Focus on Adolescent Literacy:
Research Updates

Summaries of research in adolescent literacy, provided by

William G. Brozo
Courtney Gaskins
George Mason University

Sheridan-Thomas, H. K. (2007). Making sense of multiple literacies: Exploring pre-service content area teachers’ understanding and applications. Reading Research and Instruction, 46, 121- 150.

The article explores whether or not pre-service teachers emerged from a required content literacy class called Adolescent Learners and Literacy in the Content Area with a greater understanding of multiple literacies and if they were applying what they had learned about multiple literacies to develop content area lessons. Because the author was investigating the work of her own students, she framed the study as action research. The class was the first course taken by pre-service secondary content area teachers seeking a Masters of Arts in Teaching degree. The author reviewed work from 64 students in this content literacy course, examining student responses to five assignments related to adolescent multiple literacies. These responses were used by the author to answer two overarching research questions: (1) What understanding about multiple literacies do students construct as they participate in course? and (2) How do students apply their understanding of multiple literacies to working with adolescents and designing content area teaching materials?

The first assignment in the course was a multiple literacies discussion and learning log that included the creation of a discussion web and on-going learning log which began on the first night of class. The assignment was based on a set of questions about students’ own literacy practices as adolescents and how their past experiences and that of others affected the way they would teach content classes. The second assignment was a multiple literacies project paper based on their field work assignment with adolescents and discussion with one or more students about their out–of–school literacies. This paper also had to include ways in which they could create bridges from these out-of school literacies to their academic literacies or to subject area learning. The third assignment was a blackboard discussion forum on uses of multiple texts. These discussions involved other members of the class as well as the instructor. The discussions focused how they use non-textbook materials in their content area classes. The fourth assignment and the most formal of the five asked students to create a content area unit plan. The plan had to include a description of how the lesson would make a connection to adolescents’ prior knowledge and/or multiple literacies, and how the lesson incorporated one or more non-textbook information sources. The final assignment was a self-assessment task requiring an end of course reflection, dealing specifically with students’ developing understanding of multiple literacies.

Students’ production of all five assignments comprised the data source that helped address the first research question about whether or not the course was raising the awareness of multiple literacies. An analysis of the five assignments led to the identification of three major themes. First, the participants’ concept of literacy expanded to include a variety of ways of interacting with text such as music, watching television and surfing the Internet. Second, adolescents academic literacies often do not line-up with or complement their personal literacies, and that students’ lack of motivation or interest in school could very well be attributed to the fact that their out-side literacies we not being validated in a school environment. Third, the multiple literacies of adolescents can be the answer to student motivation in content learning and academic literacies.

The researcher’s second big question about how students apply their understanding of multiple literacies was addressed by reviewing the pre-service teachers’ content area unit plans. The author found that pre-service teachers could explain the concept of multiple literacies orally and in writing, but could not write explicitly about how they use multiple literacies in their mini-units. For example, student could explain how they use multiple literacies in reference to learning style but not in connection to students’ out of school literacies, such as multiple text and digital media practices. As the author noted “Many of the pre-service teachers in this course seemed to view multiple literacies more as an overarching philosophy than as a roadmap to a set of instructional strategies” (pg. 141).

The author concluded by proposing four implications for action research in content-adolescent literacy courses: (1) explore pre-service teachers current and past adolescent literacy practices at the beginning of the course; (2) to strengthen understanding of multiple literacies allow pre–service teachers to interact with adolescents and discuss their out–of–school literacy practices; (3) model multiple literacy practices for pre-service teachers in order to move from awareness to application; and (4) create opportunities for pre-service teacher to design, deliver and reflect on lessons that include multiple literacies connections.

Reflecting on Practice

Interested in more research updates?

In addition to the current update, there are several adolescent literacy research updates available on our research updates archives page.