Double Entry Journal #2

After reading "...As Soon As She Opened Her Mouth!": Issues of Language, Literacy and Power by Victoria Purcell-Gates, one quote stood out to me. On page 135 of the reading she states that teachers can do many things to help students achieve in literacy. The "First, and most obvious, teachers and schools must accept, believe and act upon the belief that children of poverty are learners, have been learning since birth, and are ready to learn at anytime, and will learn". For me, this quote is very powerful. I actually felt appalled when I read this. To think that some teachers disregard students because they don’t come from a family where literacy experiences happen every day is kind of unreal to me. I highly believe that given the right tools, experiences, and support any child can succeed in life. I believe that it’s the kids that come from “bad” homes that are destined to do great things. They have a lot to offer the world, but they need the help from educators and schools to be able to use that greatness in their futures.  I believe she is absolutely right in saying that we need to believe in them and believe in the fact that they can learn and have been learning. If we do this, then they, too, can believe in themselves.

Questions and Answers from the Reading

What is literacy Knowledge? Give examples of both print and non-print literacy knowledge

Literacy knowledge is the concept of children acquiring knowledge of reading, writing, and printed materials before having actual informal instruction, in kindergarten and first grade. Children often imitate the process of reading and writing without the ability to actually read and write. This imitation is extremely important in these early years. For example, my four year old niece, Sierra, will pick up a book and read it out loud to me. Although she remembers some of the lines in the book, she is not actually reading the book word for word. She knew she was reading by looking at the book and speaking out loud but was not aware that the words on the page were what she was supposed to be looking at. I have also witnessed a one year old who was learning how to talk. When we would ask her to say “thank you” she would mimic the sound of the words, but was not annunciating. She did this for most of the phrases she was taught. Although she thought she was speaking, in reality she was only verbalizing the sounds she heard in each phrase.

How do stereotypes interfere with literacy instruction?

Stereotypes interfere with literacy instruction because there is a lack of experiences the child has with written and spoken language. The fewer experiences the child has with reading, writing or speaking, the more of a struggle the formal education becomes. Learning how to read and write becomes more difficult for students who have never been shown letters and words. They don’t understand that each letter stands for a sound and all the sounds put together make up a word. It is not impossible to teach these children how to read and write, but it makes it more difficult for them to understand. Stereotypes also interfere when the parents are more interested in the success of their student rather than the teacher. When the parents are stereotyped their child becomes that stereotype whether it is bad or good. They are put off and seen as a student who will follow in their parents’ footprints. Thus, causing the student to slip through the cracks, and ultimately drop out of school altogether.

How do schools and teachers contribute to poor literacy instruction in school?

Schools and teachers contribute to poor literacy instruction in a few ways. The biggest reason for students to fail at reading and writing is the fact that the teacher and school does not show concern for the student who is not excelling in those areas. They allow for the students to move through the grades without the pertinent information necessary to complete the next grade level. Teachers often stereotype their students and instead of taking time to help the struggling student they pass them along to the next teacher. It takes one caring teacher to help a student learn more efficiently, but it also takes one teacher giving up on a student to allow that student to give up on himself.

What is the relationship between language, social class, and the denial of educational opportunity?

The relationship between language, social class, and the denial of educational opportunity is simple. Students who come from parents that are illiterate are often deprived of the literacy experiences necessary to succeed in formal education of this topic. These parents are often from the lower economic classes. Without the knowledge of how to read and write causes them to be unsuccessful in life which is why they are in the lower class. Teachers stereotype the low socioeconomic family and do nothing to help. They allow the student to pass each grade because they don’t want to help. If a middle class family had a child that could not read or write, the teachers would be all over that particular student. This is not the case for students of the lower economic classes.

What are some misconceptions about the relationship between language and literacy?

What can schools and teachers do to improve literacy instruction?

Schools and teachers can do many things to improve literacy instruction. First, teachers must believe that all students are leaners regardless of the economic status. Teachers can also give the students many experiences with written and oral language. This will allow the students to learn the more concrete aspects of the topic. Accepting the students own language and using it to their advantage is another way to help improve literacy instruction. Lastly, teachers must realize that students will use the appropriate oral language register.

How do you feel about use of the term "Proper English"?

When I hear the term “Proper English” I ask myself “what is that?”. Now I know what it means, and I know that we all should use proper English. I also know that most people in today’s society do not use proper English. There are so many slang terms for real words and there is many different ways to says different things. I do feel like there is a time and a place to use proper English, but those opportunities are growing smaller by the year. I feel as though students should still be taught proper English and should also be taught when it is appropriate to use it.

Related Article

This article was written to express the findings of a case study done on emergent literacy and social class. They chose 43 families from all ranges of family income. During their case study the researchers found a relationship between the families of lower social classes to those of higher social classes. The research concluded many things. One of the bigger findings had to do with the race of the family and the literacy involement had a direct connection to oral language development. You can find the other information on the link above.

Citations:

         Carolyn Chaney (1994). Language development, metalinguistic awareness,
                       and emergent literacy skills of 3-year-old children in relation to
                       social class. Applied Psycholinguistics, 15 , pp 371- 394 doi:10.            1017/S0142716400004501

         O'Brien, J. (2003, May 10). Tall tales of appalachia.
                       Retrieved from
                       http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/10/opinion/tall-tales-of-appalachia.html

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