Devoutly Literate: Gee’s Primary and Secondary Discourses and the Literate Religiosity of Latter-Day Saint Teens

• In Event: Literacies, Identities, and Religious Faith Commitments and Communities in Dialogue

Abstract

Objective
How well do existing theoretical frameworks in literacy studies illuminate the intersection(s) of students’ religious identities and literacy practices? This paper examines the utility of Gee’s (1989) distinction between primary and secondary discourse. After examining his framework and its relation to student religious identity / literacy in theory, I examine, as a case study, Smith’s (2005) data on the literacy practices of adolescent Latter Day Saint (LDS) students.

Theoretical Framework
Gee offers a theorization of literacy and religious practice. He proposes two types of discourse: 'primary' -- "the one we first use to make sense of the world and interact with others" (55) and 'secondary' -- which "involves social institutions beyond the family" and includes places like "schools, workplaces, stores, government offices, businesses, churches" (56). Gee’s assertions that a secondary discourse builds on primary discourse and that an advantage results from a primary discourse relating closely to a secondary one have intriguing implications for the study of religious students and literacy. This paper argues for a correlation between a given group of religious students and school success depending on the "compatibility" of home, school, and church discourses. Further, I hypothesize that religious discourse, a secondary discourse for Gee, becomes a primary discourse for students strongly connected to a faith community.

Method
To test how Gee’s proposed discourse distinctions hold up as a descriptor of religious discourses, I re-analyze Smith's data on the literacy practices of LDS students, part of the National Study of Youth and Religion data set.

Results & Significance
I argue that the data on LDS students shows that they are both increasingly devout and increasingly successful in school. LDS teens are most likely among all measured denominations to hold religious beliefs similar to their parents, attend weekly church service, use religious faith to shape their lives, and shape life decisions based on faith. What’s more, LDS teens are also most likely to teach a Sunday school class, read non-scriptural texts about religion, speak publicly about their faith at a religious meeting, and openly express faith at school. Clearly, religious expression through literate practices like reading and speaking hold at least symbolic value for LDS students (Bourdieu, 1991). Even if there is a distinction to be made between religious discourse and primary discourse in the context of LDS students, the close relationship predicts their academic success. This paper argues that more clearly elucidating students’ specific religious contexts both more fully values their identities and gives schools the chance to leverage literacy skills from outside the classroom.

Works Cited

Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power. Trans. Gino Raymond and Matthew Adamson. Cambridge: Blackwell.

Gee, James Paul. (1989). What is literacy?. In V. Zamel and & R. Spack (Eds.), Negotiating academic literacies: Teaching and learning across languages and cultures (p. 51 - 59). Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associate.

Smith, C. with Denton, M.L. (2005). Soul searching: The religious and spiritual lives of American teenagers. New York: Oxford University Press.

Author

• Christopher Parsons, University of Michigan