Analysing Literacy Engagement from a Sociocultural Perspective: Appropriating an Assessment Tool

Abstract

Qualitative research broadens and extends notions of valid data. For example, when theresearched are vulnerable and there are no baseline data, how can valid claims about theparticipants be made? The data described in this paper derives from a study of nine men whoself-reported literacy difficulties. As highly vulnerable participants no data could be obtainedfrom their worksites, nor was the researcher prepared to subject them to an assessmentinstrument. Ongoing interviews over more than one year were the predominant source of data.The task for the researcher was to somehow make sense of hours of interesting interviews.'Using three case studies from a doctoral thesis (Kell, 2005) this paper demonstrates howappropriating an instrument designed for another purpose and transforming it into an instrumentof analysis can expose literacies that are not apparent in standard tests. The instrument,Communication collaboration and culture: The national framework of adult English language,literacy and numeracy competence (Cope, Kalantzis, Luke, McConnack, Morgan, Slade,Solomon & Veal, 1995) was originally written to assist adult literacy and numeracy teachers inAustralia assess the literacy skills of adults in order to plan individual teaching programs. Thevalue of this instrument was that it is premised on the broad literacy and numeracy requirementsof the contemporary workplace and on the notion that "competence is context-specific, andreflects larger social, cultural and economic agendas" (1995, p. 41). In a study that took asociocultural perspective, the appropriation of an instrument such as this as the analytical toolseemed to be particularly apt.