Academic literacy

All the elements of academic literacy—reading, writing, listening,

speaking, critical thinking, use of technology, and habits of mind that
foster academic success—are expected of entering freshmen across all
college disciplines. These competencies should be learned in the
content areas in high school. It is, therefore, an institutional obligation
to teach them. In order to be prepared for college and university
courses, students need greater exposure to and instruction in academic
literacy than they receive in English classes alone. This need calls for
greater coordination of literacy education among subject matter areas
within high schools. The inseparable skills of critical reading, writing,
listening, and thinking depend upon students’ ability to postpone
judgment and tolerate ambiguity as they honour the dance between
passionate assertion and patient inquiry.
Academic style is usually formal and aims primarily at relevance
and accuracy. A very important indication of formality is related to the
kind of words that writers use. Changing from an informal to a formal
style often requires a vocabulary shift. Certain words are considered to
be more suitable for a formal context than others. However, this does
not imply the use of bombastic or obscure words. In fact, if the words
are bombastic and inappropriate to the context, they may only succeed
in obscuring the meaning of the text. A writer’s vocabulary needs to be
pitched at the appropriate level for his or her audience and should
express the precise meaning of what the author wishes to convey. For
example, English often has two or more words to express an action or
an occurrence. For written academic style, the preferred choice is a
single verb rather than a verb and a preposition.
Academic literacy can be defined as the ability to:
• understand a range of academic vocabulary in context;
• interpret and use metaphor and idiom, and perceive
connotation, word play and ambiguity;
• understand relations between different parts of a text;
• be aware of the logical development of (an academic) text,
via introductions to conclusions, and know how to use
language that serves to make the different parts of a text hang
together;
• interpret different kinds of text type (genre), and show
sensitivity for the meaning that they convey, and the audience
that they are aimed at;
• interpret, use and produce information presented in graphic
or visual format;
• make distinctions between essential and non-essential
information, fact and opinion, propositions and arguments;
distinguish between cause and effect, classify, categorise and
handle data that make comparisons;
• see sequence and order, do simple numerical estimations and
computations that are relevant to academic information, that
allow comparisons to be made, and can be applied for the
purposes of an argument;
• know what counts as evidence for an argument, extrapolate
from information by making inferences, and apply the
information or its implications to other cases than the one at
hand;
• understand the communicative function of various ways of
expression in academic language (such as defining, providing
examples, arguing); and
 • make meaning (e.g. of an academic text) beyond the level of
the sentence.

