Universal Journal of Educational Research Vol. 4(5), pp. 1003 - 1015
DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2016.040510
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Making the Implicit Explicit: the Grammar of Inferential Reasoning in the Humanities and Social Sciences

Kathy Luckett ^*
Humanities Education Development Unit and Department of Sociology, University of Cape Town, South Africa

ABSTRACT

This is a theoretical paper that addresses the challenge of educational access to the Humanities and Social Sciences. It plots a theoretical quest to develop an explicit pedagogy to give 'disadvantaged' students in the Humanities ways of working successfully with texts. In doing so it draws on Bernstein, Moore and Maton's work to theorize the nature of knowledge in the Humanities, and also on Brandom's analysis of inferential reasoning. It uses elements of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) to analyse student texts. The empirical work reported on here is work-in-progress and represents no more than an indication of the approach advocated. The approach is illustrated by examples from comprehension exercises designed to promote students' inferential reasoning. Selected findings are presented to illustrate the extent of the challenge entailed in facilitating access to Humanities texts. The paper concludes by suggesting that mastery of ways of working with texts in the Humanities entails attending to the acquisition of both recognition and realization rules for reading and writing.

KEYWORDS
Higher Education, Humanities, Education Development, Inferential Reasoning, Systemic Functional Linguistics, Epistemic Access

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Kathy Luckett , "Making the Implicit Explicit: the Grammar of Inferential Reasoning in the Humanities and Social Sciences," Universal Journal of Educational Research, Vol. 4, No. 5, pp. 1003 - 1015, 2016. DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2016.040510.

(b). APA Format:
Kathy Luckett (2016). Making the Implicit Explicit: the Grammar of Inferential Reasoning in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 4(5), 1003 - 1015. DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2016.040510.