Discourse varies from culture to culture. For example, in America, writers traditionally build their arguments on the thesis, which is an assertion of an idea. For example, a thesis might hold that boys are hurt more by parental divorce than girls. The thesis is then given support. The more support given, the more overwhelming the thesis seems. This approach to argumentation is not universal across cultures. In China, people often begin with a proverb or saying and then give support for an argument that isn't usually stated openly, but is strongly implied. Certain forms of language are used in discourse, such as writing, podcasting and creating videos. Literacy is the ability of people to use these forms of language effectively in the dominant discourse.
Literacy plays an important role in almost all forms of knowledge, including mathematics. When researchers come out with statistics, they must effectively explain the statistics so others can understand their significance. Those who lack literacy, especially those who are from marginal cultures, are less likely to take part in the broader discourse and might not have their concerns heard and their needs met. In addition, cultures that lack literacy skills needed to communicate across cultures have fewer opportunities to share ideas with other cultures. Students who lack literacy also struggle to comprehend texts, which inhibits their ability to study and compete in the education system.
Students do not struggle primarily because they cannot decode words, but rather because they do not have the background knowledge necessary to understand the texts. Many students also struggle with literacy because of their home life. For example, some people from poorer communities lack stable housing necessary to take time to read, so they cannot accumulate the background knowledge necessary to develop literacy.
Cultural modeling is a method of pedagogy that draws on the cultural abilities of students in non-dominant groups. Teachers draw on the non-dominant students' abilities and compare them to other modes of reasoning. Teachers must understand how students from different cultures reason. Then, they can understand how confusion arises when students and teachers from different cultures engage in debate and discourse. For example, those from the hip-hop culture use their own logic when creating rap music. Teachers who have in their classes students interested in rap music can seek to understand the logic behind the creation of rap lyrics and can then compare this logic to the logic used to create other literary works.