SOCIAL LITERACY IN THE CLASSROOM: A Way of Increasing Doyle 1

Student Participation

Social Literacy in the Classroom: A Way of Increasing Student Participation

Kaitlyn Doyle

Manhattan College: EDUC 206

Abstract
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This action proposal is meant to offer a solution for students’ lack of motivation

to learn in their English classes. By giving students the opportunity of social interaction in the

classroom, they will not only be more excited to attend the class, but they will also have hidden

opportunities to improve their verbal literacy. By using the first two weeks to promote positive

academic social interaction and verbal literacy, then slowly moving the focus to written literacy,

the students will be more encouraged to come to class and participate. By educating the students

about why English is necessary in different careers and professions, this will help them develop a

broader view of why what they are learning is important. These two approaches in conjunction

will promote attendance and participation and also help students understand the value of the

education they are receiving.

Introduction to the Study

A lot of students nowadays no longer see the value in an English education. After

college, depending on the students’ intended career, they may not be writing papers and essays,

and may not be reading poems, short stories, and books. Of course they will still be reading and

writing to fill out paperwork and communicate with peers, but it may not be at the same caliber

that they are expected to read and write in the classroom. One form of communication that is

improved in English classrooms but always forgotten, though, is verbal, oral communication. My

question is whether or not allowing for more verbal communication within the first quarter of the

semester will promote a more positive social environment, and will also help to improve the

students’ literacy. Through classroom discussion, partner work, and presentations, students in

English classrooms are constantly improving their oral communication skills, which is a highly

valued skill not only in college, but in the workplace, and I want to make that skill more valued

in the classroom.
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Research

Sarah Newell, an English teacher and also author of a research journal titled “Learning in

Dialogue: An Exploration of Talk in an English Classroom,” states that “classroom talk is not

simply a method for sharing fixed systems of knowledge or information,” and she goes on to

discuss how discussion in a classroom can not only positively impact the students’ oral

communication skills, but can also greatly improve their writing skills (Newell, 2019). By

developing their quick thinking and entry level thesis formation skills in conversation, this helps

to quicken their thinking when writing theses and claims, and deepens their thinking when they

are given more time to develop a claim and offer evidence. Structuring conversations differently

can even change the way that students develop these skills, and can facilitate the development of

different fundamentals of thesis writing and offering evidence.

A study done at Missouri State University by three Ph.D. level professors with their

undergraduate and graduate students showed that students who had social interactions built into

their class time not only enjoyed class more, but also learned more about literacy and the value

of the content of the class. The professors would allow time for partner or group work in their

class times, then would have a class discussion at the end of each class to hear directly from their

students how they felt it went. Responses to the question “what did you learn about literacy

through social interaction in our courses” were reported (by the students) as follows: “ (a)

reading can be fun (25%), (b) reading strategies help get students to actually read (22%), (c)

reading strategies help students learn a lot of material (15%), and (d) other students’

interpretations of a text can help all students better understand the text (10%),” (Hurst, 2013).

When asked an even broader question of “how did social interaction contribute to student

learning,” the four themes of responses were “[social interaction] helps students learn from
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others, makes learning fun, gets students interested and engaged, and allows students the chance

to take in the classroom” (Hurst, 2013).

According to Adrian Wallwork in his book “CVs, Resumes, and LinkedIn: A Guide to

Professional English,” he discusses the importance of putting your English and language skills

on your resume, and even more, to back them up with examinations and certifications. These

skills, he states, are definitely worthy of putting on a resume, therefore are definitely valued by

employers. These skills are also put to the test in interview settings, which makes them even

more important when it comes to making an impression. This is just further proof that proper

English (and communicative skills in general) are valuable skills that are necessary down the line

in life, and can be offered as more evidence to persuade students that what they are learning is

important.

Devising a Plan

Students will most likely come into my class with a predisposition against reading novels

and writing papers, but most will not have a predisposition against speaking. My plan to teach

students the importance of improving reading and writing skills is to show them that you can

work on these skills through other forms of literacy. I will make sure to include a social or verbal

component of most assignments, thus not only making them more comfortable with the people in

their class and promoting healthy and intelligent social interaction in the classroom, but also

allowing them to participate in something they come to school for-- social time.

These social and verbal interactions, of course, will be structured and prompted based on

the lesson and assignment. Some examples of possible interactions include partner or group

classwork, partner or group out of class projects, class discussions, debates, and presentations.

All of these different social interactions will not only allow them to have the satisfaction of
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spending time with their friends during class time, but will also allow them to work on their

verbal skills in a more clinical setting. It gives them the opportunity to apply their vocabulary

and grammatical learnings to their discussions, and also allows them to make mistakes and

correct them before using them in their writing.

