Critical literacy
Encyclopedia
Critical Literacy is an instructional approach, stemming from Marxist Critical pedagogy
, that advocates the adoption of "critical" perspectives toward text. Critical literacy encourages readers to actively analyze texts and offers strategies for what proponents describe as uncovering underlying messages. There are several different theoretical perspectives on critical literacy that have produced different pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning. All of these approaches share the basic premise that literacy requires the literate consumers of text to adopt a critical and questioning approach.
According to proponents of critical literacy, the practice is not simply a means of attaining literacy
in the sense of improving the ability to decode words, syntax
, etc. In fact, the ability to read words on paper is not necessarily required in order to engage in a critical discussion of "texts," which can include television, movies, web pages, music, art and other means of expression. The important thing is being able to have a discussion with others about the different meanings a text might have and teaching the potentially critically literate learner how to think flexibly about it.
Critical Literacy , has become a popular approach to teaching English to students in some English speaking-countries , including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. At the heart of this approach to teaching is the belief that while literacy enables students to make meaning from texts, critical literacy will empower them to understand how texts are trying to influence and change them as members of society.
For post-structuralist
practitioners of critical literacy, the definition of this literacy practice can be quite malleable, but usually involves a search for discourses
and reasons why certain discourses are included or left out of a text.
Two major theoretical perspectives within the field of critical literacy are the Neo-Marxist/Freirean and the Australian. These approaches overlap in many ways and they do not necessarily represent competing views, but they do approach the subject matter differently.
pedagogy of Brazilian educator and theorist Paulo Freire
, as first described in Education as the Practice of Freedom published in 1967 and his most famous book Pedagogy of the Oppressed
, published in 1968. Freirean critical literacy is conceived as a means of empowering unempowered populations against oppression and coercion, frequently seen as enacted by corporate and/or government entities. Freirean critical literacy starts with the desire to balance social inequities and address societal problems caused by abuse of power. It proceeds from this philosophical basis to examine, analyze, and deconstruct texts.
This perspective is reflected in the works of Peter McLaren
, Henry Giroux
, and Jean Anyon
, among many others. The Freirean perspective on critical literacy is strongly represented in critical pedagogy
.
Other philosophical approaches to critical literacy, while sharing many of the ideas of Neo-Marxist/Freirean critical literacy, may be viewed as a less overtly politicized expansion on these ideas. Critical literacy helps teachers as well as students to explore the relationship between theoretical framework and its practical implications.
, Michele Anstey, Geoff Bull
, J. Elkins, Peter Freebody
, and the New London Group, among others) have made major contributions in recent years to the field of critical literacy. While Neo-Marxist/Freirean critical literacy proceeds from a desire to remedy social inequities, this body of work begins with an analysis of text and proceeds from there. This school of thought is not necessarily opposed to the use of critical literacy to address issues of social justice, but its enactment does not proceed from an assumption of exploitation and abuse of power. "Australian" critical literacy is researched and practiced in many countries. The philosophical underpinnings do not necessarily originate in Australia, but many researchers currently associated with the work are based in that country and Australia has incorporated many of the practices into its national curriculum.
From this philosophical perspective, critical literacy is the belief that interpreting literature is more than simply decoding the words of a text. It is necessary to understand that language is a social construct and that it is never neutral. It is used to inform, entertain, persuade and manipulate. The philosophy behind critical literacy is that it is necessary to learn how language works in order to be a more skilled user of language in terms of both comprehending and composing.
The use and relevance of critical literacy has been disputed. Some believe it to be innapropriate, and feel that texts are constantly deconstructed and over analysed to destruction.
Portions of the following sections are from a document distributed to secondary school students in Australia detailing the basic tenets of critical literacy.
This suggests that the 'meaning' or reading of a text is determined by a huge range of social, cultural, time, composer, reader factors.
