In this Master thesis interest is directed towards approaches toinformation literacy (IL) and critical thinking in the educationalactivities of university libraries. The aspiration of universitylibrarians to promote the critical abilities of students isproblematized. At the center of attention is the project“Lärandemål för informationskompetens” [Learning outcomes forinformation literacy], which in 2006 was carried out incollaboration between the Swedish university libraries, in responseto the educational reforms connected to the Bologna Process.Through the discourse analytical framework of NormanFairclough, documents related to the project “Lärandemål förinformationskompetens” are studied in order to identifydominating approaches to IL. The purpose is to investigate anddiscuss the possible implications of the dominating perspectives,with regard to the development of critical thinking amongstudents.The study results in the identification of two main discourses, thestandardization discourse and the discourse on employability. Bothof these discourses are seen to be connected to two overarchingdiscourses also identified in the study, the market discourse andthe discourse on information overflow.In conclusion, it was found that the objectivist and positivistepistemology underlying the dominating perspectives, in severalrespects is counterproductive to the aspiration to promote criticalthinking among students. A social constructionist approach issuggested as an alternative. / Program: Bibliotekarie

This study explores the responses of twelve fifth graders to Japanese pictorial texts - manga (Japanese comics), anime (Japanese animations), kamishibai (Japanese traditional visual storytelling), and picture books - and their connections to Japanese culture and people. This study took place Cañon Elementary School in Black Canyon City in Arizona. The guiding research questions for this study were: How do children respond to Japanese pictorial texts? and What understandings of Japanese culture are demonstrated in children's inquiries and responses to Japanese pictorial texts? The study drew on reader response theory, New Literacy Studies, and multimodality. Data collection included participant-observation, videotaped/audiotaped classroom discussions and interviews, participants' written and artistic artifacts, ethnographic fieldnotes, and reflection journals. Results revealed that children demonstrated four types of responses including (1) analytical, (2) personal, (3) intertexual, and (4) cultural. These findings illustrate that the children actively employed their popular culture knowledge to make intertextual connections as part of meaning making from the stories. They also showed four types of cultural responses including (1) ethnocentrism, (2) understanding and acceptance, (3) respect and appreciation and valuing, and (4) change. This study makes a unique contribution to reader response as it examines American children's cultural understandings and literary responses to Japanese pictorial texts (manga, anime, kamishibai, and picture books).

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study examined the effect of language typically used on social network sites such as Facebook (referred to here as “Facebook-speak”) on the written academic work of a selected group of high school learners. The general aims of the study were to determine the prevalence of access to Facebook and thus of exposure to Facebook-speak amongst high school learners, and to establish whether any evidence of Facebook-speak features are identified in the written academic work of these learners. Eighty-eight learners from an English-Afrikaans dual medium school in a middle class region in the Western Cape participated in the study. The participants included 44 Afrikaans medium learners and 44 English medium learners of which 51 were in grade 8 and 37 were in grade 9. Questionnaires were completed by the learner participants to determine frequency and volume of Facebook use and self-reported recognition of features of Facebook-speak. Learners also completed a written exercise attached to the questionnaires for the purposes of discovering what counts as Facebook-speak features. The specific features the study anticipated were (deliberate) spelling errors, unconventional punctuation features, over-punctuation, the exclusion of functional words, the excessive use of abbreviations and acronyms and the incorporation of emoticons in written academic work. Additional features identified were the nonconventional