Vanilla Sauce and Poetry: Culturally Embedded Literacy in a Heritage Language Classroom

• In Event: 44.075 - Trends in L2 Writing and Literacy Research

Abstract

To equitably educate linguistically and culturally diverse students, teachers must consider literacy as socially negotiated and culturally embedded (Street, 1995). The current study qualitatively examines the literacy events that take place at a Finnish heritage language school in the United States. The study uncovers the ways these literacy events are connected to broader literacy practices, and how these in turn reflect the teachers’ and the heritage language community’s cultural ideologies. Findings affirm that literacy events, which at the surface may focus on the learning of discrete literacy skills, are deeply connected to broader literacy goals and ideologies.

Author

• Johanna M. Tigert, University of Massachusetts - Lowell