An example of context may be considered in terms of the movie Dead Poet's Society. This is set in the USA in the early 1960s, a time when teenagers had little individual freedom and the will of the parents was very strong. But not all American teenagers were in this category and not all parents exerted power. In turn this was all influenced by class, politics, religion etc. Furthermore this was the view as presented by the film's director and this needs to be examined. And again, the particular understanding of the viewer might 'vary' the context.
. This is shaped by the discourses
that one has been involved in and have operated on us. Thus it could include one's upbringing (family, social class, traditions, religion etc.), one's friends, one's school, education, experiences one has had, ones gender, hobbies and interests and so on.
. If, for example, one is watching a movie which includes a villain one of the ways that they assume that he or she is a villain is through the knowledge that they bring to this current text from previous texts -.i.e. clothes, facial expression, gestures etc. In this way, a reading can become richer. It can also explain why some people sometimes have difficulty making meaning of some texts; they may have limited intertextual experiences to draw on.
.
A text's view of the world is also influenced by the author's discursive background. Ergo if an author likes a place, they write about it in a positive way; if they hate it they say negative things. They try to sway ones opinion.
Often the view of the world in a text does not agree with ones own view - it contradicts it, but, as a reader, one still reads the text and understands the author's message or viewpoint.
The view of the world often emerges from a reading of the text as a whole. Sometimes it emerges through one (or more) characters and sometimes the views of characters differ and therefore create conflict. A view of the world can sometimes be called a Version of Reality.
A difference is generally seen between gaps
and silences.
Luke, C. (1995). Media and cultural studies. In P. Freebody, S. Muspratt, & A. Luke (Eds.).
Constructing critical literacies. Crosskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
New London Group. (1996). A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies: Designing Social Futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66, 1.
Critical pedagogy
Critical pedagogy is a philosophy of education described by Henry Giroux as an "educational movement, guided by passion and principle, to help students develop consciousness of freedom, recognize authoritarian tendencies, and connect knowledge to power and the ability to take constructive...
, that advocates the adoption of "critical" perspectives toward text. Critical literacy encourages readers to actively analyze texts and offers strategies for what proponents describe as uncovering underlying messages. There are several different theoretical perspectives on critical literacy that have produced different pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning. All of these approaches share the basic premise that literacy requires the literate consumers of text to adopt a critical and questioning approach.
According to proponents of critical literacy, the practice is not simply a means of attaining literacy
Literacy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
in the sense of improving the ability to decode words, syntax
Syntax
In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....
, etc. In fact, the ability to read words on paper is not necessarily required in order to engage in a critical discussion of "texts," which can include television, movies, web pages, music, art and other means of expression. The important thing is being able to have a discussion with others about the different meanings a text might have and teaching the potentially critically literate learner how to think flexibly about it.
Critical Literacy , has become a popular approach to teaching English to students in some English speaking-countries , including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. At the heart of this approach to teaching is the belief that while literacy enables students to make meaning from texts, critical literacy will empower them to understand how texts are trying to influence and change them as members of society.
For post-structuralist
Post-structuralism
Post-structuralism is a label formulated by American academics to denote the heterogeneous works of a series of French intellectuals who came to international prominence in the 1960s and '70s...
practitioners of critical literacy, the definition of this literacy practice can be quite malleable, but usually involves a search for discourses
Discourses
Discourse is a term used in semantics, philosophy and discourse analysis.Discourses may also refer to:*Domain of discourse, a logical/mathematical term*Conversation, synonym for one meaning of discourse...
and reasons why certain discourses are included or left out of a text.
Two major theoretical perspectives within the field of critical literacy are the Neo-Marxist/Freirean and the Australian. These approaches overlap in many ways and they do not necessarily represent competing views, but they do approach the subject matter differently.
Neo-Marxist/Freirean
Critical Literacy practices grew out of the social justiceSocial justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
pedagogy of Brazilian educator and theorist Paulo Freire
Paulo Freire
Paulo Reglus Neves Freire was a Brazilian educator and influential theorist of critical pedagogy.-Biography:...
