Sponsors of Literacy - Lisa Biscan

Deborah Brandt delivers an intersting essay, "Sponsors of Literacy" in which she connects "literacy as an individual development to literacy as an economic development" (556). Brandt briefly explains that prior to her search, most literacy studies have not yet combined the specific conditions of economics and literacy learning together. Deborah Brandt does not entirely dismiss previous studies, although she does claim them to possess "analytical failre" (556). In saying this, Ithink Brandt recognizes the many aspects of literacy learning. In this essay Brandt's goal is to provide a bridge to the existing gap between literacy, economics, and the sponsors in between.
Brandt introduces the idea of "sponsors of literacy"(556). It is helpful to think of sponsors in commercial terms - the financial sponsors behind the television shows & commercials. Now, think of sponsors in literacy terms. Instead of sitting in front of a television with images, music, words, voices coming at you, prompting you to take-in their message - think of the many people, words, images, voices, institutions, motivations, and materials which have prompted you throughout your life (557). Just like the television sponsors, some messages are overtly conveyed, while some are latent. This is how, who, and what a literacy sponsor is. Brandt suggests that these sponsors play a formative role in literacy learning (557).
Sponsors can be older relatives, teachers, priests, influential authors, ... powerful figures in one's life (557). Brandt notes that we can all fall "victim" to sponsors agendas, whether deliberate or not. While Brandt addresses the literacy sponsors and the sponsors on a social and econmic scale. I also think Brandt acknowledges the inherently psychological nature that the sponsor and the sponsored relationships' entail. These sponsors can strongly shape the sponsered's realm, scope, access to, and desire of literacy - on purpose or without even knowing it.
Brandt places emphasis on the factor of access to literacy with two contrasting studies. Raymond Branch, who is a European American male from an upper-class family has access to literacy in a way that another person does not. His sponsors include his academic father, the university where his father teaches, advanced tehnological resources, and access to educated personnel. Dora Lopez lives in the same city as Branch, is the same age, and has a relationship with the same university. Yet, Dora's access and sponsors vary greatly. Dora does not have access to the same privaledge and power as Raymond Branch because of her gender, econmic status, and social standing. Her sponsors include the bookstore, secondhand technology, and various word-of-mouth opportunities (561). Therefore, each individual does not have the same access or privaledge to literacy learning.
In this article, Brandt shows that "literacy chances relate to systems of unequal subsidy and reward for literacy" (561). Deborah Brandt continues her essay by looking at generalizations of the relationship between economics, access, privaledge, and sponsorship of literacy. Brandt does point out that each individual starts out on a different playing field, and an uneven one at that! While Brandt supports the importance of sponsorship - she does acknowldege the role that the individual also can play in learning the rules of literacy.

Literacy Lirico - Lisa Biscan

Marcia Farr observes and reports the different types and levels of literacy amongst a group of "chicago Mexicanos", or Mexican immigrants in her article "En Los Dos Idiomas: Literacy Practices Among Chicago Mexicanos". The group Marica studies is comprised of approximately forty-five people who live in Chicago and Mexico and make up one social network of "mexicano immigrants" (467). Farr states that her study derives from a conceptualization of communication by Hymes (who I assume is a linguist?). She summarizes Hymes type of research as it "emphasizes the importance of context and holistic analysis...to understand meaning from the point of view of the members of a particular cultural group" (467).
Farr does not state her own personal research goal, in addition to her announcement that she is carrying out the study within Hymes framework. This puzzled me slightly. What does Farr aim to acheive in this study? I understand that her study is built on Hymes, but what does she aim to achieve? What is she looking for? Maybe she is open-ended on this. Could this also have anything to do with whom is funding the research? I do not have the answers, only questions. Yet, I believe the initial statement "to understand meaning from the point of view of the members" is especially important (467). It seems that language, or the study of language can be circular in nature.
In class, we have gone from Dyson to Szwed to Gee, then Barthalomae, who state their own opinions of the literacy of language as a system. Next, we discover Heath, who does more observation than interpretation. Yet, thus far, no-one has stated that their mission is to understand the meaning from someone else's point of view.
Farr studies "Learning Literacy Lirico" amongst Hispanic adult males (469). Literacy seems to be mostly learned based on generational and economical opportunity in this community of mexicano immigrants. Still, even immigrants who cannot attend formal schooling Adult males, who were not afforded the opportunity Lirico is these males' title of learning to read and write outside of formal schooling.