ACADEMIC LITERACY: READING, WRITING, AND

THINKING CRITICALLY
Competencies for entering students cannot be reduced to a mere
listing of skills. True academic competence depends upon a set of
perceptions and behaviours acquired while preparing for more
advanced academic work. Therefore, a description of abilities
necessary for success in college must reflect what college educators
recognize as the intellectual and practical dispositions of their
successful students. The inseparable skills of critical reading, writing,
listening, and thinking depend upon students’ ability to postpone
judgment and tolerate ambiguity as they honour the dance between
passionate assertion and patient inquiry.
Academic success depends, too, upon students’ exercising the
stamina and persistence useful in other areas of their lives. Those who
play sports, learn a musical instrument, or master difficult dance
routines learn, over time, the value of practice. In much the same way,
academically successful students have learned that intellectual
endurance in the form of rethinking, rereading, and rewriting offers
similar rewards. While education is clearly a collaborative effort,
students must ultimately assume considerable responsibility for their
own education. Successful students seek assistance when they need it
and advocate for their own learning in diverse situations.
The dispositions and habits of mind that enable students to enter
the ongoing conversations appropriate to college thinking, reading,
writing, and speaking are inter-related and multi-tiered. Students
should be aware of the various logical, emotional, and personal appeals
used in argument; additionally, they need skills enabling them to
define, summarize, detail, explain, evaluate, compare/contrast, and
analyze. Students should also have a fundamental understanding of
audience, tone, language usage, and rhetorical strategies to navigate
appropriately in various disciplines.
READING
In upper primary to early secondary school, reading requirements
ramp up in all subject areas, including history, maths, and science. In
English or language classes, students will be introduced to great works
of literature, including biographies, short stories, folktales, myths,
poetry, and plays. They will spend time, in class and in homework,
analysing these works and studying the complex elements of plot,
setting, and character development. Students will compare differences
in genre and style, and learn to interpret literary devices like
foreshadowing and flashback. The overall goal is to help them develop
a more sophisticated understanding of literature and a true love of
reading, which will, in turn, build vocabulary, comprehension, fluency,
and knowledge.
Unfortunately, not all students enjoy reading. Some read only
when they have to complete school assignments, rarely picking up a
book for pleasure. One job of teachers is to turn reluctant readers into
proficient readers by offering them access to a wide range of materials
from which they can choose according to their own interests. These
might include mysteries, biographies, science fiction, and fantasies, as
well as magazines and newspapers. For struggling readers, teachers
might offer books at their independent level — books they can read
successfully. Good teachers also provide students with strategies to
improve their comprehension and fluency. "When students are offered
strategies that bond them to books and stimulate thinking and
wondering, it plants the seeds that germinate lifelong readers — readers
who turn to books because of the knowledge, pleasure, and
entertainment reading brings to their lives," says teacher and author
Laura Robb.
Parents, too, should provide their child with a rich selection of
reading materials at home — and share and discuss what they read with
their child. Laura Robb asks her students' parents to read the same
books as their children, and exchange letters expressing their thoughts
and opinions. "Parents say it really opens doors and stimulates
communication," says Robb, who also suggests that parents continue
reading aloud to their kids. "Sharing a magazine or newspaper article
helps build a child's background knowledge and range of experience,
which will ultimately make him better equipped to learn," she adds.
WRITING
By now your child should be a relatively fluid writer, capable of
composing essays, reports, summaries, letters, stories, speeches, and
poems. The demands of writing increase in all subject areas, including
social studies and science, and in forms such as notes, essay tests, and
outlines. Assignments will be frequent and varied, as students work to
express themselves with increasing confidence, technical correctness,
and ease.
In English or language classes, creative writing opportunities increase.
Students will work to engage a reader with imaginative stories that use
a range of literary devices, like dialogue and suspense. They will
sharpen their expository writing skills, too, by composing clear and
organised essays (descriptive, persuasive and narrative) that include an
introduction, conclusion and sub-headings. Special attention also goes
to more polished and structured research projects. Students will
continue to refine their research skills, organise information and ideas,
and draft, edit, and revise their writing. Teachers will expect final
drafts to be printed on a computer with footnotes and bibliographies, as
well as with correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
LISTENING
Students need to use English to study other subjects. In the
classroom, your students are expected to understand definitions of
concepts, specific information about a concept, detailed reasoning,
main and subordinate ideas, summaries and so on. All these classroom
activities require not only concentration and interest, but also the ability
to process information spontaneously and respond appropriately. For
example, in the Science classroom, students will need to listen to the
teacher’s explanation of a concept, follow the sequence of ideas leading
to the conclusion, understand the steps in a scientific experiment and so
on, all from the teacher’s oral presentation.
To develop effective learning skills, students need to improve their
listening skills, as most of the interaction in the classroom is in the
spoken form. Listening is often considered as a skill which is very
difficult to perfect (Lewis and Graham, 2003). Wragg and Brown
(2001) state that there are four different types of listening; these are
skim, survey, search and study. They believe the types of listening
range from little awareness to trying to search for the underlying
meaning of what is being said. The reasons for these four types of
listening could be due to the amount of information which can be
conveyed through speech and the challenge of the listener having to
process this information (Capel et al, 2009, Wragg and Brown, 2001).
In order for literacy to be taught effectively there needs to be some
consistency across the curriculum (Paterson, 2007). Literacy should not
just be the responsibility of the English department, as it applies to all
learning and subjects cannot be taught effectively without speaking and
listening. For example, to get a good grade in an exam or essay requires
the student to have a good understanding of literacy (DfES, 2003).
To ensure that listening within the classroom is valuable and
effective, it is important to make sure that a variety of questions are
planned in advance and these questions are aimed at differing abilities
to ensure that all students have access to the curriculum (Capel et al,
2009). Open questions should be used to get a better understanding of
students' knowledge as they require a more detailed and comprehensive
answer. Throughout the lesson some pupils should be targeted as it is a
good way to assess their level of understanding. Another area which
should be considered is pupil response time as some students may take
longer to respond not because they do not know the answer they could
just be thinking about it (Corson, 1990, Capel et al, 2009).

