The challenges facing the Singapore education system in the new millennium are unique and unprece... more The challenges facing the Singapore education system in the new millennium are unique and unprecedented in Asia. Demands for new skills, knowledges, and flexible competencies for globalised economies and cosmopolitan cultures will require system-wide innovation and reform. ...
One of the functions of education is to teach societal norms to those who are being educated. Tex... more One of the functions of education is to teach societal norms to those who are being educated. Textbooks used in schools may be important agents of socialization. In this article Peter Freebody and Carolyn Baker explore ways in which beginning reading books present cultural perspectives to young children. The children's textbooks, which are produced and selected by adults, present to children particular views of the world. The authors explore certain modes of thought, experience, and interaction prevalent in the child's preschool life in contrast to other types of experiences characteristic of the culture of formal and literate schooling.
Ethnomethdology is interested in the study of the methods by which members of a culture make orde... more Ethnomethdology is interested in the study of the methods by which members of a culture make orderly sense in and from their experiences. This chapter begins with an outline of the analytic elements of ethnomethdology, conversation analysis and membership categorisation analysis, and summarises the domestic, work, and institutional domains to which it is applied. The chapter describes and illustrates applications of ethnomethdology to educational phenomena. The argument is developed that this orientation draws attention to a need to attend to the details of the pursuit of curricular goals in the sites in which those goals are enacted – e.g., classrooms – to disrupt the utopian assumptions that curricula and other policy instruments (e.g., assessments, professional development programs) are acted out uniformly or in a transparent, pre-determinable relation to policy statements. The chapter concludes with some challenges facing ethnomethdologists wishing to expand the influence of their work in areas such as education.
Beginning and well-seasoned researchers alike face significant challenges in understanding the co... more Beginning and well-seasoned researchers alike face significant challenges in understanding the complexities of research designs arising from both within and across methodological paradigms, and in applying them in ways that maximise impact on knowledge, practice, and policy. This volume aims to contribute to scholarship, policy and practice, by engaging readers in scholarly debate on re-interpretations of established research methodologies in
English is now a global phenomenon no longer defined by fixed territorial, cultural and social fu... more English is now a global phenomenon no longer defined by fixed territorial, cultural and social functions. The Routledge Companion to English Studies provides an authoritative overview of the subject area. Taking into account the changing conceptualisations of English, this Companion considers both historical trajectories and contemporary perspectives whilst also showcasing the state-of-the-art contributions made by the established scholars of the field. The Routledge Companion to English Studies: -provides a set of broad perspectives on English as a subject of study and research -highlights the importance of the link between English and other languages within the concepts of multilingualism and polylingualism -investigates the use of language in communication through the medium of digital technology covering key issues such as Digital Literacies, Multimodal Literacies and Games and Broadcast Language -explores the role of English in education taking account of social, ethnographic and global perspectives on pedagogical issues. This collection of thirty-four newly commissioned articles provides a comprehensive and up-to-date picture of the dynamic and diverse field of English Studies and will be an invaluable text for advanced students and researchers in this area.
The assessment of vocabulary knowledge has posed a number of problems which have resulted in wide... more The assessment of vocabulary knowledge has posed a number of problems which have resulted in widely differing estimates of children's vocabulary growth. Such estimates assume importance when school texts are controlled for vocabulary diversity, and in pedagogical debates concerning the value of vocabulary instruction. In this paper we outline a computer‐based methodology which obtains simple timed responses to sets of
Data from four reading-related tests, including a measure of knowledge about books and print conv... more Data from four reading-related tests, including a measure of knowledge about books and print conventions, and two demographic variables, obtained at the end of the first year of schooling, were used to predict a range of students' word and discourse reading achievement at the conclusion of that year. Students were enrolled in a reading program that emphasized either the subskills involved in breaking the reading code or the more holistic gaining of meaning from print. The results indicated that a measure of knowledge about books and print conventions is strongly related to end-of-year reading achievement, but that, over and above the other more traditional measures, it is a significant predictor of only one type of comprehension - that involving the inferential linking of two pieces of information separated in the text. Students in a subskills-emphasis program outperformed those in a meaning-emphasis program on tests of word knowledge but not of comprehension of discourse.
... RE-DISCOVERING PRACTICAL READING ACTIVITIES ... that count as reading, in their local sites o... more ... RE-DISCOVERING PRACTICAL READING ACTIVITIES ... that count as reading, in their local sites of occurrence, are embedded in other practical activities, and thus do not have essential, knowable features in and of themselves, no matter how strong their `family resemblances'. ...
Applications of social judgment theory (SJT) are discussed with respect to policy formation and d... more Applications of social judgment theory (SJT) are discussed with respect to policy formation and decisionmaking in educational contexts. SJT serves to externalize, quantitatively and graphically, policymakers’ covert judgment processes through the provision of cognitive process feedback. This can give policymakers a clearer understanding of the processes directing their judgments and thus helps to illuminate sources of conflict over policy parameters and outcomes. SJT procedures function equally well for policy analysis at the “micro” level (e.g., within a classroom) and at the “macro” level (e.g., within schools or regions). Interactive computer technology is described, which can execute social judgment analyses, provide cognitive feedback to the policymaker on selected policy parameters, compare the policies of several policymakers, and incorporate desired policy revisions.
Recent sociological and linguistic work has stressed that "reading" refers to v... more Recent sociological and linguistic work has stressed that "reading" refers to variable social practices that are interactively constructed by, for ex-ample, parents, teachers, and students in classrooms and other sites (Baker, 1991; Baker & Freebody, 1989; Cook-Gumperz, 1986; Heap, ...
