scholarly journals Empowering Multilingual Learners Through Critical Liberating Literacy Practices in English-Dominated Speech Communities

2022 ◽  
pp. 519-542
Author(s):  
Mario R. Moya

This chapter explores the nuances of critical literacy reviewing the influence of the sociocultural context and the critical element that arises from the individuals who negotiate their identities as they interact with others in a variety of settings. The perspective adopted here focuses on multilingual learners as they engage in literacy practices in English, the dominant language, within schooled environments resulting in hybrid productions within a Third Space, which is a metaphorical setting that promotes expansive learning. Such literacy productions consider the lived-in experiences of the individuals and their personal histories as tools for learning with the potential to liberate themselves from the dominant literacy practices. The chapter includes a discussion of the role and status of English to empower non-dominant groups within English-speaking settings.

Author(s):  
Mario R. Moya

This chapter explores the nuances of critical literacy reviewing the influence of the sociocultural context and the critical element that arises from the individuals who negotiate their identities as they interact with others in a variety of settings. The perspective adopted here focuses on multilingual learners as they engage in literacy practices in English, the dominant language, within schooled environments resulting in hybrid productions within a Third Space, which is a metaphorical setting that promotes expansive learning. Such literacy productions consider the lived-in experiences of the individuals and their personal histories as tools for learning with the potential to liberate themselves from the dominant literacy practices. The chapter includes a discussion of the role and status of English to empower non-dominant groups within English-speaking settings.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1086296X2110522
Author(s):  
Katie Sciurba

In response to anti-Black policing in 2020 that led to the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, Black children and teens turned to poetry as a means to channel their self-described terror, rage, pain, horror, tiredness, and need for change. Reminiscent of the poetry of the Black Arts Movement and works published in The Black Panther newspaper, these poems, many of which call for a “revolution,” are reflective of young people’s critical engagements with the world and the word. With critical literacy as a framework, I engage in critical discourse analysis to determine how the young poets reimagine literacy as they protest anti-Black policing and racism. By focusing on young people’s own grassroots literacy initiatives, which call for the reimagination of blackness and whiteness, and demand truth, justice, and reimagined futures, I demonstrate how educators can reimagine literacy practices to center students’ criticalities and prioritize racial justice.


Author(s):  
So Jung Kim

With heightened emphasis on critical literacy pedagogies, attention to critical literacy for young children (CLYC) has rapidly increased. Yet, there is a paucity of studies examining CLYC in bilingual settings, particularly in Pre-K contexts. Utilizing a qualitative case study design, the current study examined how early critical literacy can be implemented as a medium to help young bilinguals critique texts and develop critical perspectives about race and gender. The study was conducted in a kindergarten classroom at the Korean Language School in a Midwestern city in the US. The data were collected over a semester using multiple collection sources including audio/video recordings, observational field notes, interviews, and children's artifacts. Findings suggest the potential of early critical literacy practices in bilingual contexts to open critical conversations about race and gender with young children. The study also provides teachers with tips on how to create supportive literary environments for young bilingual children.


2019 ◽  
pp. 1303-1321
Author(s):  
So Jung Kim

With heightened emphasis on critical literacy pedagogies, attention to critical literacy for young children (CLYC) has rapidly increased. Yet, there is a paucity of studies examining CLYC in bilingual settings, particularly in Pre-K contexts. Utilizing a qualitative case study design, the current study examined how early critical literacy can be implemented as a medium to help young bilinguals critique texts and develop critical perspectives about race and gender. The study was conducted in a kindergarten classroom at the Korean Language School in a Midwestern city in the US. The data were collected over a semester using multiple collection sources including audio/video recordings, observational field notes, interviews, and children's artifacts. Findings suggest the potential of early critical literacy practices in bilingual contexts to open critical conversations about race and gender with young children. The study also provides teachers with tips on how to create supportive literary environments for young bilingual children.


2019 ◽  
pp. 378-402
Author(s):  
Claudia Cañas ◽  
Ángela Patricia Ocampo ◽  
Ana Karina Rodríguez ◽  
Mónica López-Ladino ◽  
Raúl Alberto Mora

This chapter will introduce a pedagogical framework to engage with literacy practices in early childhood contexts and English language learners (ELLs), based on the commonalities across three research studies carried out in three schools in Medellín, Colombia. In this chapter, we argue that developing strong pedagogical proposals for PreK-5 spaces entails breaking the traditional compartmentalization of children's practices between in or out of school and carefully integrating multimodality and critical literacy in our curricula. Besides the explanation of our pedagogical framework and its link to our current research, the chapter also provides some insights for early childhood teachers working with ELLs around the world to draw from these frameworks and transform their curricula. Although language context may differ, there are developmental commonalities across the board that practitioners and teacher educators can draw from, regardless of whether the children are in English-speaking contexts or not.


Author(s):  
Shadrack Gabriel Msengi

This case study is an investigation of cultural and linguistic diverse perspectives among parents, children, teachers, and teacher candidates. Survey and interview data were collected and analyzed to determine how these diverse perspectives affect teachers' application of culturally responsive literacy practices to develop a community of learners. Findings suggest that teachers and teacher candidates knew little about their students' diverse backgrounds. Their participation in the study and initial discussions among teachers, teacher candidates, children, and parents had a positive effect on experienced and novice teachers' knowledge of students. This knowledge included the ability to begin planning and managing instruction, as well as determining appropriate assessments and instructional strategies. Findings also suggest ways these teachers could engage students, families, and teachers in social justice practices.


Author(s):  
Roberta Linder

High-quality narrative and informational texts can provide young adolescents with mirrors which reflect their lived experiences and windows into the lives of those with whom they are less familiar. These texts can connect with the social-emotional learning (SEL) competencies of self-awareness and social awareness. Connections between SEL programs and integration with literacy practices are described. Literacy approaches grounded in reader response theory and critical literacy theory provide the basis for reading and understanding diverse texts and support the development of SEL competencies. The chapter presents criteria for selecting high-quality literature, 13 text recommendations for self-awareness and social awareness, and ideas for activities and discussion.


Author(s):  
Vivian Maria Vasquez

Changing student demographics, globalization, and flows of people resulting in classrooms where students have variable linguistic repertoire, in combination with new technologies, has resulted in new definitions of what it means to be literate and how to teach literacy. Today, more than ever, we need frameworks for literacy teaching and learning that can withstand such shifting conditions across time, space, place, and circumstance, and thrive in challenging conditions. Critical literacy is a theoretical and practical framework that can readily take on such challenges creating spaces for literacy work that can contribute to creating a more critically informed and just world. It begins with the roots of critical literacy and the Frankfurt School from the 1920s along with the work of Paulo Freire in the late 1940s (McLaren, 1999; Morrell, 2008) and ends with new directions in the field of critical literacy including finding new ways to engage with multimodalities and new technologies, engaging with spatiality- and place-based pedagogies, and working across the curriculum in the content areas in multilingual settings. Theoretical orientations and critical literacy practices are used around the globe along with models that have been adopted in various state jurisdictions such as Ontario, in Canada, and Queensland, in Australia.


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