Using Dominican Oral Literature and Discourse to Support Literacy Learning among Low-achieving Students from the Dominican Republic

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Using Dominican Oral Literature andDiscourse to Support Literacy Learningamong Low-achieving Students from theDominican RepublicElba Alicia Herrero aa New Jersey City University, Multicultural Education , USAPublished online: 22 Dec 2008.

To cite this article: Elba Alicia Herrero (2006) Using Dominican Oral Literature and Discourse to SupportLiteracy Learning among Low-achieving Students from the Dominican Republic, International Journal ofBilingual Education and Bilingualism, 9:2, 219-238, DOI: 10.1080/13670050608668642

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Using Dominican Oral Literature andDiscourse to Support Literacy Learningamong Low-achieving Students from theDominican Republic

Elba Alicia HerreroNew Jersey City University, Multicultural Education, USA

This study focuses on ways of organising literacy instruction to raise the skill levelsof low-achieving, language minority students. The study involves two teachers andtwenty-two students of their students from the Dominican Republic, most of whomhad scored well below the 41st percentile in Spanish and English reading andwriting tests (the Language Assessment Battery). The literacy activities wereorganised around culturally relevant literature and patterns of discourse. Thestudents were charged with the tasks of researching, collecting and committingcommunity-generated narratives to memory. In the classroom, they presented,critiqued, edited and revised the narratives. Findings show that community-generated oral narratives were useful in helping to engage the students in criticalliterary discussion. The students addressed a variety of concerns with content, formand language in relation to personal and cultural ways of knowing about literature.Findings also show that the students’ writing and discourse, in both their mothertongue and English, was richer and more elaborate when they were allowed to drawupon those patterns of language used in their everyday interactions. The studyextends theories pertaining to the role that student knowledge plays in literacyinstruction and helps teachers to better understand how students’ cultural literature,patterns of discourse and ways of knowing influence their participation, perfor-mance and learning.

Keywords: oral literature, literacy learning, low-achieving students,Dominican Republic

IntroductionThis study focuses on literary activities that facilitate learning for students

from Dominican and similar cultural backgrounds who are identified as lowachievers. A large percentage of Dominican�Americans, who constitute one ofthe largest Spanish-language minority groups in New York City (Garcia et al. ,1988), are at risk academically. However, little research has been conducted onthese students even though this is a high-risk group. This study aims toaddress this void by focusing on ways of organising literacy instruction forlow-achieving junior high school students from the Dominican Republic.

The investigation explores interactions around the students’ culturalliterature, or community-generated oral narratives, and examines howteachers are able to use the narratives to support literacy learning. Theteachers who participated in the study incorporated student knowledge aboutcultural literature and ways of knowing and talking about it to support and

1367-0050/06/02 219-20 $20.00/0 – 2006 E.A. HerreroThe International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism Vol. 9, No. 2, 2006

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facilitate learning. They used community-generated and student-authorednarratives to allow student concepts of literature and literacy to surface.

Use of these culturally relevant stories encouraged learners to participateand interact around literature and to construct and negotiate their ownunderstandings. This methodology is in contrast to that of many conventionalclassrooms where students with limited English proficiency (LEP) are requiredto participate in literacy activities that reflect only mainstream culture, withwhich most LEP students have very little or no prior experience.

Previous research by Collier (1992), Cummins (1984), Hornberger (1990),Modiano (1973) and Moll and Dworin (1996) has shown that successfulteachers regard students’ language, culture and communities as resources forinstruction and learning. They use these cultural materials as modes ofinteraction to motivate students. As suggested by Vygotsky (1978), students’prior knowledge must be the base from which learning develops. Whenstudents work with culturally relevant content and language they can then beexpected to have increased motivation for learning because the rules ofclassroom discourse emulate those of the home environment (Tikunoff, 1983).Other scholars (Au, 1980; Heath, 1982, 1983; Langer, 1987a, 1987b; Philips,1972) also suggest that it is helpful when literacy instruction is organisedaround students’ community practices. Effective literacy instruction supportsand extends those ways in which the students have come to know and talkabout what they know.

MethodologyIn this study, students use their cultural community as a literary resource,

researching and collecting oral stories that have been passed down fromgeneration to generation. They also use Spanish, their dominant language, topresent and discuss the narratives. The study addresses these centralquestions:

. What are the features of literacy instructional activities, materials andinteractions that support and extend literary understandings for second-language learners?

. What are the features of literacy instructional activities, materials andinteractions that contribute to literacy learning?

