BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE FOR STUDY
3.1 Interpreting the New Literacy Studies (NLS) (Street, 1984) and Gee (1990)
71
Functional Linguistics (SFL) (1978; 1985a) is offered to show the relationship between language, text and context. This Chapter informs of the nature of Grammatical Metaphor (GM) (Halliday and Martin, 1993), paying specific regard to nominalisation and lexical density, especially for its use in the language of science as well as an outline of the meaning of ‘construal’ (Langacker, 1987). Thereafter, is an explanation of ‘genres’ and genre pedagogy (Hyland, 2002b) which are useful for this study which focuses on the genres required for conveying science discourse. This Chapter ends with a portrayal of pedagogic practices such as Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) (Vygotsky, 1978b) and scaffolding (Wood et al. 1976) which are efficient teaching and learning tools to assist students’ in their acquisition of science knowledge.
72
is already a social practice that affects the nature of the literacy being learned (Street, 2003: 77 and 78).
The core element of this study is the discipline-specific literacies required by the FP students in order to acquire science discourse. Therefore, literacy is to be understood primarily within the framework of NLS which advocates a sociocultural view of literacy which represents a new tradition in considering the nature of literacy, focusing not so much on acquisition of skills, as in dominant approaches, but rather on what it means to think of literacy as a social practice (Street, 1984). This is because the literacies acquired are conveyed through the interaction between the students (who, in this study, are those registered in the BSc4 (Foundation) Programme) and the facilitators (who, in this study, are the ALSs and the DSs) within the educational context of science. The discipline-specific literacies in science enable students to gain epistemological access into the world of science, thus allowing for the construction of an identity first as science students; then, science graduates; and finally, as citizens of the country where they can contribute to future productivity and the development goals of the country in the fields of science, engineering and technology.
3.1.1 The Autonomous and Ideological Models of Literacy (Street, 1984)
Street (1984) distinguishes between the autonomous and ideological models of literacy.
According to Street (2003), the autonomous model assumes that providing literacy to the illiterate poor, for example, has the advantage of enhancing their cognitive skills and improving their economic prospects, allowing them to develop into better citizens but it tends to neglect the core economic and social reasons for their literacy in the first place.
The autonomous model does not indicate any cultural and ideological assumptions. Instead, it is a model which assumes that a neutral and universal literacy is capable of enhancing cognitive skills and improving economic prospects (77). The autonomous model views literacy independently of its social context.
Street (2003) holds the notion that literacy varies in context and culture; different literacies are expected to surface in different conditions. The ideological model offers a more culturally sensitive view of literacy practices as they vary from one context to another. This model does not merely view literacy as a technical or neutral skill, or as literacy being an acquisition of skills or decontextualised skills but rather frames it as always being
73
embedded in socially constructed epistemological principles. The ideological model is about knowledge: the ways in which people address reading and writing are themselves rooted in conceptions of knowledge, identity and being.
“The ideological model sees literacy practices as being embedded in social practices such as those of a particular job market or a particular educational context and the effects of learning that particular literacy will be dependent on those particular contexts” (Street, 2003: 78). For Street (1984), “literacy practices” (1) are the beliefs that people have about reading and writing, which are not only embedded in cultural and social contexts but also in power and authority relationships (Street 1984). For Barton and Hamilton (2000), “the notion of literacy practices offers a powerful way of conceptualising the link between the activities of reading and writing and the social structures in which they are embedded and which they help shape” (7). Street’s literacy practices are intertwined with Heath’s (1983) literacy event which is defined as “any occasion in which a piece of writing is integral to the nature of the participants’ interactions and their interpretative processes” (50).
3.1.2 Using NLS in this study
Street’s (1995) ideological view of literacy which falls under NLS is the basis for the theoretical framework of this study. The reason for choosing the ideological view of literacy is that it emphasizes the contextual nature of literacy practices and the fact that literacy is socially constructed; it is not just technical and neutral skills, on the contrary, it is always embedded in socially constructed epistemological principles (Gee, 1990). This is relevant to this study as the research is undertaken in the specific context of science-based modules. With the ideological view of literacy being assumed to be a set of social practices, this study outlines that literacy has a social base. An interpretation of Street’s (1995) view of literacy as ideological implies that the cognitive processing of linguistic parts is wholly dependent on context because it takes place within cultural wholes and within structures of power (161).
The notion of literacy presented by Street (1984; 2003) is particularly pertinent to this study especially for critical research question 1 in terms of the discipline-specific literacies required to learn science. The acquisition of the literacies in science within the FP does not merely involve the acquisition of a series of technical vocabulary and grammar skills.
74
Conversely, it is the acquisition of literacies by students involved in the acquisition of scientific knowledge. It involves student engagement with scientific readings and writing, creating a space for the students to acquire practice in science meaning and discourse thereby enabling them to create for themselves a sense of identity and belonging in science.
The responses of the research participants to critical research question 1 contribute to an understanding of the way in which the acquisition of the discipline-specific literacies helps to create an identity in science.