, as first described in Education as the Practice of Freedom published in 1967 and his most famous book Pedagogy of the Oppressed
Pedagogy of the Oppressed
Pedagogy of the Oppressed is the most widely known of educator Paulo Freire's works. It proposes a pedagogy with a new relationship between teacher, student, and society...
, published in 1968. Freirean critical literacy is conceived as a means of empowering unempowered populations against oppression and coercion, frequently seen as enacted by corporate and/or government entities. Freirean critical literacy starts with the desire to balance social inequities and address societal problems caused by abuse of power. It proceeds from this philosophical basis to examine, analyze, and deconstruct texts.
This perspective is reflected in the works of Peter McLaren
Peter McLaren
Peter McLaren is a Professor in the Division of Urban Schooling, the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles . He is the author and editor of forty-five books and hundreds of scholarly articles and chapters...
, Henry Giroux
Henry Giroux
Henry Giroux, born September 18, 1943, in Providence, Rhode Island, is an American cultural critic. One of the founding theorists of critical pedagogy in the United States, he is best known for his pioneering work in public pedagogy, cultural studies, youth studies, higher education, media studies,...
, and Jean Anyon
Jean Anyon
Jean Anyon is a leading critical thinker and researcher in education. Her work uses political economy to assess the impact of public policy on urban neighborhoods and schools...
, among many others. The Freirean perspective on critical literacy is strongly represented in critical pedagogy
Critical pedagogy
Critical pedagogy is a philosophy of education described by Henry Giroux as an "educational movement, guided by passion and principle, to help students develop consciousness of freedom, recognize authoritarian tendencies, and connect knowledge to power and the ability to take constructive...
.
Other philosophical approaches to critical literacy, while sharing many of the ideas of Neo-Marxist/Freirean critical literacy, may be viewed as a less overtly politicized expansion on these ideas. Critical literacy helps teachers as well as students to explore the relationship between theoretical framework and its practical implications.
Australian
Australian researchers and educators (including Allan LukeAllan Luke
Allan Luke is an educator, researcher, and theorist studying multiliteracies, linguistics, family literacy, and educational policy. Dr. Luke has written or edited over 14 books and more than 140 articles and book chapters. Luke, with Peter Freebody, originated the Four Resources Model of literacy...
, Michele Anstey, Geoff Bull
Geoff Bull
Geoffrey Randolph Bull is an Australian jazz trumpeter and bandleader.Bull played with the Melbourne New Orleans Jazz Band in 1961, then formed his own group, the Olympia Jazz Band, in Sydney; his sidemen included guitar/banjoist Geoff Holden, clarinetist Peter Neubauer, and bassist Dick Edser....
, J. Elkins, Peter Freebody
Peter Freebody
Peter Freebody is currently a Professorial Research Fellow with the Faculty of Education and Social Work and a core member of the CoCo Research Centre at The University of Sydney in Sydney, Australia. His research and teaching interests include literacy education, classroom interaction and...
, and the New London Group, among others) have made major contributions in recent years to the field of critical literacy. While Neo-Marxist/Freirean critical literacy proceeds from a desire to remedy social inequities, this body of work begins with an analysis of text and proceeds from there. This school of thought is not necessarily opposed to the use of critical literacy to address issues of social justice, but its enactment does not proceed from an assumption of exploitation and abuse of power. "Australian" critical literacy is researched and practiced in many countries. The philosophical underpinnings do not necessarily originate in Australia, but many researchers currently associated with the work are based in that country and Australia has incorporated many of the practices into its national curriculum.
From this philosophical perspective, critical literacy is the belief that interpreting literature is more than simply decoding the words of a text. It is necessary to understand that language is a social construct and that it is never neutral. It is used to inform, entertain, persuade and manipulate. The philosophy behind critical literacy is that it is necessary to learn how language works in order to be a more skilled user of language in terms of both comprehending and composing.
The use and relevance of critical literacy has been disputed. Some believe it to be innapropriate, and feel that texts are constantly deconstructed and over analysed to destruction.