The setting

The bulk of the data was collected in a small junior high school (Grades 7 to9), located in a working-class subsector of New York City’s Lower East Side(LES), where a majority of the residents are from the Dominican Republic andSpanish is the dominant language. Approximately 85% of the students in theschool are from the Dominican Republic. The research site was selectedbecause the school is an inner-city public junior high school with both aSpanish Bilingual Program and an English as a Second Language (ESL)Program. The author had prior association with the school, having taught ESLthere for three years. This affiliation was used to establish entry and access and

220 The International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism

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helped to facilitate interest and participation on the part of the school’s staff,faculty, students and students’ families.

The participants

The participants in the study were members of the LES community, orLoisaida , as the majority of the Hispanic residents refer to it. There were twofaculty participants, Miss DeVito, a teacher of ESL and Ms Suarez, aSpanish�English bilingual teacher. Data were collected in both classrooms.The names of all participants have been changed to ensure anonymity.

The students

The student participants’ families moved to New York City from theDominican Republic in order to improve their financial and educationalprospects. Because of the poor and dilapidated state of the Dominicaneconomy and public education system, many families come to New York toearn money and to put their children through school in the USA.

For the Dominican community, education, literacy and knowledge of theEnglish language are inherently tied to economic success. Because thesestudents understand the relationship between learning and economic oppor-tunity, the general enthusiasm with which they attend to academic mattersseems to fuel their achievement. The 9th graders in the study have alreadyachieved a higher level of education than their parents have.

A case-study approach was used in the investigation. The 22 participatingstudents had the following in common: they were immigrants from theDominican Republic who had resided in and attended schools in the USAfor no more than four years; and their parent(s) had completed no more thanthe 6th grade in the Dominican Republic. Students came from both urban andrural communities in the Dominican Republic. Thirteen students served asparticipant informants. Other informants consisted of the two teachers, schoolstaff and members of the Loisaida community, including some of the students’parents.

The activity

In this study, culturally relevant literature and patterns of discourse wereused to help stimulate students to use the world of literature to develop theirliteracy skills. Activities were designed with the help of school staff andmembers of the Dominican community and were implemented only afterconfirmation from informants that they corresponded with cultural literarypractices.

Students were charged with the tasks of researching and collectingculturally relevant narratives generated by members of their families andcommunity, and committing them to memory. Once they felt that they wouldbe able to perform successfully, students presented their stories to their peers.They presented, critiqued, drafted, edited and redrafted their narratives inSpanish a number of times, and then translated them into English. The storieswere to be compiled and published into a bilingual book of stories for futureuse in language arts classes (see Tales from Home: Cuentos de Mi Herencia (The

Dominican Oral Literature and Discourse to Support Literacy Learning 221

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National Center on Literature Teaching and Learning, 1994)). The promise ofpublishing stories generated by respected members of their families andcommunity helped to sustain the students’ interest in the various literacytasks, and fostered pride, commitment to completing the tasks and qualitywriting. It was within the context of repeatedly engaging in activities aroundthese kinds of cultural narratives that students were taught to critiqueliterature. Over time the students were able to fine-tune their literarydiscussion skills and their ways of thinking about literature, as well as theirwriting and composition skills. Because students were actively engaged in theactivities of the project, i.e. narrative presentations and classroom/groupdiscussions, the author was able to examine closely how their thinkingdeveloped and what they learned.

Data Collection Methods and AnalysisEthnographic methods of data collection used for this project allow

participants’ terminology and definitions of discourse practices to emergefor inclusion in analyses (Sherzer, 1987; Spradley, 1979, 1980). The types of datacollected and analysed include participant observation (Agar, 1980; Spradley,1980), ethnographic interviews (Spradley, 1979), audiotapes of discussions,archival searches of the students cumulative school records and familyhistories, and archival searches of the sociocultural and migration history ofthe cultural group.

A significant body of research that informs the frame for analysis in thisstudy focuses on linguistic resources, that is, linguistic behaviours in face-to-face interactions. This study concentrates on those linguistic behaviours thatcharacterise the critiquing activity around culturally relevant literature and onways in which these interactions supported and helped to extend studentliterary understandings. The categories for the interactions used in an initialanalysis were those identified in literary discussions among English mono-lingual students (see Langer, 1991).

As I analysed the data, I found that many of the interactions that seemed tohelp move students from their initial responses to deeper understandingscould not be coded according to pre-existing categories. These features oflanguage, which I call specialised forms of discourse , are data driven and areunique to this study. These specialised forms of discourse, which are normallyused in everyday face-to-face interactions, were transported to the literarycritique activity. Five categories of specialised forms of discourse that arerooted in the collective oral practices of the Dominican community emerged inclassroom interactions around student presentations of cultural narratives.Informants defined them as aguaje , cuento , chisme , dejar eso and relajo .

In aguaje , peculiar and unbelievable events are fabricated in a sincere orserious manner around an actual situation involving another participant, sothat the participant involved gives the tall tale some consideration (as inpulling one’s leg). In the classroom, aguaje was frequently used to fool thosewho were gullible enough to believe such statements and to make otherslaugh � to get a rise out of the participants at the expense of another. In cuento ,a story is fabricated around an actual event to mislead others, provoke


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disagreement, or instigate and initiate gossip. In chisme , a scandalous event isrelated for the purpose of implicating another participant. Chisme is used totarnish another’s reputation and to affect personal relationships negatively.Competence in chisme disputes is gauged in relation to the extent to which theaccused is able to quickly deny any wrongdoing and convince others. A formof specialised discourse, rooted in chisme practices, dejar eso , is used by onewho has been implicated to make light of an accusation and to denywrongdoing. In relajo , participants engage in a competition of wits byelaborating on another’s statement or situation in a comical or facetiousmanner for the purpose of making others laugh. Coding categories ofspecialised forms of discourse were derived from emerging features of theinteractions, and identified with the assistance of participant informants.

Students were charged with the task of researching and collectingcommunity/family narratives, or cuentos de herencia. For the most part,students presented four types of narratives: students’ cultural folklore;community-generated historias de misterio and historias de calumnia ; student-authored fiction; and children’s fables and legends. As I examined the data, itbecame clear that the kinds of concerns and topics that invite critical literarythinking and discussion emerged more frequently around student presenta-tions of folklore and historias . In these interactions, students discussed avariety of concerns with authenticity, the suspension of disbelief and thequality of literature. Closer analysis of the narratives and students’ interac-tions around them suggested that these concerns emerged in relation toindividual characteristics of the literature.

For example, Los Cuentos de Pepito is a series of folk tales rooted in an oralnarrative tradition known as cuentos hablados , or spoken stories. They are wellknown in the Hispanic-Caribbean, where competence is gauged by aperformer’s ability to render the events of these familiar narratives accuratelyand to maintain their original form and language. This particular featuregenerated topics about the importance of authenticity in folklore, as well as thevarious social functions of the genre, oral narrative form and language. Thetales, which are characterised by peculiar and fantastic events, also generateddiscussion about the suspension of disbelief and the role of symbolism infiction, as well as aspects of form and language that contributed to the qualityof the narratives.

Many historias presented in the classroom were characterised by para-normal events. Informants identified them as historias de misterio . Othersinvolved the types of convoluted plots associated with morality tales, romancenovels, soap operas and community gossip. They are called historias decalumnia . The unlikely events of these so-called true stories generated anumber of topics concerning the suspension of disbelief in nonfiction. In theseinteractions students discussed conventions of nonfiction and fiction, aspectsof cultural narrative forms, and aspects of form and language that contributedto the quality of the narratives.

Another body of research that framed the analysis for this study concernsways in which readers respond to literature. Proponents of reader responsetheory see reading as an interactive process where meaning is said to reside inthe reader or in the transaction between reader and text, and not uniquely in


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the text itself (Bleich, 1978; Fish, 1971; Iser, 1978; Rosenblatt, 1978). Scholarshave suggested that good readers draw on personal knowledge to make senseof text (Applebee, 1977; Beach & Hynds, 1990; Bruner, 1986; Langer, 1990). Inparticular

literature invites such personalised reading because it is inherentlyproblematic, with its ambiguous metaphoric language and gaps inknowledge that require searching for likely connections between events,generating possible links between human intention and action, andtesting a personal sense of life likeliness. (Miller, 1992: 2)

Much research indicates that classroom activities organised around commu-nity literacy events and literature help students develop sound reading habitsbecause these activities encourage them to use personal knowledge toconstruct their understandings of text.

The data were analysed for those ways of knowing upon which the studentsrelied in their discussion of culturally relevant literature. The analysis revealsthat they tapped various ways of knowing, many of which are rooted inpersonal experiences and community beliefs, the kinds of knowledge thatreaders use to construct meaning from text. Because few studies providemethods or coding categories for this kind of analysis, I used data-drivencategories of research derived from emerging features of the interactionswithin and across topic segments. Features of the interactions were identifiedwith the assistance of participants. This was done by asking them to describewhat they were thinking before, during and after the interaction(s). I foundthat the students used two general sources of knowledge in discussions offolklore and historia presentations. They are best described as categories ofcognitive resources. These are data-driven categories introduced here by theauthor.