Protean Shapes in Literacy Events - Sean

In Shirley Brice Heath's "Protean Shapes in Literacy Events" we are introduced the the town of Trackton, and its shifting nature of oral and literate traditions. Heath starts out by explaining the more"traditional" idea that literacy is learned and used primarily as a tool to convey complex ideas, and that the lack of being able to use this tool effectively is what gives individuals and societies the negative stigma of being "illiterate" or "non-literate." This continues on into the discussion of Trackton and their oral traditions.

The first thing heath really gets into is that the discourse in Trackton is more speech based and much less writing based. Any writing that is created is used to simply carry a message, and the message is then discussed at length verbally. Even interviews are conducted verbally from a written form, and the answers are transcribed as they are dictated. This is a prime example of the oral tradition of literacy rather than its use as a more formal or "educational" tool.

This literacy is used as a social tool to convey and teach. Rather than asking direct questions to their children, Trackton parents ask more indirect questions, and challenge their children to explain themselves using language, rather than focussing on teaching them specific words like more "traditional" parents. What's amazing is how this method of raising children can have eyebrow raising moments of seemingly sophisticated language control as demonstrated with Lem's poem about the church bell.

That being said, I think that Heath is trying to show the reader that these people are merely different than what most people might consider "normal," but that they are in no way "illiterate." They are terribly creative, as evidenced both by Lem's poem, and the schoolteacher's prayer. They can interact very proficiently within their own community, and make use of their language, and that, Heath argues, makes them literate.

A World of Robots

By Devon

Inventing the University by David Bartholomae is basically about the way students fit in at universities. Right away Bartholomae begins by explaining the difficulty students have to learn the discourses of the field they are majoring in. He refers to students either trying to learn the discourse of a certain group in college or how many students pretend to understand and try to act and speak a certain way to get by.

Bartholomae also talks about creativity in his essay. He had students write about creativity, and then he showed who did not fit in to an English discourse and who did by judging them on their vocabulary. By doing this he shows that many students are pretending to be someone who they might not be. That many individuals try to fit into the mold that has been created centuries ago. Many students are successful at fitting in with the discourse they have chosen, but it takes time for a person to truly be part of this lifestyle.

Originality and uniqueness seemed to be one of the last topics. According to Bartholomae, to be original and unique is a difficult task to accomplish. That many students take what they have learned, regurgitate it, and call it original. He also wrote about how students learn how to address their audience by using creativity; that here are rules and a level of authority that needs to be taken into account.

Personally I think Bartholomae needs to be knocked out of his ego trip. In his point of view it seems that there is a caste system or a chain of command for writers. I do agree with him that many students try to be someone they are not just to fit in. I thought that it was interesting that Bartholomae believes that only good writers use a broad and extensive vocabulary. Would that make Shel Silverstein, the author of The Giving Tree, a bad writer? Overall there were many themes in the article, but I feel Bartholomae to be very pompous, and to talk with him about an educated writer would be like talking to a post. Why should anyone have to pretend to be someone they are not? If everyone did that we would live in a boring world of robots.

Richard Rodriguez "Achivement of Desire" - Sean

In Richard Rodriguez’ “The Achievement of Desire” we read the writings of a man stumbling through his early childhood learning experiences to discover one, simple truth. His focus on academic success had served to create the beginnings of an ever-growing rift between him and his family. As this fact is revealed, he then turns around to sift through his early years grade by grade to explain what happened to that close-knit bond that he once shared with them.

In essence, the writings are not necessarily meant to be of scholarly learning. They are more accurately a collection of self-examining thoughts based on the ideas set forth by an educational writer named Richard Hoggart. Hoggart, in essence, explains that a child who strives to learn in his teachings will drift farther from his family in his desire to succeed in school.

Personally, I felt that Rodriguez’ discussion over his own experiences were heartfelt. I felt somewhat moved by the loss of that family closeness he shared with them. I finished the reading hoping that he’d be able to reconnect with them, and be a part of the family once more. With any luck, his educational know-how will allow him to adapt.

The language of listening

I often think about how language can be a barrier between human beings. Along with seperate and conflicting ideologies and belief systems, language is something that powerfully affects the way we interact and identify with other human beings. The idea of listening can be a very powerful tool that accompanies language.

I volunteered for a crisis hotline, RARCC, which provides support and services to survivors of sexual assault. Calls are private and cannot be disclosed to anyone outside of the agency/law enforcement for legal and privacy purposes. The hotline's first priority is tomake sure the person/all persons involved is safe. Crisis intervention is priority.

Listening is 85% of the call. Using language skills to respond in a calm, caring, and logical manner is 15%. In the initial phone call, you do not know the person. You may not even get details about the person. Verbal communication is key. You then meet person in a hospital or law enforcement setting w/in 45 minutes after the phone call. The immediate response you give on the phone affects trust. After someone's trust has just been broken by abuse, conveying this is imperative.

