Discursive constructions of a “literacy crisis” in Australian newspaper editorials

Abstract

This study examines the narratives of a “reading crisis” surrounding early literacy instruction in Victoria, Australia, by analysing newspaper editorials from The Age newspaper, amid the ongoing “reading wars” and debates over approaches to teaching reading, particularly between synthetic phonics and balanced literacy. Using Fairclough’s (1989) three-dimensional model of critical discourse analysis (CDA) and Halliday’s (1994) systemic functional linguistics (SFL), the paper investigates the media’s linguistic strategies in three 2023 editorials that critique specific aspects of early reading instruction, focusing on how the balanced literacy approach to teaching reading is portrayed in relation to synthetic phonics. It examines public responses to these editorials, illustrating the media’s role in shaping engagement with educational discourse and the complexities of literacy instruction, which go beyond a simplistic preference for either approach. By examining the interaction between discourses about literacy instruction in media portrayals and public reception of these discourses, this paper reveals how crisis narratives around literacy instruction are discursively constructed and how they influence public perceptions and, potentially, educational policies on early literacy education.