DISCIPLINARY LITERACY 1

Disciplinary Literacy Position Paper

Emily Walthers

Arizona State University

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Disciplinary Literacy

Literacy is defined as the ability to read and write. When discussing literacy, people often

generalize it to just English classes, but there is a term linked to literacy called, “disciplinary

literacy.” Disciplinary literacy is the confluence of content knowledge and skills merged with the

ability to read, write, listen, speak, and perform in ways that are meaningful. Disciplinary

literacy relates to specific contents. Each “discipline differs from others in what counts as

knowledge and in the way new knowledge is created” (International Literacy Association, 2019).

To gain literacy in the discipline, teachers use tactics to help students gain their literacy in that

subject. In the education realm, disciplinary literacy is used to ensure that students are

understanding content specifics. They use this information then to effectively complete course

work or discuss what happened in class. As said by Discovery Education, “the disciplinary

literacy approach to reading enforces the new era of teaching, which welcomes multiple

resources and multiple media types, to help students form grounded understanding of a subject

that even experts would respect” (2019).

To add to this, adolescent literacy development is very important in students’ lives. A

way to support adolescent literacy development is to value students’ voices (International

Literacy Association, 2019). Students must feel a sense of collective and individual belonging to

thrive in their classes. When learners are supported, they feel more inclined to learn. Also, when

students are provided opportunities for them to engage in learning with high expectations, there

are better outcomes. Something that is significant in helping students develop in disciplinary

literacy is to give them resources and text selections that are significant contributors to literacy

learning. This means the selections aim at a test of knowledge and understanding of the students’
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literacy in the content. Usually, the reading will have questions at the end to consider or go into

depth about a certain subject matter. Students learn to find what resources are appropriate and

relevant when they are expanding their literacy because the teacher is modeling what resources

are acceptable. Content-area reading uses “generic reading strategies, regardless of the text that’s

being read” (Discovery Education, 2019). Students are bringing in other reading tactics from

other classes when they read texts. They do this to help develop literacy in ways they have

already learned and what they are comfortable with. No matter the subject, the end goal of

comprehension and expansion of knowledge is the same. When talking about disciplinary

literacy development, students needs lots of practice. These statements about what it means to be

literate led the to the decision that “developing literacy in students is a joint responsibility that

English Language Arts (ELA) teachers share with content area teachers” (Discovery Education,

2019). Each discipline differs from others in what counts as knowledge and the way it is created.

Disciplines also differ in the way language is used in the linguistic structures that the certain

discipline uses to communicate the knowledge learned. Students need lots of support and

practice in this to help them understand a discipline’s language. They need a teacher’s help to

develop ways to memorize the language and what content it relates to. Therefore, the adolescent

literacy development is just a steppingstone into learning content literacy.

Disciplinary Literacy: Mathematics

Additionally, mathematics has its own disciplinary literacy. There are terms and

operations that students need to know to be able to fully understand the content and be able to

practice it. This could be knowing what “plane” means in relation to mathematics over the

aeronautical term. According to the CEEDAR Center, disciplinary literacy in mathematics means
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knowing the “importance of each word and symbol,” a mathematically model and problem solve

(CEEDAR, 2020). A huge part of literacy in mathematics is the symbols. If a student does not

understand a symbol, it can lead to misunderstanding to the content as a whole. This includes

knowing that the times symbol can be “x” or “*”. If students do not know that, they can mistake

it for something else. Students need practice when looking at a new symbol in order to become

literate in math. A way symbols can be studied is by flashcards. Sometimes teachers will have

them make flash cards and the students will have to state what the symbol is called and what it

means by creating an example or giving the definition. It is essential they memorize them

because these symbols lead into course content that is in the next lesson. If students do not know

the symbols, it can be very confusing. It is very obvious when proofing in geometry. It is easy

for them to just put a perpendicular sign without knowing what it means because they saw it in a

previous in class example. When they understand what it means, it shows that they have

developed their disciplinary literacy and can use it in more ways than just the one lesson taught.

They are able to really describe what it means to be perpendicular and why they chose that for

answer.

Disciplinary Literacy: Mathematics Example:

To put this in a real classroom situation, this paragraph will explain disciplinary literacy

in mathematics with a written approach. It is found that “when students employed a writing

strategy designed to promote active engagement during knowledge construction,

they significantly increased their problem solving abilities” (Brozo, 2019). Teachers can ask

students problems, and students must not only solve them mathematically, but write it in words,
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too. One way is to do it in chart form. A chart is made with an equation at the top. Students

perform each operation on the left side, and then on the right side they describe what they did on

the left side, but in complete sentences. This is because it is said that “when students employ a

writing strategy designed to promote active engagement during knowledge construction, they

significantly increase their problem-solving abilities” (Brozo, 2018). For example, if the question

at the top of the chart was based off a distribution unit, it could read, “solve 2(2x+5) = 0.”

Students solve the problem mathematically and show each step in how they got their final

answer on the left side. Then, on the right side they are going to write out what they did and why.

The left side would say, “4x+10 = 0,” and the right side would say, “I distributed the two to two

x plus five because two x plus five was in parenthesis.” This not only shows that they perform

distribution, but that they understand it. They are able to recognize the parenthesis and that if a

coefficient is in front of the parenthesis, that they need to distribute it. It asks students to “reflect

metacognitively on why they are making choices and how they are determining their solutions,

the teacher is able to see the rationale that students are using to arrive at their solution. This

alleviates the concern that some students may achieve a correct response by using the wrong

process” (Brozo, 2018). When students do this type of scripting for math operations, it becomes

evident if their disciplinary literacy in mathematics is proficient for what is being asked of them.

To conclude, development in disciplinary literacy is crucial for students. It is important

that they understand the content and are able to communicate it to their peers and teachers.

Literacy is often just looked at as reading and writing in English, but every subject has its own

literacy. There are many ways to support students in different disciplines through practice with

speaking and writing subject specific terms. Math is discussed in this paper, but every subject
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has its own way of literacy practice. Overall, disciplinary literacy is important because “reading,

writing, speaking, listening and critical thinking must be integrated into each discipline across all

grades so that all students gradually build knowledge and skills toward college and career

readiness” (Wisconsin Department of Education, n.d).

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References

Brozo, W. G., & Crain, S. (2018). Writing in Math: A Disciplinary Literacy Approach. Clearing

House, 97(1), 7-13. https://doi-org.wzproxy1.lib.asu.edu/10.1080/00098655.2017.1342435

Disciplinary Literacy: Helping Students Develop Insider Knowledge. (2019, September 30).

Retrieved September 05, 2020, from

https://www.discoveryeducation.com/details/disciplinary-literacy-helping-students-

develop-insider-knowledge/

Disciplinary Literacy. (n.d.). Retrieved September 05, 2020, from

https://ceedar.education.ufl.edu/cems/disciplinary-literacy/

International Literacy Association. (2019). Engagement and adolescent literacy [Position

statement and research brief]. Newark, DE: Author.

W. (n.d.). What is Disciplinary Literacy? Retrieved from

https://dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/cal/pdf/section2.pdf