Mighty and Multilingual
Mighty and Multilingual:
Some students are multilingual and while others are trying to keep their mother tongue and learn a new language. While trying to learn the new language these students are trying to become literate as well as learn the language. There are students who are struggling on the academic side of becoming literate, but it is stated in the article, "Research has shown that some who are struggling readers and writers at school use literacy competently outside of school for their own personal ends" (Haneda 2006). Students are finding ways outside of school to use their literacy practices for personal reasons.
One of the students in the article uses his out-of-school literacy practices to promote his business.
Students aren't becoming critically literate because schools aren't allowing students to focus on wide ranges of literacy practices. "Schools should give students opportunities to to engage in wide range of literacy so that they become critically literate--not just previously decoding and retrieving author's textual intentions but also analyzing texts and using literacy to act on the world" (Haneda 2006). Allowing students to reach academic success it is important that we give our student's the opportunities they deserve.
Students need their literacy to be relevant to them. They need this stability because sometimes all these students know is what they see at home and in the community and then in turn they bring that into school. Students do a lot outside of school and they can bring this into the classroom so it's important that we allow for diverse literacy in the classroom. "What emerges, then, is a complex picture of diverse literacy experiences that students bring to school, which defies the making of any simplistic generalization about their out-of-school literacy practices" (Haneda 2006). Students will do things outside of school and then they bring them into the classroom so it's important that teachers find a way for those outside practices to be relevant in literacy practices in school. Making those small connections allow students to stay on task and see the diversity. "It is, therefore, essential that educators reexamine their own assumptions of what being literate means in order to create opportunities that enable students to master a wide range of literacy practices with which they can shape their futures in rewarding and responsible manner" (Haneda 2006). A simple way educators can connect home, community and school is just reexamine what you think being literate means because you can allow for students to see a wide range of literacy practices. Reflect on your assumptions, opinions and thoughts is just one way to change your classroom environment into being welcoming to many diverse literacies.
Questions:
1. How do we provide our students with a wide range of literacy practices?
2. What does it mean to be literate?
3. How can you connect out-of-school literacy practices to in-school practices?
References:
Some students are multilingual and while others are trying to keep their mother tongue and learn a new language. While trying to learn the new language these students are trying to become literate as well as learn the language. There are students who are struggling on the academic side of becoming literate, but it is stated in the article, "Research has shown that some who are struggling readers and writers at school use literacy competently outside of school for their own personal ends" (Haneda 2006). Students are finding ways outside of school to use their literacy practices for personal reasons.
One of the students in the article uses his out-of-school literacy practices to promote his business.
Students aren't becoming critically literate because schools aren't allowing students to focus on wide ranges of literacy practices. "Schools should give students opportunities to to engage in wide range of literacy so that they become critically literate--not just previously decoding and retrieving author's textual intentions but also analyzing texts and using literacy to act on the world" (Haneda 2006). Allowing students to reach academic success it is important that we give our student's the opportunities they deserve.
Linking home, community and school:
Students need their literacy to be relevant to them. They need this stability because sometimes all these students know is what they see at home and in the community and then in turn they bring that into school. Students do a lot outside of school and they can bring this into the classroom so it's important that we allow for diverse literacy in the classroom. "What emerges, then, is a complex picture of diverse literacy experiences that students bring to school, which defies the making of any simplistic generalization about their out-of-school literacy practices" (Haneda 2006). Students will do things outside of school and then they bring them into the classroom so it's important that teachers find a way for those outside practices to be relevant in literacy practices in school. Making those small connections allow students to stay on task and see the diversity. "It is, therefore, essential that educators reexamine their own assumptions of what being literate means in order to create opportunities that enable students to master a wide range of literacy practices with which they can shape their futures in rewarding and responsible manner" (Haneda 2006). A simple way educators can connect home, community and school is just reexamine what you think being literate means because you can allow for students to see a wide range of literacy practices. Reflect on your assumptions, opinions and thoughts is just one way to change your classroom environment into being welcoming to many diverse literacies.
Questions:
1. How do we provide our students with a wide range of literacy practices?
2. What does it mean to be literate?
3. How can you connect out-of-school literacy practices to in-school practices?
References:
Haneda, Mari. “Becoming Literate in a Second Language: Connecting Home, Community, and School Literacy Practices.” Theory Into Practice, vol. 45, no. 4, Literacies of and for a Diverse Society, Fall, 2006, pp. 337–345.
I think you make a great point when you state, “Students aren't becoming critically literate because schools aren't allowing students to focus on wide ranges of literacy practices.” We have even touched on this some in class and it really has made me question what we were told to read in school. It is very hard to for people, especially children to connect to the works of Shakespeare, Hemmingway, Poe, etc. Although, I believe it is important to introduce those scholars, because they are some the best writers ever, we need to bring more modernization into classroom literacy. One idea we had in class was connect Shakespeare to Tupac. This allows for the famous scholars to still be taught in schools, but also by adding someone like Tupac, it keeps the lesson culturally relevant. That is one method to make sure students reach the third tenet of culturally relevant pedagogy, Students will develop a sociopolitical consciousness (Ladson-Billings 1995).
