondary Emergent Bilinguals through Social Studies Instruction

AbstractThis study examined the initial efficacy of World Generation (WorldGen), a Tier I social studies instructional approach for emergent bilingual (EB) students and their native English‐speaking (non‐EB) peers in Grades 6 and 7. WorldGen builds on prior research on instructional practices that have been associated with improved content knowledge and literacy outcomes for EBs in classes of students with varying English proficiency. Using a within‐teacher design, middle grades world history teachers' classes were randomly assigned to WorldGen treatment (17) or comparison conditions (16) for three to four approximately two‐week units. The student sample included 42% EBs. Students in the treatment condition (n = 373) scored higher, on average, on world history content (Hedges' g = 0.47) and vocabulary knowledge (Hedges' g = 0.41) than students in the comparison condition (n = 343) but no statistically significant findings were yielded regarding disciplinary literacy skills at the end of WorldGen instruction. Of primary interest, the statistically significant main effects indicated that world history content knowledge and vocabulary learning was similar for both current EB and non‐EB students in the treatment condition. The findings provide initial support for the use of the WorldGen instructional practices for improving content acquisition and vocabulary in general education social studies classes with students with a range of English proficiency. Furthermore, teachers perceived the WorldGen instructional practices and materials as providing the information and learning experiences necessary to support students in meeting grade‐level expectations.