use of tenses and sentence structure. The study hypothesised that high exposure to Facebook-speak and limited exposure to formal academic writing have an effect on the academic work of the learners. I considered a claim that the effects of Facebook-speak would be traceable in the schoolwork of the learners. The study therefore compared the actual academic marks the learner participants achieved in one semester for two of their subjects, namely their First Additional Language and History, and related these marks to questionnaire data. I assumed that in the language subject there would be more attention to aspects of grammar and writing, so that the effects of Facebook-speak were more likely to be seen in their History – and also reflected in their marks, i.e. I assumed weak writing skills would be more evident in History than in a language subject, and that weaker writing correlates with poorer marks. Five teacher participants from the same school also completed questionnaires regarding the visible features of Facebook-speak in the learners written work. They commented on new digital literacies and their impact on learners written academic work in an open-ended question put to them in the questionnaire. The results of the study indicate that learner-participants are ardent users of the social utility Facebook and that socio- economic and racial variables do not factor significantly into Facebook accessibility. The learners believe that Facebook does not have any negative impact on their History work. The data I worked with pointed to the contrary. The History marks were in fact lower than the First Additional marks across both grades and all the classes. This could be attributed (at least in part) to a lack of dedicated attention to grammaticality and writing style in the History classroom and an emphasis on factual correctness instead. Although they did not believe Facebook-interaction translated into weaker marks, almost half of the learners stated that Facebook does indeed have an impact on their written work. In considering the possible relation between Facebook-speak and academic performance, the study found that the Afrikaans L1 learners achieved lower marks in both their First Additional language (their L2) and History in comparison to the English L1 learners using the same measures. This possibly indicates not only high exposure to Facebook-speak, but also limited exposure to standardised forms of Afrikaans as it is used in other genres. The written exercise completed by the learners accounted for the majority of data that substantiated the hypothesis that Facebook-speak impacts the written academic work of learners at school. The Afrikaans medium learners scored weaker marks than the English medium participants. The overall non-formal language features were significantly more in the exercises written by Afrikaans medium learners. The abundance of non-formal language features represented in the learner participants’ written work can be related to any of a number of variables. Negative perceptions among teachers and learners regarding multimodalities and digital literacies do not allow the development of curricula or learning materials which integrate such new literacies in the learning process. The reality that learners’ world is one where digital communication and short messaging is likely to increase rather than disappear, obliges a search for effective ways of incorporating such real world uses of language into educational structures in a thorough and integrative way. Until tried and tested methods have been achieved, traditional literacies appear not to be developing, while the notion of new literacies is still on the backburner in South African schools. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie ondersoek die uitwerking van tipiese sosialenetwerk-taal soos die van Facebook (sogenaamde Facebook-speak) op die geskrewe akademiese werk van ‘n uitgesoekte groep hoërskoolleerders. Die Algemene oogmerk van die studie was om die heersende toegang tot Facebook en dus die blootstelling aan Facebook-speak van die leerders te bepaal en om vas te stel of daar getuienis van kenmerkende Facebook- speak in die geskrewe akadiemiese werk van hierdie leerders is. Agt-en-tagtig leerders van ‘n Engels-Afrikaans dubbelmediumskool in ‘n middelklas-omgewing in die Wes-Kaap het aan die studie deelgeneem. Die deelnemers het ingesluit 44 Afrikaansmedium-leerders en 44 Engelsmedium-leerders. Hiervan was 51 in graad 8 en 37 in graad 9. Die leerder-deelnemers het vraelyste