The significance of language is huge. Sometimes victims cannot talk, they need someone first to listen. Then, you become their voice as their process continues.
Through the use of language, you can act as someone's ear by listening, their comfort by instilling trust, their advocate by telling their story, and their sense of hope - as they may continue the process, and later use their language to help someone else.

Anong Language Hablas?

By Devon

To start out I will explain the title of my essay. Anong is Tagalog for the word what, language is English, and hablas is Spanish for you speak. When put together it means what language do you speak? After thinking of the topic of the essay for awhile I realized that the ways I speak with my family, students, co-workers, and friends are all different.

When I am with my family I speak a mixture of English and Tagalog, which many people call Taglish. The reason why this is spoken in my Anglo-Saxon family is because my wife is from the Philippines. I also have two brothers who married Filipinas. Because of this mixture of cultures both English and Tagalog are used in my family. I watch movies and television in both languages, and I also listen to music in Tagalog.

At work I am around children ranging from five to eleven years old and I speak to them as an elementary school teacher should. I never speak to them as my close friends or about all my personal beliefs. I teach them to respect adults and other manners. I even get to teach the Spanish speaking students about having good manners. I learned Spanish while serving a mission and even as a missionary I had to conduct myself with extreme professionalism. But among missionaries we had our own way to talk and our own terms. For example we called new missionaries greenies.

I noticed that when I am with my friends I speak almost as if I am with my family, but I still have a certain way my friends and I joke around. I noticed that I use more slang terms with my friends than I do with my family. For example, I have friends from Saudi Arabia and when we see each other at the gym we call each other beast in Arabic. I would not use this term with my family because it would have no significance to them.

Most individuals have their own way of communicating too. I have heard the way my brothers speak with their friends and they do not speak to me in the same way. I feel that it is the comfort level that a person has which allows him or her to speak a certain way. One way I learned this was when I told a rude joke to my bishop at church. He then told me that it was not polite so I learned that there are some things that can and cannot be said to certain people.

Oh Golly Gee - James has nailed it! Lisa Biscan

James Paul Gee seems to understand the world of language in dual terms of idealized fantasy and real-life practice,as he presents both sides in "Literary, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction and What Is Literacy". James Paul Gee does an outstanding job of introducing social influence and experience as an imperative factor in language acquisition. Yet, he does not settle on this factor as an impending doom for underprivaleged or misrepresented language learners. Instead, Gee digs into the ways which we can all reasses our view and practice of language acquistion.

Gee's studies appear to be on the forefront in the field conerning language acquisition. This article was published in the "Journal of Education" in 1989, yet seems to pull from contemporary thought regarding language. The article begins as Gee debunks the traditional conception of language for us, ""Language" is a misleading term; it too often suggests "grammar". It is a truism that a person can know perfectly the grammar of a language and not know how to use that language" (525). This should be obvious to all of us. Yet, clealy this is not the case. If it were, scholars like Gee may not be in business!

Gee focuses a large part of his article on "Discourses...ways of being in the world" (526). Discourses include acts, values, beliefs, and social meanings in which a person identifies themself with (526). The ramifications of the discourse are vast. There are primary and secondary discourses. The primary discourse is formed as a result of intimate relationships (family). This primary discourse affects how we will aqcuire secondary discourses, such as those from outside sources (school, church, organizations)(327). The providers of the discourse are influenced by their own discourse. Therefore, discourse are personally, culturally, politically, socially, and economically charged. Discourse forms a sphere of influence that structures and shapes the manner, place, style, ease or apprehension, of a person's use of langauge. Gee cites Cazden and Heath, and argues that discourses cannot be taught but are acquired through enculturation, or "apprenticeship" into social practices (527).

Yes, the rules of discourse are learned and aqcuired. Still, one must learn and aqcuire the skills to play the game early if they are to be successful in the sport. If one has not been introduced to the game at an early age, then they conceivably are disadvantaged to the veterans of discourse. Yet, Gee points out that the mastery of discourse (much like language) can become both minimalized or stagnant, and manipulated or practiced (535). Gee stresses that both discourse and language be acquired and learned - yet clearly distinguishes the two acts. Finally, James Paul Gee outlines very realistic practices for researchers and teachers of discourse and language to focus on. Gee ends with the idea that researchers must be sensitive to conflicts of primary and secondary discourse and literacy- yet continue to reach for a better understanding.

