APG5703 - Literacy - 2019

The ability to read and write is a core skill we need in the modern world. This unit investigates what it means to be literate and the processes involved in developing literacy skills in one or more languages. It addresses topics around reading and writing, the development of early childhood literacy, tertiary literacy and classroom practices. It explores how technological changes, such as the advent of computer-mediated communication and social media might affect the ways in which we process and design texts. The unit also considers different approaches to teaching literacy skills in schools and universities and the issues of access, power and participation embedded within them.

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:

1. Identify the attributes of major writing systems of the world;
2. Deconstruct the skills involved in being literate;
3. Describe and evaluate different approaches to teaching literacy to young children;
4. outline the strategies of literacy development in young children;
5. assess the effects and the characteristics of schooled literacy, second language literacy and biliteracy;
6. use ethnographic methods to study literacy events and assess the cultural impact of electronic literacy.

Within semester assessment: 100%

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 288 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

See also Unit timetable information

Applied linguistics