Literacy and Culture

Literacy is so important in life, but it seems that some students miss out on learning the joys and the wonder of reading and writing. Some just end up missing out on reading all together. 

1.       Elementary reading instruction contributes to poor literacy attainment for older children in several ways. One is the lack of foundation. If children do not receive the proper instruction on how to read and write properly, as well as strategies for getting the most out of text, they will most likely do poorly in middle and high school.

2.       Reading test scores work excellently at inducing a sense of panic in relation to reading education. However they don’t provide an accurate picture of the individual differences that can affect learners.

3.       The reading myth that surprised me most was that students finish learning about reading and writing when they leave elementary school. I would have thought it obvious that students do and need to continue their education in reading and writing up through college. Writing and reading are two skills that one can never practice enough, and they should make like long practice of the two part of their life.

4.       I know that it is important to teach reading comprehension in the content areas. Each subject has its own special set of symbols, definitions, and system of organizations. Without some practice and thought, the reading skills don’t automatically transfer. My two content areas are math and Spanish. In math, students need to know how to read equations, graphs, and charts. In Spanish students especially need good reading comprehension skills. Spanish students face the unique challenge of working in a second language. This makes comprehending the readings exponentially harder. Going back to reading skills that students learned for reading in English class can help them to successfully read in Spanish class.

5.       Many literacies find no place in the classroom. I have literacy in reading latchhook guides, maps, GPS compasses, and reading house plans. These literacies weren’t focused upon during school.

6.       An example of a literacy practice is a young student writing a poem that reflexes his or her culture.

7.       A discourse community is a group of people tied together by a common trait whose communication is governed by rules.

8.       When students feel that their multiple literacies are not recognized as valuable in school the begin to reject school literacy. Students need to be able to make the connection between the value of what they do in school and the things that they like or choice to do in their free time.

9.       Teachers can use construction plans to talk to their students about lengths and areas, or angles and shapes. A student who is competent in reading construction plans will see the connection between school and their life outside of school.

10.   In my 10^th grade Honors English class we did a Fantasy/Sci-fi unit. At the beginning of the unit, every student was able to look at copies of 10 different books. We then ranked to books according to how much we wanted to read them. From those rankings, we were assigned to a group. Each student got a say in which book we read. This made sure that we had a book that we were likely to read and that we would be more involved in the project. We were also more interested in each other’s projects since not everyone was reading the same thing.

11.   In my AP Literature class we read texts from several different eras, from authors of different races and cultures.

12.   Teachers that have their peers and supervisors’ respect have students that do well on standardized tests.

 The National Counsel of Teachers of English. (2007). Adolescent literacy. Retrieved from http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Positions/Chron0907ResearchBrief.pdf

Bolima , D. (n.d.). Contexts for understanding: Educational learning theories. Retrieved from http://staff.washington.edu/saki/strategies/101/new_page_5.htm 

Dialects and Judgement

We judge people. We do it every day, consciously and subconsciously. It's a part of human nature, a product of our species' need to survive. The caveman that wasn't willing to size up his competition based on his clothing or his looks was likely to end up dead. Today we don't typically judge a stranger to determine whether or not they are likely to put a knife between our ribs, but we still judge. First impressions are made quickly and are hard to shake. Everyday we look at people's clothing, their personal hygiene, their car, their house, or their skin tone and we make determinations about them. We also listen to their speech and make snap decisions about their level of education and their socioeconomic status. Often speech is a good indicator of class and eduction "because the language one speaks is the clearest and most stable marker of class membership" (Purcell-Gates, 2002, p. 133).

Even though we make these judgements, the key is to not let what we think determine how we treat others. This is especially true in the classroom, where a teacher's attitude towards a child and his or her abilities can have as profound of an impact as the child's actually abilities. Purcell-Gates (2002) states, "If the child's family is poor, his parents undereducated, his dialect nonstandard, then we are much more likely to interpret experiential difference as a deficit in the child, in the parents, in the home, in the sociocultural community within which this child has grown up. And when we do this, we play God, conferring or denying educational opportunity to individual, socioculturally different children. And we do not have the right to do this" (130).

Every child has the ability and the right to learn. They also have the right to do so without hearing that they will never be able to learn as well as other students because they are black, Mexican, not Asian, or a fifth generation backwoods farmer. My mom and her friend, Ida, who was the valedictorian of their Preston County high school, were told by their guidance councilor that they shouldn't go to college. Technical school was the highest goal that those Preston County farm girls could aspire to. College was a ridiculous dream, after all they would be barefoot and pregnant in just a few years. To this day, those words still ring clear in my mother's head.

Education is one of the best means for a person to gain a better life. When teachers determine a child's ability based on where they came from, they are not only telling that child that he or she can't learn, they are telling them they can't be any better than their parents. "He's from the projects, he'll never learn to read." or "She's just a backwoods hick, she'll never graduate." is the same as saying "Where you come from is the most important thing in life and you will never escape it." This can create a sense of shame in where the students come from and reinforce the idea that they have to forget their past, their heritage to be successful.

In "Tall Tales of Appalachia",  O'Brien says, "[My father] took the hillbilly stereotype to heart and all of his life believed that he was backward and inferior -- a despair I, too, have been trying to escape all of my life." (O'Brien John, 2003) This "despair" is one that I too carry. Never in my life have I been told by a parent, teacher, or guidance councilor that I can't achieve my dreams, but because of the media continuously perpetuating negative stereotypes of West Virginians and hillbillies, this "despair" has seeped deep into my subconscious. There it lurks in the dark corners whispering that I'm not as good as my peers from other states. I am currently researching colleges, several out of state, where I can get a masters in Spanish, either in applied linguistics or second language acquisition. That "despair" nags at me, saying that I'll never make it out-of-state. I know that in another state, I will be judged by where I'm from, my tendency to say "fer" instead of "far", and  the number of G's that disappear from the ends of my gerunds.