voltooi om aan te toon wat die frekwensie en omvang van hul Facebook-gebruik was. Hulle eie herkenning van aspekte van Facebook- speak is ook getoets. ‘n Geskrewe oefening is by die vraelys aangeheg sodat die leerders self kon aandui wat hulle as kenmerke van Facebook- speak beskou. Die spesifieke kenmerke wat die studie voorsien het, was (doelbewuste) spelfoute, onkonvensionele punktuasie, oorpunktuasie, die uitsluiting van funksionele woorde, die oormatige gebruik van afkortings en akronieme en die insluiting van ikone vir emosies (sg “smileys”) in geskrewe akademiese werk. Bykomstige kenmerke wat geidentifiseer is, was die onkonvensionele gebruik van grammatikale tydsaanduidings en sinstruktuur. Die studie het veronderstel dat die hoë blootstelling aan Facebook- speak en die beperkte blootstelling aan formele akademiese skryfwerk ‘n uitwerking op die akademiese werk van leerders sou hê. ‘n Aanspraak dat die uitwerking van Facebook-spraak naspeurbaar in die skoolwerk van leerders sou wees, is ondersoek. Die studie het dus die werklike akademiese punte van die leerders in een semester in twee van hul vakke, naamlik Eerste Addisionele Taal, en Geskiedenis, in verband gebring met die vraelys-data. Die ondersoeker het veronderstel dat in die taalvak daar meer aandag aan aspekte van grammatika en skryfwerk gegee sou word, sodat die uitwerking van Facebook-speak in Geskiedenis meer waarskynlik merkbaar sou wees en dus ook uit hulle punte vir die onderskeie vakke sou blyk. Die veronderstelling was dat swak skryfvaardighede duideliker na vore sou kom in Geskiedenis as in ‘n taalvak, en dat swakker taalvaardighede met laer punte sou korreleer. Vyf onderwyser-deelnemers van dieselfde skool het ook ‘n vraelys voltooi oor die sigbare kenmerke van Facebook- speak in die leerders se geskrewe werk. In ‘n oopvraag-afdeling van die vraelys het hulle ook kommentaar gelewer oor digitale geletterdheid en die impak daarvan op leerders se geskrewe akademiese werk. Die studie laat blyk dat die leerder-deelnemers ywerige gebruikers van die Facebook-diens is en dat sosio-ekonomiese en rasse-veranderlikes geen beduidende rol speel in Facebook-toegang nie. Die leerders meen dat Facebook geen negatiewe uitwerking op hul Geskiedenis-werk het nie. Die data dui egter op die teendeel. Die Geskiedenispunte was inderdaad laer as die Eerste Addisionele Taal-punte vir beide graad-groepe en al die klasse. Dit kan dalk deels toegeskryf word aan ‘n gebrek aan doelgerigte aandag aan grammatikaliteit en skryfstyl in die Geskiedenis-klaskamers en ‘n groter klem op feitelike korrektheid. Ofskoon die leerders gemeen het hulle Facebook-interaksie lei nie tot swakker punte nie, het byna die helfte van hulle beweer dat Facebook inderdaad ‘n uitwerking op hulle geskrewe werk het. By die oorweging van die moontlike verhouding tussen Facebook-speak en akademiese prestasie, bevind die studie dat die Afrikaans L1-leerders laer punte gekry het in beide hul Eerste Addisionele Taal (hulle L2) en Geskiedenis vergeleke met die Engels L1-leerders. Dit dui moontlik op ‘n hoë blootstelling aan Facebook- speak onder die Afrikaanse leerders, maar ook beperkte blootstelling aan gestandaardiseerde vorme van Afrikaans soos dit voorkom in ander genres. Die geskrewe oefening het die meeste data opgelewer ter ondersteuning van die hipotese dat Facebook- speak ‘n uitwerking het op die geskrewe akademiese werk van skoolleerders. Die Afrikaansmedium-leerders het laer punte gekry as hulle Engelsmedium eweknieë. Die oorheersende nie-formele taalkenmerke was beduidend meer aanwesig in die oefeninge wat deur die Afrikaansmedium leerders geskryf is. Die oormaat nie-formele taalkenmerke wat in die leerder-deelnemers se geskrewe werk voorkom kan met verskeie veranderlikes in verband gestel word. Negatiewe persepsies onder onderwysers en leerders rakends multimodaliteit en digitale geletterdheid laat waarskynlik nie toe vir ontwikkeling van kurrikula of leermateriaal wat aansluit by nuwe geletterdheidsvorme in die leerproses nie. Die werklikheid dat die leerder in ‘n wêreld leef waar digitale kommunikasie en kortboodskap-flitse waarskynlik eerder gaan toeneem as gaan verdwyn, maak dit belangrik dat daar gesoek word na doeltreffende maniere waarop sulke gebruike van taal in die regte wêreld deeglik in die onderwysstrukture geintegreer sal word. Terwyl beproefde en bewese metodes nog buite bereik is en tradisionele geletterdheid skynbaar nie ontwikkel nie, lyk dit asof die idee van nuwe geletterdhede in Suid-Afrikaanse skole nog net toekomsmusiek is.

