Abstract

CASTANHEIRA, Maria Lucia; GREEN, Judith L.  and  DIXON, Carol N.. Literacy practices in classrooms: examining literate actions as socially constructed. Rev. Port. de Educação [online]. 2007, vol.20, n.2, pp.7-38. ISSN 0871-9187.

In this article, we argue that literacy is not a universal process that has the same meaning for everybody. Rather, literacy is understood as a dynamic process in which the meaning of literate action is locally and continuously redefined by participants of a social group. To support this argument, we examine how a common understanding of literacy was established by participants in a classroom. Adopting an interactional ethnographic approach, we analyze how students and teacher define conditions for reading, writing and discussing texts, during a summer course. Based on this analysis, we raise theoretical and methodological issues to be considered when developing research on school literacy practices.

Keywords : Literacy; Discourse analysis; Classroom interaction.

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