Day 3 Local knowledge:
Literacies and representations
Reaction slips, Some points
1.
Can you prepare a research project without a
theory? (Framework or Bed of Procrustes?)
2.
If local knowledge isn´t a methodology or an
instrument how can we characterise it?
3.
Is there such a thing as ´pure´ non-interventionist
research?
4.
Is ethnographic research always LK?
5.
What do you do with subjects/informants who
detest researchers?
6.
Is LK research always long term/longitudinal?
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Content of sessions
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Day Three
Discussion of Street article
Texts in LK research, examples.
The importance of the literacy event
Analysis of an ‘event´.
Day Four
Identities and representations
Examples from research
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Questions from Street
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Is the written word less important now?
(compared to the 1970s for example)
Do we need to talk about ‘multimodality´ rather
than literacy?
What do you think are the `New’ needs of users
of the written word? Do you agree with Street?
How can we do research using texts?
Is it important to find out literacy practices of
your informants even if you´re not researching
literacy?
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Text analysis from LK
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1. Examples from Eritrea
What can the children´s drawings tell us?
2. Academic writers
Measurements and perceptions of writing
development: Omani academic writers in
English
Anwar Al Balooshi, Jassim Al-Beloushi,
Shamsa Al Rasheedi, Nasra Al Sa’adi, Ewen
Arnold, John Holmes, ELTJ (forthcoming)
Mini curso 2007
Text analysis: students´writing
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RQ: How have the students developed as
academic writers over the BA course?
Data: texts from different moments in the
BA course (pre-, 1st assign., final assign.)
Measurements: Fluency accuracy and
complexity
Perceptions: Retrospective protocols
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Mini curso 2007
Measur
e No
Meaning
How
measured
Fluency
1
Number of words (tokens) divided by number of Tunits
W/T
2
Number of words in error-free T-units divided by
number of error-free T-units
WE/EFT
Grammatical Complexity
3
Number of clauses divided by number of T-units
C/T
4
Number of dependent clauses divided by number of
T-units
DC/T
Lexical Complexity
5
Number of word types divided by number of T-units
WT/T
6
Number of lexical word types divided by number of
T-units
LWT/T
Accuracy
7
Number of error-free T-units divided by number of Tunits
EFT/T
8
Number of errors divided by number of T-units
E/T
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Measure
Alia first
assignment
Alia last
assignment
% change
Difference
W/T
13.2
14.9
+13%

WE/EFT
11.2
11.4
+2%
=
C/T
1.34
1.49
+11%
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DC/T
0.33
0.49
+48%

WT/T
4.5
5.9
+25%

LWT/T
3.9
5.0
+24%

EFT/T
0.63
0.32
-49%
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T/E
1.96
0.93
-54%
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+3%
=
Fluency
Grammatical
Complexity
Lexical
Complexity
Accuracy
Ave % change
Figure 2 Measures of writing development for Alia
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Findings
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Measures:
Complexity and fluency measures increased
Accuracy measures did not increase consistently
Perceptions:
Retrospective protocols spoke of increasing risktaking, e.g.instead of direct quotes, using
paraphrase and summary.
Mistakes became more complex.
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Other findings
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Retrospective protocols were very
useful for helping writers reflect...
Perceptions linked to feedback in the
development process.
Feedback should focus on ideas and
content and not language.
Learning about T-units helped to
develop linguistic complexity.
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Literacy Events
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‘Literacy is a social activity and can best be
described in terms of people´s literacy
practices which they draw upon in literacy
events.´ Barton 2007 (P.35)
The first basic unit of analysis ....
Events: reading stories..making shopping lists
‘ A vision of literacy pouring through the
house...´(P.149)
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Analysis of a literacy event
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Bogu: 9th-11th March 2007
Friday 9th: Installation of solar power,
children watch videos (in English)
Saturday 10th: Community (men) paint
the school and classrooms.
Sunday 11th: formal event (memeraka)
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The main event
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Participants: Men and women, guests from education
offices, ATEI and UK, many children...
1. Music and dance: men and women (Blin)
2. A quiz for guests and teachers (Tigrinya)
3. Speeches from guests (Blin, Tigrinya, English)
4. Present-giving for guests
5. Reading letters to the ´donors´. (English)
6. A poem on the advantages of electricity (Blin)
7. Dances and songs: women (Blin)
8 Two short sketches: students (Blin) songs between.
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Event continued....
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9. Dance to the lunch venue...
10. Meal served (buffet..)
11. Speeches in Blin
12. Praise songs (Blin)
13. Jokes, and anecdotes (Blin)
14. Dancing departure of guests...
So, in what way was this a literacy event?
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UNIVERSAL KNOWLEDGE BASED
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE BASED
Aim
Publication and citation
establish reputation of writer and
home institution
Solve, tackle or identify a problem
for those involved
Audience
First: Community of researchers or
senior pedagogues
First:
Local
community
colleagues, authorities, planners
Justification
Gap in the episteme (cf. Swales’ Problem that has arisen in the
article intros, 1990)
writer’s experience
Methodology
Non-interventionist
ethnographic
Identity of writer
Academic, researcher
Member of or contributer to local
community
Identity of
informants
Subjects
Interlocutors,
collaborators
Beneficiaries
Writer, Writer’s institution,
Writer,
colleagues,
home
institution,
informants
communitys
Dangers
Ivory tower; topic already covered
Reinventing the wheel, uncritical
acceptance of status quo; selfinterested
polemic,
political
sensitivities
Crime/Sin
Plagiarism
Exploitation of community
Creating a romantic vision
`Scientific’
>
Interventionist
Ethnographic>`cientific’
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participants,