Change Agent - New and Improved

FYI if this is your thing, the Change Agent is an awesome publication for adult ed teachers and students. Find their new website here: The Change Agent

Identity and Learning Across the Pond

Hi Literacy Friends:  I lied. I'm not going anywhere.  I can't seem to let go of our blog-o-sphere just yet!

So, if you can see past my maternal pride, I wanted to share some language-learning and identity stuff about my son,  as well as get some feedback and ideas from you.  Hey, if we can't use our offspring as study subjects, what's the point in being a parent?

As you may recall, my 'Andrew' (age 17)  is spending the summer in a foreign country.  As part of his language learning experience, he is attending high school with his host student.  Andrew is one of two Americans in a high school of about 1000 students.

Much to my delight, Andrew and I are communicating by texting through an app, something he discovered and set up.  Our conversations have turned into a literacy, diversity, and identity lesson for both of us.

As a 17-year-old in his home culture, I see Andrew's identity as malleable and susceptible to influences good and bad; as a 17-year-old immersed in a new culture and language, I see his identity in a state of ambivalence.  Here's my data:

facebook updates include new hometown (he spent the first 6 years of his life in this host country)
using the second language (L2) on facebook
rush of new facebook friends from the host country

buying new clothes to "not look like an American tourist"
eating new food "because that's what they eat here"

Based on these observations, I think Andrew is investing himself in the L2 identity.  He's embodying the culture through clothing and food, and using the L2 to connect with people.  In doing these things, I believe  he's opened himself up to experiencing some culture clashes.  Here's what he wrote in his texts to me:

"They (people in host country) correct me when I _____________."

"But, they don't care when I ________________."

 "We can _____________ in school."

"But, we can't _____________ in school."

"I was asked if I hated Belgium now(World Cup stuff)."

"I was asked about the trade agreement between _________ and the U.S. and I was clue-less."

In my humble and truly biased opinion, I believe he is more aware of these cultural 'tests' and acts of 'discipline'  because he truly wants to belong.  Does that mean if he didn't care as much about belonging he wouldn't care as much about the ways he is being molded to fit in?  He is discovering that there is more to being in a culture than dressing and eating the part.  He also wrote the following:

"I help the English teacher."

"I answered questions in geography class (in L2)."

I hope these are signs that he is persevering.  Of course, if he is invested in belonging, and the host student/school/culture is determined to make him fit in, are these two complementary goals making learning happen more easily and quickly?    In other words, what would be the case if he hated it and didn't want to fit in?

How much do we set aside our first culture/language identity in order to fit-in?   How does age fit into this process?  How much more difficult would it be to belong in a new culture and language if one is not in such a privileged position and the new cultural 'discipline' stings a lot more?  Do you think it makes a difference to the host culture when the outsider is an 'American,' with a 'backpack of privileges?'

Thanks for taking the time to read this.  I would love to hear your thoughts on L2 learning, identity, and culture.

Being barbie in a post-barbie world: a voice from the borderland

Thank you, dear literacy friends, for your willingness to participate in my cloud-barbie-rock weirdness last week in class. Just for fun,  I’m resurrecting the barbie metaphor for this post.   

So, on with the weirdness…

I’m deep into the readings for my seminar project and have also begun a linguistics class “second language acquisition” (SLA).  I’m finding a curious parallel between the field of SLA and my home field of adult ESOL/ literacy (ESOL).  So, how does this relate to my seminar project?  Well, I’ve morphed my project—a literature review—into a lit review of trends in SLA and ESOL research.  For the purposes of my paper, I’m defining SLA as a branch of linguistics that studies the acquisition of a second or subsequent language, not necessarily English.  ESOL is the education side of teaching English as a second language and putting English into practice.  Anyway, it’s not about definitions, it’s about the curious parallel. Being in the borderland between LING and ESOL is weird and affords me an outsider’s view of both scholarly fields. 

For me, the TEDU seminar was set-up and framed by the epistemology stuff.   I (we) looked at much of the research in terms of what kind of knowledge it produced and how different kinds of knowledge are valued and applied to our field of adult literacy.  Bill shared his paper with us, and it presented an argument about an imbalance in the adult literacy research field.  This imbalance is perpetuated in the ways research is being funding, in the ways policies are being made, and in the directions our field is going.  The imbalance results in more of one kind of knowledge being produced and valued, and this one kind of knowledge is not able to address all of the issues and questions in our field.   

We learned that episteme, and an episteme approach to research, is valuable in answering some kinds of questions, while phronesis, and a phronesis approach to research,  is valuable for answering others.  We discussed the imbalance in the ways episteme is valued over phronesis. We asked how we could be a scholarly field if were close-minded to this imbalance, right?    

In SLA, the self-described ‘divide,’ or imbalance, is an ontological one (let’s say I’m citing several names here) between theoretical and methodological approaches to research and the ways one kind of  theoretical framework and line of reasoning is valued and positioned as ‘scientific’ over another.  What I am discovering is that the ‘cognitivists’ who define SLA (and the field of linguistics as a whole) as a purely cognitive science, one which values inductive reasoning and experimental, controlled research as the foundation for and uniting umbrella of the field.  This positivist mindset asserts that truths exist about language and language acquisition, and that socio-historic context is not relevant to language acquisition.  

