Uta Papen
Biographic Data
| ID | 179171 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Uta Papen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Uta |
| FAMILY NAME | Papen |
| SIGNATURE | PAPEN U |
| AFFILIATIONS | Lancaster University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8989-6365 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 81 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 15 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2003 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Writing in vocational disciplines
Discussions of student writing in (mainly traditional) universities have highlighted tensions between hegemonic expectations and more participatory writing practices which could better serve an increasingly diverse student population. Our paper extends this discussion in an investigation of writing in vocational disciplines. Based in a teaching-intensive university in the UK, our ethnographically informed data collection activities include focus …
UK University teachers on inclusive education
Despite growing attention being paid to inclusive higher education in the UK and beyond, research with university teachers remains scarce. To address this gap, we interviewed 34 UK university teachers about their conceptualisations, practices, and experiences of the opportunities and challenges of inclusive education. In line with the consensus view amongst leading international organisations, interviewees conceptualised inclusive education in br…
The (New) Literacy Studies
Developed in the 1980s by social anthropologists, education researchers and psychologists, the field of research known as (New) Literacy Studies (NLS) has put forward a sociocultural understanding of literacy as practice. Although the NLS’ core assumption about literacy—that it is more than a set of cognitive abilities—is still as valid nowadays as it was then, new theoretical ideas have been added to their canon. These include multiliteracies, m…
Literacy Research and Its Relationship with Policy
Socio-cultural and practice-based approaches to literacy, associated with the (New) Literacy Studies, having emerged in the 1980s, nowadays are an established research field. Based on in-depth research, in many contexts and countries, the (New) Literacy Studies has much to offer to teachers and policymakers. And yet this impressive body of work has had little impact on policy. Taking as my example England, I ask what research has shaped policy in…
Everyday Literacies in Education
In this paper I discuss the experience of two action research projects to develop English literacy teaching for deaf young adults in India, Ghana and Uganda. With a focus on India, I reflect on how we drew on two concepts, ‘real literacies’ (ROGERS,1999) and ‘linguistic landscapes’ (CONOZ; GORTER, 2008) to design a student-centred and communicative language pedagogy. We used these perspectives to co-create with students a curriculum based on thei…
Peer to Peer Deaf Multiliteracies
In many countries across the world education for deaf people is limited and sign languages are undervalued. In this paper we discuss insights from an initiative to support deaf education for young adults in India, Ghana, and Uganda. Reporting here on the work in India, our project used a bilingual approach, with Indian Sign Language as the main means of communication while developing students’ English literacy through a multiliteracies pedagogy (…
Using ethnography and ‘real literacies’ to develop a curriculum for English literacy teaching for young deaf adults in India
This paper reports on an international collaborative project working with deaf learners of English literacy (19–28 years old) in five locations in India: Indore; Vadadora; Comibatore; Pattambi; and Thrissur. Indian Sign Language (ISL) was the language of instruction. The project drew on a social practices view of literacy. Deaf peer tutors were trained in creating lessons using authentic materials: texts collected from students’ everyday lives. T…
Hymns, prayers and Bible stories
This paper examines the role of religious literacy practices such as hymns, prayers and Bible stories in the context of literacy teaching in primary schools in England. Drawing on data collected through a classroom ethnography of a year 1 class (five and six-year-olds) conducted in a Catholic primary school in 2013 and 2014, I suggest that religious literacy practices contribute to children’s literacy learning in various ways. They focus children…
Youth Workers as Literacy Mediators
This article examines the role of youth workers as literacy mediators: people who help others with written texts. Drawing on a secondary analysis of data from a qualitative study conducted in Quebec, Canada, the authors discuss situations in which staff from a community‐based organization helped young people with written texts, such as bureaucratic letters and forms. Such institutional literacy practices were found to be stressful and difficult b…
Signs in cities
The analysis of signs in cities is known as research into ‘linguistic landscapes’. Following Jaworski and Thurlow (2010), this paper focuses on ‘semiotic’ not linguistic landscapes. I argue that visual images and visual aspects of writing such as font or colour are essential for the meanings conveyed on signs. As an example, I examine the semiotic landscape of parts of Prenzlauer Berg, a neighbourhood of the former East Berlin. Neglected in the 1…