The challenges facing the Singapore education system in the new millennium are unique and unprece... more The challenges facing the Singapore education system in the new millennium are unique and unprecedented in Asia. Demands for new skills, knowledges, and flexible competencies for globalised economies and cosmopolitan cultures will require system-wide innovation and reform. ...
One of the functions of education is to teach societal norms to those who are being educated. Tex... more One of the functions of education is to teach societal norms to those who are being educated. Textbooks used in schools may be important agents of socialization. In this article Peter Freebody and Carolyn Baker explore ways in which beginning reading books present cultural perspectives to young children. The children's textbooks, which are produced and selected by adults, present to children particular views of the world. The authors explore certain modes of thought, experience, and interaction prevalent in the child's preschool life in contrast to other types of experiences characteristic of the culture of formal and literate schooling.
Ethnomethdology is interested in the study of the methods by which members of a culture make orde... more Ethnomethdology is interested in the study of the methods by which members of a culture make orderly sense in and from their experiences. This chapter begins with an outline of the analytic elements of ethnomethdology, conversation analysis and membership categorisation analysis, and summarises the domestic, work, and institutional domains to which it is applied. The chapter describes and illustrates applications of ethnomethdology to educational phenomena. The argument is developed that this orientation draws attention to a need to attend to the details of the pursuit of curricular goals in the sites in which those goals are enacted – e.g., classrooms – to disrupt the utopian assumptions that curricula and other policy instruments (e.g., assessments, professional development programs) are acted out uniformly or in a transparent, pre-determinable relation to policy statements. The chapter concludes with some challenges facing ethnomethdologists wishing to expand the influence of their work in areas such as education.
Beginning and well-seasoned researchers alike face significant challenges in understanding the co... more Beginning and well-seasoned researchers alike face significant challenges in understanding the complexities of research designs arising from both within and across methodological paradigms, and in applying them in ways that maximise impact on knowledge, practice, and policy. This volume aims to contribute to scholarship, policy and practice, by engaging readers in scholarly debate on re-interpretations of established research methodologies in
English is now a global phenomenon no longer defined by fixed territorial, cultural and social fu... more English is now a global phenomenon no longer defined by fixed territorial, cultural and social functions. The Routledge Companion to English Studies provides an authoritative overview of the subject area. Taking into account the changing conceptualisations of English, this Companion considers both historical trajectories and contemporary perspectives whilst also showcasing the state-of-the-art contributions made by the established scholars of the field. The Routledge Companion to English Studies: -provides a set of broad perspectives on English as a subject of study and research -highlights the importance of the link between English and other languages within the concepts of multilingualism and polylingualism -investigates the use of language in communication through the medium of digital technology covering key issues such as Digital Literacies, Multimodal Literacies and Games and Broadcast Language -explores the role of English in education taking account of social, ethnographic and global perspectives on pedagogical issues. This collection of thirty-four newly commissioned articles provides a comprehensive and up-to-date picture of the dynamic and diverse field of English Studies and will be an invaluable text for advanced students and researchers in this area.
The assessment of vocabulary knowledge has posed a number of problems which have resulted in wide... more The assessment of vocabulary knowledge has posed a number of problems which have resulted in widely differing estimates of children's vocabulary growth. Such estimates assume importance when school texts are controlled for vocabulary diversity, and in pedagogical debates concerning the value of vocabulary instruction. In this paper we outline a computer‐based methodology which obtains simple timed responses to sets of
Data from four reading-related tests, including a measure of knowledge about books and print conv... more Data from four reading-related tests, including a measure of knowledge about books and print conventions, and two demographic variables, obtained at the end of the first year of schooling, were used to predict a range of students' word and discourse reading achievement at the conclusion of that year. Students were enrolled in a reading program that emphasized either the subskills involved in breaking the reading code or the more holistic gaining of meaning from print. The results indicated that a measure of knowledge about books and print conventions is strongly related to end-of-year reading achievement, but that, over and above the other more traditional measures, it is a significant predictor of only one type of comprehension - that involving the inferential linking of two pieces of information separated in the text. Students in a subskills-emphasis program outperformed those in a meaning-emphasis program on tests of word knowledge but not of comprehension of discourse.
... RE-DISCOVERING PRACTICAL READING ACTIVITIES ... that count as reading, in their local sites o... more ... RE-DISCOVERING PRACTICAL READING ACTIVITIES ... that count as reading, in their local sites of occurrence, are embedded in other practical activities, and thus do not have essential, knowable features in and of themselves, no matter how strong their `family resemblances'. ...
Applications of social judgment theory (SJT) are discussed with respect to policy formation and d... more Applications of social judgment theory (SJT) are discussed with respect to policy formation and decisionmaking in educational contexts. SJT serves to externalize, quantitatively and graphically, policymakers’ covert judgment processes through the provision of cognitive process feedback. This can give policymakers a clearer understanding of the processes directing their judgments and thus helps to illuminate sources of conflict over policy parameters and outcomes. SJT procedures function equally well for policy analysis at the “micro” level (e.g., within a classroom) and at the “macro” level (e.g., within schools or regions). Interactive computer technology is described, which can execute social judgment analyses, provide cognitive feedback to the policymaker on selected policy parameters, compare the policies of several policymakers, and incorporate desired policy revisions.
Recent sociological and linguistic work has stressed that "reading" refers to v... more Recent sociological and linguistic work has stressed that "reading" refers to variable social practices that are interactively constructed by, for ex-ample, parents, teachers, and students in classrooms and other sites (Baker, 1991; Baker & Freebody, 1989; Cook-Gumperz, 1986; Heap, ...
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