Voice in the Context of Literacy Studies

The concept of voice permeates perspectives on reading and writing and has helped guide both literacy research and teaching. However, what voice is for scholars, researchers, and teachers takes many guises, some in apparent contradiction to others. We offer a theoretical perspective on the concept o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Reading research quarterly Vol. 46; no. 1; pp. 70 - 84
Main Authors: Sperling, Melanie, Appleman, Deborah
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.01.2011
International Reading Association
International Literacy Association
Subjects:
adolescence
adult
Adult Basic Education
Adult Students
Analysis
childhood
college
Demographic aspects
early adolescence
early childhood
Educational aspects
genre
Language
learner
Learning
Learning processes
Linguistics
Literacy
Literary criticism
Narratives
psycholinguistic
R&D
Reading
Reading comprehension
Reading instruction
Research & development
Research Methodology
Review of Research
Scholarship
sociocultural
Sociocultural factors
sociolinguistic
Speech
Studies
style
Teachers
Teaching
theoretical
topic
type
United States
Voice
Voice quality
vygotsky
Writing
Writing instruction
Writing tests
Written narratives
United States
New York
Minnesota
California
United States > US
ISSN:0034-0553, 1936-2722
Online Access:Get full text
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Description
Summary:The concept of voice permeates perspectives on reading and writing and has helped guide both literacy research and teaching. However, what voice is for scholars, researchers, and teachers takes many guises, some in apparent contradiction to others. We offer a theoretical perspective on the concept of voice, situating it within sociocultural accounts of language and literacy and, through a review of language and literacy research, arrive at a definition of voice. In doing so, we discuss the varied rhetorical, linguistic, and educational foundations of voice, exploring individual-centered and social- and cultural-centered perspectives, and two differing premises driving research: that voice is a quality of language that reflects authorial choice and can be taught, and that voice is a lens for understanding reading, writing, and learning processes. We discuss implications of our thinking about voice for literacy research and teaching.
Bibliography:istex:E4A57196177558AC8B5D4A1894CD48D5FC397872
ArticleID:RRQ399
ark:/67375/WNG-57CNZL2V-7
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
ISSN:0034-0553
1936-2722
DOI:10.1598/RRQ.46.1.4