I Dont Want To Write for Them An At-Risk Latino Youths Out-of-
School Literacy Practices Mary Amanda Stewart, 2011 Literacy
Research Association 61 st Annual Conference Jacksonville, FL
[email protected]
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Problem: The Disconnect Studies show Latino youth possess many
skills Reading, writing, digital literacies Multilingualism
Transnationalism: Adept at border crossings Political knowledge and
activism Many of the skills they have acquired due to immigration
are needed in society today, yet rare in mainstream populations.
(Surez- Orozco, Surez-Orozco, & Todorova, 2008)
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Problem: The Disconnect Latinos drop out of school more than
any other ethnic group. ( Gndara, P. 2010) By 2021, 1 of every 4
students in the US will be Latino, largely due to Mexican
immigration. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010) Studies show most of their
out-of-school literacy practices are misunderstood, unrecognized,
or devalued in the classroom. (de la Piedra, 2010; Godina, 2004;
Rubinstein-vila, 2007)
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Research Questions 1. What is the range and form of the
participants out-of- school literacy practices? 2. How does the
participant view the relationship between his out-of-school
literacy practices and in-school tasks?
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Theoretical Framework Sociocultural Theory (Lewis, Enciso,
& Moje, 2007) Assumption #1: Each literacy practice is social
in nature as it affects and is affected by other beings who also
exist in fluid cultural spaces.
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Theoretical Framework Funds of Knowledge (Moll, 1992)
Assumption #2: Students, their families, and their communities
possess rich knowledge and skills that can be used in the academic
environment to further learning. There is value in understanding
youths out-of-school literacy practices for the classroom.
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Theoretical Framework New Literacy Studies (Gee, 1990; Street,
1995) Assumption #3: Literacy is political, social, cultural and
plural in nature. Re-envision what counts as literacy Literacy
Practices- The multiple forms one uses to make and represent
meaning such as dress, body, written, audio, and oral
discourses
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Methodology Single-case study Participant 19-years-old
Self-proclaimed Chicano, 2 nd -generation of Mexican origin
English-only schooling (L1: Spanish) Transient due to migrant work
in agriculture Crime: juvy, alternative school, jail Dropped out of
high school Lived in Mexico 1 year Returned to another state to
finish high school
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Methodology Three forms of data collected from June- November
2010 Four semi-structured interviews Artifacts Poetry journal
Social networking sites Observations of language brokering Church
Home for recovering drug addicts
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Methodology Analyzed data using constant-comparative method
Recursively compared each incident or artifact against others to
identify similarities and differences, determine its code, and
redefine the properties of the individual code (Corbin &
Strauss, 2008) Code for forms of out-of-school literacy practices
Five axial codes that are the most saturated
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Findings Five most saturated codes Poetry Writing Language
Brokering Book Reading Technology Activism
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Poetry Writing: Im an Open Poet. Poetrys place: Out-of-school
If they tell me to write a poem for a school assignment, Ill pull
one of these out just cause I dont want to write for them.
Framework for how he perceives all of his out-of-school literacy
practices Writes to express anger and frustration: Its a way to
relive it [anger]. Like some people eat out of anger, some people
do stupid things out of anger, I write. Its a positive way to not
get hurt or nothing.
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Pablos poem with teachers visible comments [Again, good, but
this is in Narrative format. It could work better in poetic
verse.]
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Rewritten poem in Pablos poetry journal showing dismissal of
teachers comments
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Haiku in Pablos notebook. Cited from memory in an
interview.
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Language Brokering: Im the Translator for the World. Childhood
experiences Mother School Current situation Spanish-speaking aunt
English-speaking uncle When he [my uncle] wants to speak to someone
in Spanish, Im his voice in Spanish.
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Language Brokering Translating sermons Live, simultaneously on
AM radio station Chosen among many bilinguals Sophisticated
vocabulary Translating in jail Here in jail in [state], if theres
like a Mexican who cant speak no English and all the officers speak
English, Ill be like he said this, this, and this. And I translate
what he said to the cop.
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Book Reading: I Just Walk around School Reading Shakespeare.
Began reading for pleasure in juvenile detention Reads for
religious purposes: English and Spanish Reads Shakespeare and
Neruda to influence his own writing What he got from reading
Shakespeare: The ways love was expressed. The way Shakespeare
compared a summers day to his lover. Or maybe just a comparison of
the words of love.
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Technology: As Soon as I Get out of the Shower, Ill Have Like
Four Texts Waiting. Texting Gaming Instant Messaging Social
Networking Lack of access out-of-school due to punishments and
financial situation
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Digital Spaces MySpace Homepage i still love to cook, right
poems, and play sports but the newist hobbi is band, choir, and
JROTC im a JR. at [West Side] hi skool its kool so far so ohh ya
and im 17 so good buy and God bless u...