On the other hand, there are the socioculturalists, the ‘relativists,’ those whose methodologies are grounded in a different approach, and one that is perceived as bringing chaos to the field (and let’s say I’m citing several more scholars here). 

The curious parallel that I see between LING and ESOL is in the way certain kinds of knowledge and research, those that would produce episteme and result from an ontology of positivism, are valued over those that would produce other kinds of knowledge and come from an ontology of relativism.  I know my use of –isms and –ologies is crude at this it at this point; please bear with me.  I’m also making broad, sweeping generalizations just to wrap up my blog post; but, there is a perceived imbalance in both fields, and these imbalances are confronting me as I do my review of literature on trends in both fields and consider my future course of research.

Finally, I called this a curious parallel because I think it raises other questions: Why do we, as a society, seem to value and position certain kinds of knowledge and ‘scientific truths’ over others in the LING and ESOL fields (I’m sure many other social science fields as well)?  Is this just us Anglos / North Americans / whatever being ethno-centric?   Is it the result of economic, technologic, socio-historic forces at work? How do I avoid being pulled into a side once I insert myself into the fray?  These are the questions I'm left with after all of this learning.

This is my sayonara, adult literacy M.Ed. friends.  I’m one lit review away from a diploma!  I will treasure everything I have learned from you in this program—barbie.

Digital Literacy Practice and Engagement:

For my last blog post for TEDU 681 I've decided to write about Digital Literacy. During our F2F meetings in class, we touched on the topic somewhat. But then were given an opportunity to explore it further as individuals through the articles and discussion guide questions provided by our classmates.  I was happy to have Digital Literacy as my topic since I've been able to be an observer and user of this new practice in three separate arenas: professional, academic, and for my personal use.

Although our articles were different, I wasn't that surprised to discover the articles we selected had more than a few similarities and central connecting themes.  My (two) articles, Embracing the Squishiness of Digital Literacy and Digital literacy practices and their layered multiplicity explored how digital platforms, social media being one, can be used to facilitate learning regardless of their original intent – a form of entertainment through social engagement.  With digital platforms, the user determines (to an extent) how they will exercise their knowledge and versatility with that platform.  My classmate’s article, A Closer Look at Adult Digital Literacy Acquisition, also explored how the advent of digital technology has provided the user with an ease of use outside of a closed in arena.  In subtle ways, our articles challenged the concept of how and where we learn. Yet, the articles do not negate or promote digital literacy over adult literacy in print form.  They simply share observations on the shift in how we the users of this technology are redefining our learning spaces.   

For myself, I’d always thought that learning - “real” learning - took place within a box - the classroom. Of course, that is not the case. Yet, I found my biases challenged as an adult learner when I stepped into the world of eLearning a few years ago. New to my graduate studies, I was I was fortunate to catch the rotation of ADLT 640 Theory and Practice of eLearning Integration into Adult Learning Environments. In that hybrid online learning environment, I was able to experience first-hand how empowering, digital technology can be for the learner and the instructor.  I was introduced into a world of many digital or multi-platforms, teaching theories, and practices.  I found myself, in a unique place in that course.  I, along with my classmates, were facilitators/instructors in the class and for each other as adult learners using digital technology, digital literacy, and digital practice to create a dual hybrid learning environment to house our engagement practices.   After that course, I discovered my perspectives had changed.  I found that learning experience in that classroom – both digital and traditional – transformative.  I had gone from a firm skeptic at the beginning of that course to an advocate of digital technology, its platforms, concepts, and practice, both in and out of the classroom of the adult learner.  

Now, I find myself continuingly examining digital literacy and digital practice; the exploration of the two terms and how they fit and shape our digital experience.  Technology like any other tool can be invaluable to the user.  In the world of education, there are uncountable ways that technology can benefit its users.   In the world of adult literacy, digital literacy can be yet another methodology for the user/ the learner to move forward in their learning journey. 

I will end this post with a video clip, titled, Palette (Promoting Art for Life Enrichment Through Transgenerational Engagement) *(This program was made possible through a multi-sponsored partnership with the Geriatric Training and Education initiative of the Virginia General Assembly). I discovered or stumbled upon this clip after I’d submitted my responses to my classmate’s article on digital literacy.  Perhaps, I was unduly influenced by the article, but this clip seemed connected to digital literacy and practice. From, my classmate’s discussion guide question, we are asked if we agree that the adult learners’ reflections found under the heading, “What Do Adult Learners Say About Acquiring Digital Literacy?” promote or support, “increased personal empowerment, civic participation, and lifelong learning.”  (April 2014)

For me, this blog forum and how we've used it to expand our minds and thoughts with each other is active digital literacy and digital practice. 

Thanks for sharing the ride with me this summer.