Literacy is Corruption

By Devon

There are so many topics in Knoblauch’s article Literacy and the Politics of Education. The author starts out strong by stating that literacy is not just education; literacy is an actual term which has huge boundaries and space for self-defining. First Knoblauch mentions how cultures have thrived in the past without a writing system and that writing is only a recent skill. Some Indian cultures see writing as evil. There are other tribes and cultures that pass on tradition orally.

Knoblauch mentioned that with the creation of writing also came the beginning of different classes and suppression. In the Middle Ages leaders of high status and their staff were allowed to read and write to keep documents. This goes onto how the more education a person has, the higher they are than other individuals. These classes can be seen in the military where soldiers will construct weapons and use them where the officer in command dictates.

The author also goes into the topic that now days literacy levels are going down due to the lack of interest in reading and writing, and that more time is spent watching television. Knoblauch also wrote about that children need to be taught more about present day writers. Also individuals from other cultures must not be left out. More literature from other cultures should also be taught to students.

My favorite part of the article was how Knoblauch wrote that societies have gone far without literacy. The author also mentioned what another writer said that humans and animals are divided by language and literacy divides the civilized from the savages. First of all the Vikings spread much of their traditions orally. They were also masters of naval and land warfare. Second I remember that in the medieval era the Catholic Church did not allow peasants to learn how to read or allow them to read the Bible. This was to keep the followers to hear only what the priests wanted them to hear. Finally, what good came to Native Americans or Africans when Europeans came with education and literacy? Last time I checked the answer was slavery and suppression. So I can see how literacy can be seen as corruption.

The New Literacy Studies - Sean

In Brian Street’s “The New Literacy Studies”, the author seeks to gain insight into the new strategies and policies being used in today’s schools to impart literacy onto the minds of young students. He begins, first, by outlining other studies and theories put forth by various scholarly papers, but goes on to focus primarily on his own theories. The two theories, or models, he proposes are called “The Autonomous Model of Literacy,” and “The Ideological Model of Literacy.”

The Autonomous Model basically deals with the fact that literacy seems to act and change autonomously of most other types of influence, and that spoken words seem to flow naturally to written language in various cultures. He cites various high-profile researchers and their writings to back up his model. He even cites a passage that links empathy with literacy. The Idealistic Model focuses on literacy as some sort of practice fraught with ideological beliefs that drive the illiterate to try and gain literacy in order to reach their lofty ambitions, seeing literacy as one way to attain them.

Street concludes his writings by addressing the implications of his two models as they pertain to future research on the topic, which essentially gives various theorists some general ground on which to base their more concise theories. He then relates his theories and other idea he quotes from a variety of writings directly into discourse and ethnography, then moves to clarify “context” in linguistics and ethnography as well, arguing that analysis of literacy in sociological situations requires a broader view of “context” in which the literacy is being analyzed.

Overall, I was a little irritated that the author didn’t state his own opinions very often, and instead simply restated the opinions of others and how they might relate to his models. His passive nature throughout the piece did not assist in arousing my curiosity about the subject, and seemed that he was rehashing points made by others.

Sin Verguenza

By Devon

Until I was nineteen years old I did not have a lot of confidence. I was always very nervous when I spoke with girls; I also grew up being overweight and I felt ugly and pathetic. When I was nineteen I went on a mission for my church for two years to the state of Washington. I found my confidence and ability to communicate with individuals between the years of 2003 and 2005. I was required to learn Spanish and that was a difficult task, but I love languages so it was fun to learn. Every day I wore a white shirt, tie, formal pants, and a name-tag. Every day from morning to night I would have to go and talk with people about religion which can be a very sensitive topic. I also started exercising everyday and throughout the two years I lost one hundred pounds. By losing the weight and learning Spanish I knew I could do anything I put my mind to.

There were many times I had people tell me that I was going to Hell, that I am the spawn of Satan, and other vulgar things. But because I believe in my religion, anything that was said to attack me did not bother me.

One time my roommate and I were knocking on doors in a neighborhood of field workers and one family invited us in just to yell at us for three hours and tell us how evil we were. Finally after realizing that we were late for an appointment and that the conversation was just going in complete circles, I stood up and told them, “We only came to share a message about our religion; not to harass or judge anyone.” I also shared my beliefs and told them to have a good day.

Because I have had so many experiences like the previous, I became very easy going and confident. If a door was slammed shut in my face, that was okay; I continued moving forward and talking with people until someone wanted to listen. I can now speak to anyone I want and not feel nervous; just like all my Latino friends would tell me when I was learning Spanish or eating dinner with them, “Sin verguenza!” “Do not be shy!”

