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Molloy College *
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MISC
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Linguistics
Date
Jan 9, 2024
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docx
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Uploaded by PrivateBraveryGoose7852
Jay Sichler
When students reach the secondary level of their education the cross-curricular literacy demands begin to advance and they are much higher than they were during their elementary years in their education journey. Fang & Schleppergrell (2010) assert that using functional linguistic perspectives can promote student engagement and help students truly understand the literature they are reading in the classroom and determine the true meaning of the text. Going for English Language Arts 7-12 it is imperative that students are not only able to read the text they are reading in my classroom but also that they can analyze and truly understand the information they are reading. Being able to read the information is important, but if students can’t break down the material and analyze and understand what it truly means they will struggle in the classroom in regard to assignments and the standards and requirements that are necessary for them to succeed academically. While the article that Fang & Schleppergrell (2010) provided issues for Math, Science, and Social Studies in detail, they did not seem to focus on exclusive issues found in ELA. However, most of the issues found in the other three subjects can also be seen as issues in ELA as well, with one of them being multimodality. To be competent in multimodality students need to be able to understand the meanings made in both language and visual elements and the interactions that these modalities have with one another. With multilingual students, their issues of understanding and being able to explain and analyze the material they have read can be amplified if teachers do not adjust and adapt their lessons for these students. Multimodality though can be used to help multilingual students in the classroom. When multilingual learners have the ability in being able to use their other languages as a
tool to help them with multimodal learning in school their opportunities for meaningful
engagement can improve. A few examples of how multilingual students can use multimodality to
help them in school are authoring bilingual picture books to creating a website using their other languages along with providing the English translation. When teachers adopt multimodalities and
multiple languages, their literacy toolbox expands immeasurably and multilingual learners benefit. In Daniel & Pacheco (2016) article they go on to say that multilingual projects that relate
to your class themes and enable teens to share their stories, languages, and goals, are a great way to get multilingual learners engaged in your classroom. You can pair students with multilingual students to help them feel comfortable, or if your multilingual students feel comfortable you can pair them with students whose primary language is English to help spread multicultural ideas and
thoughts and to help broaden and enlighten other students about different cultures, languages, and ideas. Fang & Schleppergrell (2010) define functional analysis as when students identify language patterns and associated meanings specific to particular disciplines as they focus on how
language works, helping them comprehend and critique the texts of secondary content areas. Helping students recognize and understand language patterns typical in different subjects can raise their awareness about the varied ways language constructs knowledge in different subjects. Going for ELA it is imperative that students in my classroom can not only read the material but also understand its meaning as well. Looking at some of the examples that the authors provide one way to use functional analysis is by using Text Questions, Types of Meaning, and Corresponding Analysis Strategies tools they provide. The authors explain that breaking down the text into these three categories can help students both analyze and understand the content that
they just read. Looking first at text questions you can first ask your students the question of what
they feel is going on with the text. And who does what to whom, how, when, and where? Using
To Kill a Mockingbird as an example, the teacher when finishing a chapter of the book, can ask your students, what they think happened in the last chapter to the characters. You can continue by asking questions such as what did Scout do to Jem in the last chapter. You can also ask your class questions on how they feel the author (Harper Lee) is interacting with the reader of the book. You can also ask your class how the text in the book has been organized, and how they feel the dialogue flows in the book. Next, with the type of meaning you can ask your class what their thoughts are on the textual meanings of the book and the way it is written. You can also ask the class their thoughts on what the text means to them, and the emotions and feelings that it brings up when they were reading it. Finally, you can have students discuss the mood of the book and how the words and choice of dialogue set a certain mood for the reader. While in the article this example was used to show how students could break down text written in a science textbook, the tools can also be used effectively in an English setting as well. As I showed in the previous paragraph you can use the text questions, types of meaning, and corresponding analysis strategies in an ELA setting to help students understand and explain the text that they had just read in the classroom. Using the questions that the authors provided, I could help my students break down what they just read and help them analyze the text so they can fully understand and explain it. As shown in the article it is imperative that we teach our students not only how to read the text but to understand it as well. The tools that were provided in Fang & Schleppergrell (2010) article will help me in teaching this to my future students.
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References Daniel, S. M., & Pacheco, M. B. (2016). Translanguaging practices and perspectives of four multilingual teens. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 59
(6), 653-663.
Fang, Z., & Schleppergrell, M. J. (2010). Disciplinary literacies across content areas supporting secondary reading through functional language analysis. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53
(7), 587-597