Julissa Lopez
Dr. Chandler
ENG 3029*03
17, December 2013
“How Childrens’ Recreational Activities Outside of
the Classroom Lead to Increased Literacy”
Introduction
Children
love to talk with each other through things that they have in common with each
other. Much to the chagrin of teachers everywhere, children could go on for
hours about what they love to do and what they watch on the television instead
of focusing on their schoolwork. At the present time our society has radically
evolved with the advent of smartphones and other technologies which children
use to look up information at their fingertips. Knowledge is everywhere.
Whether is in the mediums I listed above or on a Kindle, young people learn in
ways older generations could have only dreamed about.
Researchers
in the field of literacy are now faced with many forms of communication that
were not in existence 25 years ago. These information pathways and its implications
on children’s learning represent an almost untapped new frontier in research.
In this present study I am going to examine my son to see what types of
activities enrich his literacy out of school. Mary Louise Pratt states in her
research that "Literacy began for Sam (which is her son) with newly
pronounceable names on the picture cards and brought him what has been easily
the broadest, most varied, most enduring, and most integrated experience of his
thirteen-year life”. My goal is to expand upon on what Mary Louise has
researched and use technology to elaborate on what Pratt did not use when she
conducted her research because technology was not as popular as it is now in
the 21st century. I will observe the different activities my son
does to enrich his literacy and interview my son to get an inside look on how
he uses materials such as books, cards, magazines to help to expand his
discourse between friends.
This
topic is near and dear to my heart because my son has overcome his fear of
literacy with activities, trading cards, books, and magazines he loves to read
or especially if it has anything to do with wrestling. This has helped him
engage in different types of discourse among his friends and classmates.
The
research will attempt to demonstrate who findings are helpful in enriching
children’s literacy through activities, technology, and reading materials they
love to read.
Literature Review
In Arts of the
Contact Zone by Mary Louise Pratt, she has shown that children learn
literacy through activities, books, magazines, and trading cards they like to
read. Pratt goes on to say that “I was
delighted to see schooling give Sam the tools with which to find and open all
these doors”. She then adds, “At the same time I found it unforgiveable that
schooling itself gave him nothing remotely as meaningful to do.” To tie her
thought to the present day, our educational system now demands increased
accountability of teachers and administrators alike. To that end, curriculums
have become even to rote as increased standardized testing is the normal.
Students are pressured to perform by not only state testing but district
testing in order to show results in the form of high achievement scores. What
this all leads to is a focus on “teaching to the test”. There is less and less
room for learning for learning’s sake. That is because there is a set
curriculum that must be covered over a given amount of time before the test
arrives. Pratt’s would likely view this current philosophy of education as
unfortunate due to the stifling of children’s love of acquiring knowledge.
Children crave the need for recreation and fun in learning. If they are given a
reason to believe that the knowledge learned in the classroom relates to the
real world, then the potential of learning would be greatly enhanced.
In
my research I would like to address another material that she does not mention
in her research which it is using different technologies such as computers and
a Kindle. I would like to take a look on how children use this to expand what
they learn. They use these methods to find out what moves they could apply on
the games they are playing with on their consoles. Although they are not likely
consciously aware of their learning just as with more traditional ways of such
as baseball cards, for example, children are still supplementing their
knowledge of vocabulary that ultimately translates to improved literacy both
within the confines of their school and in the outside world.
Methodology
I conducted two twenty minutes interviews which I
recorded my 10 year old son. Each interview took place in the comfort of his
own room. I conducted an interview because I wanted to get an inside look on
how my son uses some of these materials and engages in some of the activities
he does to expand on his literacy without him really realizing it. I asked opened-ended
questions that were related to literacy in ways that were easy for him to
understand and that he would be comfortable answering. I then analyzed the interview data and I
characterized the responses into different categories. These categories will
focus on how his vocabulary and general knowledge improves, how more
“traditional” (i.e., non-technology based) activities contribute to his
learning, how recent innovations in computers also help towards this goal, and
how his discourse community integrates that all together. All of this helped me
to see how my son was able to use different tools to enhance and come up with
different ideas he could use for his game.
Presentation of Data
and Analysis
The following are the questions and answers of my interview
sessions with my son. After each statement there is a subsequent analysis that
ties in his responses to the broader world of literary research on children’s
learning techniques for language and cognitive development. During the
interview, JC talks about how the use of technology in the form of video games
and the internet help him to find the information he is looking for the enhance
his gaming experience. Along the way, he will have to use to his reading
ability to get him to the proper internet pages to find the codes he is looking.
