"You Are a Slow Reader": Co-Constructed Literate Identity Through Collaborative Literacy Activities

• In Event: 34.079 - Roundtable Session 14
  In Roundtable Session: 34.079-3 - Aspects of Co-Constructed Identities

Abstract

The study investigates the relationship among identity, power and literacy practice in a sociocultural context where four Latina 6th graders participated in a community-university collaborative literacy program. By analyzing the discourse of interaction, the study describes how participants understand the context, literacy practices, relationship with others, and their literate identities. The in-depth micro-ethnographic discourse analysis shows that the participant’s identity, perception to context and activity, and their participation patterns in literacy activities are influenced by the power relations among them and, thus, affect their performance in and perception of literacy activities. The study implies the importance of analyzing social contexts where identities and power relations are co-constructed through interaction in literacy studies.

Author

• Oaram Kim, University of California - Santa Barbara