Using a narrative approach to researching literacy and language policy

• In Event: Roundtable Session (Wednesday I)

Group Submission Type: Refereed Round-Table Session

Proposal

This session, which emerged from a recently published special issue of the International Review of Education (IRE), discusses the use of narratives (both of learners and researchers) in researching literacy and language policy. This qualitative approach gives voice to learners and allows their experiences to feed into research, helping to produce more reliable and locally authentic theories of learning. It also allows Western researchers to interrogate their own biases and preconceptions. As a compliment to more conventional quantitative research, this can inform policymakers and help produce more effective and locally tailored policies, which are often sorely lacking in this field.

Sub Unit

• SIG: Global Literacy

Individual Presentations

• Researching language and culture in Africa using an autoethnographic approach - Birgit Brock-Utne, University of Oslo

• A narrative approach to Ubuntu translanguaging from the elderly community: Learning and teaching in African education - Leketi Makalela, Balang Foundation

• A narrative of adult English language literacy within post-apartheid South Africa - Anna Kaiper, Pennsylvania State University

• Towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: Revisiting language of instruction in Tanzanian secondary schools - Mwajuma Vuzo, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

• Oral traditions: An aid to implementation of mother tongue-based multilingual education in the Philippines' basic education programme - Genevieve Quintero, University of the Philippines