Literacy knowledge is knowledge of the system or reading and writing. An example of print literacy knowledge is knowing that written words have meaning. Non-print literacy knowledge is knowledge about how reading and writing are done, such as the fact the we read left to right. Stereotypes can interfere in literacy instruction in a few different ways. One is when teachers assume that a lack of literacy knowledge reflects a deficiency in a child's upbringing or culture, instead of just a difference. Another occurs when teachers allow stereotypes to determine how much they think that a student can learn. Schools and teachers contribute to poor literacy education when they refuse to compensate for student's lack of literacy knowledge.

Some will judge students on the basis of their language or social status. They will then use this to determine how much students can learn. They will never strive to have the student achieve more than their low set bar. They will deny them educational opportunities because they believe that the students will never be able to take advantage of them.

Some believe that you can not learn how to read and write a proper language until you speak that proper language. This is not true. There is always a disconnect between the written word and the spoken word. Teachers can improve their literacy instruction by showing students example of written language in different registers and situations. They can show them that everyday colloquial speech shows up in written works just the same as formal erudite language.

The term "proper English" implies that there is one specific dialect of English that is superior to others. This does a disservice to the rich, diverse, linguistic history of English. The different dialects of any language reflect the unique and varied influences that have shaped not only the language of that location, but also the history and culture. Different registers and tones in language also reflect the diversity of the people.

Mastering a language isn't just about obtaining the ability to speak a certain dialect. The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages have developed Proficiency Guidelines, which are used to determine an individual's mastery of the language. Their highest level of mastery, Distinguished is not reserved for those that can speak the "proper" dialect of a language. This distinction is given to those that "are able to use language skillfully, and with accuracy, efficiency, and effectiveness. They are educated and articulate users of the language. They can reflect on a wide range of global issues and highly abstract concepts in a culturally appropriate manner. They can tailor language to a variety of audiences by adapting their speech and register in ways that are culturally authentic." ("Speaking - ACTFL," 2012) Distinguished proficiency in a language includes being able to communicate authentically with the lower level dialects as well as the proper ones.

As a Spanish student, I see the most foreign language instruction focuses on the "proper" form of the language, which is a good foundation. Foreign language teachers must also be careful to show students that the proper way of speaking a language is only one way, and that it is not always the most effect way. They have to show that other dialect have value. In a letter to the editor of The New York Times, Maria Arreaza- Coyle (2000) says, "As a longtime teacher of Spanish as a foreign language, I have always found myself explaining the differences between the written and the spoken language and defending Mexican and Puerto Rican dialects from attacks by students who believe that Spanish from Spain is ''purer'' and therefore superior."

O'Brien John. (2003, May 10). Tall tales of Appalachia. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/10/opinion/tall-tales-of-appalachia.html?pagewanted=2&src=pm 

Arreaza- Coyle, M. (2000, February 11). Defending language. The new york times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/11/opinion/l-defending-language-766895.html?src=pm

Speaking - ACTFL guidelines 2012. (2012). Retrieved from http://actflproficiencyguidelines2012.org/speaking 

Purcell Gates, V. (2002). As soon as she opened her mouth. In L. Delpit & J.K Dowdy (Eds.), In The skin that we speak: An anthology of essays on language culture and power. (Print: Anthology) 

The Impact of Inclusive Education

Inclusive education is the attempt to give every child, regardless of any factor, the best education possible.  Inclusion is meant to help students that are at a disadvantage due to a variety of factors such as socioeconomic status, language, and mental or physical disability. It also can benefit the students in the classroom that are not at a disadvantage by exposing them to students that may be different. Examples of students that can benefit from an inclusive education include students who don’t speak English, students with physical disabilities, and students that have a mental impairment. Inclusive schools strive to create problem solving teams that work together to ensure that the student is receiving the best education possible for their unique situation. They also seek to create a sense of community that allows all students to feel respected and valuable. One way of doing this is to allow students to contribute more to the community by, for example, serving as a peer tutor or a peer mediator. This gives students a sense of ownership in the community of the school.

I believe that inclusion is vital to helping students become open minded, conscience citizens, especially in West Virginia. Our population is one of the most homogeneous in the nation. Students from families that don't have the financial resources to travel will rarely have the opportunity to experience other cultures, races, languages, or areas with a different socioeconomic status. In this type of scenario, it becomes very easy to become afraid of things that are different or things that you don't understand. Inclusion insures that we are not reinforcing this idea by segregating those that learn differently or speak a different language form the so called "normal" students. 

I’ve included a link to a twitter post from a radio DJ named Kankelfritz. His daughter, Abby Grace, has special needs. She is mainstreamed for part of the day. The picture he tweeted shows Abby Grace and a classmate Jace on their class graduation day. I chose this post because it shows the marked and positive effect that inclusion can have on both students with special needs and those without them.

Citation:

Klovemornings. (2012, June 5). Kankelfritz's Abby Grace with friend Jace. Jace's mom said Abby has really impacted Jace's life & sent this pic. pic.twitter.com/XapKPfMf [Twitter post]. Retrieved from http://twitter.com/klovemornings/status/209985783103361027
Inos , R. H. (2012). Research review for inclusive practices. Retrieved from http://www.prel.org/products/Products/Inclusive-practices.htm