Literacy: More than Language


The most important task we need to accomplish as educators is making sure our classroom is a comfortable and accepting environment. Multilingual students need to feel just as comfortable crafting their literacy in their native tongue as well as English. In fact, it is a law in Rhode Island to include our multilingual students’ native language in their lessons. Many people try to overlook this law and say that ELL classrooms have to be English only, when in reality that is not how they learn best or what the law mandates.

A great idea that I learned in a professional development conference was to provide side-by-side translations for assignment notes or instructions. This way, students can compare their language to English and also know exactly what they have to do for the assignment. We can and should let them write their first drafts in their native language so they can think more clearly. This helps them work on their literacy in both their native language and English and helps to prevent writing blocks.

What if they can’t write in their native language? Danling Fu in her book Writing Between Languages suggests letting the students draw first. This way, you can match words to the objects in the picture and start there. If they do have a solid understanding of their written native language, then they can work up through literacy transfer theory: 1. First language, 2. Code-switching, 3. Inter-language, and 4. Close to English.

It’s also important to note that literacy transcends writing and reading. From what I have learned in my education courses as well as Rowsell’s chapter, is that people can be literate in more than just language. One example from a class I took was that a fisherman needs to be literate in the ocean and weather. They need to know what the current means in terms of fishing and how certain weather patterns can affect their profession. A painter needs to be literate in color, shape, and light. Our students may hold literacies in other ways, more than whether they can read or write in their native language. We should give them opportunities to share what their literacies are and celebrate them.

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