L750 Theories of Literacy Acquisition

Instructor: Dr. Karen Wohlwend

When: Thursdays, 4:30 to 6:45 PM  

Course Description: Vygotsky, Halliday, Kress, Gee, and others have studied reading and writing in childhood across a range of languages and cultures to develop and articulate theories about literacy development, learning, and discourse. These theories shape how teachers and researchers view children--whether as developing organisms, vulnerable innocents, or agentic meaning-makers—and influence how we respond to their changing language and literacy. In this course, we will interrogate a range of theoretical perspectives to tease out the assumptions that shape literacy research and classroom practice. The course is organized by perspectives that conceptualize language and literacy as cognitive structures, cultural mediators, social practices, social semiotic sign-making, and sociopolitical discourse. Examples include:

constructivist perspectives and literacy as language development
sociocultural perspectives and literacy as participatory socialization
sociopolitical perspectives and literacy as ideological discourse acquisition
social semiotic perspectives and literacy as agentic design
For each perspective, we will examine key theories, core beliefs, seminal studies, and new trends to identify affordances and limitations for research methodologies and teaching practice. The seminal studies focus on young children--theorists are often interested in studying the "roots" in order to see how things begin. We will examine and extend these studies as students apply theories to their particular research interests and contexts--grade level, setting, disciplinary focus, etc.