His friends also serve as a social network where he can exchange data while
learning from the rest of the group. Let us look at his responses to see how
this all takes place.
J- Is Myself
JC-Is Interviewee
In the response below we will see how excited JC is in
playing his favorite new game. This gives us a backdrop for the rest of the
interview as wrestling is his favorite hobby and takes up most of leisure time
in his life outside of school.
(excerpt)
J: Which
activity do you like to do the most?
JC: I like to
play my wrestling game WWE 2K 14. It is cool! I love this game! It’s Awesome!
JC
is using activities that are fun for him to learn new ideas and vocabulary that
will be subsequently used in his discourse community of friends. The new lexis
that will be introduced can serve to further strengthen their overall knowledge
and can also strengthen the social bond between them.
Next,
JC reveals his other hobbies that he finds interesting. Besides his diverse
recreational pursuits, he notes how a number of these hobbies are the same as
his friends’ interests.
(excerpt)
J: What kinds
of activities do you like to do out of school?
JC: I like to
read wrestling magazines, books that are fun to read, use the computer to look
up stuff, play video games, I collect playing cards such as wrestling,
baseball, and Pokemon. I sometimes give them to my friends
Here
he is expanding his discourse among his friends with activities they do outside
of school and that they have in common. He reads books and magazines that are
fun and interesting to him. His trading cards are similar to Pratt’s memories
of her son learning through the use of baseball cards.
In
the excerpt below, JC continues to elaborate on wrestling as his favorite
hobby. However, that is not only limited to what he watches on tv. He reads
books about the subject which teaches him how to read while at the same time
acquiring more facts he can share with his friends.
(excerpt)
J: What else
do you do for fun?
JC: I read
books about wrestling. I learn a lot. I learn like where my favorite wrestlers
are born, how old they are, when did they start wrestling, how many title
championships have they won, what are their signature moves, you know, lots of
other stuff.
J: At school
do you get to read books for fun?
JC: I read WWE Books. Sometimes we do when we
have free time or lunch and recess. But I like to come home and use the
computer before uh I do homework or I’ll read the book my teacher gives us.
By
reading about a topic he is interested about, JC will be highly motivated to
expand his vocabulary. In addition, reading WWE books expands his genres beyond
television and talking with his friends. The benefits of extracurricular
reading are that he is taking lots of information and processing it to his
benefit. He is also improving his literacy skills and with the help of his
teacher, JC is learning grammar and factual information that he could apply to
other subjects inside and outside of school.
The following series of quotes incorporate technology as
a method of learning for JC outside of the classroom. His motivation to seek out
new moves draws him to using the internet and the Kindle.
(excerpt)
J: What do you
do to find new moves or if you are stuck on a level?
JC: I use the
computer at home or my grandma’s Kindle to find out what move to do next.
J: Does the
computer help you out to find what you want?
JC: Yes. It
gives me clues to be able to help me move on to the next level or it helps me
get different moves to be able to beat the other wrestlers. I apply the
signature moves and that wrestler is DONE!
J: How do you
get the information on what you need off the computer?
JC: I
sometimes have to read what it says. Sometimes you have to help me read what is
on it because the words are too big for me to read or I see the moves on You
Tube. I like to see it because it makes it easier to apply the move to the
wrestler.
J: What do you
do on the computer?
JC: Look up
plays for the games I like to play. The moves to beat the games. And who won
the wrestling matches on TV and I try to watch the shows I don’t have that much
time to see them so I squeeze them in.
In
the previous quotes, JC uses technology to expand on his different genres and
how to find what he is looking for by having to read what the steps are in the
description given on the screen of the computer or Kindle. He takes the time to
find out what he can do to beat the game. JC is expanding his vocabulary with
words that he is taking off the screen and applying it to whatever game he is
playing. He also learns how to interpret “clues” thereby bolstering his
analytical skills that he can use when dealing with critical thinking skills
needed to write good essays in class. When JC lacks the vocabulary and decoding
skills of new words he will look for someone to help him much like he does with
his teacher. This shows that he is determined to find out whatever it is that
he needs to accomplish the task he wants to improve in. Such motivation is an
asset anywhere in life.
