This was a study of rural community literacy practices in Uganda. I used the social practices theory of literacy as a theoretical framework to investigate literacy use in rural community life in Bweyale. The social practices theory of literacy sees literacy as variable social practice that can only be understood within the social context of its use. Consistent with the social practices theoretical perspective and following similar research traditions in this area of literacy study, I used ethnographic research methods to collect data and grounded theory methods to analyse data on literacy use in Bweyale. The study revealed that rural people, contrary to popular perceptions about their illiteracy and hence lack of literacy, actually use reading and writing in a variety of ways in different domains of literacy use. Literacy pervades most aspects of rural community life, making rural people use literacy in many rich and creative ways. Most people, regardless of their literacy status, participate in local literacy practices. The most prominent areas of literacy use in rural community life are livelihood activities, education, religion, bureaucracy, household life, and personal life. The study also found that the conception of literacy among rural people in Bweyale is similar to the dominant conception of literacy. In this conception, literacy is seen as equal to education and/or schooling and it relates to modernity. Rural people see literacy as a valuable and important aspect of life. The literacy they value most is the dominant English language literacy. This is due to the multilingual nature of Uganda and the national language policy that made English the dominant language of literacy even in rural community life. The use of English literacy is also reinforced by its use as the language of instruction in Uganda’s education system where most people learn how to read and write. This dominance of English complicates literacy use in rural community life because it brings in the need for translation, especially when people who do not understand English are involved in a literacy event. It also complicates local language literacy learning. The use of English is closely associated with the dominant non-traditional activities like school education, the police service, modern trade practices, and to some extent, Christian religious practices. Local language literacy is mainly used when communicating information relating to traditional activities, for example, traditional medicinal practices or for personal use. The study recommends that adult literacy education curricula should be tailored to the local literacy practices of the people for whom the literacy programmes are being developed. This will help to make the literacy programmes immediately relevant to the everyday literacy practices of the learners’ community. The programmes should promote literacy use in the community by exploring new areas of literacy use in rural community life. These are areas in which the use of literacy could lead to better management of some activities in rural community life. In all, rural people are literate in ways that are not acknowledged in dominant literacy thinking and hence even by rural people themselves. This way of thinking must be discouraged. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

Syftet med den här studien var att ge en bild av vad som sker i mötet mellan lärare, elever och skönlitterära texter i grundskolans senare år. Jag ville undersöka hur lärarna planerar sina lektioner utifrån skönlitteraturen och kursplanen i svenska och vad som händer under själva processen. För att samla in data använde jag semistrukturerade kvalitativa intervjuer. Jag intervjuade fyra svensklärare på fyra olika grundskolor. Resultatet påvisar att läsning av skönlitterära böcker har en given plats i skolan och att lärarnas främsta syfte är att motivera och inspirera elever till läsning. Lärarna anser att skönlitteratur är nyckeln till kunskap, språkutveckling och tänkande. Resultatet visar också att man kan arbeta med skönlitteratur på flera olika sätt i undervisningen och att lärarna använder sig av olika metoder. Vidare kan man se att det inte förekommer något samarbete mellan ämneslärarna på skolorna. Följaktligen drog jag slutsatsen att läsning av skönlitteratur går ut på att motivera och inspirera eleverna samt att litteraturundervisning har ett instrumentellt värde.

No description available.

This study investigates students', parents' and teachers' beliefs about first language literacy experiences at home and at school. Written questionnaires and interviews were used as tools of inquiry. The students were grade five, majority language students in an early immersion program. Students, parents and teachers were asked about their beliefs on first language reading development, literacy experiences at home as well as at school, second language impact on first language and related topics. / Results showed that all students in the study had similar types of literacy experiences at home, regardless of reading ability. By adhering to an Emergent Literacy perspective, parents provided many diverse opportunities for their child(ren) to engage in literacy activities at home. The school had similar views about the importance of literacy practices. Students' literacy experiences at home appear to be in synchrony with their literacy experiences at school. This finding aligns with the aims of a Social Construction of Literacy perspective. / Learning to read in a second language did not hinder a child's development of first language reading, although for students having difficulty reading in the first language, the addition of a second language seemed to pose some difficulties for some students. / Recommendations are made for future research into family literacy in immersion programs and a follow up study. Research on individual differences among siblings could provide insight into why some children appear to have difficulties reading in their first language while others do not. A follow up study on some or all of the participants would provide continuing data on immersion students' literacy at home and at school.

This thesis addressed the production of media literacy practices in physical environments. It reflects a specific trajectory through a design space. The work is founded on four studies including design sessions and expositions in primary schools and in an art museum. The focus is on how to devise practices and make sense of media literacy tasks. the thesis addresses research problems of interaction design and media studies by:(a)configuring interactive tangibles and audiovisual media, to give different perspectives on media literacy within the same physical environment; (b) developing a set of practices which are attuned to how participants collaborate when accessing and producing media texts; (c) developing the design method by employing practical knowledge from theatre practices. The thesis tackles some specific design problems. One is that the qualities of the practices and qualities of the tools need to be addressed at the same time. Also, aesthetic and technical aspects often are indistinct. The thesis seeks help in some specific traditions in the performing arts. Some terms such as 'participatory theatre' and 'masked performance' are redefined in order to address both aspects of practices and tools. Terms such as 'gendre', 'framing', 'packaging', 'authoring', 'deconstruction', 'media agenda setting' are also redefined frm literature on media studies, through the production and study of collective activities. The thesis aims to contribute to the integration of findings in interaction desugb abd nedua stydues by (1) applying advances from interaction design for the support of new media literact practice in the physical environment; (2) applying the perspectives on media literacy which emerge from these integrations in order to contribute to current reesearch on interaction design. The thesis applies practices from the performing arts in order to enable a participatory design of physical environments for media literacy. The focus is on the role played by audience groups when they adopt media contents and artifacts.

