Language, Literacy and culture

1
Language, Literacy and culture

• Viv Edwards
• University of Reading
• v.k.edwards_at_reading.ac.uk

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What is literacy?

• the ability to sign your name
• the ability to read or write a simple sentence
  describing your daily activities
• self-reports of being able to read and write
• passing a written test of reading comprehension
  at a level comparable to an average student at
  grade 4.

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Models of reading

• Autonomous
• learner needs to develop a set of technical
  skills
• Ideological
• literacy is social and cultural in nature, an
  integral part of peoples daily lives
• Multiliteracies
• a broader vision that embraces cultural and
  linguistic diversity and takes account of the
  multimodal meaning-making opportunities offered
  by new communications technologies.

4
Working class readers

• t They do basic functional reading and writing.
• r What do you mean by functional?
• t Enough to get them through the day. They can
  read the street signs. They can read the K Mart
  sign, they can read, ahh, well they can identify
  the signs.
• r What about junk mail, catalogues?
• t Well they can identify those because they are
  presented in a predictable text. So that they
  would probably understand them more than say a
  novel or that mixed structure of reading and then
  of course you know the children dont see that at
  home so they come to school wondering what all
  the hooha is about books.

5
Middle class readers

• In the middle class homes where reading is
  valued, its modelled, stories are read to them,
  the parents read, there are books around the
  house, the kids are, you know I think of the
  little ones who try to read the street signs and
  the labels at the Supermarket and things like
  that, know what writing is. Whereas some of them
  will come to school with, they really have not
  got that conception .

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Why is home reading important?

• Are book and story-reading experiences at home
  essential for success in themselves?
• Or are they important because they reproduce what
  counts in early literacy tuition in school?

7
Bourdieus concepts of capital

• Economic, e.g. ability to pay for pribvate
  schooling
• Social, e.g. membership of a particular club or
  community
• Cultural, e.g. favoured ways of knowing and
  being.

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• Teacher Read this, Shuma
• Shuma Alif, bah, tah, sayh (the names of the
  graphic symbols on the page)
• Teacher What was that? Say it again
• Shuma Alif, bah, tah, sayh, jim
• Teacher Yes, thats it, now carry on
• Shuma Jim jim, hae, kae, d- (hesitates)
• Teacher Dal dal, remember it and repeat
• Shuma Dal, zal, rae, zae, sin, shin, swad,
  dwad,
• Teacher (nods) Whats next? Thoy, zoy
• Shuma Zoy, thoy..
• Teacher No, no, listen carefully. Thoy, zoy
• Shuma (repeats)
• Teacher Fine, now say it again from the
  beginning...

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Abdul Rehman

• His mother and father had taught him, not only
  rhymes and letters and numbers, but appropriate
  dispositions towards learning. Their daily
  routines, though different from those of English
  families, demonstrated the uses of literacy and
  the value they attached to it. Their sons read
  together in the evenings (Rahmans father and
  brothers switched to English with ease), and the
  family subscribed to an ethos of hard work and
  study.

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Listen and repeat

• Listen and repeat
• Tandem reading
• Chained reading
• Almost alone
• Recital.

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Transformative pedagogy

• incorporate the language and culture of the
  community in the school
• active involvement of families and the community
  in the education of their children
• interactive and reciprocal teaching style .
• assessment which locates problems in the social,
  economic or education system rather than assuming
  blame lies with the student.

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In conclusion

• Different groups do literacy in different ways
• Teachers tend to privilege some ways over others
• Schools need to understand and respect these
  differences