Exploring Migrant Youths’ Literacies and Identities Through Young Writers Programs

• In Event: The Arts as a Public Pedagogy by, for, and About Bilingual, Bicultural Youth

Abstract

For the purposes of understanding adolescent ELL (English language learner) literacy practices/development and identity exploration, this study was designed using the structure of a Young Writers Program (YWP), a summer literacy enrichment program for youth. YWPs provide opportunities for adolescents to enhance their writing skills; increase the number of ways in which they respond to various texts; foster in them a sense of empowerment as they explore their identities; and encourage them to contribute to and sustain a community.

Research questions included: What happens when adolescent ELLs are (1) encouraged to use writing as a means of connecting personally to literature-based and multimodal texts in ways other than solely for academic purposes, (2) exposed to writing in many genres while developing fluency in English and/or their native language? And, (3) What occurs when adolescent ELLs are encouraged to develop, interact within, and sustain a community space through identity exploration?

The author will share findings related to perspectives of ELL adolescents they relate to their varied responses to literature-, multimedia-, and multimodal-based texts; literacy skills in their first and/or second language; and contributions to the development of a community through identity exploration.

In addition to sociocultural approaches to literacy (Barton, Hamilton, & Ivaniéc, 2000; Gee, 2001), the study’s framework includes a New Literacies perspective (Albers & Harste, 2007; Lankshear & Knobel, 2007), which informed the choice and inclusion of multimodal texts and writing experiences; and third space theory (Bhabha, 1994; Moje et al., 2004; Soja, 1996) utilized to understand co-created, hybrid youth spaces.

The author draws from a three-year collective case study (Stake, 1994) of the implementation of a YWP designed for migrant youth. Study participants ranged in age from 12-19 years old. Though the dominant native language among the youth was Spanish, other native languages included Arabic, Somalian, and Vietnamese. Data collected were analyzed using the constant comparative method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Yin, 2006). In addition, several graphic organizers were constructed to that visually represented these key themes Spradley (1980). Data sources include field notes; participants’ writing journals, artwork, and digital texts; multiple drafts of YWP anthology submissions; interview transcripts; and students’ responses to pre- and post-YWP surveys.

Findings suggest several sociocultural influences related to ELLs’ perspectives on the composing process, their identities, as well as how and to what degree they contribute meaningfully to a co-created community. Examples include: (1) participants’ previous educational experiences in both their native country and the U.S.; (2) group dynamics and the emergence/existence of Discourse communities (Gee, 2008; New London Group, 1996); and (3) the influence of students’ diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds on said communities. With a particular focus on multimodal approaches to writing instruction for – and identity exploration with – adolescent ELLs, arts-based implications of this research include aesthetic approaches to the composing process, critical writing pedagogy (Christensen, 2000; Kamler, 2001), and the construct of spatiality in academic settings.

Author

• Elizabeth C. Lewis, Dickinson College