Prerequisites: English 105, one additional English course, or consent of instructor

*This course fulfills the junior level writing requirement

Course Description:
The goal of this course is to work towards an understanding of the complex and highly debated topic of language and literacy. The increasing diversity in our classrooms suggests a reevaluation of past approaches to teaching students how to read and write and how to gain access to academic literacy. To this end, we will survey recent developments and discussions on literacy issues and address practical and theoretical concerns arising from these discussions. We will discuss arguments that see literacy as a skill as well as arguments that perceive of literacy as a value judgment. This will lead us into a discussion of various literacy models and their implications on our understanding of culture, politics, and education. Similarly, we will discuss how new technologies influence our approaches to literacy acquisition.

Course objectives:

• understand the history of literacy and literate technologies
• understand language socialization and literacy acquisition
• understand representations of literacy (literacy models), their applicability, and their underlying biases
• understand the consequences (psychological and economic) of literacy
• understand issues of literacy and identity
• understand literacies outside the classroom
• understand class, race, and gender biases in home and school literacies

• write an academic paper based on research related to the course topic (about 15 revised pages)
• write at least two weekly online journal entries, one in response to the readings and one in response to one of your colleagues' comments
• write 5 formal responses to the readings (about 2 revised pages each)
• respond to your colleagues' papers during the writing process.
• midterm and final exams will be in essay format
• hand in a writing portfolio at the end of the semester that includes a 1-2 page self-reflective essay in which you discuss what you have learned in this course in terms of content and writing issues.

Hawisher and Selfe. Literacy, Technology, and Society
Course Packet with specific articles for this class

Recommended materials will be handed out during class.

Course outline: see attached syllabus

Evaluation methods and deadlines (see syllabus for deadlines):

Active participation in class discussions throughout the semester (10%)
Studying literacy means studying ourselves, studying those around us, and studying texts. Because we are all part of the "literacy debate" it is important to partake in that discussion. Therefore, I expect everybody to provide frequent input that will further our understanding of each other, of texts that we read, of literacy issues, and of the writing that we will do.

Online journal entries throughout the semester (15%)
To make participation easier, you are expected to keep a journal in which you write your impressions about the works that we are reading. Write an entry for every class meeting. I'll collect them at midterm and endterm.

Oral Presentation (10%)
Reading, writing, and speaking are closely connected. It'll be important for you to be able to express yourself clearly and convincingly not only in writing, but also when you give a talk. Your oral presentation will be part of the learning and literacy process.

Short writing assignments throughout the semester (25%)
We'll do a lot of writing in this class. The five short writing assignments will be in response to readings that we will be doing. They are intended to increase your understanding of literacy practices in a variety of settings.

Academic paper based on  research (25%)
This is one of the fun parts of the class. For this paper, you'll need to do field research, which means that you need to interview and talk to people about a specific topic which you will choose. You'll need to choose your topic based on issues dealing with language, literacy, or bias. This paper should be about 6-8 pages.

Midterm (5%)

 Final (10%)

Course policy
No retests/makeup tests

This class can only be successful if you participate and attend. For this reason, you are expected to be in class every time we meet. If you miss more than two classes, it will affect your grade.

Grading
A: Outstanding work (90-100 %)
B: Above average work (80-89%)
C: Average work (70-79%)
D: Below average work (60-69%)
F: Failing Grade (0-59%)