This thesis addresses academic writing using two practice-led disciplines, academic literacies and ethnomethodology. It is first concerned to evaluate the possibilities of cooperation between these cognate endeavours, and concludes that where academic literacies provides a locus and set of topics for academic writing studies, ethnomethodology can contribute a sharpening of focus and of analytic tools. Ethnomethodology provides a reassuring message in that it confirms the value of detailed local studies, in this case of literacy. However, it is also the source of critique for those literacy scholars who have tried to site their studies in dualisms. This is seen as a rejection of situated studies. There is therefore a prominent methodological focus in this thesis. These methodological issues are then discussed in regard to how they translate into agendas and technologies for the study of social literacies. It is shown that ethnographic-type methods are necessary for such studies, even where they do not qualify as ‘full’ ethnographies by traditional standards. This study itself took on a quasi-ethnographic or ethnographic-type approach, using a longitudinal method to track the academic writing practices of eight undergraduate students with the aim of ascertaining the social and collaborative ways in which their work is accorded plausibility. Material from the study is presented in the form of interview analysis, and in a series of ethnographic case studies that use a variety of material, including interviews with students and staff, student essays, and various other materials that were accrued throughout the administrative life of the essays. Various methods for achieving or according plausibility, on the part of both students and staff, are discussed and analysed. Although all protagonists involved in essay writing and marking looked for and dealt in conventions wherever possible, the material presented here demonstrates that participants were generally aware of the limits to the possibilities of phenomena, and that there may be cause to locate, challenge, change, and adapt to the things that can acceptably be said and done in essay writing.

Vykortsraseriet i Sverige och på kontinenten är en anonym företeelse som blossade upp med en väldig kraft i början på 1900-talet och som sedan avtog igen. Den ofantliga mängd vykort som skickades under den här tiden gav upphov till uttrycket vykortsraseri. Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att studera attityderna till vykortspraktiken genom att genomföra en textanalys av opinionsartiklar från dagspressen vid den här tiden. Analysen besvarar frågorna om vilka attityder till vykortsraseriet som går att urskilja, om det finns både positiva och negativa attityder samt vilka aspekter av vykortspraktiken som lyfts fram som positiva eller negativa. Studien visar att attityderna som framkommer i analysen främst tar avstamp i klassfrågan och moralen och att de främst rör sig kring temana vykortgenrer, moral och ekonomi och vykortssamlande. Det är tydligt så att vykortspraktiken är en form av vardagligt skriftbruk vilket avser det skriftbruk som händer i människors vardag. Den låga värderingen som det vardagliga skriftbruket har visar sig tydligt i studien i form av negativt värderade vykortsgenrer men även en mer accepterade och högre värderad del av vykortspraktiken framträder. / <p>Godkänt datum 2020-06-15</p>

Den samtida debatten om att unga skriver sämre än förr har fokuserat det samhälle- liga behovet av en befolkning med god skrivförmåga. Att samhället har behov av skrift och skrivande är bara ett av många syften med att skriva. Debattens snäva syn på skrivande har föranlett denna studie som undersöker vilka syften med skrivande som framkommer i tre läromedel för gymnasiekursen Svenska 1. Med kritisk dis- kursanalys som metod syftar studien till att beskriva och öka förståelsen för den bild av skrivandets syften som elever möter i de tre undersökta läromedlen samt diskutera bilden i relation till sentida samhällsutveckling den heterogena gruppen elever sett till bakgrund och förmåga. Med stöd i Peter Hannons teori inom New Literacy Studies undersöks läromedlen i förhållande till dels en autonom syn på li-teracy som en enhetlig och mätbar förmåga och dels en ideologisk syn på literacy som föränderlig och kontextberoende. Resultaten visar att de tre läromedlen inne-håller olika bilder av vad skrivande syftar till som i olika grad kan förstås som att de återspeglar sentida samhällsutveckling. Den huvudsakliga slutsatsen för studien är att det spelar roll vilket läromedel man använder i klassrummet om man med skrivundervisningen vill möjliggöra att alla elever kan äga sitt skrivande och identifiera sig som skrivande människor.