The Scarlett Scar

When I have to say that the most disaparaging experiences in discovering and learning literacy have occured in my later years (or atleast I remeber these!). I was assigned to read "The Scarlet Letter" in the eleventh grade. I iinitially deemed this text as an alright story. Yet, when the teacher and class discussed it in a group, it turned the experience sour. I attended a public high school,yet this particular teacher was very religious. She was of a Christian denomination, she let this be known and made no qualms about it. This teacher used the classroom as her pulpit, and verbally discouraged those who did not agre with her. This teacher also verbally condemned the main chracter Hester Prynne for adulterous acts. There was no discussion about the themes, the context, the environment, history, moral, or human nature brought to topic in the book.
Furthermore, a paper i wrote on this book was marked down because I discussed the danger of a "crowd mentality", blindness of a "moral" people, and the influence of religion.

This experience actually made me very self-concious from expressing my thoughts. It also made me confused about the process of critical reading and understanding a text. I was old enough to disagree with my teacher, but not comfortable enough to express it. The teacher made the process of reading or writing any works in her class very unnerving and disappointing. She made it clear in a very intimidating way that only one person could be right, and that would be her. The most disturbing part, to me, is that I still have a negative feeling when I hear about Hester Prynne, or the Salem Witch Trials. I loathe the books I read in that class, because of the overall experience.

High Five to Brutus

By Devon

When Brutus killed Julius Caesar I felt like he also killed Shakespeare. I do not like reading Shakespeare. How is a high school student supposed to appreciate that type of literature?

In the tenth grade I had to memorize a section from the play Julius Caesar and say it in front of the class. To me it was boring and torture. I was ready to find Shakespeare’s grave and curse him for writing all those plays and books. In the ninth grade the class read Romeo and Juliet. I remember telling my teacher, “The book would have been great if all the boring drama was left out and all the exciting fights and dying was the only thing to read about.”

Although my freshmen English teacher showed us the recent Romeo and Juliet movie, which was not the greatest, I appreciated that he tried to have us enjoy Shakespeare. My sophomore teacher did nothing to make the topic interesting. Maybe now since I am older I might enjoy it if I try reading it. But every time I hear the name Shakespeare I want to say, “Okay, next topic of discussion.” Hopefully the professors of the English 475 and 476 (Shakespeare) courses can make the subject more entertaining than my tenth grade English teacher.

Demographics and Literacy

By Devon

In John F. Szwed’s article The Ethnography of Literacy he wrote about how times change and so do people and their ideas of education. He also wrote about how literacy affects countries, the different ways individuals learn, how the education system’s role for students, and what is being considered as “literature” today. The first thing Szwed begins with is that everyone agrees that literacy is one part of an education that is needed to be successful. He also mentioned that third world countries push in learning literacy to become better developed and that because the United States’ level of individuals that are not literate is rising, that is why the poverty percentage is also rising.

What was also interesting was that now days less individuals are reading classic novels and are also writing less books and more people are reading things like tabloids, newspapers, captions on the television, and other things. These things often require the education of elementary age students. That is why people are becoming illiterate. Szwed also mentioned that the most common influence on people becoming literate besides the influence of schools were those of church and family life.

This then leads to some families blaming schools for not educating their children and schools blaming the parents for not helping the children learn. The author mentioned a case about black students being told that the words used in their poetry were misspelled and incorrect. The school did not take into account the language varieties the students may have. This also causes problems when the aspect of bilingual students comes into the picture. There are areas that are populated by bilingual students more than other areas, so this can also have an effect on literacy in schools.

While reading this I remembered learning about African American English (AAE) in my linguistic and anthropology classes; that people make the mistake by saying AAE is uneducated English. But I feel that some schools do not understand where some students come from (meaning lifestyle) and that many individuals cannot use the lack of support from school or family as an excuse to give up.

Chapter 9: Moll/Gonzales - Sean

In Chapter 9, “Lessons from Research with Language-Minority Children”, both Luis C. Moll and Norma Gonzales discuss the various ways in which bi or trilingual students and their classroom environments make use of the cultural diversity in their lives and lessons to better allow them to critically think about and analyze questions and situations presented to them.

This, in turn, leads to their theory of “Funds of Knowledge.” The theory explains that different cultures and families have a wealth of knowledge and experiences from which they can draw on information they’ve gathered through their lives, and pass it on to their children.

By sticking to the language that the children know best, and in utilizing the knowledge they may have attained from household learning as far as using it for instruction, teachers are able to actively allow students to critically think about different problems given to them during class. This lets students form their own ideas and connections on how to address new situations in their scholastic career at an early age.

In short, this is what both Luis C. Moll and Norma Gonzales are trying to get across in their article.