Besides technology and books, social groups are important
in the exchange of information. While they get to talk about wrestling and
other fun topics, they are also indirectly learning how read with each other
when they look at trading cards. They also set themselves apart in their own
discourse community with the language they use that might not be familiar to
those on the outside.
(excerpt)
J: When you
are at school or outside of school what do you and your friends like to talk
about?
JC: We talk
about anything. We talk about wrestling. Wrestling is our favorite. We talk
about…um um the moves that the wrestlers apply to one another. If we saw any of
the shows like Monday Night Raw or Smack Down. We talk about what we saw and if
we liked who won the match. It is so cool to be able to talk to my friends
about the shows. We sometimes try to, you know, do the moves on each other. We get
to talk a lot at lunch time and sometimes when we have recess or specials.
J: What do you
and your friends talk about that you have in common?
JC: Sometimes
I talk about wrestling stuff into like doing games and talking about it with my
friends. We talk about who won last night on tv. We talk about their entrance
songs and their finisher wrestling moves. And we talk about um which ones are
our favorite wrestlers.
J: What do you
like to do with your trading cards?
JC: Sometimes
when we bring them to school and we play with them at recess time. We look at
the pictures. We look at the numbers to see who won who has the most numbers
and then they win and if you lose you trade with someone else and sometimes we
trade them with each other.
J: Why do you
like to read the wrestling ones more than any other book?
JC: Because
they are entertaining and they have the best legends in history of
entertainment like Shawn Michaels, The Kings of Kings Triple H, Ric Flair, and
MY FAVORITE WRESTLER JOHN CENA!
As
seen this dialogue, his discourse is fun and exciting for him and his friends.
It is mentioned in Swales’ work that discourse communities must have a common
goal and for them it is wrestling. Swales points out that there are lexis among
the discourse communities which only the community knows and this is one of
them. As an outsider conducting this interview there are terminologies that I
don’t know about but my son and his friends know like the entrance songs and
lyrics. I am not very familiar the names of the wrestlers’ finishing moves but
learned them as I interviewed him. They are learning so much by just having a
common interest among each other. With
the trading card activities he is building vocabulary, arithmetic skills,
developing sense of patterns, and order of arranging and rearranging cards. JC
is also enriching his literacy and discourse among friends without having a
clue that they are teaching each other.
JC reads outside of school when he finds a topic that is of interest to
him. He is learning while engaging in something he likes to do. JC is learning
new facts and vocabulary he could apply towards his schoolwork and any
discourse he has among his friends.
Discussion of findings
What we can see from my interview with JC is that his
hobbies have served to be a catalyst for learning outside of school. He is
realizing that developing solid reading skills are really essential for
communication. That is why he is becoming more vocal with his teacher in asking
for help. I surmise that part of the reasoning for this is for him to be able
to do research video games by himself. JC’s initiative over this part of his
life is beginning to carry over into his academics.
His group of friends not only serves its social purpose
of play like it would for any other child, but it is also a treasure trove for
the exchange of data. In between their discussions of which wrestler is the
best of all time or what level they are on in WWE 2K 14, JC and his friends are
learning about literacy, communication, math, and social skills. Mastery of
each of these abilities will becoming increasingly essential as schools now
continually demand more from their students. JC along with students like him
who actively use their acquired knowledge to learn about their hobbies are
simultaneously preparing themselves for the rigors of high school and possibly
beyond.
Conclusion
As we have seen through this analysis of JC’s learning
style and with his interaction with his friends, it is clearly apparent that
the acquisition of literacy skills is not confined to the four walls of a
classroom. Learning is not done in a vacuum. It is really done in the real
world of interactions made at home, at social gatherings, or anywhere where 2
or more people can interact. The knowledge that is written down in books began
not with the author making realizations in an isolated room. It came from
observing, communicating, and participating in society. Specialized groups
(i.e., discourse communities) form based on a common interest. The knowledge
found there spreads to other areas of life (in this case, what JC learns from
his friends, some of this will translate into his school work in the form of
increased academic achievement). Learning about literacy also works the other
way. The lessons learned at school (such as learning to read using computers)
would likely lead to increased computer usage due to their familiarity with
this technology. This new, reciprocal way of learning is beneficial to
improving literacy skills that will only continue to increase with the spread
of media and technology around us.
Works
Cited
Pratt, Mary Louise. “Arts of the Contact Zone.” Profession,
1991. 33-40