Commercial discourses, gentrification and citizens' protest
Since reunification in 1990, Prenzlauer Berg, located in the former East Berlin, has turned from a cheap and neglected area into a popular middle-class neighbourhood. The area's new character is reflected in its linguistic landscape. These days the signs of posh shops and trendy bars adorn its streets. But alternative views are noticeable too. Graffiti is present even on the most expensively refurbished buildings and residents put up slogans to p…
Literacy mediators, scribes or brokers
Le terme « médiateurs de littératie » est largement employé dans la recherche en New Literacy Studies (NLS), domaine majeur d’étude de la lecture et de l’écriture dans le monde anglophone et au-delà. Les médiateurs de littératie, que l’on appelle également scribes ou agents, sont des personnes qui lisent et écrivent pour quelqu’un d’autre. Cet article porte sur des données collectées par l’auteur dans le cadre d’une recherche plus large en Namibi…
Pregnancy starts with a literacy event
As a literacy researcher my academic attention is usually focused on how other people use reading and writing in their everyday lives. In this article, for the first time I turn my researcher's gaze onto myself. I present a portion of my autoethnography which aimed to document my becoming a mother as a `textually mediated' experience. I discuss three aspects of this experience: 1) the role of the `Green Notes', a personal maternity record, as an …
Literacy and development
Powerful Literacies
Commercial discourses, gentrification and citizens' protest
Since reunification in 1990, Prenzlauer Berg, located in the former East Berlin, has turned from a cheap and neglected area into a popular middle-class neighbourhood. The area's new character is reflected in its linguistic landscape. These days the signs of posh shops and trendy bars adorn its streets. But alternative views are noticeable too. Graffiti is present even on the most expensively refurbished buildings and residents put up slogans to p…
Literacy and development
Signs in cities
The analysis of signs in cities is known as research into ‘linguistic landscapes’. Following Jaworski and Thurlow (2010), this paper focuses on ‘semiotic’ not linguistic landscapes. I argue that visual images and visual aspects of writing such as font or colour are essential for the meanings conveyed on signs. As an example, I examine the semiotic landscape of parts of Prenzlauer Berg, a neighbourhood of the former East Berlin. Neglected in the 1…
Literacy mediators, scribes or brokers
Le terme « médiateurs de littératie » est largement employé dans la recherche en New Literacy Studies (NLS), domaine majeur d’étude de la lecture et de l’écriture dans le monde anglophone et au-delà. Les médiateurs de littératie, que l’on appelle également scribes ou agents, sont des personnes qui lisent et écrivent pour quelqu’un d’autre. Cet article porte sur des données collectées par l’auteur dans le cadre d’une recherche plus large en Namibi…
Pregnancy starts with a literacy event
As a literacy researcher my academic attention is usually focused on how other people use reading and writing in their everyday lives. In this article, for the first time I turn my researcher's gaze onto myself. I present a portion of my autoethnography which aimed to document my becoming a mother as a `textually mediated' experience. I discuss three aspects of this experience: 1) the role of the `Green Notes', a personal maternity record, as an …
Using ethnography and ‘real literacies’ to develop a curriculum for English literacy teaching for young deaf adults in India
This paper reports on an international collaborative project working with deaf learners of English literacy (19–28 years old) in five locations in India: Indore; Vadadora; Comibatore; Pattambi; and Thrissur. Indian Sign Language (ISL) was the language of instruction. The project drew on a social practices view of literacy. Deaf peer tutors were trained in creating lessons using authentic materials: texts collected from students’ everyday lives. T…
Powerful Literacies
Literacy and development
Pregnancy starts with a literacy event
As a literacy researcher my academic attention is usually focused on how other people use reading and writing in their everyday lives. In this article, for the first time I turn my researcher's gaze onto myself. I present a portion of my autoethnography which aimed to document my becoming a mother as a `textually mediated' experience. I discuss three aspects of this experience: 1) the role of the `Green Notes', a personal maternity record, as an …
Literacy mediators, scribes or brokers
Le terme « médiateurs de littératie » est largement employé dans la recherche en New Literacy Studies (NLS), domaine majeur d’étude de la lecture et de l’écriture dans le monde anglophone et au-delà. Les médiateurs de littératie, que l’on appelle également scribes ou agents, sont des personnes qui lisent et écrivent pour quelqu’un d’autre. Cet article porte sur des données collectées par l’auteur dans le cadre d’une recherche plus large en Namibi…
Commercial discourses, gentrification and citizens' protest
Since reunification in 1990, Prenzlauer Berg, located in the former East Berlin, has turned from a cheap and neglected area into a popular middle-class neighbourhood. The area's new character is reflected in its linguistic landscape. These days the signs of posh shops and trendy bars adorn its streets. But alternative views are noticeable too. Graffiti is present even on the most expensively refurbished buildings and residents put up slogans to p…
