Literacy journeys : home and family literacy practices in immigrant households and their congruence with schooled literacy
- Authors: Kajee, Leila
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Family literacy practices , Immigrant families , Schooled literacy , Social justice
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:5734 , ISSN 2076-3433 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/6531
- Description: Major sociocultural contexts of learning such as families, communities and schools are imbued with power, and power favours some more than others. Given that schools are important sites of social and cultural reproduction, one of their major tasks is to teach learners to be literate. However, literacy is often viewed only as schooled literacy in the dominant language, and the role of the home has been undervalued in the past. In this paper I examine, through a sociocultural lens, the role played by the home and community in literacy learning. Through data elicited from observations of family interactions and conversations, as well as interviews with family members in two immigrant households, I examine their home and community literacy practices and ask how these practices intersect with schooled literacy. I conclude that immigrant children have far greater language and literacy skills than presumed, and that schools need to recognize language and literacy practices that children engage in at home and in the community, and emphasize that social justice for all requires educational shifts.
- Full Text:
Mapping the literate lives of two Cameroonian families living in Johannesburg : implications for language and literacy education
- Authors: Ngoh, Doris , Kajee, Leila
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Immigrant literacies , Literacy as social practice , Family literacy practices
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/276095 , uj:29529 , Citation: Ngoh, D. & Kajee, L. 2018. Mapping the literate lives of two Cameroonian families living in Johannesburg : implications for language and literacy education. Per Linguam 2018 34(1):1-16 http://dx.doi.org/10.5785/34-1-827
- Description: Abstract: The language and literacy practices of two French-speaking Cameroonian families living in South Africa are the focus of this paper. Since its democracy, there has been an influx of immigrants from all over the world into South Africa. This influx has inevitable consequences for education. The aim of this research was to map the language and literacy practices of two immigrant Cameroonian families residing in Johannesburg, South Africa. The case study utilised interviews with the parents and children, as well as home observations. The research findings reveal that little linguistic congruence exists between the home and school, and that the parents and children serve as language brokers at different points. The study concludes that, if South Africa wants to live up to its democratic status, inclusive to all who live in it, teachers need to be versed in the multiple layers of literacy practices of learners from diverse backgrounds and consider initiatives such as family and community literacy programmes. This is vital not only for immigrant children, but for the South African education system as well.
- Full Text: