An exploration of literacy practices within culturally diverse families
Date
2000
Authors
Gower, Cynthia Louise
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Abstract
Family literacy is the reading, writing, drawing, and conversing that occurs incidentally and deliberately among all family members. This study explored the literacy practices of six families with a child between the ages of 1 and 4, from a country other than Canada. Emergent literacy (the first signs of abilities and knowledge with regard to written language) was the focus, as none of the children was attending school.
A Cultural Interview (Cl), a questionnaire, was developed to determine each family's background, religious/spiritual beliefs, and the parents' level of education and employment. A journal was developed so that a parent could document her child's literacy practices. A Reading and Writing Inventory (RA WI), based on the work of Genisio (1998) was developed to determine the incidental/deliberate literacy practices of parents and child.
A purposive sample of 6 participants (mothers) was selected from the Inter-Cultural Association (ICA). During a 30- to 50-minute interview family practices and culture were explored.
The journal generated several recurrent themes: (a) morning ritual, (b) television, (c) playtime, (d) schedule of eating habits, (e) visiting friends, (f) learning, and (g) exercising and chores. The inventory provided examples of everyday literacy practices of both child and parent.
The three instruments provided evidence that literacy is occurring in each home, both in English and the first language. The instruments provide a format that may be used by daycare workers, counsellors, and teachers, as they enable an exploration of a family's unique culture and daily literacy routines.