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Multicultural Issues in Literacy Research and Practice 1st
Edition Arlette Ingram Willis Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Arlette Ingram Willis, Georgia Earnest Garcia, Rosalinda B.
Barrera, Violet J. Harris
ISBN(s): 9780805832419, 0805832416
Edition: 1
File Details: PDF, 22.57 MB
Year: 2002
Language: english
Multicultural Issues in Literacy
Research and Practice
This page intentionally left blank
Multicultural Issues in Literacy
Research and Practice

Edited by

Arlette Ingram Willis

Georgia Earnest Garcia
Rosalinda B. Barrera
Violet J. Harris
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

lE!l
2003
LAWRENCE ERLBAUM ASSOCIATES, PUBLISHERS
Mahwah, New Jersey London
Copyright 0 2003 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced
in any form, by photostat, microform, retrieval system, or any
other means, without prior written permission of the publisher.

Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers

10 Industrial Avenue
Mahwah, NJ 07430

Cover design by Kathryn Houghtaling Lacey

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Multicultural issues in literacy research and practice /

edited by Arlette Ingram Willis . . . [et al.].
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN o-8058-3240-8 (cloth : alk. paper) - ISBN o-8058-3241-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Literacy-Social aspects-United States. 2. Multicultural education-United States.
I. Willis, Arlette Ingram.

LC151 .M85 2002

370.117---&21 2001054845
CIP

Books published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates are printed on acid-free paper,

and their bindings are chosen for strength and durability.

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
 Contents

Preface vii

Introduction: Giving Voice to Multicultural

Literacy Research and Practice 1
Georgia Eames t Garcia

Finding Esmerelda’s Shoes: A Case Study

of a Young Bilingual Child’s Responses to Literature 11
Eurydice Bouchereau Bauer

Examining Children’s Biliteracy in the Classroom 29

Joel Dworin

Headwoman’s Blues: Small Group Reading

and the Interactions of Culture, Gender, and Ability 49
Shuaib J. Meacham

Fostering Collaboration Between Home and School

Through Curriculum Development: Perspectives
of Three Appalachian Children 69
Rosary L&k, LuNette Dellinger, and Richard Druggish
vi CONTENTS

5 Telling the People’s Stories: Literacy Practices

and Processes in a Navajo Community School 101
Teresa L. McCarty and Galena Sells Dick

6 Multicultural Views of Literacy Learning and Teaching 123

Lee Gunderson and Jim Anderson

7 Spanish in Latin0 Picture Storybooks in English:

Its Use and Textual Effects 145
Rosalinda B. Barrera, Ruth E. Quiroa, and Rebeca Valdivia

8 From the Mountain to the Mesa:

Scaffolding Preservice Teachers’ Knowledge
About the Cultural Contexts of Literacy 167
Sally M. Oran

9 English as a Second Language, Literacy Development

in Mainstream Classrooms: Application of a Model
for Effective Practice 185
Diane M. Truscott and Susan Watts-Taffe

10 Assessing and Assisting Performance of Diverse Learners:

A View of Responsive Teaching in Action 203
Robert Rueda and Erminda Garcia

11 The Implementation of a Multicultural Literacy

Program in Fourth- and Fifth-Grade Classrooms 223
Margaret A. Moore-Hart, Barbara J. Diamond,
and John R. Knapp

12 Pitfalls and Potential: Multicultural Literature

and Teacher Study Groups 263
Frances A. Levin, Michael W. Smith,
and Dorothy S. Strickland

Afterword 289
Arlette Ingram Willis and Violet J. Harris

Author Index 297

Subject Index 30.5

 Preface

This book grew out of our desire to inform and broaden understanding
concerning the intersection and complexity of multicultural issues in lit-
eracy research and practice. We have gathered together a distinctive set
of writings that focus on issues of difference in the field of literacy. The
diverse group of authors raises issues that often are overlooked and un-
dervalued in literacy education. Our book is aimed at a wide audience
that includes literacy researchers, teacher educators, preservice and in-
service teachers, and policymakers.
Each fall throughout our nation a new crop of eager undergraduates
enters the field of education seeking to become the nation’s schoolteach-
ers. Many of these students hail from very homogeneous suburban life-
styles and are representative of the typical education undergraduates, Eu-
ropean American, middle-class, English-speaking, able-bodied, and
female. In addition, each fall a new class of graduate students enters pro-
fessional schools seeking to expand their knowledge of educational issues
and practices. We have found that both groups, generally, bring little un-
derstanding of multicultural issues in literacy research and practice.
Moreover, they often resist when presented with information that would
assist them in connecting multicultural issues and literacy research and
practice. Yet, we also know that both groups are likely to face increasing
numbers of students of color in their classrooms.
Although literacy research in the United States has existed for more
than a century, we are alarmed to discover that in the Zlst century there
 ...
Vlll PREFACE

are many students and classroom teachers who have not read research on
multicultural issues in literacy. Much like the Colorforms used by chil-
dren at play, in which thin pieces of lightly colored plastic are peeled on
and off a background storyboard, notions of difference often are men-
tioned to “cover” the topic, but not to address root issues in theory, re-
search, and practice. There appears to be a pattern in literacy research
that marginalizes cultural and linguistic needs of children of color.
We note that the tendency of researchers in the field not to embrace
and deconstruct these issuescontinues. For example, current national re-
search reviews and initiatives continue to downplay the importance of
addressing cultural and linguistic difference. It is our position that discus-
sions on research and practices that specifically address the literacy needs
of children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are
missing.
In this volume, we attempt to reverse the pattern of marginalizing
these issues.We explore multicultural issues in research and practice in-
formed by researchers of diverse backgrounds who address the literacy
and linguistic needs of children of color. We have organized the chapters
so that the first three explore the complex relation among culture, lan-
guage, literacy, and identity. The next four chapters describe and evalu-
ate the development and implementation of curricula, assessments,and
materials for students from diverse linguistic, cultural, and racial back-
grounds. The last five chapters focus on preservice and in-service teach-
ers as well as teacher education issues related to the implementation of
multicultural literacies. Thus, the chapters in this volume offer a fresh
perspective that (a) explores the complex relation among culture, lan-
guage, literacy, and identity; (b) describes and evaluates the development
and implementation of curricula, assessments,and materials for students
from diverse linguistic, cultural, and racial backgrounds; and (c) focuses
on preservice and in-service teachers and teacher education issues re-
lated to the implementation of multicultural literacies.
 INTRODUCTION
Giving Voice to Multicultural
Literacy Research and Practice
Georgia Earnest Garcia
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Our society increasingly is becoming more diverse. According to the U.S.

Census Bureau, by the year 2020 more than 37% of the U.S. population
will be Latina/o, African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Native
American. Yet, the literacy field has been relatively slow to embrace this
diversity. Multicultural perspectives still have not made a significant im-
pact on the research canon, national research reports, national and state
educational decision making, or classroom instruction (Au, 2000; Garcia,
Willis, 6r Harris, 1998; Gee, 1999; Willis 6r Harris, 2000). This volume
confronts this situation by giving voice to the work of researchers and
teacher educators, and the participants in their studies, who strive to en-
act multicultural literacy research and practice.
Various definitions of multicultural literacy have been proposed (Bar-
rera, 1992; Garcia 6r Willis, 2001; Harris & Willis, 2002). Most advo-
cates of multicultural literacy reject neoclassical views (Tollefson, 1991)
of literacy that emphasize the mental processesand mechanics involved
in an individual’s reading and writing acquisition, instruction, and per-
formance in favor of literacy views that are socially, culturally, and idea,
logically constructed (Lankshear & McLaren, 1993). In this view, literacy
is not a universal or neutral construct devoid of cultural and political in-
fluences. Rather, the cultural, political, historical, and economic realities
that shape students’ literacy acquisition, instruction, assessment,and per-
formance are investigated, acknowledged, and incorporated into theory
2 GARCIA

and practice (Freire & Macedo, 1987; Giroux, 1993). Due to the varia-
tion inherent in such realities, the term multicultural literacies often is
used to reflect the different cultural meanings and multiple forms of liter-
acy that exist (Courts, 1997; Gee, 1999; The New London Group, 1996).
Similar to what has happened in the field of multicultural education
(Banks, 1997; Sleeter & Grant, 1987), there is considerable variation in
how the field of multicultural literacies has been interpreted and imple-
mented. Some educators assume they have implemented multicultural
literacies when they introduce texts written about diverse cultural groups
into their classroom instruction (for critiques, see Barrera, 1992; Harris,
1993). Others view literacy acquisition, instruction, and performance
from a sociocultural perspective. Informed by Lev Vygotsky (Mall, 1990;
Wertsch, 1985), this theory asserts that children initially develop their
understanding of literacy through their observations and participation
with others in social settings. Children then internalize their understand-
ing, mentally creating cognitive structures on which they can later draw
for future application. The cultural and social settings through which
children acquire and develop their literacy affect their literacy under-
standings, practices, and attitudes (John-Steiner, Panofsky, & Smith,
1994; Tharp & Gallimore, 1988). Researchers and educators in the field
of multicultural literacies who subscribe to a sociocultural theory of liter-
acy embrace culturally responsive literacy pedagogies that build on and
extend children’s cultural and social experiences with literacy (Au, 1998;
Moll & Gonzalez, 1994; Trueba, Jacobs, 6 &ton, 1990).
Another perspective, sometimes held in conjunction with a socio-
cultural perspective, is that of critical literacy. Critical literacy has its roots
in critical theory (Garcia 6r Willis, 2001), and requires a historical ap-
praisal of hegemonic literacy policies and practices. Paulo Freire’s (1970)
work in Brazil, with his emphasis on getting oppressed people to “read the
world” as they learned to “read the word,” has been a cornerstone of this
perspective. Henry Giroux (1993) explained that critical literacy involves
raising participants’ consciousness by making them aware of others’ experi-
ences (current and past), causing them to reflect on their own experiences,
and motivating them to take action to confront and dismantle inequity in
literacy definitions, purposes, practices, and policies.
Garcia and Willis (2001) argued that if the full import of multicultural
literacies is to be understood and influential, then the following are neces-
sary: a complex understanding of culture and its relation to literacy, a
strong commitment to social justice, a transformative mission, and imple-
mentation of the emancipatory paradigm. Rosalinda Barrera (1992)
INTRODUCTION: RESEARCH AND PRACTICE 3