ReplyDeleteTo answer your 2nd questions, I don’t think there is a set definition of what it means to be “literate.” I remember learning that last semester, that the definition of this is constantly changing/evolving. Before, I always thought being literate meant you were able to read and write basic English. However, that made me think, “What is basic English then?” After being introduces to the Environmental Print (EP) cards, it gave me a new understanding of what is means to be “literate.” What I think it means to be “literate”, is being able to understand/comprehend your surroundings and being able communicate in any fashion within your community.
Your comment on how students can find it difficult to connect with required readings like Hemmingway, Shakespeare, Poe, and others reminds me of the articles my group read for our blogs a few weeks back. Teachers and librarians were seeing less student engagement with books because they'd been stripped of choice and access to books that interested them or reflected their lives and experiences. Being culturally relevant and sustaining, as you mentioned, requires taking into consideration what the students express interest in and what their community and culture involves, and give them access to it in the classroom.
DeleteThe way I see literacy is when someone has the ability to comprehend, infer, and communicate. I typed literacy into Dictionary.com and it said "the ability to read and write". This made me think. Students who come to the USA speaking, reading, and writing a different language does not mean they are illiterate, they just speak, read, and write a different language. They can still read/comprehend body language, and children especially can communicate it different forms of playing and facial expressions. As a future educator, I plan to bring in many forms of literacy. I will bring in music and have the students compare it to poetry. I will bring in news articles for my students to read that is about their community. I will bring in reading that involve different languages. If my students tell me what they want, I will find a way to connect it to literacy because a good educator makes their lessons relate and interest the students.
ReplyDeleteWhitney, great post. I like how you posed this question if students that come from other countries are they illiterate since they don't know how to read or write in English. Well the definition you wrote from he dictionary I states the ability to read and write, they didn't say in English only. But I see many times that schools place ELL students in special education, they are capable of reading and writing so why do they need to be placed in special education? I don't understand that. Also, why don't all school that have ELL students have someone that is able to help them learn English? I have lots of questions over this topic of who's literate and illiterate.
DeleteWhitney I like how you bring up that people who speak other languages are still literate. I think that is important to remember, and I like your ideas of how to include them into the classroom. I think that including all those different forms of literacy will benefit every student because it will show them that there are options when it comes to literacy, and if they want to put their thoughts out there then there are ways for them to do so that go beyond writing a paper.
DeleteThis reminds me of the mindfulness discussion from our last math class, in which we talked about the school that was offering all of its instruction in both English and Spanish. I'm going to pose a similar question as I did in class. When you have an actually diverse school -- with student populations of comparable sizes and speak various languages (for example, 25% Spanish speaking, 25% Arabic speaking, 25% English, and 25% French), is it still an acceptable option to expect your students to learn in several languages that they don't speak?
ReplyDeleteBrandt, I think this is a very interesting point. As we discussed in math, it may be harder for students to learn when they are still trying to grasp the language. I feel like it would be harder to learn while I was still trying to be fluent, or even proficient enough, in a language that was not my native language. I think it would be easiest to have small sections of class focused on the other language and then try to incorporate it into other aspects of the class as opposed to teaching an entire subject in a language where children may be struggling to learn or follow along.
DeleteTo answer your question "What does it mean to be literate?" I think that to be literate doesn't just mean a persons reading abilities. I think that if someone can get their thoughts about a topic across to other people in a way that shows that they are truly knowledgeable about the topic, then that is literate. Because when they do this they are showing that they were comprehensive in learning about the topic, are able to analyze the information, and then communicate what they learned to others. Whether it's through communication through writing, reading, videos, or anything. If they are showing that they are "fluent" in that topic I feel like it is considered literate.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question, "How do we provide our students with a wide range of literacy practices?" I think incorporating other languages in books would be a viable option to introduce students to a variety of literacy practices. Another thing we could have students do is to tell stories to a partner as a way to have them engage in the practice of story telling as an oral literary tradition. What we as teachers need to consider is what our bias about what literacy is and how a students perception of literacy is different. By looking at the bias that we have, we can see how a student may see their skills differently than we do since we are looking for the "standard" version of literacy.
ReplyDeleteOne way to connect the two is to find out from the adults at home what kind of literacy practices are occurring at home to get a feel for what they may already do. Also, letting them know what you are doing in the classroom may inspire them to continue some of these same practices at home. Sometimes students like doing a certain thing so much that the parents are almost forced to include it in their home lives.
ReplyDelete