Literacy Practices Report: The Department of Communications

In this report we will discuss the effect different literacy practices have on the interior
function of the Communications Department at the University of Utah. The information for this
report was gathered through a series of interviews, visits to the department building, and
observation hours. The goal of this report is to relay the information of how people in the
Communications department communicate and use literacy to achieve the departments goal to
contribute to students life-long learning and to help prepare them for careers as stated by
Professor Glen M. Feighery, Associate Professor, Chair, and Director of Undergraduate Studies
in the Department of Communications. In this report we explain the literacy practices of the
Community that is the Communications department at the University of Utah and how they
contribute to the goal of the department. Literacy shares a vital role in this particular department
because the literacy practices enable communication. The Literacy Practices of this Department
vary from Advertising, face-to-face communication, email, and lectures. The findings of this
report will have the following consequences; the reader will understand the role of literacy in this
department, how literacy means something different for this community than it does for others,
and have a better comprehension of the value and definition of Literacy Practices.
The Communications department is one of the largest on-campus fields of study.
Communication within the department is a vital source to achieve the previously stated main
goal of the department. They utilize many literacy practices as tools for inside contact. Literacy
practices are cultural ways of utilizing literacy as explained by Barton and Hamilton in their
article Literacy Practices. Barton and Hamilton continue to expand upon their previous claim by
stating that practices are shaped by social rules which regulate the use and distribution of texts
prescribing who may produce and have access to them. It is through these social rules and

unspoken laws of the Communications department, that we found three specific subsections of
Literacy Practices.
The Department of Communications is run by one overall theme, to communicate and
teach others how to communicate. After researching the department building, observing classes,
and interviewing stakeholders and decision makers we found there are three separate subsections
of literacy practices that are used to accomplish this theme. Each subsection of practices will be
thoroughly analyzed and discussed within main body of this report. The first practice is the
overwhelming usage of technology; the second, is the departments emphasis in public speaking;
and third, the common occurrence of face-to-face interactions. After acquiring the data to come
to this conclusion, we compiled all of our findings into an inventory, to specifically see what
information correlates with what practice. The organization of the information was very helpful
to then narrow all of the practices down into the three subsections. The following figure is an
inventory of the information found.
The information in this report can be utilized by all members of the department. As
stated by the decision makers that we interviewed, the department goal is to increase the
students communication skills and create opportunities for communicative success after
college. Decision makers throughout this department though have a huge impact on the
success of their students. As the report explains, decision makers use multiple different
classroom settings and administrative decisions to help students achieve their goals, all of
which are interactive. These characteristics are vital to a student (stakeholder) interested
in communications specifically, who is putting money and time into the department, all of
which are sacrifices that the student takes to pursue their passion in communications. As
well as decision makers being a major part of the communications department

stakeholders aka students are just as important. The students of this department keep it
alive. Without these stakeholders passion for communications the department would
ultimately be dead. The research that we found throughout this report explains the vital
role students play in the department, and how it is necessary for both decision makers and
stakeholders to understand the Literacy Practices commonly used within the department.
Students would be able to use this report to show individuals inside and even outside the
department ways they communicate and and how successful the literacy practices within
the department are.

Literacy Practice

Item

Where you found it

Advertising, communicating
to people of similar interests

Public relations student

society handout

LNCO in the communications

department main office.

Advertising, collaboration,
and research skills

The Speech Acquisition Lab

Flyer

Found this in the window in

the LNCO building on the
first floor

Informative, Learning
standards

Communication Major
requirements sheet

LNCO in the communications

department main office.

LIstening skills, word

analysis

Observation Hour

These were done in multiple

teachers classrooms.
-MBH room 212
-LNCO 245

Independent reading,
Analysis, Reading for a
purpose, Word analysis

Article survey

we found these articles on

various websites

Cognitive skills

Interview with Danielle

Andres

In her office on the second

story of the LNCO building

Interview with Jacob Crayne

In his apartment

Interview with Glen Feighery

Email

Interview with Ally Jorgensen Email

Technology is one of the most practiced literacy tools the department uses. It has most
recently defined the department by increasing the accessibility of ways to connect. Technology is
a convenient and less time consuming form of interaction. The department uses email, social
media, and the internet as a learning and advertising tool. Technology helps define the major and
give it shape by influencing one of the majors main goals to rely information. Professor
Feighery states that a written record enables us to be thorough and accurate. The written record
is easily accessible and shared through the use of technology. Technology also encourages
students to study information, and be more punctual as well as invested in their learning. It

allows professors easily communicate and allows them to express any concerns with students at
all times. This literacy practices not only makes the lives of both students and professors easier,
but also shapes the success of the Communications department as a whole.
Public speaking is one of the most emphasised practices in the department. Most classes
incorporate some type of public speaking to ensure the student is competent and sufficient with
this practice. We observed this skill through our observation hours as well as our interviews.
Many of the professors and students had a professional and charismatic approach to speaking.
These behavioral skills are very important to obtain to be successful within the department and
beyond. This skill defines the major because with public speaking comes the ability to
correspond in all types of situations. Many lectures and clubs are centered around public
speaking, and the skills necessary for public speaking are advertised throughout the department.
It is through this literacy practice and others that the department fulfills its broader social goals.
Lastly, face to face communication is the singular purpose of this department. It is the
end goal behind all other practices. One of the reasons for the uses of technology and public
speaking are to enable the students to better communicate face-to-face. We found the importance
of this practice through our interviews and the events the flyers were advertising. The Public
Relations Student Society handout advertised group face-to-face communication and other group
interactions. The club would meet for seminars, guest speakers, and discussions; all of which
utilize the practice of face-to-face communication. The practice of face to face communication
determines the specific focuses of the department and ones level of success within them.
From our research we have found that literacy and its practices are very critical in the
communications department. They determine many aspects in the communications. We found
that the communications department not only uses a lot of technological means of literacy but

also a significant amount of face to face interaction. This for example could be a professor
lecturing to his students or even public speaking which we found to be another important literacy
practice within the department from our observations. Other findings that we thought were
significant to our research were the different social clubs/groups within the department. These
clubs are an important way for different subsections of students to interact. These subsections
within the communications department show just how broad and extensive the department is.
From all of the research and observations we have made throughout this assignment, we see that
literacy and its practices are prevalent in any community you look into, especially the
Communications department of the University of Utah.