Portions of the following sections are from a document distributed to secondary school students in Australia detailing the basic tenets of critical literacy.
Definitions
- Multiple Readings: Texts, of themselves, do not have any central integrity. There is no one indisputable way a text can be read. It may be read in different ways by different people. The different readings will be determined by factors such as the context and the reader's discursive background. A reading of Jane AustenJane AustenJane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
's EmmaEmmaEmma, by Jane Austen, is a novel about the perils of misconstrued romance. The novel was first published in December 1815. As in her other novels, Austen explores the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in Georgian-Regency England; she also creates a lively 'comedy of manners' among...
, from the point of view of a member of the upper class English, could be quite different from that of a servant at that time. Again, a reading made in 1820 could be quite different from one made in 2000. Readings may be broken down into categories:
- Dominant reading: The readings of texts are not totally chaotic and usually most people construct more or less the same meaning of a given text. A slight variation on this dominant reading is the preferred meaning which refers to the meaning that the composer of the text had in mind for the readers. This of course is usually applicable to advertising texts.
- Alternative readings: These refer to readings made of a text that differ from the dominant reading but nevertheless are not markedly different and could still be supported by a number of readers. Parents, for example, might read Looking for Alibrandi in a different way to its intended teenage audience.
- Resistant readingResistant ReadingA reading within a text which moves beyond the dominant cultural beliefs to challenge prevailing views.Reading a text as it was not meant to be read; in fact reading the text against itself.-Textual Example:...
: This is reading 'against the grain'. a minority reading that is not in accord with the majority of readers or the intentions of the composer. Many feminist readings of traditional texts, for example, could fit into this category.
Context
This is not merely its setting in time and place. "Context refers to the multitude of factors which shape the meaning of a text within the social framework of its reading. This framework may include particular ideas about the text's history, but is also powerfully shaped by competing beliefs and practices in the present. (Moon,1992). This means that the context is constantly shifting and that the nature of the reader, and the time that it is read, are significant.This suggests that the 'meaning' or reading of a text is determined by a huge range of social, cultural, time, composer, reader factors.
An example of context may be considered in terms of the movie Dead Poet's Society. This is set in the USA in the early 1960s, a time when teenagers had little individual freedom and the will of the parents was very strong. But not all American teenagers were in this category and not all parents exerted power. In turn this was all influenced by class, politics, religion etc. Furthermore this was the view as presented by the film's director and this needs to be examined. And again, the particular understanding of the viewer might 'vary' the context.
Discourse
This refers to all the language associated with a particular life experience or identity construct (e.g. race, social class, gender, sexuality, age, etc.). Hence one can have the discourse of school or the family or childhood that are closely related to the related sociocultural identities. Discourses overlap and constantly change. One can belong to a wide and ever changing number of discourses and they all can affect the way one makes meaning of texts. The language features can include the words (lexicons I of the discourse ego for school - timetable, parade, etc.,. the way words are expressed, the exclusive jargon, the operating power structures in the language etc.).Discursive background
Each person has a unique personal and discursive backgroundDiscursive psychology
For other uses of the word, see discursive.Discursive psychology is a form of discourse analysis that focuses on psychological themes....
. This is shaped by the discourses
Discursive psychology
For other uses of the word, see discursive.Discursive psychology is a form of discourse analysis that focuses on psychological themes....
that one has been involved in and have operated on us. Thus it could include one's upbringing (family, social class, traditions, religion etc.), one's friends, one's school, education, experiences one has had, ones gender, hobbies and interests and so on.
Intertextuality
As a result of one's discursive background, their view of the world and how they read texts are shaped by a multiplicity of previous experiences and readings. Whenever one looks at something they shift through all of their knowledge to make meanings. One combines texts to create a complete picture. This combination of texts is referred to as intertextualityIntertextuality
Intertextuality is the shaping of texts' meanings by other texts. It can include an author’s borrowing and transformation of a prior text or to a reader’s referencing of one text in reading another. The term “intertextuality” has, itself, been borrowed and transformed many times since it was coined...
