Cummins’ 2015 Literacy engagement framework

Literacy engagement framework Cummins_2015.pdf

Cummins (2015) presents a synthesis of second language acquisition research findings in the form of a literacy engagement framework.

The literacy engagement framework provides educators and policymakers with a framework to develop school-based language and literacy policies built on the understanding that “linguistically diverse students will engage actively with literacy only to the extent that instruction scaffolds meaning, connects to their lives, affirms their identities, and extends their knowledge of academic language”.

Cummins Framework reminds us that literacy is an active process where the learners’ progress is dependent on a range of factors such as the amount of:

• comprehensible input they receive
• the opportunity to practice using the language and interact with others
• students’ prior knowledge and experiences
• students’ motivation
• the amount of explicit teaching of  ‘communicative academic language’ that English language learners receive.