Signs in cities
The analysis of signs in cities is known as research into ‘linguistic landscapes’. Following Jaworski and Thurlow (2010), this paper focuses on ‘semiotic’ not linguistic landscapes. I argue that visual images and visual aspects of writing such as font or colour are essential for the meanings conveyed on signs. As an example, I examine the semiotic landscape of parts of Prenzlauer Berg, a neighbourhood of the former East Berlin. Neglected in the 1…
Youth Workers as Literacy Mediators
This article examines the role of youth workers as literacy mediators: people who help others with written texts. Drawing on a secondary analysis of data from a qualitative study conducted in Quebec, Canada, the authors discuss situations in which staff from a community‐based organization helped young people with written texts, such as bureaucratic letters and forms. Such institutional literacy practices were found to be stressful and difficult b…
Hymns, prayers and Bible stories
This paper examines the role of religious literacy practices such as hymns, prayers and Bible stories in the context of literacy teaching in primary schools in England. Drawing on data collected through a classroom ethnography of a year 1 class (five and six-year-olds) conducted in a Catholic primary school in 2013 and 2014, I suggest that religious literacy practices contribute to children’s literacy learning in various ways. They focus children…
Using ethnography and ‘real literacies’ to develop a curriculum for English literacy teaching for young deaf adults in India
This paper reports on an international collaborative project working with deaf learners of English literacy (19–28 years old) in five locations in India: Indore; Vadadora; Comibatore; Pattambi; and Thrissur. Indian Sign Language (ISL) was the language of instruction. The project drew on a social practices view of literacy. Deaf peer tutors were trained in creating lessons using authentic materials: texts collected from students’ everyday lives. T…
Peer to Peer Deaf Multiliteracies
In many countries across the world education for deaf people is limited and sign languages are undervalued. In this paper we discuss insights from an initiative to support deaf education for young adults in India, Ghana, and Uganda. Reporting here on the work in India, our project used a bilingual approach, with Indian Sign Language as the main means of communication while developing students’ English literacy through a multiliteracies pedagogy (…
The (New) Literacy Studies
Developed in the 1980s by social anthropologists, education researchers and psychologists, the field of research known as (New) Literacy Studies (NLS) has put forward a sociocultural understanding of literacy as practice. Although the NLS’ core assumption about literacy—that it is more than a set of cognitive abilities—is still as valid nowadays as it was then, new theoretical ideas have been added to their canon. These include multiliteracies, m…
Literacy Research and Its Relationship with Policy
Socio-cultural and practice-based approaches to literacy, associated with the (New) Literacy Studies, having emerged in the 1980s, nowadays are an established research field. Based on in-depth research, in many contexts and countries, the (New) Literacy Studies has much to offer to teachers and policymakers. And yet this impressive body of work has had little impact on policy. Taking as my example England, I ask what research has shaped policy in…
Everyday Literacies in Education
In this paper I discuss the experience of two action research projects to develop English literacy teaching for deaf young adults in India, Ghana and Uganda. With a focus on India, I reflect on how we drew on two concepts, ‘real literacies’ (ROGERS,1999) and ‘linguistic landscapes’ (CONOZ; GORTER, 2008) to design a student-centred and communicative language pedagogy. We used these perspectives to co-create with students a curriculum based on thei…
Writing in vocational disciplines
Discussions of student writing in (mainly traditional) universities have highlighted tensions between hegemonic expectations and more participatory writing practices which could better serve an increasingly diverse student population. Our paper extends this discussion in an investigation of writing in vocational disciplines. Based in a teaching-intensive university in the UK, our ethnographically informed data collection activities include focus …
UK University teachers on inclusive education
Despite growing attention being paid to inclusive higher education in the UK and beyond, research with university teachers remains scarce. To address this gap, we interviewed 34 UK university teachers about their conceptualisations, practices, and experiences of the opportunities and challenges of inclusive education. In line with the consensus view amongst leading international organisations, interviewees conceptualised inclusive education in br…
Sociology (12 works) · Pedagogy (9 works) · Literacy (8 works) · Psychology (8 works) · Multilingual Education and Policy (7 works) · Linguistics (5 works) · Literacy, Media, and Education (5 works) · Political science (5 works) · Art (4 works) · Critical literacy (3 works)