For the most part, students used personal resources to address concernswith suspension of disbelief regarding the unrealistic content of so-callednonfictional historias, which are characterised by the kinds of events that aretypically found in ghost stories, novelas (romance novels and soap operas) andcommunity gossip. Four personal resources were identified:

. notions rooted in real-life experiences;

. knowledge of/about real individuals, places and events;

. notions rooted in religious beliefs and the practices of espiritismo , areligious practice associated with supernatural beliefs found in theHispanic-Caribbean;

. notions rooted in beliefs of morality, ethics and justice.

As I examined the interactions around the critiquing activity, I found thatstudents tapped nonpersonal sources of knowledge as well. That is, concernswith believability, authenticity and quality of literature were addressed inrelation to experience with activities around literature. Those resources thatare rooted in experience with community activities are:


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. Notions of literature � i.e. conventions of authenticity and socialfunctions of folklore � rooted in experience with community activitiesaround oral narrative performances involving folklore.

. Notions of literature rooted in experience with community activitiesaround oral narrative performances involving chisme or gossip.

. Notions of literature rooted in experience with the novela or soap operagenre.

Other kinds of nonpersonal resources are rooted in experience with academicactivities around literature. They are:

. Notions of literature � i.e. conventions of metaphor in fiction � rooted inexperience with academic activities around published fiction.

. Notions of literature � i.e. conventions of narrative form and language �rooted in experience with academic activities around published text.

The individual characteristics of the students’ cultural folklore and thehistoria genre, along with the various concerns, topics and cognitive resourcesthat emerged in relation to these features were identified and described withthe assistance of participant informants. They are outlined in Table 1. Thecoding categories are data driven.

Features of linguistic code also varied in relation to the types of literaturebeing discussed. For example, historias characterised by the kinds ofconvoluted plots frequently found in novelas and community gossip perfor-mances generated Dominicano phrases such as ‘invente los nombres ’ (inventedthe names), ‘¡Que bochinche! ’ (What gossip!), ‘chisme que inventaron ’ (inventedgossip), ‘¡Oye eso! ’ (Listen to that!), ‘calurniadora ’ (slanderers), ‘embuste ’ (lie)and ‘¡Eso va a salir ahı! ’ (That will come out there!).

In their discussions of historias characterised by paranormal and mysteriousevents, students related the notion that in literature all events need not beunderstood or explained in a logical manner by using the phrases: ‘Nunca sesupo nada ’ (It was never known) and ‘Siguıo siendo un misterio ’ ([It] remained amystery). In their discussions of folklore the students frequently usedDominicano phrases such as ‘Eso nunca va ası ’ (It never goes like that) and‘No lo dijo bien ’ (He didn’t tell it right). These remarks relate the notion that thecontent, form and language of these tales must remain authentic. Therefore,categories of Dominicano linguistic code are also data driven. They weredefined with the help of participant informants. They are listed and defined inTable 2. Again, questions adapted from Spradley (1979) were used to elicitparticipant descriptions.

Students used literary terminology associated with academic practices as aconsequence of being involved in academic tasks. Thus, academic linguisticcode or literary terminology emerged in relation to the academic nature of theactivity. Students commented on the extent to which narrators used languageand formal organisation effectively using the following literary terms:description, setting, time, sequence, plot, problem and resolution. That is,they employed the kind of language that is associated with classroomacademic practices. Participant informants reported that in communityactivities they generally do not critique nor do they attempt to improve


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narrative performances, as only those who are considered competent story-tellers perform. However, in the classroom students were charged with thetask of evaluating and making suggestions for improving their stories. Thus,for the most part, students associated the critique/editing discussion activitywith academic practice.

The academic nature of the activity helped to generate a variety of topicsconcerning literary form and language. Students discussed aspects ofsequence, plot and problem resolution, as well as features of descriptive,interesting and correct uses of language. In these topic segments, they usedknowledge of narrative language and form, or cognitive resources rooted inexperience with academic activities around text. Those concerns, topics andcognitive resources that emerged in relation to academic features of thecritiquing activity are outlined in Table 3.

Examples of topic segments concerning the use of language in theirnarratives demonstrate that over time students were able to state theirconcerns more explicitly and to employ literary-specific vocabulary intheir comments. In early discussions, students’ ideas regarding narrativelanguage were stated ambiguously. In topic segments of later sessions,however, they addressed concerns with language that are clearly more literaryor artistic and craft oriented. They also used terminology that is more specific

Table 2 Dominicano linguistic code

Code Definition Genre

Eso nunca va ası. It never goes that way. Folklore

No lo dijo bien. He didn’t tell it right.

basada en hechos reales based on actual events Historias deMisterio

paso de verdad really occurred

Siguıo siendo un misterio. It remained a mystery.

Nunca se supo nada. It was never known.

invente los nombres invented the names Historias deCalumnia

¡Que bochinche! What gossip!

chisme que inventaron invented gossip

¡Oye eso! Listen to that!