. If, for example, one is watching a movie which includes a villain one of the ways that they assume that he or she is a villain is through the knowledge that they bring to this current text from previous texts -.i.e. clothes, facial expression, gestures etc. In this way, a reading can become richer. It can also explain why some people sometimes have difficulty making meaning of some texts; they may have limited intertextual experiences to draw on.
View of the World
Refers to the way the author chooses to show/paint the world. This view might be political, economic or social or a combination of these. Sometimes this is known as ideologyIdeology
An ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to...
.
A text's view of the world is also influenced by the author's discursive background. Ergo if an author likes a place, they write about it in a positive way; if they hate it they say negative things. They try to sway ones opinion.
Often the view of the world in a text does not agree with ones own view - it contradicts it, but, as a reader, one still reads the text and understands the author's message or viewpoint.
The view of the world often emerges from a reading of the text as a whole. Sometimes it emerges through one (or more) characters and sometimes the views of characters differ and therefore create conflict. A view of the world can sometimes be called a Version of Reality.
Gaps and Silences
These occur frequently in texts. They are created when the author, intentionally or unintentionally, chooses to include some pieces of information and omit others. The gap has been specifically placed to develop reader positioning further. An example of this could be an ad for shampoo would tell you the many benefits of the product however, fail to release to the public that animal testing has been used in the creation of this product.A difference is generally seen between gaps
Parasitic gap
In grammar, a parasitic gap is a construction wherein the dropping of an argument is dependent on a co-varying argument having been fronted in a local context.-Discovery:...
and silences.
- A gap is a place in a text where something is left out and it is up to the reader to fill in (or maybe not fill in) the blank. When one reads a text one generally does this without thinking. A movie, for example, usually has enormous gaps to be filled or meaning will be restricted. This filling in process is helped by ones discursive background.
- A silence is when the viewpoints/voices of a certain person or group is left out or never heard. Frequently, for example, the view of a minority group is silenced in a text. On occasions they may be present but they are not given a role to enable their voice to be heard.
Positioning
When constructing a text, an author inherently frames the content or character of the text using a certain attitude or point of view. This is called positioning. One may read the text in the way it is intended (which would be a preferred reading) or one may interpret it differently. For example, a woman may read a text on a rape differently than a man. One might also reject the reading or skew, and may attempt to construct one as a certain archetype who desires a certain product, when in fact one may resist such positioning. Positioning of course need not be static and it could change as the text develops.Agency
A character in a text may be granted (or denied) empowerment. This can be called agency. For example a member of a marginalised group may be very well aware of his or her deprivation but is unable to do anything about it - lack of agency.Deconstruction
Texts are considered social/cultural constructions. This means that they are assembled from a wide range of varied and possibly contradictory elements. Deconstruction is a critical practice which focuses on contradictions and" slippages" of meanings in order to remind one that meanings one makes when one reads are neither obvious or neutral. Deconstruction does not point out contradictions in order to 'destroy' texts but to improve ones reading of them (Moon, 19921)Other language practices
- Naturalisation - This refers to a process by which, over time, an attitude or belief develops, not through its essential truth but, because it is repeated over and over again and is not challenged. The marginalisation of some racial groups is an example of this.
- Marginalisation - There is where, through language practices (including positioning and gaps and silences) a person or group is denied mainstream status and is literally pushed to the margins".
- Valorisation - This refers to the situation where a person, belief or subject is accorded enhanced status greater than that which would be normally accorded to it. For example, some boys' football teams are valorised in schools.
- Nominalisation - This is when the responsibility is shifted away from the actual cause. It becomes less threatening or anonymous (or almost natural or expected). For example "the oil tanker disaster has killed millions of birds" is more direct than "millions of birds were killed after the oil spill".
- Privilege - Sometimes in a text a particular character, or ideology, is given greater moral standing or worth over another. This position or person or ideology is privileged.