Vi har i detta examensarbete undersökt rapporteringen om metoden ASL - att skriva sig till läsning i hopp om att dra vidare slutsatser om vilken funktion denna metod kan tänkas ha inom tidig läs- och skrivinlärning. För att kunna åstadkomma just det har vi ställt metodens användning i relation till det digitaliserade informationssamhället med dess ökade krav på läs- och skrivförmåga.Genom att använda oss av en kvalitativ innehållsanalys har vi studerat och analyserat uppfattningar som framförs i texter på internetplatsen Lärarnas Nyheter. Resultatet av denna analys har vi sedan tolkat utifrån relevant forskning samt sociokulturell teori.Vi har genom vår undersökning kunnat påvisa att metoden ASL fyller en funktion i den tidiga läs- och skrivinlärningen som ett integrerat stöd i undervisningen samt i egenskap av att vara ett digitalt verktyg.

The intent of this qualitative research study was to investigate the experiences of eighth-grade readers as they read nonfiction text on an iPad for academic purposes. Analysis of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) calls for close reading requiring readers to interact with the text to create meaning (Fisher, n.d.). With this in mind, the researcher investigated reading strategies students used to support their reading as well as what role the iPad features played in the reading process. Several theoretical perspectives informed the framework for this study: (a) New Literacies theory, (b) transactional theory, (c) constructivist theory, and (d) metacognition theory. These perspectives focused on the reading comprehension strategies students used to facilitate reading comprehension while reading nonfiction text on an e-reader, specifically on an iPad. Data sources for this study included the following: (a) retrospective think alouds; (b) student questionnaire about iPad knowledge and experiences; (c) pre-study student interview; (d) post-study student interview; (e) Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI); (f) student observations; and (g) teacher interview. Preselection data for the collective case study participants were used to identify proficient readers who displayed confidence, competency, and control over text. The criteria used for participant selection included (a) reading skills using Lexile Levels, (b) MARSI survey, and (c) iPad use survey to determine prior knowledge of iPad. Three themes emerged in the collective case study that were directly related to the analysis. Students used a combination of (a) reading comprehension strategies, (b) nonfiction features, and (c) iPad features to support their reading of nonfiction on the iPad. Analysis of the data iv revealed three distinct groups for which recommendations were made: (a) classroom teachers, (b) publishers, and (c) researchers.

This dissertation takes an interest in learning and literacy in everyday interaction in the middle year classroom. It is based on a view of learning as emically construed in social interaction. Conversation Analysis (CA) and the concept of epistemic stance are used as a theoretical framing for describing in what way, and with what verbal and non-verbal resources, learning is achieved in desk interaction, i.e. when students work individually at their desks while the teacher moves around to support them. Almost without exceptions, these interactions involve the use of texts. Hence, they are viewed as situated literacy events that are part of the institutionally shaped literacy practices as described in the field of New Literacy Studies. The empirical data for this study comes from a video-ethnographic study in two middle year classrooms in grade four and five. Out of a total of 70 hours of video documentation, a selection of interrelated desk interactions was made. These were analyzed as learning trajectories and compared from two perspectives. Firstly, learning trajectories when a teacher repeatedly interacts with the same student about the same learning content were analyzed. Secondly, the changes in the teacher’s epistemic stance when interacting with different students about the same learning content in repeated desk interactions were studied. The analysis shows that the teacher’s trajectories through the classroom build infrastructures for learning, enabling differentiation between students within the constraints and possibilities of evolving routines. Learning in desk interaction mainly relies on the use of text references to index previously shared knowledge. Epistemic topicalizations and recurring semiotic fields are shown to be crucial resources for both maintaining and changing the epistemic stance of the participants towards the learning content constituted in interaction. A conclusion is that the shared experiences