pointed out that literacy is a set of practices that develops to meet the
needs of a particular culture or cultural group. As a result, literacy embod-
ies cultural meanings according to the cultural contexts that help to shape
its manifestations. This variation occurs both within a single culture and
between cultures. Therefore, the educational community needs to under-
stand how dynamic cultural forces both within and between cultures shape
the forms, purposes, and meanings of literacy; literacy access, instruction,
and assessment; literacy goals, motivation, and identities; and the use of
literacy to construct and further knowledge (Garcia &a Willis, 2001).
A commitment to social justice and an enactment of the transform-
ative mission not only should be informed by what is known about cul-
ture and literacy, but also should occur in tandem. According to Garcia
and Willis (2001)) a commitment to social justice requires critical self-
examination and reflection on the economic, historical,- social, and politi-
cal forces that have resulted in students’ differential literacy acquisition
and performance. Educators, researchers, and policymakers need to in-
vestigate and confront the historical and political forces that have shaped
the literacy experiences of diverse groups (Harris & Willis, 2002; Willis
& Harris, 1997). In the words of Patrick Courts (1997)) they should “re-
cover that knowledge which we choose not to know” (p. 135). Informed
by critical literacy (Freire & Macedo, 1987; Giroux, 1993)) the trans-
formative mission involves changing how literacy has been interpreted,
taught, researched, and used so that it helps to create a more just society.
In terms of instruction, a commitment to social justice and a trans-
formative mission means offering students problem-solving opportunities
that raise their consciousness, empower them, and enable them to use lit-
eracy to confront inequities and the tensions that diversity creates in
their daily lives (We& 1998). To do this, educators should reflect on
both the content and process aspects of literacy instruction. Hilda Her-
nandez (1989) explained that content refers to the curriculum or the lit--
eracy materials, instructional activities, and literacy tasks that generally
are visible to an observer, whereas, process refers to how the curriculum
is enacted or aspects of instruction that often are hidden. The latter in-
cludes how teachers interact with students, their attitudes and expecta-
tions, and the messages that teachers send about what is valued and who
may participate. In addition, educators need to remember that the in-
structional context is situated within and affected by larger cultural con-
texts, such as the school, community, and society (Schulman, 1986).
These contexts also need to be interrogated and taken into account in
the development of transformative curricula.
4 GARCIA

Finally, researchers and policy makers need to implement an emanci-

patory paradigm. Donna Mertens (1998) explained that an emancipatory
paradigm involves

directly address[ing] the politics in research by confronting social oppres-

sion at whatever level it occurs, , . . go[ing] beyond the issue of the power-
ful sharing power with the powerless and relinquish[ing] control of the re-
search to the marginalized group. (p. 15)

An emancipatory paradigm includes the perspectives of the researched,

not only through the choice of topics and participants, but also through
the acknowledgment and heralding of the work and voices of those re-
searchers from the very groups being studied.
In this volume, we have allowed the voices of researchers and partici-
pants from diverse groups who portray varied dimensions of multicultural
literacies to be heard. A common theme throughout the chapters is “an
emphasis on the manner in which elements of difference-race or ethnic-
ity, gender, class, language, sexual preference-create dynamic tensions
that influence literacy access, acquisition, instruction, performance, or as-
sessment” (Garcia, Willis, & Harris, 1998, p. 183). We have organized
the chapters so that the first three explore the complex relation among
culture, language, literacy, and identity. The next four chapters describe
and evaluate the development and implementation of curricula, assess-
ments, and materials for students from diverse linguistic, cultural, and ra-
cial backgrounds. The last five chapters focus on pre-service and in-
service teachers and teacher education issues related to the implementa-
tion of multicultural literacies.
The first set of chapters explores how the literacy development and
performance of individual children are affected by their cultural and lin-
guistic identities and the social contexts in which these identities are em-
bedded. In the first chapter, Eurydice Bouchereau Bauer uses a case study
to examine a young bilingual (German-English) preschooler’s responses
to different genres of literature. She focuses on the child’s responses to
literature read in each language, her use of code-switching in her re-
sponses, and the role that different genres play in the child’s responses.
Bauer’s chapter helps to debunk deficit myths about young bilingual chil-
dren’s code-switching and reveals the complexity involved in bilingual/
tricultural children’s identity construction and responses to literature.
Joel Dworin describes a primary-age Spanish English, Mexican Ameri-
can child’s biliterate performance in Spanish and English. His chapter
INTRODUCTION: RESEARCH AND PRACTICE 5

shows how the teacher helps to create an additive environment, in which

Spanish and English literacy both are valued, and how this environment
helps the child to further demonstrate his biliteracy.
Shuaib Meacham moves beyond specific cultural groups to look at a
multicultural classroom in which childre
n from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds work together. He
uses Murray’s (1970) “bl ues idiom” and a jazz metaphor to examine the
intersecting relations among cultural norms, gender, reading ability, and
small group work. Meacham shows how cultural and gendered norms,
along with perceived reading ability, can influence students’ enactment
of their roles in small group instruction. Meacham’s analysis identifies
gender and cultural issuesof which teachers need to be aware when they
try to empower students whose voices have been silenced.
The second set of chapters addressescurricula, assessments,and mate-
rials from the perspectives of specific cultural, linguistic, and/or racial
groups. Rosary Lalik, LaNette Dellinger, and Richard Druggish present
case studies of three Appalachian children to illustrate the cultural rele-
vance of a literacy curriculum on Appalachian culture that is informed by
a sociocultural perspective on learning and the concept of multiliteracies
(The New London Group, 1996). Th eir rich portrayals of the children’s
literacy experiences and reflections highlight aspects of Appalachian cul-
ture that often are overlooked. They also show how the curriculum inte-
grated family and school literacy activities so students comfortably and
confidently displayed their family knowledge in the school setting.
Teresa McCarty and Galena Sells Dick’s chapter focuses on a different
setting, the Rough Rock School in the Navajo Nation. In presenting the
bilingual-bicultural literacy materials and practices that have been effec-
tive in this setting, they take a postcolonial stance that examines histori-
cally oppressive practices. They illustrate how teachers from the Navajo
Nation became empowered to develop their own assessmentsand curric-
ulum through critical literacy and collaborative participation in socially
meaningful events, such as summer literature camps for the elders, teach-
ers, parents, and children, and study groups for the teachers. With this
empowerment came the opportunity to co-construct knowledge and
transform attitudes.
In a chapter that combines ethnographic and survey findings, Lee
Gunderson and Jim Anderson report immigrant parents’ reactions to the
whole-language literacy curriculum and assessmentpractices being used
in British Columbia, Canada. They show how a particular curriculum can
reflect the values of the larger community, but be in conflict with the val-
ues of smaller communities. In this case, immigrant parents from Hong
6 GARCIA

Kong, Taiwan, and the Punjab in India are more comfortable with a
transmission view of learning and literacy than with a sociocultural view.
How to resolve the problem is not so clear.
Rosalinda B. Barrera, Ruth E. Quiroa, and Rebeca Valdivia examine
the increased presence of Spanish in Latin0 picture storybooks, which are
written in English. They conduct a literary analysis of three popular La-
tino picture storybooks to ascertain how well the authors have addressed
the needs of two audiences: bilingual-bicultural Spanish-English readers
and monolingual-monocultural English readers. Although they conclude
that the use of Spanish in English books can enhance Latin0 character-
ization and settings, they warn that how Spanish is used can be problem-
atic, especially from the perspective of Spanish-language readers. They
look forward to the day when Spanish will be used effectively to
strengthen the literary quality of Latin0 children’s books in English.
The last group of chapters focuses on teachers and teacher education
efforts related to multicultural literacies. Sally Oran’s chapter looks at
how a teacher-researcher collaboration, which involved the sharing of
letters between Anglo, monolingual, pre-service teachers and predomi-
nantly Navajo, bilingual students, resulted in mutual learning and the ex-
emplification of “third-space” theory and pedagogy (Gutierrez, Baque-
dano-Lopez, & Turner, 1997). She reports that the pre-service teachers
not only were confronted with new ideas about how culture influences
teaching, but also were forced to reflect on how their participation in the
dominant, monolingual culture privileged their writing performance com-
pared with that of the Navajo students.
Diane Truscott and Susan Watts examine the type of English-as-a-
second-language (ESL) literacy instruction provided in an instructional
setting often ignored, the all-English classroom. First, they present a
model of effective ESL literacy practices. Next, they use this model to
evaluate how general teachers instruct ESL students. Their results em-
phasize the importance of providing general classroom teachers with ad-
ditional professional development in ESL literacy instruction.
Robert Rueda and Erminda Garcia explore how well a researcher-
teacher collaboration empowered bilingual teachers to implement respon-
sive teaching, a literacy approach informed by a sociocultural perspective.
They define responsive teaching as teachers’ use of ongoing classroom as-
sessments to identify individual student needs and their use of this infor-
mation to change or modify their literacy instruction accordingly. Rueda
and Garcia contend that the teachers’ beliefs about bilingualism, literacy,
and assessment influenced how well they were able to implement respon-
INTRODUCTION: RESEARCH AND PRACTICE 7

