Eriel Knight Guofang Lis Family Literacy ENGL 1101 Debratti Dutta

Aspects of Literacy
Yang Li was a five year old boy discovering literacy through the education of his parents and teachers in a contrasting culture he was not familiar with. A researcher investigated his literacy practices and interactions and placed those under four categories: literacy opportunity, literacy instruction, cooperation and socio-emotional quality. Yangs direct exposure with print and media as well as his parent observation would describe his literacy opportunity. With access to bookshelves with readings in different languages, a world map to learn geography, alphabet letters, cartoons and movies including the captioning, libraries and even shopping trips enabled his opportunity to gain knowledge through physical aspects. Literacy instruction is defined as the direct or indirect guidance provided through literacy activities. Since Yang had only attended schooling in China for such a brief period his parents insisted he incorporated both the English and Chinese language through his study. They created flashcards and parent-child read several childrens books by using pictures to discover word meaning. This joint literacy activity kept Yang actively engaged in his learning process. Active participation in Yangs literacy events resembles his literacy cooperation. Sandwich English or English words proceeded and followed by Chinese words a typical game played by Yang and his mother was a routine mother-son activity reflects his mothers active role in her sons home literacy cooperation. Although reading books and learning words seems to be a strictly educational practice, her involvement in his learning was fun and also a bonding experience for the two. The

last factor of Yangs aspects of literacy would be socio-emotional quality. This term refers to the bond between parent and child pressures from home and school that may affect the childs well-being. Cultural differences and social integration hindered Yang from expressing himself. Lost between his English and Chinese background as well as being a lonely child using toys as friend/sibling substitution, Yang was under a lot of pressure to exceed his parent expectations. His father set high standards for him and Yang began to doubt his ability to stay ahead of his game. His frustration made him more enthusiastic with his study and gave him an increased interest in his English and Chinese background. Growing up in the streets and living in the dangerous and cruel world of poverty was not the life I had chosen for myself. I prefer to discuss my home literacy domain as a child than now as it contains a more detailed preview of how I gained my literacy today. Born to a single mother who worked 9-5 on a daily basis I was raised amongst the sneaky and conniving neighbors I was surrounded with. Although my neighborhood was considered the ghetto School Busing Policies enabled me to attend Classical school. We wore uniforms, khaki or navy blue pants with white t-shirts. We began class with the pledge of allegiance and followed a strict schooling routine. Beginning with kindergarten I was strongly encouraged by my teachers to take advantage of the many books on the shelves, computer operated learning games, crayons and pencils to write, picture magazines and occasional television series such as Dora the Explorer. This literacy opportunity had a strong impact on my ability to read and comprehend material. I only had one sibling much older than I while my mother was away at work and she had little to offer with my school help. Back at home when school was out I would continue to watch the educational television shows I had known from school being that not many books were in my home. We had one or two dictionaries from my mothers college days which were of no interest

to me and perhaps a bible. Although my mother had not been present often throughout my literacy practices she took certain measures to make sure I was having a sufficient amount of schooling and study. She took note of how much homework I had and my progress reports and report cards to be sure I was completing and understanding the material. She would cut the television off making sure I had done my work first and on the weekends she would review the work I had previously learned. This was her way of my literacy instruction. We never read books together or completed my homework as a group affair. Despite my mothers absence in my learning process my literacy cooperation came from actively engaging in school activity. I took initiative and participated in Reading Rocks events, community service events, Quiz Bowl, Science Olympiad and other educational teams and groups. I refused to become the illiterate individuals in my neighborhood. I refused to be the thief or the prostitute down the street so I kept my distance from home as long as I could; however, my socio-emotional quality was greatly influenced from my home environment. Being alone quite often I had not encountered a loving family experience. In school I was suspended and expelled often due to my quick temper and attitude issues. Once I had pushed one of my peers into a wall of crates. My home environment was incorporated with my ill-behavior and violent tendencies. I knew if I continued in this manner my education would be ruined. I slowly but surely learned to control my anger and become a more tolerant child. That was the most significant milestone in my literacy process.