What is critical literacy?

Critical Literacy is the thinking skills that allow you to assess the value and credibility of the sources you use for your assignments. It is a VITAL skill to have for university, so the sooner you learn it, the better!

How to assess a source

When you are reading through a study/essay/report etc for your assignment, ask these questions to determine the credibility of your sources: 

  • What are the researchers claiming? Is it in the scope of the study? Do the findings support the aims? 

  • What are the strengths of the study? Limitations? Weaknesses? What makes you think so? 

  • Any biases? Is the source reliable? 

  • Is the research important? Has the researcher explained in the context WHY they are conducting their study? 

  • Is there other research that supports/contradicts the source you are assessing? 

Keep it organised

When assessing a source’s credibility in your writing, it is important to consider how different sources on the topic agree or disagree with each other. On that end, your notes should be organised by; 

  1. Themes: so research is grouped by larger concepts 

  2. Author: put together authors together than show similarities 

  3. Time: organise studies based on date of publication, later studies often differ greatly to their older counterparts

Writing it Up!

When reference a source in your work, the most basic way of doing so is called REPORTING. Reporting is describing the contents of the source, but includes very limited analysis:

If the idea is clearly finished, use simple past tense:

“Evans (2010) found that…”

If the idea still has currency now or is a still held belief, use simple present tense:

“Wright (2024) maintains that…”

If there needs to be a link made from past to now, use present perfect tense:

“Wang and Lu (2015) have shown…”

There are a range of elements to critically engaging with a text. On one level, you might interpret or highlight the significance or importance of the ideas you are reading. For example:

“Evans (2010) found that the method was successful, offering significance because it represented a major shift from prior research.”

“Wright (2024) maintains that the true focus should be on the method not the outcome, and this is crucial as it highlight a renewed focus on the process of development. This in turn…”

Below are some further examples of critical language:

  • This is important because…This tells us that…

  • This shows* that… (*suggests/implies/give the impression/means that etc) 

  • This is worth noting as/because it…

  • This calls attention to…highlights the need for…

  • This can be illustrated by…

  • What this means* it… (*shows/tells us/reveals/highlights/points to/implies etc) 

  • …importantly* suggests that… (*crucially/significantly)

  • …which points to/suggests the need for…

  • …which is vital/crucial/significant/illustrative as it…

  • …meaning that…

  • …illustrating/pointing to the need for…

  • In doing so, it points to…/ In so doing, tells us that…

Critical Literacy in Action

An example of critical literacy might sound like the following:

“Brent (2020) found that students created highly homogenous peer groups, based on familial likeness and similarity in social and cultural background. This study, however, was limited in its application as Brent chose to collect data over a short time period at a single site. It may have been more illustrative to broaden the scope of the study to track students’ peer groups over a longer period of time at a range of sites.”

Happy Studying!