A9.3: Revised Project Prospectus

Traci Girondo

October 18, 2007

1. Research Question/Foundation Questions:

In what ways can teachers foster the development of literacy skills in children from impoverished environments?

1. What literacy skills are common among all school-age children?

2. What literacy skills are unique to children from impoverished environments?

3. What is the teachers role in fostering the development of literacy skills?

2. Tentative point:

Through my research, I plan to make the point that teachers can be influential in fostering the development of literacy skills in children from impoverished environments by focusing on the areas of literacy these children struggle with.

3. Discussion:

Before beginning my research on this topic I knew that poverty had an effect on a child’s literacy skills. My knowledge on this came from a Read Aloud program that I participated in at Marshall University. In this program we were assigned to specific schools in the area that were noted as being at risk schools. These schools were recieving low test scores and very little federal funding. The goal of this program was to get the children actively involved in reading. In this program I came to the school once a week and read aloud to the class. The children were encouraged to ask questions about the book. Typically, after I read the book then the children participated in a reading activity with their teacher. I noticed while at the school that many of the children struggled with reading. I discussed this with the teacher and she noted that many of the students did not have family at home to encourage literacy skills such as reading. Factors such as this can affect literacy because the children are not recieving as much stimulation as other children and have less literacy experiences. Since I am aware of how impoverished environments and parent interactions can affect literacy I wanted to focus my research on an area I was unfamiliar with. I want to specifically look at an educators role in the development of literacy in children from impoverished environments.

The information I am learning on my research questions is giving me a better idea of how a child’s environment can affect their literacy skills and how teachers can help in the development of their literacy skills. From my research I am learning a lot of new information that I was unaware of before. I am finding many differences in the literacy skills of children who are raised in an impoverished environment as compared to other children’s literacy skills. The implications in research are that children who are raised in an impoverished environment fall behind their same aged peers when it comes to reading skills. Children from impoverished environments have more difficulties with reading comprehension, phonemic awareness, and word recognition. These problems seem to stem from the lack of stimulation and literacy experiences the child is recieving outside of school. These limited experiences set the child up for delays when they enter school which is why it is important for teachers to be aware of how to remidiate these delays. The research I have found in regards to ways teachers can increase literacy skills in children is for them to chose reading materials that are age appropriate for the child. Also, it is important to incorporate visual images until the child is more comfortable simply reading text.

From what I am learning I developed 3 research questions to help me focus my research so that I would be able to answer my research question. When coming up with these research questions I wanted to focus specifically common literacy skills among all school age children, literacy skills specific to children from impoverished environments and what a teachers role is in the development of literacy in students. I felt that these questions would allow me compare and contrast children from impoverished environments to their fellow school age peers and see if there are any spevific literacy skills that are only common among children from impoverished environments. If there is I then want to determine how teachers can help to develop these skills the children are lacking. I feel the most important thing for me to accomplish by answering these questions is to find relevant information that will help me answer my research questions. I feel that the questions I have developed will give me a well rounded view of the topic and help me to focus my research to answer my research question. I am sure as I continue my research these questions will expand and change.

There are many challenges I foresee when thinking about the research to answer my research question. I am having a difficult time finding information that looks specifically at children from impoverished environments and their literacy skills. There is a lot information available on literacy, but literacy itself is a very broad topic. I have also found a lot of information on adult literacy, but limited information on children. I feel that I will just have to spend a lot of time searching for articles that pertain to the subject matter I am researching. I need to make sure that the research I am finding is valid and reliable. I know it is going to be a lot of work searching for information that helps me answer my research question, but I am up for the challenge. I think the end result of this research is going to be vast amount knowledge on a topic I feel is very important. There is no reason why children should not have every oppurtunity to succeed.

Baydar, N., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Furstenberg, F.F. (1993, June). Early warning signs of functional illiteracy: Predictors in childhood and adolescence. Child Development, 64(3), 815-829. Retrieved October 6, 2007, from the PsychINFO database.

D’Angiulli, A., Hertzman, C., & Siegel, L. S. (2004). Schooling, Socioeconomic Context and Literacy Development. Educational Psychology, 24(6), 867-883. Retrieved September 18, 2007, from the ERIC database.

Kainz, K. & Vernon-Feagans, L. (2007, May). The ecology of early reading development for children in poverty. Elementary School Journal, 107(5), 407-427. Retrieved October 6, 2007, from the ERIC database.

