Contribution to Book
The Language and Literacy Practices of Emergent Bilinguals in a Community-Based Writing Program
Literacy across the community
(2020)
Abstract
Using a translanguaging framework, we examined the language and literacy practices of racialized, emergent bilingual children in a bilingual (English/Spanish), community-based writing program in urban Philadelphia. Located in South Philly’s Italian Market, the program’s target audience was emergent bilingual, Latinx children who were 7–17 years old. The center offered an afternoon academy program, week-day evening and Saturday morning workshops, and summer writing camps. When we began research at the center in 2015, we noted that despite its bilingual name, the center operated primarily in English. For instance, teachers and volunteers spoke overwhelmingly in English to the children, and the focal texts of lessons and the children’s writing pieces were produced only in English. We were concerned about the apparent lack of bilingualism, and specifically the lack of active use of Spanish at the center. To address this, we approached the center’s director about offering bilingual writing workshops on Saturdays where we would model a critical, translanguaging pedagogy. This chapter reports the findings from these workshops.
Disciplines
Publication Date
2020
Publisher
Routledge
ISBN
9781003031550
Citation Information
Stephanie Abraham, Kate E. Kedley and Kate A. Seltzer. "The Language and Literacy Practices of Emergent Bilinguals in a Community-Based Writing Program" Literacy across the community (2020) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/kate-kedley/16/