Dyson: Media & Literacy

In Chapter 20, "Coach Bombay's Kids Learn to Write...", Anne Haas Dyson presents language as a powerful influence on a person's sense of self and their place in society. Dyson explains that child language learning happens on many levels, is pulled from many sources, and is a complex and dynamic process. Dyson discusses child language learning from social, cultural, and scientific perspectives as she stresses that language learning happens in combination of all three categories. She places emphasis on the integral role that cultural resources, social resources, and media resources play in child language learning.

In the beginning of the article Dyson purposefully states that she "has no intention of reinforcing" a traditional outlook on child language learning that teachers and children have very specific and rigid roles (326). Instead, Dyson supports that children are very imaginative, innovative, and inventive (326). She focuses on the theory that media largely influences children's language learning. Dyson presents the role of media (pop culture, movies, actors, sports)as important in the child's world. Therefore, contemporary media must also be accessible to teachers as well.

Dyson focused on child language learning in the school setting of classes aged kindergarten through fifth grade. She collected and documented writing samples from over 1,000 children and conducted site studies on a focal group of children at a school in the San Fransico Bay area. Especially important to Dyson is the "quality of contemporary childhood". She feels that media and the contemporary world around the child who is learning language, is especially important to both the child and their teacher. Dyson also believes that children learn language through practices and activities in their everyday lives (328). She uses the example of Marcel who is almost seven years old and writes about the Dallas Cowboys in his school journal.

Dyson looks at child language learning as a complex and dynamic process with many factors involved. She supports that children “make their own choices from available meanings and practices” many of which may not necessarily be academic, but still play important roles in language development (328).

Raptors, Dragons, and Literacy, Oh my! - Sean

When I was growing up, I don’t remember any books that really had a long lasting impact on me. In fact, when I was young, I was more interested in reading about space and nature. I was terribly curious about the world around me, and did everything I could to try and learn more about it. I suppose that, because of my love of dinosaurs, I was attracted to a book called “Raptor Red” by Robert T. Bakker.

“Raptor Red” follows the story of a young female “Utahraptor”, the largest species of raptor, as she goes about her life. She has a splotch of red on her snout, and thus identifies herself as “Me…raptor…red…” which ultimately gives her her name. The whole world is fascinating because you experience it through the eyes of the dinosaur herself. Everything has a smell, or is a new experience. I’m not sure if it had a vast impact on me as far as literacy, but it did teach me a thing or two about writing. The senses are used more than anything else in the story, and to this day I try to pack my writings full of them.

Another book I distinctly remember was “Dragon Weather” written by Laurence Watt-Evans. The story follows a young boy by the name of Arlian. I wouldn’t want to spoil the book for you, but I will say that it is fantasy, and it is a very good read. This book took me on a real adventure. I’ve always loved dragons, and I still do. They may be fanciful, but they’re still my favorite animals. I picked up the book based only on the title, but came away with many complex feelings about life. The book impacted me so much that in my own novel (a work in progress), I named the main character’s father after Arlian as a sort of tribute.

While these books haven’t had a large impact on me as far as literacy, they have had an impact on me when it comes to writing creatively. They tugged at my very active imagination, and enticed me to read deeper. In the end, without these two books, I may not have been the writer that I am today.

The Things They Teach

There are many books I have read that moved me, enthralled me, and made me tick,yet I have to pay tribute to "The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Burnett wrote two books that tickled my fancy as a young girl, "The Little Princess" and "The Secret Garden". I was given both as presents for birthday occasions from my parents. I remember both books were lenghty and had hard covers with glossy, beautiful sleeves covering them. This made them seem like an expensive and rare treasure to me, and I imagined thatmy father went to very far lengths and spared no expense in buying them. I felt like the richness of the books told me that I was special and important. I felt like I was a princess when I received them.

The central characters in both books are young females who are without fathers for some reason or another and have also lost their mothers to unfortunate circumstances. Both young girls are well-behaved, slightly timid, and are left to learn about the world on their own. Both girls are scared and lonely. Yet, they rely on their brains, their imagination, and their ultimate faith in mankind to overcome the evils of humanity and hopelessness. These books taught me that it is alright to be alone and scared. That perseverance and hope can create miracles. And that fantasy can become reality if you believe hard enough in it.

Books were held at great importance in my household. My mother loved reading and instilled an appreciation for all literature in my sisters and I. I often received gift certificates for books or music as gifts for the holidays. My mother knew I held a special affinity for reading. She took me to local bookstores for author readings and signings. She also searched high and low for the newest books by a favorite author of mine, Gary Paulsen.