sive teaching. Their findings highlight important issues that teacher edu-
cators and researchers should take into account when they attempt to
implement multicultural literacy approaches.
Margaret A. Moore-Hart, Barbara J. Diamond, and John R. Knapp de-
scribe and evaluate teachers’ implementation of a multicultural literacy
program with fourth- and fifth-grade students. Although the use of multi-
cultural literature and literature-based instruction often has been pro-
posed, very rarely have researchers actually tested the effectiveness of
such a program in terms of students’ reading and vocabulary test perform-
ance. In this case, the authors not only describe the program and discuss
the efficacy of the professional development component, but they also
compare the cultural attitudes as well as the reading and vocabulary test
performance of students who participated in the program with those who
did not.
The volume concludes with a chapter written by Frances Levin, Mi-
chael Smith, and Dorothy Strickland. Their investigation of a reader re-
sponse approach, which involved getting pre-service and in-service
teachers to read multicultural literature and discuss it in small groups,
shows the difficulty of getting teachers to change hegemonic attitudes
when no direction or confrontation occurs. Although both sets of teach-
ers reported that they furthered their cultural awareness and benefited
from the study group formats much more than by participating in other
types of professional development activities, they really did not develop
“ethical respect” (Downie & Tefler, 1970). The authors wonder whether
the emphasis within reader response on the reader’s personal experiences
might
- have interfered with the teachers’ ability to give “equal worth” to
individuals from backgrounds different from their own, put aside their
own biases, and/or recognize how society’s rules and norms differentially
affect diverse groups.
Collectively, the chapters in this volume reflect the different ways in
which the field of multicultural literacies has been interpreted. The au-
thors are scholars who actively have examined, and continue to examine,
the intersection of difference and literacy as praxis , By bringing together
the voices of researchers and teacher educators who work in the field of
multicultural literacies, we maximize the opportunity for their voices, and
those of their participants, to be heard. As many of the authors indicate,
there still is much work to be done in the field of multicultural literacies.
We hope that readers will build on the experiences and findings that we
have presented so that the field of multicultural literacies will have a
greater impact on literacy research, policy, and practice.
8 GARCIA

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 1
Finding Esmerelda’s Shoes:
A Case Study of a
Young Bilingual Child’s
Responses to Literature
Eurydice Bouchereau Bauer
Uniwersity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Reader response to literature is a well-studied phenomenon. Research

studies in this area have delineated five theoretical perspectives on reader
response (Beach, 1993): textual responses (Eco, 1990; Rabinowitz, 1987),
experiential responses (Hoffner & Cantor, 1991; Langer, 1992; Rosen-
blatt, 1983)) psychological responses (Appleyard, 1990)) social responses
(Beach & Brown, 1986; Fish, 1980), and cultural responses (Giroux &
Simon, 1989; Schweickart, 1986).
Reader response in the classroom typically privileges literary theorists
such as Rosenblatt (1938, 1983). From this perspective, meaning does
not reside in the text or with the author, but emerges from the reader’s
transaction with the text. More recently, researchers interested in
Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory have investigated how various contexts
(social, cultural, and linguistic) help to shape the reader’s responses (Har-
ris 6r Rosales, 1998; Willis, 1997). From this sociocultural perspective, it
is important to understand the readers’ position culturally and historically
in order to understand their responses to text (Brock & Gavelek, 1998).
Most studies examining reader response have focused on school-age
children and adults rather than preschoolers. Little research has been
done on the responses of preschool bilinguals. Studies on monolinguals
suggest that very young children’s responses to literature are shaped by
their experiences with literature. Specifically, adults shape the developing
literacy of children through their interactions during read-alouds (Heath,
1983; Martinez, 1983; Roser 6r Martinez, 1985; Sulzby, 1985). Parents

11
12 BAUER

shape children’s responses through the strategies they use. According to

Pelligrini, Perlmutter, Galda and Brody (1990), parents’ strategies are
linked to the type of text (narrative or expository) being read.
Although little is known about the type of responsesthat preschoolers
give to literature, a great deal is known about other aspects of their early
literacy development. Researchers agree that in the process of becoming
readers and writers, preschoolers practice what it is to be literate (Sulzby,
1991). Specifically, they engage in emergent readings of favorite books,
during which they turn pages, attend to pictures, and “retell” remem-
bered versions of the text (Cochran-Smith, 1984). These emergent read-
ers use strategies that are influenced by factors such as personal experi-
ence (Neuman 6r Roskos, 1992), amount of exposure to text readings
(Sulzby, 1985)) and textual factors: predictability, complexity, and genre
(Martinez & Teale, 1988; Pappas & Brown, 1989). Elster (1994) found
that preschoolers use strategies in their reading, which involve importing
information from various sources: pictures, experience, previous readings,
and other texts. Importations refer to “propositions related to, but not a
paraphrase or rendition of, the text-explicit content of books being read”
(Elster, 1998, p. 234).Th us, students’ importations may provide a window
into connections they make between a specific aspect of the text and
their world experiences.
The term genre, as it is used in the response literature, refers to specific
categories used to classify texts (Cullinan 6r Galda, 1998): poetry and
verse, folklore, fantasy, science fiction, realistic fiction, historical fiction,
biography, and nonfiction. Children’s literature also can be divided by lit-
erary form (narratives and nonnarratives) and by format (i.e., picture
books). Researchers who have investigated children’s preference for nar-
rative versus nonnarrative texts have found that grade school children
typically prefer narrative texts (Baker & Stein, 1981). This preference
seems to be influenced by children’s greater experience with narrative
texts (Baker & Stein, 1981; Baumann, 1981).
Some researchers have investigated the types of narratives that chil-
dren prefer. Robinson, Larsen, Haupt, and Mohlman (1997) found that
the genre and subgenre of books (alphabet or number, information, real-
istic fiction, traditional fantasy, and modern fantasy) influenced pre-
schoolers’ and kindergartners’ selection and reselection of those texts for
reading. Children in their study repeatedly selected traditional and mod-
ern fantasy books over other genres and subgenres (alphabet or number,
information, and realistic fiction books). The subgenre of alphabet or
number books and the genre of informational books were the least se-
lected by the students.
1. FINDING ESMERELDA’SSHOES 13

Crago (1993) provided in part a possible explanation for the impor-

tance of fantasy to preschoolers. According to Crago, the ways that very
young children respond to fantasy books are linked to their developmen-
tal need for fantasy play such as “pretending.” Therefore, preschoolers’
preference for the genre of fantasy is not arbitrary. In contrast to the
study by Robinson et al. (1997), Lehr (1988) investigated the responses
of kindergartners to realistic fiction and folktales and found that students
had a better sense of theme for the genre of realistic fiction. Lehr con-
cluded that realistic fiction mirrors experiences familiar to the students,
which explains their better-developed senseof theme within that genre.
Crago’s (1993) documentation of her daughter’s emerging understand-
ing of the fantastic during the reading of various fantasy stories provides a
child-centered perspective on the early development of a specific reader’s
responsewithin the genre of fantasy. Few studies to date take this type of
detailed perspective on reader response for monolinguals or bilinguals.
What is clearly missing in the responseliterature is a better understanding
of the type of responsesthat preschoolers (monolinguals and bilinguals) ex-
hibit during their interactions with different types of storybooks. To date,
no research studies exist that clearly address the responsesof preschool
bilinguals. Bilinguals bring with them their languages,which are embedded
in their social and cultural experiences. The way in which the linguistic
and cultural aspectsof the reader influence their responsesneeds to be well
understood as we attempt to define further the transaction between the
reader and the text. This is especially important because schools are
charged with meeting the early literacy needs of a growing number of bilin-
gual students. Early literacy educators must have a clear understanding of
reader responsein general, and of bilinguals’ reading responsesto face the
challenge of educating all our children.
The current study documented the responsesof a bilingual preschooler to
specific picture books. The format of the picture books was central to the in-
vestigation (realistic fiction, fantasy, and predictable books). In particular,
the study sought to understand what bilinguals bring to the story reading
event. In addition, the study investigated whether the languagein which the
books are read to the child influences the responsesgiven to the texts.

