Telling stories: the contribution of reading literary texts for literacy

Abstract

Literacy practices or rather social practices that involve reading and writing is basic for the development of school learning processes in starting years and those following. So that teaching in the first years of schooling may be efficient, it is necessary that family and school hit on different literacy practices that are adequate for the student´s academic and social formation. For example, studies by Shirley Heath (1982) state that telling stories is a basic literacy event for the development of relevant cognitive skills in the first years of schooling. Based on the above study, current analysis demonstrates through a survey on data collected from story narrators and through research data by the same author that reading practice favours schooling development. Consequently, school environment is a relevant place to supplement literacy practices for minority groups that do not have the opportunity to give such literacy settings for their children. The analysis of schooling literacy underscores its role in social inclusion to lessen schooling disadvantages inherent to social belonging of many school children. It means that children without the necessary environment may have the opportunity of actively participating within the school and society.