In a blogpost on the Sixth Form Colleges Association website, PhD researcher Rose Veitch (2023) stated that “subject-literacy is inseparable from subject content knowledge”.
I believe that most post-16 teachers would be inclined to agree. In post-16 education, teachers are challenged with how to develop subject literacy skills at the same time as subject content becomes significantly more challenging.
Among other literacy-related challenges, students in post-16 education are expected to engage with more difficult texts, adopt new vocabulary (including for subjects never previously studied), and produce greater volumes of writing in examinations.
While the transition from secondary to post-16 demands an increase in the literacy capabilities of students, the emphasis on literacy in post-16 lessons is generally less pronounced than it is in secondary schools.
Many post-16 institutions do excellent work in developing student literacy, but heavy course content can mean that literacy instruction falls to the wayside.
So, what does effective literacy instruction look like in the post-16 classroom? Here, I would like to explore some “golden rules” for teaching literacy (and subject-specific literacy) in post-16 classrooms.
Although the definition of “literacy” is somewhat slippery, here we take its ordinary meaning: an umbrella term, encompassing reading, writing, speaking, and listening, and we also consider how these elements of literacy form a specific-subject literacy in your domain.
1, Sweat the small stuff
It is a basic starting point for a discussion about literacy, but good spelling, punctuation, and grammar (SPaG) habits will be lost if they are not consistently reinforced.
Post-16 teachers must draw attention to specific rules within their subjects. For example, a teacher of A level law should always remain vigilant when students do not use capital letters in case law and statutes.
With issues such as incorrect capitalisation, rarely does the student not understand the relevant grammatical rule. Talk to your students about the impression that is given by work that neglects attention to detail, even when examination marks will not be lost for poor SPaG.
Ask students what impression teachers, examiners and employers glean when reading work where basic literacy rules are not adhered to.
With regard to grammatical rules that are more difficult to learn and retain, starters are powerful ways to incorporate brief instruction which emphasise the importance of literacy. For example, a history teacher could draw attention to how compound sentences are useful for introducing arguments because they balance two main clauses (two main ideas).
Or a teacher in any essay-based subject can discuss how critical thinking and fluent arguments will embed quotations or evidence within sentences.
Different subjects will have different rules for citations/referencing, and time should be taken to ensure that students are confident with in-text citations and referencing.
2, Provide opportunities for oracy
Beyond post-16 education, interviews and viva voces await our students. Teaching oracy is especially important today, especially given the impact that we all know Covid has had on our young people’s oracy skills.
Also, given that social lives can exist in the virtual environment, there seems less imperative for some students to communicate verbally. Naturally, this extends to the classroom, and it seems a great struggle for some to speak at all during a lesson.
The benefits of oracy are not just social and emotional. With most subjects culminating in written examinations, teachers may be disinclined to use their limited time on oracy activities.
However, encouraging talk in the classroom is highly valuable and teachers ought to consider which oracy skills are relevant to their subject area.
For example, could a student studying business have an opportunity to practise presenting or interviewing? Could a student of literature verbally defend an argument they have made about a text? Verbal activities play a large role in a student becoming literate in a particular subject area.
3, Collate and frontload Tier 2 and 3 vocabulary
With post-16 study offering a host of new academic and vocational disciplines, there will be complex new terminology for students to master.
Tier 3 vocabulary (subject-specific vocabulary, e.g. mitochondria, trigonometry) will need to be mastered. It is also very useful to explicitly teach a range of Tier 2 vocabulary (words which have a high frequency on written texts e.g. verify, required).
At post-16, due to the high frequency of Tier 2 and 3 words, the use of booklets and knowledge organisers are perfect for providing glossaries of key terminology that students can refer to independently.
Within a lesson, Alex Quigley’s SEEC approach (select, explain, explore, consolidate) is enormously helpful in ensuring Tier 2 and 3 vocabulary has been thoroughly understood (see Quigley, 2021).
- Select… the Tier 2 word “conservative” is a good example, as this could be encountered across a range of subjects.
- Explain… the definition of the word through giving examples and describing the multiple meanings of the word.
- Explore… different uses of the word in different contexts and examining various connotations of the word.
- Consolidate… through the students using the word themselves.
4, Scaffold extended reading
Higher level study requires engaging with longer texts, especially research. There are two requisites for comprehending texts: background knowledge and knowledge of vocabulary.
Hirsch (2003) found that reading comprehension depends on a person understanding 90% to 95% of the vocabulary.
As previously mentioned, knowledge organisers and booklets have space for glossaries. Use these as pre-reading and as a reading accompaniment to extended reading tasks. It is also a good idea to front-load vocabulary instruction in a unit, so that later reading will have already been supported.
Importantly, background knowledge is able to compensate for weaker reading ability (Umek, 2023). To support students reading complex, subject-specific texts, teachers ought to provide the relevant background information (bullet point summaries of which reduce cognitive load) to help students with weaker reading ability to digest the text.
5, Don’t forget reading for pleasure (in your subject area)
Reading enjoyment has been reported as more important for children’s educational success than their family’s socio-economic status (OECD, 2002).
Reading for pleasure is positively associated with personal development, the acquisition of general knowledge, and academic success. However, in young people, reading for pleasure declines with age.
Given the potential of reading for pleasure to accelerate progress through forming background knowledge, it remains incumbent upon post-16 teachers to promote reading for pleasure, and this can be focused in specific-subject areas.
Recommended reading remains powerful at post-16. Subject areas should compile a list of recommended reading which is related to their subject area.
While these books need not be explicitly related to the curriculum, this will help students to encounter a range of voices within the subject. The immersive practice of reading widely around a subject will help students to clarify their viewpoints and they may, to some extent, begin to emulate the ideas and/or style of influential writers.
It will also help to form the “background knowledge” that is so powerful in reading comprehension. It provides great material for personal statements. For example, a criminology teacher could recommend Unnatural Causes by Richard Shepherd.
Final thoughts
Ultimately, a discussion with your department about the components that form the subject literacy of your discipline is well worth having.
Focusing on the grammatical rules specific to your subject, providing relevant opportunities for oracy, collating the Tier 2 and 3 vocabulary, scaffolding reading, and building a culture of reading will provide a good foundation for developing subject literacy.
- Erin Miller is a teacher of English and law who writes about teaching and issues in education. Find her on LinkedIn. Read her previous articles for SecEd via www.sec-ed.co.uk/authors/erin-miller
Further information & resources
- Hirsch: Reading comprehension requires knowledge – of words and the world, Scientific Insights into the Fourth-Grade Slump and the Nation's Stagnant Comprehension Scores, American Educator (27), 2003.
- OECD: Reading for change: Performance and engagement across countries (Results From PISA 2000), 2002: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/reading-for-change-performance-and-engagement-across-countries_9789264099289-en
- Quigley: Three pillars of vocabulary teaching, 2021: https://alexquigley.co.uk/three-pillars-of-vocabulary-teaching/
- Umek: The role of background knowledge in reading comprehension of subject-specific texts, UCL Institute of Education, 2023: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10167622/1/Umek_UCL_30_March_2023.pdf
- Veitch: Literacy embedding in post-16 education – undressing the L word, Sixth Form Colleges Association, 2023: www.sixthformcolleges.org/1412/blog-6/post/232/literacy-embedding-in-post-16-education-undressing-the-l-word