METHODS

Context of the Study

The following case study focuses on the literature responsesof a 2-year-
old, Elena, who was raised as an English and German bilingual from birth.
This study is part of a larger ongoing study designed to capture Elena’s in-
14 BAUER

teractions with English and German speakers during literacy, play, and
other activities. The reported findings are based on shared readings with
Elena from the age of 2 years to the age of 2 years and 8 months.

Language Context. Since Elena’s birth, her mother, the re-

searcher, has read to her in English. Her father, a native German speaker,
has read to her in German. Both of her parents follow the une personne
me iizngue (one person one language) rule (Ronjat, 19 13). Elena’s mother
speaks to her exclusively in English, and her father speaks to her exclu-
sively in German. Elena is aware of the fact that her mother understands
the German spoken in the home. In addition to her parents, Elena’s
daycare provider, who is also a native German speaker, also reads to her
in German. All of the adults communicate to each other in English.
Elena is encouraged to speak only in English with her mother and only
in German with her father and uu pair. Although Elena is addressed in
English or German, she is exposed to other languages. Elena’s mother was
born in Haiti and speaks French and French creole. Elena is never ad-
dressed in the French or French Creole, but she is aware of these lan-
guages. That is, she knows that grandma (Elena’s maternal grandmother)
and her mom often speak in one of these languages. In addition, Elena’s
dad also speaks French, and on rare occasions speaks it to Elena’s mater-
nal grandmother.

Materials and Procedures

Responses to three books are the focus of these analyses. The three books
were chosen from a corpus of 49 books read to Elena. The three books
chosen for this study, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (Mar-
tin, 1970)) Where the Wild Things Are (Sendak, 1963)) and Black, White,
Just White (Davol, 1993) emerged as favorites that Elena requested fre-
quently during the 8-month period. In addition, the three books were
chosen because they allowed for examination of Elena’s responses across
different types of picture books. The books were read to her either before
her naptime or before her bedtime. Each session was videotaped.
The book Broevn Bear, Broevn Bear, What Do You See? is a highly pre-
dictable and structured picture book. A simple pattern is established early
in the text and repeated throughout the book. In each case, an animal is
named and asked what it sees. The animal provides an answer, and then
the animal seen by the first animal is asked the same question. For exam-
ple, the book begins with “Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see? I
1. FINDING ESMERELDA’SSHOES 15

see a red bird looking at me.” This is followed by, “Red bird, red bird,
what do you see? I see a yellow duck looking at me.” This pattern is fol-
lowed throughout the story. Therefore, once a child recognizes and un-
derstands the pattern, it is very easy for the child to follow along or join
in the reading: The pictures support the text and provide a scaffold that
also helps the child to predict the text; if a child is unsure of which ani-
mal should follow in a sequence, he or she simply has to turn the page
and look at the picture to finish the phrase.
The book Where the Wild Thirtgs Are is a modern fantasy picture story-
book. This book tells the story of a young boy, Max, who misbehaves and
then is sent off to his room without his supper. While in his room, Max
imagines himself taking a journey to the land “where the wild things are.”
In this faraway place, Max is able to conquer the wild things and becomes
their ruler. For a short time, Max is very happy. However, he realizes that
he misses being at home and decides to journey home. The illustrations
in this text provide additional information to the story. In the middle of
the book, for example, only illustrations are used to depict Max and the
actions of the wild- things during the wild rumpus in this fantasy land.
The story is told in short poetic language that easily captures the reader’s
interest.
The book Black, mite, Just Right
- is a realistic fiction picture storybook
about a biracial family. This book follows a set pattern, but is not as pre-
dictable as Broevn Bear, Broevn Bear, What Do You See?The story is told in
the first person by a young biracial girl who describes her family and their
interests. Throughout the book, the child refers to her parents as mama
and papa. The format used always presents the mother, father, and child.
For example, the book begins by describing the mother’s features fol-
lowed by the father’s, then their daughter’s The events and descriptions
presented could be typical of any family. That is, the mother likes ballet,
kittens, African art, and vegetables. The father likes rap, Saint Bernards,
modern art, and barbecued ribs. Their daughter likes a variety of music,
all kinds of animals, Egyptian tombs, and many types of foods. Although
the content is familiar, the people in the story are unique. The family is
composed of the mother, an African American, the father, a European
American, and their daughter. The pictures are colorful and provide a
simple but candid look at this family.
As shown in Table 1.1, each of the three books was read at least four
times to Elena in both German and English. All of the books were intro-
duced to her in English by her mother. Elena has copies of Broevn Bear,
Broevn Bear, What Do You See? in both German and English. The other
16 BAUER

TABLE 1.1
Percentage of Importations per Reading Events

No. of Average No. of

Book Title Language Readings Importations per Reading

BWJR English 8 5.12

German 4 6
WTWTA English 8 0.75
German 6 0.5
BBBB English 7 1
German 7 0.71

BWJR, Black, White, Just Right; WTWTA, where the Wild Things Are; BBBB, Brown Bear,
Brown Bear, What Do You See?

two books have English texts that were translated into German by the
German readers as they read them. The texts as translated by the Ger-
man readers were compared to see how much the readings differed from
each other. Few differences were found across the readings after the sec-
ond reading. It appears that Elena’s father and her day-care provider
memorized their translated texts and repeated them each time they read
to her.

Analysis
The reading events in both German and English were transcribed by a re-
search assistant, a native German speaker. Additionally, the German
transcriptions were translated into English by the German research assis-
tant for side-by-side comparisons of the reading events. Both the German
and English reading events were coded for incidences of importations,
comments made by Elena that went beyond repeating or paraphrasing
what was in the text. The coding of the importations allowed for a closer
examination concerning the type of personal connections that Elena
made during each of the reading events. The importations were analyzed
for their source according to Elster’s (1995) categories: pictures, personal
experience, previous read-alouds, and other texts.

RESULTS

Two themes emerged from the data. Both themes centered around the
format of the books. The patterns that emerged across the texts held re-
gardless of the language in which the books were read. Elena’s responses
1. FINDING ESMERELDA’SSHOES 17

to the texts read to her were limited because of her young age. It is un-
likely that a child younger than 3 years of age will provide extensive re-
sponses to a given text.
In this section of the chapter, excerpts from book interactions are used
to illustrate certain points. The following initials are used to identify the
individuals involved in the discussion: E, Elena; D, dad; M, mom; and A,
au pair). Descriptions of adult and child actions appear in parentheses.

High Structure: Limited Importations

Echo Responses, Elena used few or no importations when she lis-
tened to structurally predictable text. Broeon Bear, Broevn Bear, K&t Do
You See? provided Elena with an opportunity to participate actively in
partner reading with the reader. Most of her responses centered around
helping the reader “read” the text, which limited her importations. For
example, she would often say the repeated phrases as the reader read
them, or she would echo them. Sometimes, anticipating what was to
come in the text, she would say it before the reader. In the following ex-
ample, Elena responded to her father’s pauses in the reading as an invita-
tion to say part of the phrase:

German Dialogue English Trunshion

D: “Brauner Bar, brauner Bar, D: “Brown bear, brown bear,
was siehst du?” (pauses) what do you see?”
E: “Baune Ba.” E: “Brown bear.”
D: “Brauner Bgr, was siehst du?” D: “Brown bear, what do you
see?”
D: Ich sehen einen D: “I see a . . .”
E: “Rote Voge.” E: “Red bird.”
D: “Roten Vogel, der mich D: “Red bird looking at me.”
anschaut.”

Intertextual Links
When reading this predictable text, Elena did not engage the readers
in discussions about the book, nor did she try to introduce any of her life
experiences into the readings. On several occasions, Elena made
intertextual links between the book Broevn Bear, Brown Bear, What Do
You See? and another similar book Polar Bear, Pobr Bear, What Do You
Hear? Both books follow the same melody and pattern. While reading
Brown Beur, Brown Bear, What Do You See? with her mother, Elena im-
18 BAUER

ported (Elster, 1995) the repeated phrase from the book Polar Bear, Polar
Bear, What Do You Hear? This importation was found in both the English
and German transcripts.

German Dialogue English Translation

D: “Gelbe Gans, gelbe Gans, D: “Yellow duck, yellow duck,
was siehst du?” what do you see?”
D: “Ich sehe . . . Was sieht die D: “I see . . . What does the
gelbe Gans?” yellow duck see?”
E: “Gebe Gans what do you E: “Yellow duck what do you
hear?” hear?”
D: “Was sieht die gelbe Gans?” D: “What does the yellow duck
see?”
E: “Gebe Gans, what do you E: “Yellow duck, what do you
hijr?” hear?”
D: “Sieht ein blaues Pferd.” D: “It sees a blue horse.”

English Dialogue
M: “Red bird, red bird, what do you see?”
M: “I see a . . . What does he see?”
E: “Red bird, what do you hear?”
M: “What does the red bird see?”
E: “I hear a yellow duck.”
M: “I see a yellow duck looking at me.”

It should be noted that Elena responded to the first question in both ex-
amples by importing the phrase “what do you hear” from the Polar Bear,
Polar Bear, What Do You Hear book. When she was questioned a second
time by her mother, she answered the question, but kept the imported
phrase. This seems to suggest that she was not attending to the meaning
cue put forth by her mother and father, but was attending to the formu-
laic phrases of the text.

