Abstract
Bilingual education has been based on theories and research stemming from fields of linguistics, psychology, first and second language acquisition while the study of second language acquisition requires a change of paradigm that involves the social and cultural views of language and literacy learning. Within the context of this analysis, the paradigm in question includes the conception of literacy processes based on the ideas of identity, subjectivity, and agency. This study used classroom observations, open interviews, and students' documents to conceptualize the literacy processes of Spanish/English learners in a bilingual K-12 school in Colombia. The data of this study indicate that students have a sense of their identity as bilingual learners. It should be remarked that the variables of these concepts greatly depend on the school culture's official first and second agenda for literacy education, which often overlooks the facts on how students understand their circumstances of being bilingual and biliterate.
TopIntroduction
First and second language literacy environments are more meaningful, if teachers allow students to unpack their identities since teachers have the aptitude to guide learners for making meaningful connections with their learning. These meaningful connections are present as long as students are able to develop their own authorial voice. That is, the right and privilege to represent themselves through their writing. Likewise, both identity and subjectivity act as a springboard where students can literally catapult their sense of agency and more importantly the ownership of their writing.
From this perspective, the purpose of the chapter is to present the results of a case study developed among young Spanish-English language learners in a K-12 bilingual school in Bogotá, Colombia. The chapter addresses some theoretical concepts as the underlying pedagogical framework for a case study based on the concepts of identity, subjectivity, and agency in these young learners’ bilingual literacy processes. The main reasons for researching bilingual literacy through these three concepts are (1) to problematize the reductionist technocratic idea of literacy in the current lockstep curriculum of standardized education in Colombia and (2) to advocate a conception of literacy that includes the social and cultural dimensions of their main participants, who are the students.
The chapter begins with a background empirical research on the concepts of identity, subjectivity, and agency. For the next phase, it discusses the theoretical concepts that supported the research process since this is a project about education. The following section describes the case study used in this study, the research site, and research activities. The chapter follows with the analyses of the research concepts against participants’ literacy views with an attempt to conceptualize literacy processes through the perspective of identity, subjectivity, and agency. The chapter ends with scholarly conclusions about the role of identity, subjectivity and agency when writers perform their work, which range from the quintessential after-the-holidays compositions to full-fledged academic papers.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Lemke: Is a researcher about the role of culture and society in human learning regarding the concept of communication.
Second Language Learning: The process of becoming proficient in a language that is different than the native language.
Symbolic Mediation: The process of transforming natural behavior into cognitive processes to understand and learn about the world.
Social Constructivism: Lev Vigotysky’s (1978) perspective on how knowledge was developed through active engagement within the social context through social interactions.
Bakhtin: A Russian literary theorist and language philosopher, whose theories have been used to understand the intricate relationship between writers, their work, and their audience.
Karen Watson Gegeo: An Emerita Professor at UC Davies School of Education, who is an advocate for the recognition of rights of marginalized communities such as the indigenous people and immigrants.
Dialogism: Bakthin’s (1975) theory regarding the fact that reading is never a static process and readers are not in the hands the author despite the fact that a writer discloses his/her voice.