Language Minorities Developing Multiple Literacies: Additive Bilingual Education and Transformative Pedagogy
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2009
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Swarthmore College. Dept. of Linguistics
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Thesis (B.A.)
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Full copyright to this work is retained by the student author. It may only be used for non-commercial, research, and educational purposes. All other uses are restricted.
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Abstract
This thesis explores issues of academic achievement in Spanish speaking
linguistic minorities in the United States. It argues for the implementation of
pedagogy that develops not only English language and literacy skills but also strives
to develop language and literacy skills in Spanish. This argument is in light of the
vast amount of research that has found that home language literacy is a necessary
prerequisite for effective second language and literacy acquisition (Beykont 1994,
Collier 19B7, Cummins 200, Ovando & Collier 199B, Stong & Prinz 2000). Currently,
school systems do not have educational resources in place, many times because of
legislation that prohibits it, that would allow for the large and growing percentage of
. our student population of linguistic minorities to develop their home language. This
failure to implement theoretically sound educational programs for linguistic
minorities has had horrific implications for the academic achievement and school
retention rates for students of Latin American descent. Almost one in three Latino
students drops out of high school (US Department of Education 2003) compared to
13% of African Americans and 7% of white students. This paper provides an
overview of the history of oppression of cultural and linguistic minorities, shedding
light on some of the underlying racially prejudiced beliefs that have contributed to
systematic oppression. It also problematizes some common ideas of what it means
to be literate and biliterate in our society and suggest a better working definition of
the terms. Included is a discussion of some of the models of bilingual education and
why some are less effective as well as less socially just than others. Most important
is the argument that education should not aim to simply reproduce the societal structures of power, but that it should work to cooperatively engage students and
teachers in a dialogue for societal change. By exploring and developing multiple
literacies in schools, not only are students' languages legitimated but so are their
own personal identities. By doing this, the educational outcomes of language
minority students can be improved and in turn the future of this nation and the
world can expect a much brighter future.