“We about to be real”… “Literacy is everywhere”… “Ya somos expertos”: Documenting and learning from families’ language and literacy practices
type: CreativeWork
description: This dissertation documented and explored the ways in which marginalized families participating in a Two-Way-Immersion (TWI) program enacted their language and literacy practices in home and community contexts. In this study I problematize how schooling, even via “additive” programs such as TWI, are no exception to the demand and deficit views placed on marginalized families (Avineri, Johnson, Brice-Heath, McCarty, Ochs, Kremer-Sadlik, Blum, Zentella, Rosa, Flores, & Alim, 2015; Flores & García, 2017; Chaparro, 2019). I used three main frameworks to reveal how schooling practices are dominant in home and community contexts yet do not prevent families’ unique practices from manifesting. By investigating the phenomenon from three frameworks: family literacy (Taylor, 1983; Compton-Lilly, 2003; Zentella, 2005), pedagogies of the home (Bernal, 2002; Moll, 1992; Yosso, 2005; Smith & Murillo, 2013), and Critical Race Theory (CRT) (Ladson-Billings, 2000; Anzaldúa, 2012; Flores & Rosa, 2015). More specifically, these frameworks were used to explore how families engaged in language and literacy events in order to highlight knowledges that go unrecognized in schooling. This ethnographic case study took place in the homes and communities of three families who lived in a mid-sized, Midwestern community, near a large public university. Data was collected over two years and included a variety of data sources: audio and video recordings, semi-formal interviews, field notes, and artifacts. Data was analyzed using open coding with a critical lens. Findings showed that reflections of working-class families from various backgrounds demonstrated the dominance of schooling practices over home literacy practices, separation of languages, and raciolinguistic socialization via “languagelessness” (Chaparro, 2019; Rosa, 2019). Findings also demonstrated that families’ language and literacy practices included a range of cultural values, feelings, attitudes, and relationships that shaped and ga…
abstract: This dissertation documented and explored the ways in which marginalized families participating in a Two-Way-Immersion (TWI) program enacted their language and literacy practices in home and community contexts. In this study I problematize how schooling, even via “additive” programs such as TWI, are no exception to the demand and deficit views placed on marginalized families (Avineri, Johnson, Brice-Heath, McCarty, Ochs, Kremer-Sadlik, Blum, Zentella, Rosa, Flores, & Alim, 2015; Flores & García, 2017; Chaparro, 2019). I used three main frameworks to reveal how schooling practices are dominant in home and community contexts yet do not prevent families’ unique practices from manifesting. By investigating the phenomenon from three frameworks: family literacy (Taylor, 1983; Compton-Lilly, 2003; Zentella, 2005), pedagogies of the home (Bernal, 2002; Moll, 1992; Yosso, 2005; Smith & Murillo, 2013), and Critical Race Theory (CRT) (Ladson-Billings, 2000; Anzaldúa, 2012; Flores & Rosa, 2015). More specifically, these frameworks were used to explore how families engaged in language and literacy events in order to highlight knowledges that go unrecognized in schooling. This ethnographic case study took place in the homes and communities of three families who lived in a mid-sized, Midwestern community, near a large public university. Data was collected over two years and included a variety of data sources: audio and video recordings, semi-formal interviews, field notes, and artifacts. Data was analyzed using open coding with a critical lens. Findings showed that reflections of working-class families from various backgrounds demonstrated the dominance of schooling practices over home literacy practices, separation of languages, and raciolinguistic socialization via “languagelessness” (Chaparro, 2019; Rosa, 2019). Findings also demonstrated that families’ language and literacy practices included a range of cultural values, feelings, attitudes, and relationships that shaped and ga…
author: Presiado, Vivian Elizabeth
language: en
keywords: Family literacy, Pedagogies of the Home, Critical Race Theory (CRT), Raciolinguistics, bilingual education, Two-Way-Immersion (TWI), dual language programs.
date published: 2020-08-27T00:51:24Z
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:24:48Z
provider: University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/108314