The DOI matches its Crossref record; 33 of the 33 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
What Is Disciplinary Literacy and Why Does It Matter?
Abstract
Recently, it has been proposed that schools teach disciplinary literacy in science, mathematics, history, and literature classes as students move into middle school and high school. A disciplinary literacy approach emphasizes the specialized knowledge and abilities possessed by those who create, communicate, and use knowledge within each of the disciplines. This article compares disciplinary literacy with the more widely emphasized approach known as content area literacy and provides an analysis of the growing research base underlying the disciplinary literacy construct. Research studies on disciplinary literacy are drawn from expert–novice comparisons in which think-aloud data are collected, during reading, from experts (i.e., mathematicians, chemists, historians) and students, and from functional linguistics analyses of the features of the grammars in disciplinary texts to identify the purposes and cognitive and communicative approaches that these grammars reveal. Finally, implications for school programs and instruction are considered.
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Cites
Introduction to Functional Grammar
Matthiessen, C., & Halliday, M. A. K. (1989) · Language · doi:10.2307/414947 · Cited by 9,880
Gadamer, H. G., Weinsheimer, J. C., & Marshall, D. G. (1960) · Cited by 9,235
Laboratory Life: The Social Construction of Scientific Facts
Latour, B., & Woolgar, S. (1986) · Oxford University Research Archive (ORA) (University of Oxford) · Cited by 2,980
Gadamer, H., Barden, G., Cumming, J. H., & Linge, D. E. (1977) · International Journal for Philosophy of Religion · Cited by 2,150
Teaching Disciplinary Literacy to Adolescents: Rethinking Content- Area Literacy
SHANAHAN, T., & SHANAHAN, C. (2008) · Harvard Educational Review · doi:10.17763/haer.78.1.v62444321p602101 · Cited by 1,562
Self-citationTheorizing Language Teacher Identity: Three Perspectives and Beyond
Varghese, M., Morgan, B., Johnston, B., & Johnson, K. A. (2005) · Journal of Language, Identity & Education · doi:10.1207/s15327701jlie0401_2 · Cited by 1,299
Is there a Text in this Class?
Gallagher, C., & Fish, S. (1981) · MLN · doi:10.2307/2906245 · Cited by 1,066
The Language of Schooling: A Functional Linguistics Perspective
Philpot, D. K., & Schleppegrell, M. J. (2005) · Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l'éducation · doi:10.2307/4126464 · Cited by 1,052
On the Reading of Historical Texts: Notes on the Breach Between School and Academy
Wineburg, S. S. (1991) · American Educational Research Journal · doi:10.3102/00028312028003495 · Cited by 783
Reading Abraham Lincoln: An Expert/Expert Study in the Interpretation of Historical Texts
Wineburg, S. (1998) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1016/s0364-0213(99)80043-3 · Cited by 442
Cited by
Hubbard, K. (2021) · Higher Education Pedagogies · doi:10.1080/23752696.2021.1882326 · Cited by 42
Hubbard, K. E., Dunbar, S. D., Peasland, E. L., Poon, J., & Solly, J. E. (2022) · International Journal of Science Education, Part B · doi:10.1080/21548455.2022.2078010 · Cited by 12
Li, A. W., & Collins, P. (2026) · Reading and Writing · doi:10.1007/s11145-026-10761-0 · Cited by 9
Metadata
- Authors
- Shanahan, T., & Shanahan, C.
- Venue
- Topics in Language Disorders
- Published
- 2012-01
- Volume
- 32
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 7-18
- ISSN
- 0271-8294 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2000432661
- Cited by
- 668
- References
- 33
- FWCI
- 45.40
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
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