Leavy, J., Masters, A., & White, H. (2003, November). Comparative perspectives on child poverty: A review of poverty measures. Journal of Human Development, 4(3), 379-397. Retrieved October 6, 2007, from the Academic Search Premier database.

Nancollis, A., Lawrie, B., & Dodd, B. (2005). Phonological Awareness Intervention and the Acquisition of Literacy Skills in Children From Deprived Social Backgrounds. Language,Speech, & Hearing Services in Schools, 36(4), 325-335. Retrieved September 18, 2007, from the Academic Search Premier database.

A9.1:Photo-Visual Literacy

Traci Girondo

October 18, 2007

Before taking CD 315 I had a very limited idea of what I felt literacy encompassed. For me, literacy included reading and writing. I felt that to be a literate person these were the skills a person needed to possess. My view on literacy has expanded and I no longer have this narrow viewpoint. Research has shown me that it is now crucial for people to possess specific literacy skills that will allow them to be successful in a digital enviroment. In an article by Eshet-Alkali and Amachai-Hamburger they discuss literacy skills which will allow people to be successful in a digital enviroment. Some of these skills include branching literacy, information literacy, and photo-visual literacy. For the purpose of this assignment I am going to focus of photo-visual literacy.

As stated by the International Visual Literacy Association the term “visual literacy” was coined in 1969 by John Debes and is defined by the Oakland Museum of California ”as the ability to understand communications composed of visual images as well as being able to use visual imagery to communciate to others.” The idea behind visual literacy is that it is important for people to be able to interpret and communicate through visual images. This is important in that we live in ”an increasing visual culture.” We run in to visual images in everything that we do, so it is important we develop skills to be successful in such an environment. Some visual images may include photographs, movies, computer games and road signs. I feel that I am a visual literate person because of the experiences I have had using visual literacy skills.

My experiences with visual literacy can be traced back to when I was just a child. I remember we had a nintendo gaming system that my siblings and I used to play. The games that we played required us to interpret the images on the screen to determine how to complete the game. For example, when playing Mario I knew that if a mushroom was walking towards me that it meant I would lose a life if I did not jump over the mushroom or kill it. Visual literacy skills then became very important as I learned to drive. It surprises me how many times a day I have to interpret a visual image on a road sign. I know that the bright yellow sign with an arrow facing to left means that there is a sharp let turn ahead that I should prepare for. I also use visual literacy skills in public places to determine which restroom to use. If I was not a visual literate person this would be a difficult task. I feel that I knew a lot about visual literacy before reading these articles, but I did not know that there was a specific name for this skill I possesed.

 I feel that visual literacy skills are a skill that individuals need to possess to be successful in day to day tasks, but also in a digital environment. I am not surprised that more forms of literacy our being developed because simply knowing how to read and write will make a person successful in a culture that is becoming more centered around visual images. What does surprise me it that the term visual literacy was coined in 1969, but only recently has an emphsis been placed on its importance to society. I feel that this may be correlated to the development of the internet. As digital literacy becomes more prominent I feel that as a society we will see changes in our education and schooling.

I feel that a change will occur in education and schooling because I have seen some of those changes taking place. When I was a student in elementary school a lot of emphasis was placed on a students ability to read and write. Now, when I look at my nephews schoolwork and what they are doing, there is a greater emphasis on the use of images. Teachers are using more charts and graphs to describe concepts. I feel that this change is going to take place because teachers will realize that visual literacy skills are skills that individuals need to have to be successful. I feel that we are going to see more use of images such as graphs, powerpoints, photographs, and many more images being included in the curriculum because they are going to enhance the child’s learning and help them to develop new skills. As stated by the Oakland Museum of California, visual literacy skills will help to develop and improve observational skills and  increase critical thinking skills.”

Sources:

Amichai-Hamburger, Y. & Eshet-Alkali, Y. (2004, August). Experiments in digital literacy. Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 7(4), 421-429.  Retrieved October 18, 2007, from the Academic Search Premier database.

Avgerinou, M. (n.d.). What is Visual Literacy. Retrieved October 18, 2007, from http://www.ivla.org/org_what_vis_lit.htm#definition

Visual Literacy Activities (n.d.). Retrieved October 18, 2007, from http://www.museumca.org/picturethis/visual.html