of teachers and students in collective literacy events serve as important resources for learning in individual desk interaction. / Baksidestext: Den här avhandlingen handlar om bänkinteraktioner på mellanstadiet. Med hjälp av videoanalyser utforskas lärares och elevers sociala samspel när elever arbetar enskilt med skriftliga uppgifter i sina bänkar, medan läraren rör sig runt i klassrummet för att hjälpa dem. Avhandlingen visar hur lärande i bänkinteraktioner sker till följd av lärares och elevers ömsesidiga samordning av tal, gester, blickar och texter. Längs lärarens väg genom klassrummet skapas möjligheter till skilda lärandeförlopp för olika elever, inom ramen för de rutiner som samtidigt formas. Instruktioner, lärobokstexter och bilder är viktiga resurser i dessa lärandeförlopp. De används i huvudsak för att uppmärksamma och påminna om sådant man tidigare läst och diskuterat tillsammans i klassen. En slutsats blir därför att lärares och elevers gemensamma erfarenheter från olika tillfällen har stor betydelse för lärande i bänkinteraktioner. Sammantaget framstår bänkarbetet som mera socialt än individuellt.  Avhandlingen bidrar till en nyanserad förståelse av bänkinteraktioners pedagogiska potential, vilket diskuteras i relation till senare decenniers politiska individualiseringssträvanden. Den vänder sig till forskare, lärare och andra som är intresserade av lärande och skriftspråkande i klassrummets interaktion.

This thesis explores the literacy practices in literacy history, in everyday life and in Swedish tuition for immigrants (sfi) of five Kurdish adults. The study analyses connections and dividing lines between literacy practices of the sociotextual domains of everyday life and literacy practices of the sociotextual domain of sfi. It also explores the interaction between literacy history and present literacy practices. Further, there is a focus on the connections between identification, learning and literacy practices. The methodological approach is inspired by ethnography, employing individual semi-structured interviews and classroom observation. Video documentation, audio recordings and field notes are used for documentation. Theoretically the study is influenced by the research field New Literacy Studies where literacies are conceived of assets of socially and culturally grounded practices. The interviews are analysed from two perspectives: focusing on content and on linguistic discursive practices. In the analysis of interviews and observations, a number of interacting aspects of literacy events and literacy practices are also researched, such as purpose, time, place, participants, verbal language and artefacts. A lack of connection between the participants’ notions of who they are and the identities offered to them in sfi impairs the conditions of their active participation in the literacy practices, and consequently also impairs their learning. Identities connected to literacy history are of importance in this process. To exemplify this, the professional career they had in Kurdistan is still of central importance for two of the participants of the study. This complicates their identification as sfi-students and their engaging in the literacy practices of the sfi-education. If sfi teachers know which identities from everyday life are important to their sfi students and try to find connections between the sfi teaching and these identities, the chances improve of the students accepting the identities which they are offered in the literacy events. Then it will also be more probable that the students’ participation in the literacy events in sfi will lead to deep learning. In the sfi classrooms, the participants take part in literacy events of everyday life. There are three types of overlap between the literacy practices of sfi and of everyday life. (1) Literacy events from other sociotextual domains take place in the sfi-classrooms, but without recontextualization into sfi. (2) Literacy events based in sociotextual domains of everyday life are recontextualized into sfi. (3) Literacy events belong to more than one sociotextual domain. In spite of these three types of overlap there are complications when it comes to students starting out from literacy practices of everyday life when they take part in the literacy practices of sfi. It is not possible to transmit literacy practices in their totality, from one sociotextual domain to another. The literacy practices are situated in a specific sociotextual domain and will undergo a transformation as they are based in a different sociotextual domain. On the other hand, it is possible for sfi students to make use of everyday micro practices (e.g. cooperation and non-linear reading) when they take part in the literacy practices of sfi.