I recently read "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien, which is about a platoon of American Soldiers in and after the Vietnam War. I am very intrtigued by the subject of war, but it is usually difficult for me to deal with the subjects that accompany it. The images and emotions haunt me, and I often stop reading books in the middle of the story. "The Things They Carried" so moving that I could not put it down, cannot stop thinking about it, and cannot wait to read it again. The book tells the story of war from a human point-of-view. The title is indicitave of all the material items the individual soldiers carry, but also the emotional and mental burdens they carry. I feel it is our responsibilty to try and learn the human side of war, from anyt side. "The Things They Carried" helps to stimulate a small glimpse of understanding, compassion, gratitude, and honor for all veterans and all who sacrifice for their countries.

When Children Learn

By Devon

In the article The Development of Initial Literacy by Yetta Goodman, she wrote about the learning process of literacy with children. Her research took place in 1973 with children ranging from the ages of two to six. Some of the main points she mentioned are the ways children seem to be learning, the surroundings, and the principles children use to become literate. The main way children seem to be learning is by being immersed into situations which will allow them to learn; either if they are learning by listening, watching, or speaking.

The way children learn also depends on their surroundings. According to Goodman, children that grow up in middle class families are more likely to have more confidence and become literate compared to lower class children. This is also because of “the attitudes and values about literacy expressed by other members in the social group” (Goodman pg. 317). What Goodman also points out is that through culture, family, and social groups, just by observing activities, children will become literate. But this needs to take place when they are young. Just by being exposed to experiences of parents reading stories, adults talking, and children going out into social activities is where literacy begins.

Children are like sponges. They seem to reproduce what they see and hear. This goes with Goodman’s principle of linguistics. As children grow up, they will overgeneralize with almost all words. For example children will add –ed to all words to make them past tense because that is the general rule that they grow up learning until they learn otherwise in school; like the word ‘goed’ instead of ‘went.’

Overall I enjoyed this essay by Goodman because this is a topic that catches my attention. I agree with Goodman and what she writes about in this article because in other linguistic and anthropology courses, I have learned that if children do not experience language by the age of five that they will most likely not be able to comprehend language and that the most that can be attained are words but not the knowledge to create sentences. That is why it is important that children are raised in a loving environment which puts education as a priority; that without a healthy environment where children are left to fend for themselves (like many of my students) education and becoming literate will be a burden instead of a pleasure and difficult to accomplish.

The Power of Books

By Devon

While growing up I remember reading many books, but the book which I remember the most is Animalia. As a child I loved animals; I still enjoy animals, but when I was young I loved looking at pictures of different creatures. One day my mother game me a book and when I saw the cover of Animalia I went crazy! There were so many animals and when I opened it, it made me even more excited. It was a book about the alphabet which had animals for all the letters. There were alligators, dragons, gorillas, tigers, zebras, and many more. I still have the book and look through it.

My parents love books and have a small library which my brothers and I enjoyed looking through. As a family we would read scriptures, sing songs, and read other books together. What I remember quite vividly was when I was five years old, I asked my father, “Where do babies come from?” He went to the family library and grabbed a small gray book which was titled, “Anatomy.” I then learned how babies were made in great detail.

Recently I finished reading The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. I am working on reading all seven books in the series because fantasy is my favorite genre. I love reading about giants, trolls, goblins, dragons, and magic. One of my favorite books is The Hobbit. I enjoy these kinds of books because they take me to a world which I wish I could be a part of; to be able to go out on an adventure, camp, fish, hunt, and to survive on what nature has to offer. That is the power which books contain and provide to their readers.

Literacy is a Noun - Sean

I suppose the easiest way for me to start this is at the beginning. In the beginning, two small cells came together, and about eight months later I was born. Yes, eight. I was born six weeks early. I must have been very curious about life outside my little watery bubble to be in such a hurry to leave it. Ever since then, I’ve been insatiably curious about the world around me, and with that curiosity came a love of reading books.

The first books I remember were books I didn’t even read. At night, before I’d go to bed, my parents would gather my brother and me, and read books to us. They were simple books like One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and other such books by Dr. Seuss. Later, I remember my father reading Jonathan Livingston Seagull to us.

Obviously, I grew older, and started reading books by myself. Some of my most favorite titles growing up were from the Dinotopia series. I loved reading about dinosaurs and other animals as a child. I also loved reading about space and the universe. My parents would encourage me to read aloud to them at night and would encourage me to read with feeling and passion. I like to attribute my learning of words to them and their constant encouragement.