Meaningful Prose: High Importations

Importations occurred most when the text was not highly predictable and
the genre of the story was most similar to her life (i.e., realistic fiction).
Realistic fiction created an entree for Elena to introduce her comparable
life experiences into the text. Black, White, Just Right, a book about a bira-
cial family with a composition similar that of Elena’s family, in which the
1. FINDING ESMERELDA’SSHOES 19

mother is African American, the father European, and the child biracial,
led to more importations (Elster, 1995) within individual readings and
across readings (Table 1.1).

Experience-Driven Responses. Many of Elena’s importations were

tied to the illustrations, but represented her personal experiences. One
type of importation was a deliberate attempt to sort out her family struc-
ture by using the pictures in the book. For example, the dedication page
in the book has a picture of the author (a European American woman)
standing between her two grandchildren (a girl and a boy). Elena noticed
the two children, but instead of making a direct connection between the
children and herself, she connected the illustration to another family
member. That is she linked her mother’s complexion to that of the au-
thor’s granddaughter:

E: “Dis (this) mommy!” (looking at the little girl)

M: “Who, the little girl?”
E: “Dis (this) mommy! ”
M: (Laughs)
E: “Dis (this) mommy, dis!”
M: “You think she looks like me? We have the same coloring.”

Elena’s attention to the dedication page is not surprising. Whenever her

mother read with her, she pointed out that the book was dedicated to the
author’s grandchildren. Elena’s connection between the picture on the
dedication page and her own family is an extension of the routine estab-
lished by her mother.
Other routines during the reading of B&k, White, Just Right clarified
the way that Elena was approaching the text. Before reading the book to
Elena, her mother would turn to the first page of the story and ask her to
label the characters in the illustrations. This activity was first initiated by
Elena and later supported by her mother. Often, when Elena’s mother
pointed to the woman, Elena said, “Dat (that is) mommy.” When she
pointed to the father, Elena said, “Daddy.” When she pointed to the little
girl, Elena said, “Dis (this is) Lena !” Although Elena recognized that
there were parent characters in the story, she clearly was identifying with
the little girl in the story.
The format of the story supported and perhaps heightened Elena’s in-
terest in the characters by introducing new information about them in a
20 BAUER

set pattern. For example, the book described the characters’ physical at-
tributes in the following way:

Black is the color of Mama’s hair, crinkling, curling around her face. Papa’s
hair is popcorn colored, short and straight and silky-smooth. My hair?
Halfway in between a dark brown ponytail tied tight. Three in the mir-
ror-we look just right!

This format made it very easy for Elena to separate the characters and
their attributes.
Elena’s strong connection with the text was further revealed during
discussions around the topic “Esmerelda shoes.” Elena had a pair of ten-
nis shoes with a picture of the Disney character, Esmerelda, on them.
The character was brown-skinned with dark black hair. This pair of shoes
was her most prized possession. From Elena’s perspective, an illustration
in the book, a mural of brown-skinned women in an old Egyptian tomb,
resembled the Esmerelda picture on her shoes. It did not matter who was
reading the book; the reader was always stopped on that page. For exam-
ple, during a reading with her mother, Elena stopped her to show her the
connection she was making.

Text: “Mama stares at African masks, curved drums, carved figures made of
wood. Papa goes for modern art, all squiggles, squares, and stretched
out shapes. My choice”
E: “Ma shoes.”
M: “Yeah.”
E: “Ma shoes!!”
M: “Yeah, she reminds you of the girl on your shoes.”
E: “Uh hum.”

Again, this example highlights Elena’s attempt to identify with the girl in
the story. Her choice, like that of the protagonist in the story, is for the
Esmerelda/Egyptian-like women.

Picture-Driven Connections. Some of Elena’s importations were

triggered by illustrations that reminded her of specific experiences with
her family. Near the end of the book, there is a picture of the father car-
rying the little girl on his shoulder. During reading sessions, Elena talked
about her own experience with her dad carrying her on his shoulder.

E: “Like Mein dahdy.” (like my daddy)

1. FINDING ESMERELDA’S SHOES 21

M: “Did your daddy put you on his shoulder?”

E: “Ja, an hoch.” (yes, and high)
M: “Were you feeling really tall?”
E: “Ja.” (yes)

Wherever Elena found a personal connection to be made with the text,

she made it and then engaged the reader in a discussion centered around
the related events. As with the preceding example, when Elena listened
to the story Black, White, Just Right, she had a tendency to use her Ger-
man with her mom when she discussed her dad. A similar pattern was
not found when Elena read with the German readers. She did not com-
ment about her experiences with her mom during those readings.

Descrip five Text Responses. Although Elena made a number of

personal connections with the book Black, White, Just Right, she did not
make the same type of connection or as many connections with the fan-
tasy book Where the Witi Things Are. Her responses during the readings
of Where the Wild Things Are were tied to the illustrations and reflect
mostly her observation of what was taking place in the story. Some of her
comments described what the characters were doing. For example, during
one of the reading sessions, she pointed to one of the wild things and
said, “He scaresyou.” This comment was directed to the main character,
Max. In addition to comments that situated her as an observer, she also
pointed out behaviors similar to her own. For example, as part of the
reading routine, the readers would describe the illustrations during the
wild rumpus. For example, during a reading with the au p&r, she read the
illustration-only pages in the following way:

Oh Lena, guck ma1wie sie tanzen! Und den Mond anbrtillen! Und an den
Bsumen hsngen und mit den F&en strampeln und einen Marsch machen,
bei dem Max auf dem Rticken sitzt auf einem der wilden Tiere.
Oh Lena, look how they are dancing. And yelling at the moon. And hang
in the trees. And kick with their feet. And are going on a march, during
which Max is sitting on the back of one of the wild animals.

There was no text on these pages, so the reader’s descriptions of the pic-
tures kept the flow of the story moving forward. On one of the wordless
pages,Max, the main character, is shown swinging in a tree. Regardlessof
the reader, whenever this page was described, Elena would say, “In mine
(my) tree swing.” According to Elena, she too enjoys swinging, especially
on her jungle gym.
22 BAUER

Elena’s other comments during the readings of Where the Wild Things
Are tended to redirect the reader’s attention to a specific detail in the il-
lustrations. For example, she would say things like “look at he (his) eyes,”
or “he funny” while pointing to one of the wild things. Although she was
interested in the illustrations, she did not want to engage the readers in a
discussion about them. If the reader attempted to sustain a discussion
about the illustrations, she would often say, “Wead” (read). Although
this text was read to Elena often in both German and English, her level of
engagement with the readers and the text was far less than with Black,
White, Just Right.

Responses Across the Text

The three books were of different interest to Elena, and she responded
accordingly. The importance Elena gave a particular book was tied in
part to the format and content of the text.
It appears that Elena approached the predictable text Broevn Bear,
Broevn Bear, What Do You See? as an opportunity to practice sounding
like a reader in English and German. The repetitive pattern, the rhyming,
and the simple language provided a level of scaffolding that made it very
easy for her to memorize the text. After a couple of readings in the two
languages, Elena could participate in the “reading” of the book. Elena
was possibly drawn to this book because of its wonderful rhythm. How-
ever, the rhythm and pattern of the text also limited Elena’s responses.
Elena never responded to the content of the book. That is, she never
commented about the habitat of these animals or tried to link the book
animals with those she had seen in her environment. Nor did she talk
about what the animals in her environment might see. Another explana-
tion is that Elena did not make personal connections because the adult
readers did not encourage this kind of behavior. It is also possible that
there simply was not enough content inviting her to make a deep con-
nection with the text. Therefore, this text structure limited her personal
responses, but provided her with a format that helped her to practice her
reading in both of her languages.
Elena’s responses to the fantasy text, Where the Wild Things Are, was
qualitatively different from her responses to the predictable text. When
Elena listened to Vlrhere the Wild Things Are, she did not try to read the
text with the reader as she did with Broevn Bear, Brown Bear, What Do
You See? Instead, she listened to the reader and responded to the content
of the story. It is not clear from this data whether the prose format made
it easier for her to stay focused on the storyline and to import relevant in-
1. FINDING ESMERELDA’SSHOES 23

formation to the readings. Nevertheless, most of her importations were

tied to illustrations and did not reflect a deep personal connection. Elena
could identify and respond to some of the things that Max did, but did
not see herself as Max. Therefore, her role was that of the observer point-
ing out important happenings to the reader.
Realistic fiction provided Elena with the greatest opportunity for re-
sponding in different ways. BLzck,White, Just Right allowed Elena to bring
her personal life into the story, and to act as commentator-observer. The
format of the story allowed Elena to position herself in the center of the
story. Because the story is told in the first person by the child, and be-
cause her name is never mentioned, Elena could easily take on the per-
spective of the storyteller. For example, Elena’s comments such as “dat’s
me,” “like me,” or “like my mommy and daddy” indicate that she was per-
haps embedding her life in the fabric of the story. The family structure
depicted in the story is one very familiar to Elena. The format and the
content of the book transformed the reading experience for Elena into a
discussion of her life. This may explain Elena’s active role in seeking op-
portunities for discussions throughout the readings. It appears that realis-
tic fiction affirmed her personal experience and allowed her to examine
her place in her family. As a result, Elena talked more and responded in a
variety of ways to the text.

