Humanizing Literacy Research: Mapping Exchanges in Adolescent Reading and Writing Spaces

Session Submission Type: Symposium

Abstract

This symposium brings together four perspectives on literacy research that map ways in which adolescents participate in reading and writing spaces. Our theoretical perspectives draw from sociocultural models of identity, theories of social semiotics, and migration research. We explore notions of in-school/out-of-school learning, dominant/marginalized students, and research/pedagogical studies not as competing discourses but as bi-directional channels that permit exchanges across ethnic, linguistic, disciplinary, physical, and national boundaries. Drawing from a range of empirical methods—ethnographic, mixed method, and quantitative—we examine how adolescents enacted identities across these boundaries in ways that fostered cross-cultural, multidiscursive, and multilingual competencies. By exploring the intersections among adolescent literacies, social identities, and contextual spaces, we hope to offer new insights for humanizing literacy research.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Writing and Literacies

Chair

• Kevin M. Leander, Vanderbilt University

Papers

• Designing “Culture Songs” as Migratory Texts: Exploring Transnational Exchanges in Digital and Multimodal Spaces - Myrrh Domingo, University of London

• Intrinsic, Contextual, and Variable: Exploring the Complexity of Adolescent Reading Motivation in an Urban Secondary “Reading School” - Chantal Francois, Rutgers University

• Negotiating Collaboration: Engaging and Extending Youth and Digital Practices - Lisa Hope Schwartz, University of Colorado, Boulder

• Disciplinary Literacy, Disciplining Identity: Possibilities and Constraints for Identity Instantiation Across Content Areas - Amy Alexandra Wilson, Utah State University

Discussant

• Kevin M. Leander, Vanderbilt University