Steps to academic literacy

The viewpoint that there is connection between reading and writing, and that it is structured in the first language, is supported by the Language 1 (L1) -Language 2 (L2) relationship theory. According to Ferris and Hedgcock (1998, as cited in Pintos, 2008, p.33) skills involving reading strategies tend to favor the development of writing skills. One of the major concerns of the teaching-learning practice seems to be the integration of reading into writing so as to consolidate the abilities of the students and help them master academic literacy.
In 1985, Bloor (as cited in Pintos, 2008, p.33) defined four different approaches to address academic skills in reading:
Psychological approach (Bloor, 1985, as cited in Pintos, 2008, p.33) which involves exercises designed for simple word recognition and interpretation, i.e. rehabilitation of temporal memory-loss patients. This programme generally includes board games like a word-picture domino or flashcards/pictures with captions to help patients recover their semantic abilities.
Linguistic Approach (Bloor, 1985, as cited in Pintos, 2008, p.33) with reference to a series of grammatical exercises involving practice of the rules of a given language. A real life example of this could be the act of reading a newspaper article, for reading-comprehension abilities require grammatical/linguistic knowledge of the language so as to be able to grasp meaning.
Content-Oriented Approach (Bloor, 1985, as cited in Pintos, 2008, p.33) the fact of the matter is reading for a specific purpose: picture yourself when back home with a brand-new personal computer and you read the manual to figure out how to install it. You will surely scan the text quickly till you get to part that contains the relevant information you were looking for. In this example, the purpose of reading is truly specific: reading to cover one’s needs.
Pedagogically-Oriented Approach (Bloor, 1985, as cited in Pintos, 2008, p.33) where students choose freely what to read and, even, they make choices as the speed at which the reading is done. An example of this is clearly shown in a public library, where readers or library members can read/borrow books and enjoy the process.
To conclude, it seems that the best course of action for the development of academic reading would be to make students interact with all the different approaches mentioned above. Indeed, construction of meaning involves the same cognitive processes for both reading and writing. The achievement of advanced literacy skills suggests that teachers should focus much more onto the connection between reading-writing processes to accomplish these goals.


















Reference
Pintos, V. (2008). Unit 1: Building up a community of teachers and prospective. [PDF document]. Retrieved August 15, 2009, from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=2730