"I Have These Books Upstairs": Elementary Bilingual Students' Funds of Literate Identity

• In Event: 32.083 - Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: 32.083-5 - Early Childhood and Elementary Students Becoming Bilingual in Schools and Homes

Abstract

This paper details the investigation of elementary Spanish-English bilingual students’ funds of literate identity as revealed through their self-portraits and significant circles. Bringing together research on literate identity and Esteban-Guitart and Moll’s (2014a, 2014b) concept of funds of identity, this study explores the texts, people, places, institutions, languages, and other elements that Spanish-English bilingual children view as crucial to their identities as consumers and creators of text. The findings for this study offer implications for inviting students to share their funds of literate identity in classroom settings and shed light on ways that teachers may add to students’ funds of literate identity through asset-based, anti-deficit approaches.

Author

• Pamela J. Hickey, Towson University