(implies that another is lyingor that the historia is not true)

calurniadora (calumniadoras) slanderers

Tiene un mensaje bueno. (It) has a good message.

Esos son embuste. That’s a lie.

¡Eso va a salir ahı! That will come out there!


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to literature and writing. In early discussions, they employed literaryterminology only in response to teacher scaffolding. In later discussions,students used literary-specific language with little or no assistance from theirteachers.

Using the Students’ Cultural Literature as the Focus of theLiterary Activity

In summary, the students presented four kinds of literature � folklore,historias , student-authored fiction, and children’s fables and legends. Analysisof the interactions around each of the four kinds of narratives indicates thatstudent writing and literary discussion skills developed primarily as a resultof their participation in the activities that involved folklore and historias . Thetwo cultural genres produced a great deal of interest and discussion.Children’s fables and legends, most of which had been obtained from textualsources, generated less interest and discussion.

Findings indicate that the students’ cultural literature helped to generatethe kinds of concerns that invite critical literary thinking and discussion andthat can ultimately help students develop literary discussion skills andnarrative composition and writing skills. These literary concerns emerged inrelation to individual features of the literature. For example, most of the folktales presented in the classroom were rooted in the oral narrative tradition ofcuentos hablados (spoken stories). This helped to generate various topicsconcerning the importance of authenticity in folklore, the social functions of

Table 3 Concerns, topics and cognitive resources that emerged in relation to academicfeatures of the critique activity

Concern Topic Cognitive resource used

Form Aspects of sequence do/do notfacilitate understanding, are/arenot acceptable.

Notions of literature �/ i.e.conventions of sequence, plot,and problem resolution �/ rootedin experience withacademic activities around text.The plot is/is not explicitly stated

and the problem adequatelyresolved.

Language Names of people and places needto be stated, and settings andevents adequately described.

Notions of literature �/ i.e.features of descriptive,interesting and correct uses oflanguage �/ rooted in experiencewith academic activities aroundtext

Particular uses of language makethe narrative more interesting(i.e. using language to make thenarrative more frightening).

Aspects of written language(i.e. detail, grammar, spelling andsyntax) contribute to clarity andcorrectness.


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the genre, and aspects of their form and language. The folk tales and historiaswere characterised by incredulous events. This generated a number of topicsconcerning the suspension of disbelief where students commented on the roleof symbolism in literature and conventions of cultural narrative forms. Refer toTable 1 to see a list of those concerns and topics that emerged in relation tofeatures of folklore and historias.

The critiquing activity around student presentations of folklore and historiasplayed a critical role in the learning process because it gave students theopportunity to participate in meaningful ways around literature. In theinteractions around folklore and historias students used culturally relevantcognitive and linguistic resources. That is, they addressed an array of concernswith the literature’s content, form and language using the same kinds ofdiscourse they use when participating in community activities.

Students used culturally relevant forms of discourse and linguisticresources in their presentations and discussions of folklore and historias .Findings indicate that their writing and discourse was richer and moreelaborate when they used these linguistic resources associated with commu-nity activities around cultural narratives and everyday activities. ThisDominicano linguistic code (Table 2) and specialised forms of discourse arecommonly used by members of the community in activities around narrativeperformances.

Features of folklore and use of culturally relevant patterns of discourse

The use of the students’ cultural folklore provided varied opportunities forstudent/teacher interaction and learning. The particular features of folklorehelped to generate opportunities for meaningful participation and interaction.Teacher interactions and mediation also helped to facilitate learning. Pre-sentations of Los Cuentos de Pepito , folklore of the Hispanic-Caribbean that thestudents described as ‘stories that everyone knows’, generated significantinteractions for several reasons. In the classroom, the narratives varied slightlyfrom the originals. Familiarity with the tales, conventional notions of folkloreand the presentation of divergent versions engendered concern with authen-ticity. In turn, topics concerning authenticity helped to generate other topicsconcerned with particular features and functions of the genre. To address theirconcerns, the students used knowledge of literature, described as socioculturalnotions of folklore, rooted in early childhood experiences within socialactivities around such tales.

Concern with the authenticity of traditional folklore gave students andteachers the opportunity to discuss particular aspects of the literature inseveral ways. The topic of authenticity played a critical role in the learningprocess, as it provided a forum for student/teacher interaction that, in turn,helped to stimulate other concerns with narrative form and language. In thefollowing (Example 27), we see how Enrique quickly points out that Ramon,who has just finished presenting a modified version of a Pepito tale, has failedto maintain authenticity because he borrowed from various tales (S1-3). Theimplication is that Ramon’s Pepito is unacceptable because he has violated atradition. In stating ‘Eso nunca va ası ’ (It never goes like that) and ‘No lo dijo


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bien ’ (He didn’t tell it right), Enrique relates a conventional notion of folklore,rooted in the practices of his cultural community, that the content, form andlanguage of folklore must be maintained (S1-3, S1-6). Members of thecommunity commonly use such phrases when discussing folk narrativeperformances.

