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Using Fairclough’s three-dimensional model of critical discourse analysis (CDA) and Halliday’s systemic functional linguistics (SFL), the paper analyzes media linguistic strategies across three 2023 editorials and public responses. Findings show how crisis narratives are discursively constructed and shape public perceptions, potentially influencing early literacy education policies.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/discursive-constructions-of-a-literacy-crisis-in-australian-newspaper-editorials-602333/602333/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/discursive-constructions-of-a-literacy-crisis-in-australian-newspaper-editorials-602333/602333.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"dawugda","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-04","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":34},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What issue does the study investigate in Australian newspaper editorials?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It examines how a “reading crisis” narrative is constructed regarding early literacy instruction in Victoria through editorials in The Age.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Which teaching approaches does the analysis contrast?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The study focuses on debates between synthetic phonics and balanced literacy and how balanced literacy is portrayed relative to synthetic phonics.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What method and data does the paper use?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It applies Fairclough’s three-dimensional CDA model and Halliday’s SFL to analyze three 2023 editorials and the public responses to them.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},602333,1792166826,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":34,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},3985747870947,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","Science of Reading Policies: International Impacts and Impressions  \neducation policy analysis archives  \nA peer-reviewed, independent, open access, multilingual journal  \nArizona State University  \n\n| Volume 33 Number 75 | November 11, 2025 | ISSN 1068-2341 |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n\nDiscursive Constructions of a “Literacy Crisis” in Australian Newspaper Editorials  \nHyejeong Ahn  \nHelen Cozmescu  \nUniversity of Melbourne  \nAustralia  \n&  \nMarc Yi Fei Yeo  \nNanyang Technological University  \nSingapore  \nCitation: Ahn, H., Cozmescu, H., & Yeo, M. Y. F. (2025). Discursive constructions of a “literacy crisis” in Australian newspaper editorials. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 33(75) . [https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.33.8962](https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.33.8962) This article is part of the special issue Science of Reading Policies: International Impacts and Impressions, guest edited by Danielle Dennis and Rachael Gabriel.  \nAbstract: 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  \naround literacy instruction are discursively constructed and how they influence public perceptionsand, potentially, educational policies on early literacy education.  \nKeywords: early reading; literacy education; phonics instruction; educational media; critical discourse analysis  \nConstrucciones discursivas de una “crisis de alfabetización” en los editoriales de periódicos australianos  \nResumen: Este estudio examina las narrativas de una “crisis de lectura” en torno a la enseñanzainicial de la alfabetización en Victoria, Australia, mediante el análisis de editoriales del periódico The Age, en el contexto de las continuas “guerras de la lectura” y los debates sobre los enfoques de la enseñanza de la lectura, en particular entre la fonética sintética y la alfabetizaciónequilibrada. Utilizando el modelo tridimensional de análisis crítico del discurso (ACD) de Fairclough (1989) y la lingüística sistémico-funcional (LSF) de Halliday (1994), el artículo investiga las estrategias lingüísticas de los medios en tres editoriales de 2023 que critican aspectos específicos de la enseñanza inicial de la lectura, centrándose en cómo se representa el enfoque dealfabetización equilibrada en relación con la fonética sintética. Asimismo, examina las respuestaspúblicas a estos editoriales, ilustrando el papel de los medios en la configuración del compromiso con el discurso educativo y las complejidades de la enseñanza de la alfabetización, que van más allá de una preferencia simplista por uno u otro enfoque. Al analizar la interacción entre los discursos sobre la enseñanza de la lectura en las representaciones mediáticas y la recepciónpública de esos discursos, este artículo revela cómo las narrativas de crisis en torno a la alfabetización se construyen discursivamente y cómo influyen en las percepciones públicas y, potencialmente, en las políticas educativas sobre la alfabetización inicial.  \nPal","cbCaigQ4Q85nBCUk","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaigQ4Q85nBCUk","pdf",492377,23,"English","# Abstract\n## Research focus and context\n## Analytical framework (CDA and SFL)\n## Data and findings: editorials and public responses\n## Implications for perceptions and policy","[{\"question\":\"What issue does the study investigate in Australian newspaper editorials?\",\"answer\":\"It examines how a “reading crisis” narrative is constructed regarding early literacy instruction in Victoria through editorials in The Age.\"},{\"question\":\"Which teaching approaches does the analysis contrast?\",\"answer\":\"The study focuses on debates between synthetic phonics and balanced literacy and how balanced literacy is portrayed relative to synthetic phonics.\"},{\"question\":\"What method and data does the paper use?\",\"answer\":\"It applies Fairclough’s three-dimensional CDA model and Halliday’s SFL to analyze three 2023 editorials and the public responses to them.\"}]","Discursive Constructions of a “Literacy Crisis” in Australian Newspaper Editorials | PDF",1792094493,58]