Literacy as a Social Practice

LAURA SYMONDS 11334201 EED112 ASSIGNMENT 1

“…Literacy is social practice and is therefore learned as part of wider social practices and processes in which we are engaged as we become members of our families and communities. That is, we learn to ‘do’ literacy as learn to behave and belong in our families and communities.”

How do language and literacy practices differ in homes and in communities – what are the implications for schooling?

Language and literacy practices are social practices and therefore differ greatly as people step into different roles and social contexts in their lives, whether it is in the home or the community and these often reflect in the school.

As explained by Anstey & Bull (2004) - “Each of us is a member of many discourses, and each discourse represents one of our ever multiple identities.”

To understand how these roles and discourses affect people’s language and literacy practices we must understand what language and literacy practices are and their social function. Language is how we communicate and literacy is how we interact with the written word – be it through reading, technology or discussion of a book. As a social practice language and literacy draw upon culture and history – different cultures understand literacy and language differently and people shape their practices based on their own history – what they learnt growing up and on the practices created out of the past – such as the appropriate social roles developed.

So how does social context affect people’s use of language and literacy practices and how they learn them?

In the home, language and literacy are used differently by different people. Aspects like a person’s culture; socio-economic status, gender or geographical location can affect this.

A person’s culture will often impact a person’s language and literacy practices – a person who comes from a home where English is the only language will have different literacy practices...