CONCLUSION

The issue of a bilingual reader’s responsesis one that cannot be addressed

without raising the question of language. To understand the meaning be-
hind bilinguals’ responses,it is important to recognize that they have two
languages within which to respond to literature. More importantly, their
languages may play a role in shaping their responses.The following sec-
tion provides final remarks on Elena’s responsesand their link to the cur-
rent literature. First, the discussion focuses on three categories of re-
sponses. This is followed by a discussion on the importance of these
findings to educators.

Reader-Shaped Responses
The response literature on preschoolers suggeststhat children’s responses
are shaped by the reader (Martinez, 1983; Roser &I Martinez, 1985;
Sulzby, 1985). This study seems to support that finding. Elena exhibited
certain behaviors similar to those discussed in the cited studies. For ex-
24 BAUER

ample, Elena’s attention to the dedication page in Black, White, Just Right
was a direct result of her mother pointing out to her the author’s note.
Subsequently, as Elena became comfortable with the book and freely in-
teracted with the readers, she also focused on the dedication page. Al-
though there is some overlap with previous research, there were differ-
ences between what was modeled and Elena’s enactment of that routine.
As shown in the Results section, Elena adapted the routine interaction
surrounding the introduction by inserting her world knowledge into the
interaction. In essence, Elena added her own meaning to the message
that the author wanted to convey. It is possible that Elena’s high interest
and engagement with Black, W&e, Just Right created a comfort zone that
allowed her to move freely beyond adult-established routines.

Language-Driven Responses

Although some preschoolers’ responses may be shaped by the reader’s

comments, the responses of bilinguals also may be shaped by a meshing of
the experience to which the child is responding, the person the child as-
sociates with that experience, and the language of that individual. This
certainly appears to have been the case with Elena when she was discuss-
ing Black, White, Just Right. As recalled, Elena had a tendency to discuss
in German with her mother her personal experience of riding on her
dad’s shoulder. Elena’s use of German with her mother may reflect the
fact that Elena knows that her mother will understand her. However, this
raises the issue of whether experiences for bilinguals are recalled within
the language wherein it occurred. That is not to say that the child does
not have the words to describe the experience in the other language.
Certainly, Elena had the English words to describe to her mother her ex-
perience with her dad. What seems to be important is that her response
revolved around a “daddy experience,” which to her may also have meant
a “German experience.”
Although the preceding discussion on Elena’s German response in an
English reading context raises the issue of how responses occur for bi-
linguals, it is important to note that Elena did not provide a parallel ex-
ample with the German readers. That is to say, she did not discuss spe-
cific “mother experiences” with the German readers. Her discussions with
them focused on what she could do that was similar to the protagonist’s
actions. Researchers have raised the issue of topic-specific code-switching
in oral communication (Boeschoten & Verhoeven, 1987; Stavans, 1992).
It is possible that a similar phenomenon takes place during interaction
1. FINDING ESMERELDA’SSHOES 25

with print, This certainly is a point that should be investigated further by

researchers.

All Narratives Are Not the Same

Elena responded differently to the three narrative texts read to her. Elena
imported very little during the repeated readings of Brown Bear, Broevn
Bear, What Do You See?She imported some with the book Where the Wild
Things Are, and a great deal with the realistic fiction Bluck, White, Just
Right. This case study seems to support Lehr’s (1988) contention that real-
istic fiction mirrors the experiences most similar to those of the emergent
readers, which may create a unique link for understanding realistic text. It
is possible that Elena’s comfort with this realistic fiction led her to import
more relevant information through the pictures and from her personal ex-
perience. It is not clear whether Elena’s importations increased her engage-
ment with the text, or whether her level of engagement increased her im-
portations. What is clear is that Elena’s importations provided a window
into what she found to be important during the readings. Understanding
what preshoolers view to be important during reading events may lead to a
deeper appreciation for the way they create meaning.

Importance to Educators
Elena’s response patterns have raised questions regarding the texts used
with young children, particularly with bilinguals. Often in the early liter-
acy literature, teachers are advised to make books available to children in
an attempt to shape their literacy experiences positively. The assumption
is that age-appropriate books, whatever the form, will have a positive im-
pact on students. This study does not dispute that statement, but makes
clearer the ways in which certain books can influence preschoolers.
Findings from this study suggest that educators must provide a variety
of texts to the young reader, and that realistic fiction that is personally
relevant may be particularly desirable to foster meaningful engagement
with books. This has special significance to preschool bilinguals. Reading
books to preschool bilinguals that allow them greater opportunity to see
themselves may change their level of engagement with the text and af-
ford them different opportunities to interact around print. This level of
engagement is important for all students, but it is especially important for
bilinguals. Findings from studies on language minorities in this country
suggest that they often are left out of the literacy club. Finding text that
26 BAUER

invites students to respond in various ways will assist them in developing

greater interest in what books have to offer.

REFERENCES

Appleyard, J. (1990). Becominga reader: The experienceoffiction from adolescentto adulthood.

New York: Cambridge University Press.
Baker, L., &aStein, N. (1981). The development of prose comprehension skills. In C. Santa
& B. Hayes (Eds.) , Children’s prose comprehensionresearch and practice (pp. 7-43). New-
ark, DE: International Reading Association.
Baumann, J. (198 1). Ch’M 1 ren’s ability to comprehendmain ideasafter reading expository prose.
Paper presented at the annual meeting at the National Reading Conference, Dallas,
TX.
Beach, R. (1993). Reader-responsetheories. Urbana, IL: NCTE.
Beach, R., & Brown, R. (1986). Discourse conventions and literary inferences. In R.
Tierney, P. Anders, & J. Mitchell (Eds.), Understanding readers' understanding (pp.
147-174). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Brock, C., & Gavelek, J. (1998). Fostering children’s engagement with texts: A
sociocultural perspective. In T. Raphael 6r K. Au (Eds.), Literature-bused instruction: Re-
shaping the currictdum (pp. 7 l-94). Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon.
Cochran-Smith, M. (1984). Th e making of a reader. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Crago, M. (1993). Creating and comprehending the fantastic: A case study of a child from
twenty to thirty-five months. Children’s Literature in Education, 24(3), 209-222.
Cullinan, B., & Galda, L. (1998). Literature and the child. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace &
Company.
Eco, U. (1990). The limits of interpretation. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Elster, C. (1994). Patterns within preschoolers’ emergent readings. ReadingResearchQuar-
terly, 29(4), 402-418.
Elster, C. (1995). Importations in preschoolers’ emergent reading. Journal of ReadingBehau-
ior, 27(l), 65-84.
Elster, C. (1998). Knowledge-basedimportations in &red and emergentreadings: Evidence of
contextual constraints on reading. Paper presented at the forty-seventh annual meeting at
the National Reading Conference, Scottsdale, AZ.
Fish, S. (1980). Is there u text in this cluss?The authority of interpretive communities. Cam-
bridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Giroux, H., & Simon, R. (1989). Popular culture and critical pedagogy: Everyday life as a
basis for curriculum knowledge. In H. Giroux &. P. McLaren (Eds.), Critical pedagogy:
The state, and cultural struggle. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Harris, V., & Resales, M. (1998). Biracial and multicultural identity: Dilemmas for chil-
dren’s literature. In T. Raphael & K. Au (Eds.), Literature-bused instruction: Res/u@ingthe
curriculum. Not-wood, MA: Christopher-Gordon.
Heath, S. (1983). Ways evith words. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Hoffner, C., & Cantor, J. (1991). Perceiving and responding to mass media characters. In J.
Bryant 6r D. Zillmann (Eds.), Responding to the screen: Reception and reaction processes.
Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
1. FINDING ESMERELDA’S SHOES 27

Hunt, R., 6r Vipond, D. (1985). Crash-testing a transactional model of literacy learning.

Reader, 14, 23-39.
Langer, J. (1992). Literature instruction: A focus on student response.Urbana, IL: NCTE.
Lehr, S. (1988). The child’s developing sense of theme as a response to literature. Reading
ResearchQuarterly, 23, 337-357.
Martinez, M. (1983). Young children’s verbal responses to literature in parent-child story-
time interactions (doctoral dissertation, University of Texas at Austin). Dissertation Ab-
stracts International, 44, 1044A.
Martinez, M., &Teale, W. (1988). Read’m g in a kindergarten library. The ReadingTeacher,
41, 568-572.
Neuman, S., & Roskos, K. (1992). Literacy objects as cultural tools: Effects on children’s
literacy behaviors in play. Reading ResearchQuarterly, 27, 202-225.
Pappas, S., & Brown, E. (1989). Using turns at story reading as scaffolding for learning.
Theory Into Practice, 28, 105-113.
Pelligrini, A. D., Perlmutter, J., Galda, L., & Brody, G. (1990). Joint reading between black
Head Start children and their mothers. Child Development, 61, 443-453.
Rabinowitz, P. (1987). Before reading: Narrative conventionsand the politics of interpretation.
Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Robinson, C., Larsen, J., Haupt, J., & Mohlman, J. (1997). Picture book selection behaviors
of emergent readers: Influence of genre, familiarity, and book attributes. Reading Re-
search and Instruction, 36, 287-304.
Ronjat, J. (1913). Le Development Du Langage. Paris: Champion.
Rosenblatt, L. (1938). Literature as exploration. New York: Noble &a Noble.
Roser, N., & Martinez, M. (1985). Ro1es adults play in preschoolers’ response to literature.
Language Arts, 62 (5)) 485-490.
Schweickart, P. (1986). Reading ourselves: Toward a feminist theory of reading. In E. Flynn
6r P. Schweickart (Eds.), Gender and reading: Essayson readers,texts, and contexts. Balti-
more, MD: John Hopkins University Press.
Sulzby, E. (1985). Ch’ld 1 ren’s emergent reading of favorite story books. Reading Research
Quarterly, 20, 458-48 1.
Sulzby, E. (1991). A ssessmentof emergent literacy: Storybook reading. The ReadingTeach-
er, 44(7), 498-500.
Willis, A. I. (1997). Exploring multicultural literature as cultural production. In T. Rogers
& A. Soter (Eds.), Reading across cultures: Teaching literature in a diverse society (pp.
135-160). New York: Teachers College Press Columbia University.