TECHNOLOGY COMPETENCIES AND STUDENT SUCCESS

According to the Association of American Colleges and
Universities, Technology has … transformed the nature of the learning
community and the definition of a classroom. It will continue to shift
learning from the ability to amass (or remember) facts to the ability to
adapt to constantly changing ways of finding information, and then
efficiently evaluating its validity, and finally using it in ethical and
creative ways. (Greater Expectations, Update Work-inProgress
Statement #2, revised June 2001, iii) The importance of this shift away
from amassing a knowledge base to acquiring techniques to find the
knowledge cannot be overstated. Students’ success in college has as
much to do with their ability to find information as to recall it. The
traditional route to finding information and conducting research, either
in print forms or experientially, has now extended to technology-based
research whose resources increase exponentially. The following
competencies are considered essential to success in college. Students
should be able to
- type
- use word-processing software to cut, paste, and format
text; spell-check; and save and move files
- navigate e-mail; compose, send, and receive e-mail; and post
attachments
- employ e-mail etiquette
- navigate the Internet and the World Wide Web, recognizing the
significance of domains (e.g., com, net, edu, org, gov)
- use search engines effectively
- evaluate the authenticity of the Website, the credibility of the
author, and the validity of material found on the Web
- know how to cite Internet sources
- know what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it when
using the Internet. Other competencies, while not essential, will enable
a student to perform well in college.
The following are considered desirable competencies:
- contribute to discussions online;
- use visual aids or applications-based visual programs (such
as PowerPoint) to present original work or research or support the
content of an oral report; and
- create and maintain a Website.

Importance of Academic Literacy

Academic literacy has a great impact over how a person expresses
and presents themselves in a scholastic environment. The tools to
effectively read, write and critically think are skills that not only help a
person in the scholastic environment, but also in personal discovery.
Through positive experiences with academic literacy, people do not
only learn to improve their writing and other critical skills, but they
also apply this toward learning about themselves and becoming a more
confident person in everything they do.
Setting a positive environment for students to engage in and
become comfortable with their surroundings is an effective way to aid
students. Teachers have a great impact on how students learn to apply
their academic literacy. When the support is there, students know, and
feel more free to apply themselves.
To be prepared for college and university courses, students need
greater exposure and instruction in academic literacy than they receive
in English classes alone. This need calls for greater coordination of
literacy education among subject matter areas within high schools.
Statement of academic literacy definitely consists of three
competencies: reading, writing, and critical thinking. However, all the
elements of academic literacy—reading, writing, listening, speaking,
critical thinking, use of technology, and habits of mind that foster
academic success— are expected of entering freshmen across all
college disciplines. These competencies should be learned in the
content areas in high school. It is, therefore, an institutional obligation
to teach them (Gilliver-Brown & Johnson, 2009).
Reference
Weideman, Albert. 2018. Academic literacy: why is
it important? [Introduction]. In: Academic literacy: Five new tests.
Bloemfontein: Geronimo, p. ii-x.
ACADEMIC LITERACY: A Statement of Competencies Expected of
Students Entering California’s Public Colleges and Universities, Spring
2002.
Reading and Writing as Academic Literacy in EAP Program of
Indonesian, Leaners Imroatus Solikhah IAIN Surakarta Jl. Pandawa,
Pucangan, Kartasura, Centra Java ratu.shyma@yahoo.com
http://scholastic.co.in/en/articles/reading-across-curriculum