For years, schools across the nation have been joining the technology revolution. Today, students have at least some form of technology available to them in school (Roblyer, Castine, andamp; King, 1993; Croxall andamp; Cummings, 2000). This trend is not likely to change, so there is an increasing need for teachers who are literate in the use of the various types of technology. The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between computer literacy and use of technology, as well as if a relationship exists between teachers access to technology and their use of technology in Family and Consumer Sciences Education classrooms in the state of Kentucky. Teachers were presented with statements regarding computer literacy, access to technology, and use of technology. It was concluded that, when compared to Daviss Conventions for Correlation Coefficient, computer literacy and use of technology had a substantial relationship, while access to technology and use of technology had a moderate relationship.

No description available.

As microcomputers increase in number and find their way into the homes and offices of millions of people throughout the world, the need for education arises. The general population will not be equipped with the 'how and why' of microcomputing. Operating a microcomputer and using the microcomputer for practical applications and for educational enhancement of school-aged children will need to be addressed. This paper will discuss a feasibility study of offering microcomputer workshops; and under the assumption that this is feasible, the design, layout and workbooks needed will be presented. / Department of Computer Science

This study investigated relationships between literacy level and global self concept. employment status. income level, age. and gender among students enrolled at a vocational technical college. The contribution of a subset of job-related reading self concepts to the multiple correlation was also examined. The study sample consisted of 100 students in Related Education Courses at Indiana Vocational Technical College, Region VI. Muncie. Indiana. Subjects responded to three instruments and a demographic questionnaire. The Literacy Assessment Battery (Sticht. 1982) provided literacy levels, the Tennessee Self Concept Scale (Fitts. 1964) yielded global self concept, and the Hays Job-Related Reading Survey (Hays, 1986) indicated job-related reading self concepts. Piloting of Hays Job-Related Reading Survey Reliability and construct validity were sought using responses from a sample (N = 230) closely comparable to one selected for the study. An analysis revealed four interpretable factors:(a) Positive Employee Self, (b) Perceived Limitations of Self, (c) Perceived Importance of Occupational Literacy, and (d) Perceived Value of Company Notices. Further analysis yielded coefficient alpha reliabilities of r = .69 to r = .86.Results Significant relationships were found between literacy level and the following: (a) Global Self Concept (r .20, p<.04`; (b) Global Self Concept when combined with Perceived Limitations of Self, a factor from the Hays JobRelated Reading Survey (r = .56. p<.000+); and (c) Perceived Limitations of Self alone (r = .56, p<.000+).Conclusions Both Global Self Concept and Perceived Limitations of Self were significantly related to Literacy, both singly and in combination. The "best" (most efficient) predictor of Literacy Level could be gained by Perceived Limitations of Self alone. Additional research with adults is needed to confirm the findings and expand established research at younger ages. Educational suggestions focus on strengthening self concepts and occupational literacy of adults pursuing vocational training. Business should foster occupational literacy self concepts and employer-employee relationships in the workplace. Economic implications involved public and private sector support for long-term occupational literacy and job-related reading self concept programs which may yield more effective, productive employees.

Purpose: The primary aim of this thesis was to examine two aspects of early child development, namely emergent literacy skills and social-behavioural development. An examination of these two aspects of development occurs at the within child-level factor and the within-family level factor. Specifically, we seek to examine the effects of the family literacy environment in predicting 4-year-old children’s emergent literacy skills at entry to Junior Kindergarten. Additionally we seek to examine the interrelationships between children’s social behaviours and phonological awareness skills across the academic year. The final aim was to examine the relationship between teacher report and direct observations of children’s social behaviours. Method: One hundred and two children (52 boys, 50 girls) were recruited from 11 schools serving low-income neighbourhoods in a large metropolitan city and were assessed at the beginning and end of the Junior Kindergarten year. Family literacy questionnaires were collected at the beginning of the year. All children completed standardized assessments of their expressive vocabulary, non-verbal IQ, and phonological awareness skills. In addition, teachers completed behavioral ratings for all children. Results: The results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that direct teaching of letters/sounds in the home contributed 8% of the variance in children’s alphabet knowledge. The results also revealed that being excluded by peers at entry to Junior Kindergarten contributed up to 3% of the variance in negatively predicting phonological awareness outcomes at the end of the year. Further, the results revealed that poorer phonological awareness skills at the beginning of the year contributed up to 5% of the variance in predicting children’s preference for solitary behaviours at the end of the year. Finally, significant relationships were found between teacher report and direct observations for certain classroom behaviours. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that the family literacy environment can play a positive role in children’s acquisition of emergent literacy skills prior to entry into formal schooling. The results also suggest that exclusion by peers may play a negative role in children’s ease of academic skill attainment. Conversely, the results suggest that the academic skill level that children enter into formal schooling with may play a role in their social behavioural competency in a classroom setting.