WORKS CITED

Davol, M. (1993). Black, white, just right. Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman.
Martin, B. (1970). Broevnbear, broevnbear, what do you see?New York: Henry Holt & Co.
Sendak, M. (1963). Where the wild things are. New York: Scholastic.
This page intentionally left blank
 2
Examining Children’s Biliteracy
in the Classroom
Joel Dworin
The University of Texas at Austin

Biliteracy is an important area of study that promises much in terms of

helping us to better understand children’s language and literacy develop-
ment, yet it has received relatively little attention from researchers and
scholars. Biliteracy is a term used to describe children’s literate competen-
ties in two languages, developed to varying degrees, either simultaneously
or successively. In the United States, one of the few settings in which to
study biliteracy is among Latina/o children in bilingual education pro-
grams.’ These children comprise approximately 75% of all students in
such programs (August & Hakuta, 1997).
Although one might expect to find research on biliteracy in areas such
as bilingual education or second language learning, a review of the litera-
ture in these areas indicates that this is not the case. Ironically, even in
the field of literacy research, where the relationship of different “lit-
eracies” to social contexts and cultural practices has become a prominent
feature of study (John-Steiner, Panofsky & Smith, 1994; Scribner &

‘This is not to suggest that children develop literacy or biliteracy solely in classrooms,
but that the phenomenon of biliteracy is most visible for study in bilingual classrooms (Moll
& Dworin, 1996). At the same time, although biliteracy is not fostered and not an instruc-
tional goal in most bilingual classrooms, it is a common “by-product” of languages-in-
contact that may be observed among “language-minority” students. However, given the
compensatory “Americanizing” character of most bilingual programs, in which proficiency
in English is the main goal, students do not typically develop their biliteracy beyond incipi-
ent levels in schools without deliberate instructional support.

29
30 DWORIN

Cole, 1981), the topic of biliteracy has not received much attention. This
neglect continues even though bilingualism is such a common phenome-
non worldwide and obviously relevant to the study of how literacy is con-
stituted in different contexts. (Sample studies of biliteracy include Bialy-
stok, 1997; Ferdman, Weber, & Ramirez, 1994; Jimknez, Garcia, &
Pearson, 1996; Moll & Dworin, 1996; and Walsh, 1994.)
The same situation holds even for the study of bilingualism, a field that
has tended to ignore the study of literacy. As Vald& (1992) noted: “In
general, the research on bilingualism has concerned itself primarily with
the study of the spoken language. Most studies have focused on bilingual-
ism as opposed to biliteracy” (p. 5). None of the early work in bilingual-
ism (Haugen, 1950; Leopold, 1939-1949; Weinreich, 1953) examined
issues of biliteracy, and neither of two influential books, one on bilingual-
ism (Hakuta, 1986) and the other on second language acquisition (Bialy-
stok 6 Hakuta, 1994), addresses biliteracy to any extent.2
In this chapter, I discuss biliteracy, using selected examples from a case
study of Daniel, a 7-year-old Mexican American student who was becom-
ing biliterate in Spanish and English. First, I introduce biliteracy as a
topic of study, identify its significance in education, and outline the theo-
retical foundations that informed this work. Next, I describe relevant as-
pects of the classroom setting, the teacher, and the students to provide
an orientation to the specific qualities of the classroom. This section is
followed by a discussion of selected examples from Daniel’s case study to
provide some insights into his biliteracy development.

SIGNIFICANCE OF BILITERACY

One of the most significant implications of biliteracy lies with its poten-
tial intellectual consequences, particularly students’ ability to establish
mediated relationships between symbol systems and the social world to
create knowledge and transform it for meaningful purposes. Students’
biliterate abilities, therefore, represent key linguistic and cultural tools

‘However, a growing body of research is concerned with bilingual education in U.S.

classrooms, and the current study has been informed by many of these studies, particularly
those that used qualitative methods to study classroom life (Diaz, Moll, &aMehan, 1986;
Montiel, 1992; Quintero, 1986; Whitmore & Crowell, 1994). In addition, there are many
studies of bilingual children’s reading (Barrera, 1983; Faltis, 1986; Hudelson, 198 1a;
Jimenez et al., 1996; among others) as well as studies of bilinguals and writing (Ammon,
1985; Hudelson, 1988, 1981b; Johnson & Roen, 1989; Lanauze & Snow, 1989; Maguire,
1987; among others). These and other studies have been an important source for under-
standing both theoretical perspectives of and pedagogical practices in bilingual classrooms.
2. EXAMINING BILITERACY IN THE CLASSROOM 31

that may greatly assist their intellectual development in ways not readily
available in monolingual English classrooms. Unlike monolinguals, these
children can transact with two literate worlds, thus amplifying their re-
sources for thinking and learning (Mall 6r Dworin, 1996).
There is also the relatively unexplored area of the cognitive conse-
quences of biliteracy. Studies by Diaz (1983)) among others (Bild 6r Swain,
1989; Diaz 6r Klinger, 1991; Hakuta, 1986; Hakuta & Diaz, 1985;
Malakoff & Hakuta, 1991; Reynolds, 1991)) suggest that there are differ-
ences in cognitive processes between monolingual and bilingual students,
and that bilinguals may have significant cognitive advantages over mono-
linguals. Although considerable research has been done in this area (see
e.g., Bialystok, 1991), 1ess work has been done on biliteracy per se and the
cognitive advantages that may result, especially from its use in classrooms.
This may be the result of several factors, among them the hegemony of
English in U.S. society and its predominance as the language of literacy in
the schools. Other likely factors impeding such research include the gen-
eral lack of importance given by the dominant culture to biliteracy and its
development and the frequent focus on students’ English proficiency as the
main goal of most bilingual educational programs in this country.
Biliteracy is an important component for the development of a cultur-
ally relevant pedagogy for Latina/o children. Biliterate students are able to
access a broader range of cultural resources in two languages, including,
but not limited to, mass media, the Internet, library resources, and the
many forms of popular texts, as well as other Spanish- or English-speaking
children and adults who reside outside their immediate area. Thus, their
worlds can expand to include not only the United States, but also Latin
America and countries of other Spanish-speaking people, creating intellec-
tual linkages to a legacy of Spanish discourses, literatures, and literacies.’
Literacy in the two languages could mediate innumerable classroom proj-
ects as part of a culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 1995; Mall,
Velez-Ibanez, & Greenberg, with Andrade, R., Dworin, J., Saavedra, E., &
Whitmore, K., 1990)) precisely because students’ biliteracy and bilingual-
ism are the vital tools of inquiry within these cultural contexts. Teachers
also could promote similar objectives through classroom studies in their lo-

‘A personal comment by Ferdman (1990) is relevant in this regard. He described the

mediating role of biliteracy and its importance to his ethnic identity in transactions with
texts as an adult biliterate: “When I want to read a Latin American author, I will do so in
Spanish, my native tongue, rather than in an English translation. My choice is based not
only on a desire to read the original, but also to reaffirm my connection with Latin Ameri-
can symbols and texts. In spite of ostensibly similar content, I experience the images and
meanings differently in the two languages” (p. 196).
32 DWORIN

cal communities as well, using students’ cultural backgrounds in different,

yet perhaps even more significant ways (Mall, Tapia, & Whitmore, 1993).
In short, biliteracy might be fully used for academic purposes that expand
learning possibilities by building on the languages and cultures that these
students bring to their classrooms.
Finally, there is potential for “language majority” (monolingual English
or Anglophone) students to become biliterate within school contexts.
However, this might be a more challenging undertaking for at least two
reasons. First, providing sufficient support for the biliteracy development
of these children within and outside classrooms is difficult, given the he-
gemony of English in U.S. society (Shannon, 1995; Walsh, 1991). Sec-
ond, elective bilingualism tends to be an individual, rather than a group,
process (Valdes, 1992; Valdes 6r Figueroa, 1994). Biliteracy development
for Anglophone students is possible, nonetheless, and does occur in bilin-
gual settings. However, relatively little research attention has been given
to this topic, especially in qualitative research. In general, then, further
research is needed in all the areas outlined earlier to help advance an un-
derstanding of the potential intellectual, cognitive, and cultural conse-
quences of biliteracy in classroom settings.
The examples provided in this chapter are from a study in which I ex-
amined English-Spanish biliteracy development among students in a bi-
lingual, combination grade 2-3 grade classroom for one school year
(Dworin, 1996). The study used a number of qualitative methods, espe-
cially a case study approach, to allow for an in-depth examination of spe-
cific children’s English-Spanish biliteracy development and the respec-
tive supporting contexts. Three case studies of students provided insights
into significant aspects of each student’s developing biliteracy and dem-
onstrated that there are multiple paths to English-Spanish biliteracy
(Barrera, 1983; Edelsky, 1986, 199 1; Goodman, Goodman, 6r Flores,
1979; Moll & Dworin, 1996). Th e results of this inquiry suggest that
biliteracy development in classrooms is feasible, but that teachers must
create “additive” conditions, encouraging students to use and develop
their Spanish along with their English (Landry & Allard, 1991), and at-
tempt to make both languages relatively “unmarked” in the classroom,
that is, comparable in status.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

