Mapping subject specific literacies

Coffin, C. (2006). Mapping subject-specific literacies. NALDIC Quarterly, 3(3), 1-16. Retrieved from: http://oro.open.ac.uk/23272/2/Mapping_subject-specific_literacies.pdf

Background

Although the notion of subject specific language is not a new idea, linguists have developed tools of analysis that are able to capture and highlight how language functions in different school subjects in precise ways.

Aims

The study makes explicit the differences in language use and text genres across different school subjects.

Sample

The author draws on examples of texts and genres from History, English, Geography and Science.

Method

Examples of school texts are analysed and described to show key text features and genre stages, which draw on research from the field of systemic functional linguistics.

Findings

The findings were as follows:

Genre can be used to identify:

the social purposes and functions of texts in different subject texts;
the distinctive structures used by writers to achieve their specific goals; and
the distinctive grammatical features of a variety of texts in different subjects.

The teaching and learning cycle presented in the paper can be used by teachers to support students in developing mastery of the different text genres in a particular subject area. The cycle presented in the paper is as follows:

The deconstruction stage: The teacher introduces the topic and extends the students’ understanding of it through a detailed analysis of the text(s).
The joint construction stage: The teacher acts as a guide to inform and negotiate meanings as the genre specific text is constructed with both teacher and students working together.
The independent construction stage: Students apply the knowledge of genre, structure and target language from the joint construction stage to create a similar text with a slightly different topic as individuals or small groups.

Implications

Teachers can help students to access and display curriculum knowledge by developing subject specific reading and writing skills through a greater understanding of text genres and by using the teaching and learning cycle presented in the paper. The author suggests teachers develop an awareness of the role that genres play in different subject areas and help students deconstruct and construct these in order to develop specialized, educational knowledge.

Original article retrieved from The Open University.