Example 27 (early session, 12/4, Ms Suarez)

Turn Speaker Interaction

S1-3 Enrique: He didn’t tell it right. [No lo dijo bien.]. . . he mixed it

all up. That story never goes like that. [Esecuento nunca

va ası.]

T-21 T: What was it that you said about his story?

S1-4 Enrique: That, you put one part from one story together with

another part from a different story until you mixed it all

up and made your own.

T-22 T: Oh he mixed all the stories together. What do you think

about that?

T-25 T: The story captured us. The story had something, parts

that were very interesting.

S10-1 Nely: The thing about the horse.

S1-6 Enrique: Yeah but he put that in himself. That story never goes

like that. [Ese cuento nunca va ası.]

In the example, Miss Suarez scaffolds learning by asking the student torepeat (T-21) and by restating his remark (T-22). The implication is that he hassomething interesting to share about the piece they have (read or) heard,that he is a critical thinker and that he has legitimate concerns. Miss Suarezasked the students to consider other possibilities by building on their ownunderstandings of literature. Such mediation helped to shift the focus ofconcern away from the issue of authenticity and onto concerns with effectiveuses of language and formal sequence. Los Cuentos de Pepito are characterisedby unrealistic or fantastic events and characters. In later discussions, thestudents typically addressed the issue of believability. Concern with thesuspension of disbelief engendered ways of knowing that were broader inscope than concerns with authenticity. In these discussions, students treatedtraditional folklore as they did the unfamiliar nonfiction tales. There isevidence of learning here as well. For example, in the beginning of thesediscussions the students presented their concerns with believability in relationto notions of what is possible in real life. In ensuing interactions, the studentsdiscussed aspects of the content in relation to other published literature.This indicates that topics concerning believability help to extend what thestudents think and know about the literary craft: i.e. ways of makingnarratives more interesting and comprehensible. The students commentedon the literary value of the tales, relating broad notions of literature to morepersonal ways of knowing rooted in culture-specific ways of knowing and of


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understanding the world. Findings suggest that such personal cultural beliefshave been incorporated into or integrated with notions regarding what isbelievable in literature.

Ms Suarez scaffolded the students’ learning by allowing them to build onwhat they knew. She helped move the students from their initial under-standing toward deeper understanding by treating them like critical thinkerswho have something interesting to share about the piece they have heard orread. Such mediation helped students focus on formal concerns withliterature. This teacher mediation also helped to make explicit those implicitways of knowing. Gradually, students developed the ability to think and talkabout literature critically. In Example 32, students discuss the role of metaphorand symbolism in fiction, citing the constant beatings that the hen living in atenement flat suffers in Nicolasa Mohr’s surrealistic novel, El Bronx Remem-bered . They generally use nonspecific literary terms such as ‘significance’ and‘reminder’ (S1-41 & S5-41).

Example 32 (later session 1/24, Ms Suarez)

Turn Speaker Interaction

S14-6 Nely: You ask yourself how did the hen live so long, because

she beat it (all the time)? And that was what was

happening with the story.

S1-41 Sonja: And now that you say it, maybe that has some

significance.

T-108 T: Like a symbol. What significance did the hen have for

Nicolasa?

S5-41 Seidi: Like a reminder of country.

S14-9 Nely: From the world that has hens in their houses.

Features of historias and use of culturally relevant patterns of discourse

The second category of cultural literature presented in the classroomsinvolved community/family-generated narratives called historias . The tellingof historias is prevalent practice in the Dominican community. Like Los Cuentosde Pepito , historias are a cultural narrative form rooted in the oral traditionof cuentos hablados . But unlike the former, they consist of so-calledtrue accounts about real individuals, reported to have been witnessed orinvolved in unlikely events. That is, the historia is broadly identified as anonfictional genre.

Informants described two kinds of historias : historias de misterio and historiasde calumnia . Historias de misterio frequently involve paranormal eventsassociated with the practices of espiritismo . In community activities, perfor-mers try to convince their audience that their particular historia is trueby using formulaic narrative openings such as ‘The story which I am aboutto tell is based on actual events’, and closings like ‘Siguıo siendo un misterio ’


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(It remained a mystery) and ‘Nunca se supo nada ’ (It was never known). Thisconveys a specialised way of thinking about conventions of nonfiction, wherethe unexplainable need not be understood to suspend disbelief. Formulaicopenings and closings consistent with community historia -telling practices aredemonstrated in Examples 33 and 34.