A key assumption of the study, and one that distinguishes it from most
studies of bilingual classrooms, is that biliteracy is a special form of literacy
needing to be understood as distinct from that of monolinguals. The bilin-
2. EXAMINING BILITERACY IN THE CLASSROOM 33

gual person may experience a wider range and variety of literacy practices
than the monolingual person because of participation in different social
networks, for example, those that could amplify the potential conse-
quences of literacy beyond what can be accomplished by the monolingual
person in one language or the other (Mall 6r Dworin, 1996). Vald&
(1992)) among others (Mall 6r Dworin, 1996; Walsh, 1991)) also sub-
scribes to the view that the study of bilinguals and biliteracy requires a dif-
ferent research lens. She calls for a rethinking of assumptions about first
and second language writing in English and emphasizes the need to de-
velop research that views these practices fi-om a “bilingual perspective.”
Much of the work on bilingual education, however, suffers from apply-
ing to bilingual situations research and instructional practices drawn from
work conducted with English monolinguals with little appreciation that
there may be important differences (Mall 6. Dworin, 1996; Valdes, 1992,
1997). Grosjean (1989)) f or example, has discussed this monolingual view
of bilingualism and its negative consequences. Much, if not all, of his dis-
cussion also applies to biliteracy and biliterates. The key point is that a
monolingual perspective does not suffice for understanding bilinguals and
bilingualism, or biliteracy, yet this is the guiding perspective for much of
the research in this area (Dodson, 1985; Moll 6r Dworin, 1996; Valdes,
1992; Walsh, 1991).

METHODS

Data collection took place in the classroom and school over a period of 9
months, or one academic year. The primary data sources consisted of par-
ticipant observations, field notes, interviews, student reading and writing
samples, and informal conversations with the teacher and students. I
spent more than 350 hours in the school. The participant observations
were conducted approximately twice per week throughout the school
year, and each visit lasted from 5 to 6 hours. I used a case study approach
to document specific students’ dual language and literacy development in
the classroom (Merriam, 1988; Spradley, 1980; Yin, 1984).
Field notes from participant observations were coded and analyzed for
themes. Emerging patterns in the data provided direction for further data
gathering. Several methods of analysis for constructing case studies of the
focal students were used, among them miscue analysis of reading samples
and holistic analysis of selected writing samples. Steps in the analytical
process included coding transcribed interviews for content, examining
coded field notes describing focal students in classroom activities, and
34 DWORIN

coding by themes or topics the transcribed cassette recordings of informal

conversations with the students and teacher.

The Teacher
When I began the study, Kathy, a certified bilingual teacher who held a
bachelor’s degree in elementary education, had been teaching for 12
years. (She would later receive her master’s degree in language, reading,
and culture in December 1998). She had learned Spanish in Mexico and
in Tucson, Arizona, her hometown. Well-respected by her peers and oth-
ers in the profession, Kathy had given professional presentations on nu-
merous occasions for school district in-services, national workshops, and
conferences.
Kathy reported that she had been developing as a teacher and was
more confident at the time of the study than in previous years. She sub-
scribed to a holistic philosophy of instruction that views understanding
children and the knowledge they bring to school as extremely important
to good teaching and critical to learning. In her classroom, children
learned to work collaboratively as a community of learners, and being a
good student included positive working relationships with other students.

The Students
Each classroom in this K-3 primary school was known by a teacher-
designated name. The classroom in which this study took place was
known as the “Tree Room.” At the beginning of the school year, there
were 27 students in the class, 14 second and 13 third graders. Twenty of
these children were from neighborhoods near the school. The rest were
from different parts of the city and attended 22nd Street Primary Magnet
School voluntarily as part of the school district’s desegregation program.
All but one of the second graders had attended 22nd Street the previous
year, and most of the third graders had been there in second grade. Of
the 27 students in the Tree Room, 12 were girls (7 in second grade, 5 in
third grade) and 15 were boys (6 in second grade, 9 in third grade). There
were 18 Mexican American/Chicano, 8 Anglo, and 1 African American
students in the class.
There was a diverse range in the children’s language and literacy abili-
ties at the beginning of the school year. Ten of the children spoke only
English, and 12 used only English for reading and writing. One of the stu-
dents was Spanish monolingual in speaking, reading, and writing. Of the
Mexican American/Chicano students, three were English dominant in
speaking, reading, and writing, but they also spoke Spanish. The rest
2. EXAMINING BILITERACY IN THE CLASSROOM 35

were to varying degrees bilingual speakers of English and Spanish, with a

broad range of reading and writing abilities in the two languages. Two or
three of the Anglo students knew a little Spanish and understood some
phrases used on the playground. Most significant for biliteracy develop-
ment, 16 of the students were bilingual English and Spanish.
The 22nd Street bilingual program had characteristics of a mainte-
nance-type program. Spanish was used as the co-language of the class-
room, and students were not pressured to learn English at the expense of
Spanish. In other words, it was not a “subtractive” program (Kjolseth,
1982; Lambert, 1974) in which the goal was to replace Spanish with Eng-
lish as the sole language of instruction.
Both the monolingualism of the English students and the bilingualism
of most of the native Spanish speakers represented key resources for bi-
lingual and biliteracy development. These language resources created
positive conditions for biliteracy development not only among the native
Spanish-speaking students, but among the monolingual English speakers
as well. Given the collaborative approach to learning in this classroom,
the students themselves became primary resources for their learning.
Language and literacy were appropriated mostly through social rather
than solitary contexts, and sharing ideas through talking, reading, and
writing was expected and encouraged by the teacher (Wells 6;r Chang-
Wells, 1992).

DANIEL: A BILINGUAL SECOND GRADER

BECOMING BILITERATE

During the first month of school, when Kathy discussed the literacy de-
velopment of her students with me, Daniel was one of the children she
described as “bilingual and becoming biliterate.” He and his family lived
in one of the neighborhoods immediately adjacent to his school, which
he had attended the previous year. Daniel was a good student, well liked
by his classmates. He had a good sense of humor and was very articulate.
He also tended to be something of a perfectionist, and because of this,
could be very self-critical at times.
In this section, I discuss Daniel’s biliteracy, specifically his reading, by
presenting examples in English and Spanish and identifying some of the
supports for his literacy development in the two languages. The focus is
on the teacher’s mediational role, the importance of Daniel’s view of
himself as a bilingual person, and how these two aspects facilitated his
biliteracy development.
36 DWORIN

The Teacher’s Mediational Role

In September, Kathy assessed the oral reading of each of her students us-
ing the “running record” technique (Clay, 1988). On the day she assessed
Daniel, I had a discussion with her about his reading. She shared with me
some thoughts about the reading session:

Then I have these books, you know, the kind with real predictable text,
but I wanted to see if he could handle something harder. I had him read E2
Ratoncito del Campo y el Ratoncito de la Ciudad (The Little Mouse From the
Country and the Little Mouse From the City). You know, it’s an extended
piece of text, it’s got a lot of words. So, I wanted to see if he could do it.

Kathy then described her session with Daniel, revealing her role in
helping him use some specific reading strategies. With a little assistance
from his teacher, mostly in the form of encouragement, Daniel was able
to read the entire book. Kathy elaborated:

But I showed him this book and I said, “You know, when you’re looking at
a book, there’s nothing wrong with first just looking at the pictures and us-
ing picture clues.” I said, “I still use picture clues when I read.” So I
showed this to him and said, “You know, Daniel, I bet you could read this
[the El Rutoncito book] to me.” And so he kinda looked at me like I was
nuts. I asked him to look at the pictures and then I left the room. When I
came back, he was just, like, frozen on the first page. And I said to him,
“iQuieres empezar, mi’jo ?” (“Do you want to begin, my son?“). He looked
at me. So I asked him, “iPor qtie no empiezo contigo?” (“Why don’t I be-
gin with you?“). He felt a lot better. So I showed him the title, and we read
it together. “Yo te voy a ayudar con la primera pagina.” (“I am going to
help you with the first page”). And we started reading, but actually I
stopped after the first sentence. And so he read the entire book, doing real
interesting things, you know, [such as] looking at the pictures. I was really
pleased because it was a long piece of reading for him.

As part of this assessment, Kathy also asked Daniel several questions

about the story immediately after he had finished reading it in order to
get a basic sense of his understanding of the text. Kathy told me that
Daniel “got the gist of it” and was able to articulate the overall theme or
“message” of El Ratoncito: You should be happy with what you have.
Kathy was pleased. She noted that although Daniel was a little tense dur-
ing this process, he was not afraid to take on the challenge of reading dif-
ficult text.
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