Adolescent Literacy Essay Example

p. 5). Additional publications in the form of books and article-length studies have contributed to the increasing awareness of problems in adolescent literacy.

Concepts and their Applications

Alvermann (2001) devoted the bulk of her paper to discussing five statements that have grown out of her examination of current literacy research and analysis of school-based inquiries: self-efficacy and engagement, demands of academic literacy, struggling readers and their needs, critical literacy, and participatory approaches to instruction.

Because Alvermann’s discussion of the ideas and their implications for professional practice is so thorough, this paper examines the first three of these crucial ideas, using them as a jumping-off point for the examination of literacy programs that make use of these concepts. In so doing, research that has been conducted since the appearance of Alvermann’s study has been consulted.

Self-Efficacy and Engagement

 Alvermann noted that, for adolescents, perceptions of competency affect motivation (Alvermann, 2001, p. 6). Hence, an adolescent who feels competent will often show increased motivation, especially in regards to learning in subject area classes. There are three main directions that research in this area has taken.

First, it has been found that by providing adolescents with clear goals for tasks and giving them feedback about their progress, educators can increase adolescents’ self-confidence and feelings of competency (Alvermann, 2001, p. 6). Second, as Guthrie and Wigfield’s engagement model of reading emphasized, success can be achieved by fostering student motivation, strategy use, growth in conceptual knowledge, and social interaction.

All of these factors directly affect a student’s level of engagement with a subject and the student’s outcomes as measured by time spent reading

independently, achievement on standardized tests, performance assessments, and beliefs about reading (Alvermann, 2001, p. 7).

Third, Alvermann discussed the research undertaken by Dillon (1989) that showed that when teachers show concern for individual students and their progress, the students in question will show an increase in feelings of competence and self-worth (Alvermann, 2001, p. 7).

The concept of motivation is the main focus of Guthrie’s current research: Reading Engagement for Adolescent Learning (REAL) (Guthrie, 2005). This research takes his earlier-developed Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI) and applies it to adolescent students.

The primary goal of CORI – to increase students’ motivation and engagement – is approached through a six-step, teacher-controlled learning approach. The six steps include interacting with the real world, supporting student autonomy, expanding knowledge goals, using interesting texts, fostering student collaboration, and coordinating motivational activities (Guthrie, 2005).

As the research into CORI application to adolescent readers is still ongoing, the results have not yet been published; however, documentation of a portion of this study focusing on adolescent students’ motivations for reading information books both in school and outside of school has recently been published (Guthrie et al., 2009).

Student motivation and engagement with reading material is also the main focus underlying Scaffolded Reading Experiences (SRE). SRE consists of two phases: the planning phase and the implementation phase. During the planning phase, the students, the text, and the purpose of the assignment are considered.

The implementation phase consists of three parts: pre-reading, reading, and post-reading. During the pre-reading phase, educators spark students’ interest in the reading selection, remind the students of previously acquired knowledge that will help them read

the passage, and go over some of the difficulties the students might encounter while reading the passage.

During the post-reading phase, students are given the opportunity to synthesize the information the gleaned from the text, to evaluate the reading, and to analyze the students’ level of comprehension (Seward Inc.).

Demands of Academic Literacy

In regards to the demands of academic literacy, Alvermann (2001) noted that “adolescents respond to the literacy demands of their subject area classes when they have appropriate background knowledge and strategies for reading a variety of texts” (p. 9). Alvermann summarized the results of the National Reading Panel (NRP) inquiry into effective strategies for teaching reading comprehension.

The NRP found the following strategies to be particularly effective: comprehension monitoring, cooperative learning, using graphic and semantic organizers, answering questions, generating questions, using text structure, and summarizing (qtd. in Alvermann, 2001, p. 9-10). Alvermann (2001) further remarked that, in addition to these seven strategies, educators must also provide vocabulary instruction, adequate background information, and hands-on experience (p. 10-11).

SRE, discussed above, also aims to meet the demands of academic literacy. Another such program is Guided Inquiry supporting Multiple Literacies (GIsML).

In this orientation towards teaching, educators “seed” ideas or language, question the students, refocus student thinking and activity, and encourage students to create artifacts that represent their understanding of the material (GIsML, n.d.). This program is specially geared to scientific learning.

Struggling Readers and Their Needs

Alvermann (2001) noted that students who have difficulties reading need instruction that is geared to their specific developmental, cultural, and linguistic needs (p. 12).

This group of students includes

not only students who have learning disabilities but also those students who are learning English as a second (or third) language (English Language Learners, ELL) as well as monolingual students from economically disadvantaged or minority backgrounds (Alvermann, 2001, p. 12).

Snow and Biancarosa (2003) highlighted this facet of adolescent literacy in their report, noting that African-Americans, Latinos, English Language Learners, and students from low-income homes consistently “underperform on common indicators of academic achievement” (p. 1).

This phenomenon is largely due to disparities in literacy achievement (Snow and Biancarosa, 2003, p. 1). It is therefore hoped that increases in literacy in this population will lead to improved achievement overall.

READ 180 is a program designed to meet the needs of struggling readers. In addition to working in large groups and smaller groups with a teacher, students read independently and work with computer software. The computer-supported instruction is designed to make the student feel more comfortable as they do not have to display their “weakness” in public (Snow and Biancarosa, 2003, p. 10).

Though the program was designed specifically for struggling readers (especially those from economically disadvantaged households), recent additions to the program include special packages designed for special needs students and ELLs (READ 180).

Conclusions

There are many varied approaches to improving adolescent literacy. Each of the practical models is designed to address a particular theory of what causes these weaknesses in literacy skills (Snow and Biancarosa, 2003, p. 7). It is difficult to gauge the relative effectiveness of each of these programs because the various approaches have not been evaluated in similar ways.

This lack of a consistent

analytical framework makes comparison across programs and large-scale evaluation a difficult endeavor (Snow and Biancarosa, 2003, p. 1).

One commonality that most of these programs share, and that an educator would do well to keep in mind when making lesson plans, is that literacy programs must focus on adolescents’ interests and needs in order to be effective (Alvermann, 2001, p. 2).

Often, these adolescents have a wide range of literacies that they use outside of school: video games, internet use, graphic novels, texting, and chatting, for example. When educators do not notice or value these literacies, they are missing prime opportunities to engage with their students and to encourage the development of literacy skills to the adolescents’ fullest potential (Vacca and Alvermann, 1998, p. 4).

References

Alvermann, D. (2001). Effective Literacy Instruction for Adolescents. The JLR Version of the

Online “White Paper.” Retrieved July 15, 2009 from http://www.coe.uga.edu/lle/faculty/alvermann/effective2.pdf.

GIsML. (n.d.). The GIsML Project. Retrieved July 20, 2009 from

http://www.umich.edu/~gisml/.

Guthrie, J.T. (2005). Adolescent Reading (REAL) – Reading Engagement for Adolescent

Learning. Retrieved July 21, 2009 from http://www.cori.umd.edu/real/overview.php.

Guthrie, J.T., Wigfield, A., Cambria, J., Coddington, C.S., Klauda, S.L., & Morrison, D.A.

(2009). Motivations for Reading Information Books Among Adolescent Students. Retrieved July 21, 2009 from http://cori.umd.edu/real/Motivation_ReportFINAL.pdf.