Example 33

Speaker Interaction

Deina: La historia mıa esta basada en hechos reales. Eso significa que es una

historia de verdad. La historia se trata de mı padrino.

[My story is based on actual events. This means that it is a true

story. The story concerns (is about) my godfather.]

Example 34

Speaker Interaction

Celia: Todo paso ası. El hombre no se supo lo que era. Pero nunca se supo nada.

Todo siguıo siendo un misterio.

[It all happened like this. The man, it was never known what it was.

No one ever found out what it was. Everything remained a

mystery.]

Historias de calumnia involve the kinds of convoluted plots foundin novelas (soap operas) and chisme (gossip) performances. It is a collectivenarrative form rooted in community gossip practices, frequently usedto defame individuals who are believed to have engaged in some wrongdoing.One informant reports, ‘Some stories are told to calumniate. Some parts aretrue. Other parts are invention, like gossip. At times that’s found out, andeverything goes back to normal. Nevertheless, it is entertaining.’

In the classroom, historias that involved the kinds of convolutedplots identified in fictional morality tales, novelas , and chisme , or communitygossip, were purported to have actually taken place. This generated severaltopics concerning believability, where the students commented on conventionsof nonfiction in relation to individual beliefs about ethics and morality,and notions rooted in experience with the fictional novela genre andcommunity chisme events. In Example 38, Celia’s remark concerning themoral of the story � in which she claims the fate of the malicious characterswas justified � is perceived by others to be innuendo about anotherclassmate’s mother. This generates the controversial topic that the performerfabricated the historia to gossip about Susana’s mother. The prime concern isbelievability.


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Example 38 (early session 12/4, Ms Suarez)

Speaker Interaction

S9-18 Celia: Y eso tambien es un mensaje pa’ la gente que son

calurniadoras.

[And this is a very important message for those who are

slanderers.] (Chisme)

S15-3 Susana: Si me lo ‘tan diciendo a mı eso es un chisme que inventaron.

[If you’re talking to me I’ll just tell you that that’s

nothing but invented gossip.]

S9-19 Celia: Ay si yo no ‘toy hablando contigo.

[What? I’m not talking to you!]

(Dejar Eso)

S15-4 Susana: No pero yo se que es a mı que me ‘tan diciendo.

[But I know you’re trying to tell me something.]

S13-10 Wilson: Por eso queria Celia que Seidi lo dijera.

[That’s why Celia wanted Seidi to tell her story!]

(Chisme, Cuento)

S8-3 Juan: Eso va a salir ahı, eso va salir ahı.

[That’ll come out there, it’ll come out.]

(Chisme)

Concerns, topics, cognitive resources and linguistic code varied in relationto whether the historia being discussed involved paranormal events orconvoluted plots. One literary matter, a general concern with the suspensionof disbelief, characterised the interactions surrounding the two kinds ofhistorias . Nevertheless, distinct topics about believability emerged in discus-sions of each. The students relied on personal and literary cognitive re-sources when addressing their concerns with believability of these stories(see Table 1). Dominicano linguistic code emerged in the discussions aroundthose historias characterised by convoluted plots, as identified in novelas andchisme events.

Features of student-authored narratives

There were two main types of student-authored narratives. The firstconcentrated on fictional surrealism, or tales that involves fantasy plot/content or surrealistic characters. The second type focused on legendaryheroes, historical figures, moralistic literature and typical Dominican politicaldiscourse. Several topics were identified in the discussions surrounding thesestories. For example, surrealistic tales that are based on actual events andwhich involve real individuals generated concern with aspects of creativewriting. This is demonstrated in the interactions which surround thesurrealistic tale ‘Ideal Friends, But Different’ that Nely told. The tale wasbased on real people and events, for example, a class trip to Coney Island.Nely exaggerates the physical characteristics of her fellow students and


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distorts the events of the field trip. In Example 41, Nely’s tale generates muchcontroversy and concern with the transformation of real people and eventsinto surrealistic characters and events. Her story and the audience’s concernsgave the students and the teacher an opportunity to talk about the process ofcreative writing.

Example 41 (Ms Suarez)

Speaker Interaction

Celia: Wasn’t this true?

T: Children this is a story!

T: You’re forgetting it’s a story, and when you write a story you can

change it. . . in whatever way you desire.

Susana: But some of the things in that story are true!

T: However there are times when a story begins with something that

truly occurred, but again the writer exaggerates it, and that’s fine.