A more specific example of this plan would be through a partnered worksheet. After the

direct instruction phase of the lesson, we would then all move into an activity filling out a

worksheet, venn diagram, graphic organizer, etc. that partners would work on together in

assigned pairs. Instead of filling out the worksheet completely, the assignment would require the

students to discuss the questions on the worksheet, then just jot down a few short notes to

summarize their discussion.

To keep the students on task, they would be expected to hand in their essay at the end of

the class period, that way if they are solely socializing instead of doing the assignment together, I

would know by looking at the work they turn in. I would also be moving from group to group in

a “conference” style check-in, that way I can make sure all groups are on track, and if they

aren’t, I can give them the more individual instruction and guidance they may need.

Another element of this activity would be that the pairs would be assigned. These pairs

would be both socially and academically intentional. Throughout the year (or just the first few

weeks of the school year), the pairs will become more and more intentional, and I would work to

pair students with other students who tend to complement their social and academic needs. I

would place more talkative students with quieter students, and students with a higher literacy

level with students who have a lower literacy level. By pairing students based on social and

academic areas of growth, the assigned partnerships will have a higher chance of actually

benefiting the students’ social and academic literacy. This would also help me to identify the
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groups that may need more individual attention during the conferences, and I could make sure to

check in with them sooner rather than later.

Of course, we would eventually need to focus in on reading and writing, as those are the

concrete skills that are covered by state standards. To do this, after about two weeks of focusing

on verbal literacy through social interaction, I would start to make the assignments just a bit

more writing or reading based. The students would still be working with assigned partners, but

their assignments will require more focus and attention in reading and writing. Even in the direct

instruction portion of the lesson, I would incorporate more read-a-louds or regular reading time.

The assignments would then be longer in length, and would be asking more in depth questions.

The students would no longer be discussing their ideas and jotting down notes, they would be

having a short conversation then writing their own paragraphs, and later on simply talking to

their partner if they come across a particularly difficult question and need some help. At that

point, though, pairs will not be assigned-- they will just ask their neighbors for assistance. By at

least introducing the subject area to the students with a slightly different initial approach, it will

entice the students and call their attention to my class. The transition from a focus in social and

verbal literacy to a focus on reading and writing literacy would be a very slow transition, and the

different types of literacy would overlap greatly, allowing for a slow but sure transition from

creating a positive social environment to focusing on the necessary written literacy standards.

The last step of this approach, which would actually be infused with the whole beginning

segment of the semester, would be to show how different professions use English, whether it be

reading, writing, or speaking. Showing the students that what they are doing in class will directly

impact their job performance later in life, though many years away and hard to actually visualize

and understand as a young high schooler, will give them more motivation to really try to
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understand the content they are learning in the class. Making this specific to their future career

aspirations will also help them become more motivated, and will also help me as the teacher to

learn more about them and what their goals are. All professions presented will have a tie-in to

speech and verbal literacy, so the students will leave class that day feeling one step closer to their

profession. They will be presented as a warm up at the beginning of class or a “Do Now”

following the format: “how does a (insert profession/career/job here) use English every day?” As

an attempt to validate students who are interested in trade careers, we would also discuss

vocational professions and the importance of English in those fields. A nice end of introduction

project or assignment would be to have the students write a short essay telling how what they

have already learned in class (just ten weeks into the semester) will help them achieve their

career goals.

Limitations and Next Step

This research is very limited due to the fact that I am not currently working in or

observing a classroom where I could implement this plan. The limitations that would realistically

affect this approach are the standards, as there are very few standards that actually cover verbal

literacy. The majority of standards specifically cover reading and writing standards, so if I do

take time for social interaction at the beginning of the semester, the time for other standards may

end up being cramped. A contingency plan for this would be to have the students do the regular

assignments (which are focused on standard based learning) in pairs or groups, that way they are

still exercising this social interaction, but focusing on reading and writing literacy.
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References

Hurst, B., Wallace, R., & Nixon, S. B. (2013). The Impact of Social Interaction on Student

Learning. Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts, 52 (4). Retrieved

from https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/reading_horizons/vol52/iss4/5

Newell, S. (2019). Learning in Dialogue: An Exploration of Talk in an English Classroom.

Changing English: Studies in Culture & Education, 26(4), 357–366.

https://doi.org/10.1080/1358684X.2019.1645588

Wallwork, A. (2014). CVs, Resumes, and LinkedIn A Guide to Professional English. New York,

NY: Springer.
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