- Personalisation - This is when an author of a text (frequently a speech) introduces a personal note to increase empathy between speaker and audience, e.g. through the use of personal pronouns such as I, we, you, and me.
- Denotation/connotation - Denotation is the practice that allows a meaning to be made. A connotation is an understanding of the significance of the meaning ego a uniform denotes the rank of say, captain. The assumed power of this rank is the connotation.
- Collectivisation - This refers to the language practice of broadening the base from the singular to the plural It increases the power of the position. ego 'we' or 'us' instead of 'I 'or' 'me'.
- Foregrounding - Frequently, in a text, a particular aspect stands out in relation to all other aspects. This feature (person or thing) has been foregrounded, usually with a purpose. ego the romance between the boy and girl in Titanic.
- Binary Opposition - This is an organising principle suggesting that things are opposite or do not have much in common - i.e., black/white, man/woman, best/worst. It supports the tendency to look at things in terms of simple contradictions and also has implications of power and conflict. . Rationalisation. This refers to the process where a perceived problem/issue may be 'explained away' or minimalised by a subject. The explanation, however, may not always be convincing to the audience.
- Representation - Texts do not mirror or reflect transparently the real world. Rather they represent or construct versions of reality mediated by the ideologies or values or worldview of the composer (and indeed the reader/viewer/listener, Representations are textual constructions.
See also
|
Meme A meme is "an idea, behaviour or style that spreads from person to person within a culture."A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols or practices, which can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable phenomena... Memetics Memetics is a theory of mental content based on an analogy with Darwinian evolution, originating from Richard Dawkins' 1976 book The Selfish Gene. It purports to be an approach to evolutionary models of cultural information transfer. A meme, analogous to a gene, is essentially a "unit of... Participatory culture Participatory culture is a neologism in reference of, but opposite to a Consumer culture — in other words a culture in which private persons do not act as consumers only, but also as contributors or producers . The term is most often applied to the production or creation of some type of published... Paulo Freire Paulo Reglus Neves Freire was a Brazilian educator and influential theorist of critical pedagogy.-Biography:... Popular culture Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the... Postpositivism In philosophy and models of scientific inquiry, postpositivism is a metatheoretical stance that critiques and amends positivism. Postpositivists believe that human knowledge is based not on unchallengeable, rock-solid foundations, but rather upon human conjectures... Scenario planning Scenario planning, also called scenario thinking or scenario analysis, is a strategic planning method that some organizations use to make flexible long-term plans. It is in large part an adaptation and generalization of classic methods used by military intelligence.The original method was that a... Semiotics Semiotics, also called semiotic studies or semiology, is the study of signs and sign processes , indication, designation, likeness, analogy, metaphor, symbolism, signification, and communication... Transmediation “Transmediation” can refer to the process though which individuals select and translate data to represent it in new media forms. It may utilize more than one media form. All the components of a transmediated work are interlinked with each other to form the whole network... Visual literacy Visual literacy is the ability to interpret, negotiate, and make meaning from information presented in the form of an image. Visual literacy is based on the idea that pictures can be “read” and that meaning can be communicated through a process of reading.... |
Further reading
Lankshear, C. & McLaren, P. (Eds.) (1993). Critical literacy: Radical and postmodernist perspectives. Albany: State University of New York Press.Luke, C. (1995). Media and cultural studies. In P. Freebody, S. Muspratt, & A. Luke (Eds.).
Constructing critical literacies. Crosskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
New London Group. (1996). A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies: Designing Social Futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66, 1.
External links
- IRA Critical Literacy Resources - The International Reading AssociationInternational Reading AssociationThe International Reading Association is an international professional organization that was created in 1956 to improve reading instruction, facilitate dialogue about research on reading, and encourage the habit of reading....
index page for critical literacy resources. - Critical Literacy NZ describes critical literacy in New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, which, in line with AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, is beginning to adopt this practice - Critical Literacy Guide for teachers in the Australian state of TasmaniaTasmaniaTasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
. - Read-Write-Think Lesson Plan