A second type of student-authored fiction involved legendary heroes, real/historical people and events of the Dominican Republic and familiar stylesof both oral and written discourse. These features also generated topicsconcerning creative writing. Example 42 demonstrates that students (S6and S12) respond enthusiastically to the teacher’s questions concerning figuresand events in Dominican history and characters identified in Dominicanfolklore. The implication is that use of famous/known cultural figures fromDominican history and fictional heroes made the narrative interesting to thestudents.

Example 42 (Ms DeVito)

Speaker Interaction

S5-2: What, eh, who was. . .Tono Bicicleta or you. . .going faster, when

you said that you had kicked, that you arrived at the house

quicker?

S4-6: What, what on bicycle?

S1-11: When I gave ‘im a kick that sent ‘em to Trujillo’s. . .

S1-12: The five of them. I handed a note to the five of them.

S1-13: Then there it said, that I said to him, that I was worst than him,

and faster than Tono Bicicleta.

T: And who is Tono Bicicleta?

S1-14: A famous man.

S12-2: He ran more, on his bicycle.

S6-12: Famous. . . racing a bicycle. A cyclist.

S12-3: . . .was famous.

S6-13: He’s a wisard.


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Features of children’s fables and legends from text

A small number of students presented children’s fables and legends.Because most had been obtained from textual sources, there was little need forimprovement and criticism. The narratives generated little discussion becausethey were generally acceptable to the audience. Furthermore, the interactionssurrounding these presentations lacked depth and continuity. The commentswere brief and general. This is demonstrated in Example 44, where Ana hasjust completed her reading of Mama Bumba , a tale that is reminiscent ofDisney’s Dumbo . Here, Susana questions the logic in the ability of a littlemouse to frighten an elephant. Others seem to accept it without question.

Example 44 (Ms Suarez)

Speaker Interaction

Susana: Why did the mouse scare the elephants?

Celia: Like humans who are afraid of mice too.

Ana: Because the little mouse was bad and so he liked playing tricks.

ConclusionsThe majority of students engaged actively, across activities � presentations,

critique-discussions and group editing � involving the familiar Cuentos dePepito and historias . Close analysis of the interactions reveals that the studentstapped a greater variety of cognitive resources when discussing cultural oralnarratives than when they discussed fables taken from texts. When discussingtexts, student comments about content, form and language were limited toacademic notions of literature. On the other hand, when discussing culturalnarratives, students used both personal knowledge and community andacademic notions of literature. Findings indicate that use of personal knowl-edge and cultural and academic notions of literature helped to extend theirthinking about narrative content, form and language. Findings also indicatethat the various kinds of knowledge emerge in relation to particular features ofcultural literature. For example, a number of historias involved unrealistic orsupernatural events, which were reported as fact. The students frequentlyrelated to personal knowledge when addressing their concerns with thebelievability of such content. They commented on content believability inrelation to notions rooted in real-life experiences and in relation to religiousbeliefs and notions rooted in the practices of espiritismo . Thus, their personalways of knowing were used as the basis for determining what can be acceptedas nonfiction. The implication is that ways of knowing about literature �specifically, conventional notions of nonfiction � develop in relation topersonal experience and social, cultural and religious practices.

Other ways of knowing associated with community and academic notionsof literature emerged in the discussions of cultural narratives. For example,some historias were reminiscent of fictional novelas and chisme performanceacts. Again, in these discussions the students’ primary concern was with the


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believability of content. They addressed their concerns in relation to culturalnotions of what can be accepted as nonfiction. Such notions are rooted inexperience with novelas and community chisme practices.

The students used their own linguistic and cognitive resources (nativelanguage, specialised forms of discourse and notions of literature) to present,critique and write narratives rooted in the oral traditions of their culturalcommunity. In this way, the teachers were able to help students build on theirunderstanding and expand the ways in which they have come to know anddiscuss literature. Organising instruction in this manner gave students fullownership of the academic literacy task. Use of cultural literature andpractices fostered pride, participation, commitment and success in completingthe tasks. Over time, the students, who had been identified as low achievers,developed their writing and literary discussion skills. Students became activelearners by participating in literary discussions that focused on community-generated narratives, which were collected, presented and drafted by thestudents themselves. Within the context of repeatedly engaging in activitiesaround these kinds of cultural narratives students were taught to critiqueliterature. Over time, they fine-tuned their literary discussion skills and theirways of thinking about literature.

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Associate Professor Elba Alicia

Herrero, New Jersey City University, Multicultural Education, ProfessionalStudies Building P209, 2039 Kennedy Boulevard, Jersey City, NJ 07035, USA([email protected]).

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Documents

Using Dominican Oral Literature and Discourse to Support Literacy Learning among Low-achieving Students from the Dominican Republic