Reauthoring Selves: Unpacking Multilingual Mothers’ Literate Identities Using Positioning Theory (Poster 26)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Sunday 11:40 a.m.
  In Poster Session: Language, Literacies, and Representations

Abstract

This study draws on Positioning Theory to examine how multilingual mothers were positioning themselves and being positioned by others. We guided our inquiry through the question, “In what ways do multilingual mothers ‘author’ their own literate identities within a family literacy program?” We engaged in Narrative Inquiry and analyzed participant interviews, field notes, and teaching and learning artifacts. Findings showed the presence of authoritative discourses (e.g., earlier literacy experiences ‘authored’ by others). We also found that ‘authorizing’ was key in promoting ‘authoring’ among our participants. We invite AERA attendees to consider this triad of authoritative, authorizing, and authoring dynamics as a heuristic for understanding repair, remedy, and renewal within their own contexts.

Authors

• Elizabeth Isidro, Western Michigan University

• Kristhyna Fermin, Western Michigan University