'Welcome to the October edition of AJLL. The issue comprises a variety of articles that report on national and international literacy research. In the first article, The discourse of drama supporting literacy learning in an early years classroom, Annette Harden reports on a study which examined how drama facilitates literacy development in the early years. The second article Praxis and the theory of practice architectures: Resources for re-envisioning English Education by Christine Edwards-Groves and Peter Grootenboer examines practices in English education through the lens of praxis and the theory of practice architectures. The authors show how a view of praxis and practice allows English educators to re-imagine the nature of their pedagogical work. In the third article, Discretionary Space: English Teachers Discuss Curriculum Agency, Mary Weaven and Tom Clark report on a study which explored teachers’ reluctance to engage with poetry teaching in the senior secondary years of school. Amongst other things the data revealed a series of complex and apparently contradictory attitudes towards teacher agency and curriculum more generally. The fourth paper, Language knowledge and its application: A snapshot of Australian Teachers’ Views, by Kristina Love, Mary Macken-Horarik and Stefan Macken-Horarik, also focuses on teachers and reports on a national survey of 373 English teachers who expressed their views on linguistic subject knowledge and linguistic pedagogic subject knowledge. In the fifth paper, Examining the interpretations children share from their reading of an almost wordless picture book during independent reading time, Jessica Mantei and Lisa Kervin report on a study which reports on students engagement with the picture book Mirror by Jeannie Baker. In the final paper, Relating students’ spoken language and reading comprehension, Ann Daly reports on her doctoral research that investigated the relationship between students’ spoken language and their reading comprehension test scores. We hope that you enjoy reading these articles and look forward to receiving contributions from teachers and researchers.' (Editorial : Jennifer Rennie )
Contents indexed selectively.
'This paper shares findings from part of a larger project exploring students' interpretations of children's literature during independent reading time. Examined in this paper are interpretations by students in Grade 4 (aged 9-10 years) about the messages conveyed in the almost wordless picture book Mirror by author and artist Jeannie Baker. Mirror shares a multicultural perspective on life through its portrayal through collage of the lives of two families living in different countries. Data were collected as semi-structured interviews and observations recorded as field notes. Chambers' (1994) 'Tell Me' framework informed the question schedule of the semi-structured interviews, which were designed to promote opportunities for students to share their interpretations following independent reading time. Emerging themes from data analysis are considered through critical literacy lens (Janks, 2010). Further, implications for the use of almost wordless picture books in classroom reading experiences are identified in connection with the development of children's cultural awareness and sensitivity (Short, 2003).' (Publication abstract)