Later, I read several books from the Wishbone series. I remember them mainly because the hero was a dog, and he could talk in his own head. I loved Sonic the Hedgehog as well, and read several of those books. My love of reading, I think, was the biggest thing that allowed me to learn the language. It was a way for me to learn new words, and also learn about the world around me. It was from reading books and stories that I gained an understanding of how the language fit together.

In the end, books allowed me to expand my knowledge of the language in my early years far more than any bit of teaching in school. My parents had a large part in pushing me to read, and introducing me to the language at an early age. If it wasn’t for their love and encouragement, I daresay I wouldn’t be nearly as competent, composed, and fluent in the English language as I am today.

Literacy as acceptance - Lisa

I initially had two motivations in the quest of learning to speak; to be accepted by my father and mother, and to fit-in with my community. I spent the first five years of my life in a small suburb in Michigan, in a tight-knit subdivision, on a very intimate street that contained four households; ours and three others that were also filled with children. Our small cult-a-sack housed a total of thirteen children and I was the youngest.

I am the youngest child in my family. I was born into a household with a mother, a father and two older sisters. My sisters and I were all two years apart, so when I was three years old, Beth was seven, and Kristy was nine. I initially had two motivations in the quest of learning to speak; to be accepted by my father and mother, and to fit-in with my community. I spent the first five years of my life in a small suburb in Michigan, in a tight-knit subdivision, on a very intimate street that contained four households; ours and three others that were also filled with children. Our small cult-a-sack housed a total of thirteen children and I was the youngest.

I knew that no other children on the block wanted to play with me. I had to be looked after, I was always causing messes, and I couldn’t even communicate with the kids, let alone the teenagers. I would mutter a word and I would get a mixed reaction. My sistersand the younger neighborhood children teased me and the teenagers half-teased yet half-prodded me to attempt to pronounce another word to follow. I had a speech impediment. I could not pronounce the consonants “r”, “l”, “w” or “s”. I was already a shy child, yet my own inability to pronounce words correctly and the experience of being teased” only increased the awareness that I did not quite “fit-in” with my neighborhood and my speech community.

Speaking never came easy to me, but reading and writing did. Reading was always encouraged in our household. My mother read to my family at all times. Before pre-school my mother always took me to the library to attend the organized readings and also to pick out books. The television was rarely on in our house, and if it was, it was on PBS or a type of educational broadcast. I attended Sunday school before pre-school and was often read to. I also attended religious study after school which played a tremendous role in learning to read various works outside a scholastic structure. At dinner time, one of us girls would have to pick a prayer from a book and read it aloud. A Book Mobile (a library on wheels) used to come to the neighborhood and we were allowed to pick out books just as a child would choose an ice cream treat from the “Ice Cream Man”.

I was taught to enjoy and appreciate literature at a very early age by my mother. I also recognized literature as a means of personal escape and communal acceptance. I knew that I was much better at reading and writing than speaking. I paid close attention to the teachers once I did get to school, I read “Sam I Am” books with fervor, and I practiced writing my letters over and over until they looked pretty to me, and acceptable enough to show my father.

The Path to Literacy

By Devon

As I was growing up I remember my parents reading stories to me. My mother went to Peru on a mission as a young woman and learned Spanish and when I was a child she would tell me stories in Spanish. She would also let me listen to Disney and other movies on record while I would fall asleep. By doing this my mother exposed me to the phonetic sounds of the English and Spanish language. My mother would also take me to the public library and let me check out books. Most of the time it would just be picture books with only a few words; mostly about dinosaurs, but as I got older I begun to choose books at a higher reading level. But of all the experiences I can remember as a child, the one that comes to mind was when I was about four years old. My father sat next to me and taught me how to read. He used The McGuffey Reader which he remembered using when he was a child. To this day I still have The McGuffey Reader and I plan to use it when I have children of my own.

Another influence on my journey to becoming literate was when I was in daycare. There would be story time and when I went to pre-school, I also had teachers that read to me. My memories in elementary school are basic; the teachers taught me and that is it. I can read so they clearly did their job.

The only other memories I have of learning how to read and write are when my parents had Japanese students in their home and I would read with the Japanese students. Another memory that comes to mind was when I was in the car I would read and say the words on billboards, buildings, road signs, etc. At first my family would always be confused why I would be saying random words, but they caught on to what I was doing, especially the times when we drove past a building and I said, “Economic Dancers.” Being young I misread the sign and my parents burst out laughing. My father corrected me that the sign said, “Exotic Dancers.” The last memory I can remember is that every Sunday I would go to church and at church and at home I would read scriptures with my family. I was also in Tiger Scouts, Cub Scouts, and Boy Scouts where I was required to know how to read and write otherwise I would have never been able to achieve the highest rank in Boy Scouts which is Eagle.