The language of interdisciplinary literacy
One of the difficulties in developing literacy among secondary students is helping them understand that a variety of texts are found in all academic disciplines. The type of reading a student encounters in a history course and an English class may be somewhat similar, but the ways they approach the texts in these disciplines can be subtly different. These subtle differences may have a significant influence on students' ultimate abilities to understand both the content and context of the text and must be handled intentionally within each academic discipline.
Attention to textual diversity is doubly important across disciplines that are dissimilar. A "text" that a student might read in mathematics will be inherently and significantly different from one they encounter in English. In these cases, it is imperative that students understand the varying nature and structure of texts and understand specific strategies that assist them in understanding the texts. Two different approaches to understanding text types are presented below with particular examples from across disciplines.
Genre
Literary works are often classified by genre. Within a genre a commonality in style, format, and content is required. Works of literature, whether fiction or non-fiction, are then categorized based on their adherence to these common elements. For instance, historical monographs are books written by historians focusing on a particular topic in history. Historical monographs are written in a formal academic style, typically address one topic, and represent an author's interpretation of the historical topic or event based on the primary record (i.e. the monograph presents the author's thesis). In English, there are nonfiction genres like argument, literature, there are genres like action, comedy, and fantasy. In the fantasy genre, authors often present parables, fables, or legends through stories involving magic spells, mythical creatures, and fabled kingdoms. Again, in order to be considered a part of a genre, a work must include most if not all of the conventions associated with their category. A complicating factor, mixed genres have become more common in the 21st century. Romantic science fiction, paranormal young adult fiction, and multi-modal digital texts like Michael Wesch's The Machine Is Us/Using Us emerge every week. Thus, students' ability to predict what cues to attend to in these texts is challenged.
Representations
In mathematics texts and other technical fields, different modes of communication are more likely to be described as representations than as genres. In addition to narrative text, technical writing might include charts, graphs, mathematical formulas, and diagrams. Unlike genres in literature, these different modes of communication are generally used together to describe concepts and phenomena. A discussion of Hooke’s Law in a science text is likely to include a written description, a diagram of a stretching spring showing the force vectors, a graph showing the relationship between force and length, and an algebraic representation of this relationship. These different representations are designed to be read together, with each helping to explain the other.
Attention to textual diversity is doubly important across disciplines that are dissimilar. A "text" that a student might read in mathematics will be inherently and significantly different from one they encounter in English. In these cases, it is imperative that students understand the varying nature and structure of texts and understand specific strategies that assist them in understanding the texts. Two different approaches to understanding text types are presented below with particular examples from across disciplines.
Genre
Literary works are often classified by genre. Within a genre a commonality in style, format, and content is required. Works of literature, whether fiction or non-fiction, are then categorized based on their adherence to these common elements. For instance, historical monographs are books written by historians focusing on a particular topic in history. Historical monographs are written in a formal academic style, typically address one topic, and represent an author's interpretation of the historical topic or event based on the primary record (i.e. the monograph presents the author's thesis). In English, there are nonfiction genres like argument, literature, there are genres like action, comedy, and fantasy. In the fantasy genre, authors often present parables, fables, or legends through stories involving magic spells, mythical creatures, and fabled kingdoms. Again, in order to be considered a part of a genre, a work must include most if not all of the conventions associated with their category. A complicating factor, mixed genres have become more common in the 21st century. Romantic science fiction, paranormal young adult fiction, and multi-modal digital texts like Michael Wesch's The Machine Is Us/Using Us emerge every week. Thus, students' ability to predict what cues to attend to in these texts is challenged.
Representations
In mathematics texts and other technical fields, different modes of communication are more likely to be described as representations than as genres. In addition to narrative text, technical writing might include charts, graphs, mathematical formulas, and diagrams. Unlike genres in literature, these different modes of communication are generally used together to describe concepts and phenomena. A discussion of Hooke’s Law in a science text is likely to include a written description, a diagram of a stretching spring showing the force vectors, a graph showing the relationship between force and length, and an algebraic representation of this relationship. These different representations are designed to be read together, with each helping to explain the other.