Mansfield, PA is about 200 miles north east of Indiana, located in a county that has 40% of its roads unpaved..... need I say more? Though, it certainly beats the ubiquitous construction found here, downstate.
Mansfield University has an enrollment of about 5000 students. 94% Caucasian, 5% minority, 1% non-native speaking. I teach ESL Composition and ESL Advanced Grammar. The ESL population is diverse, encompassing about 10 different languages.
This past year, a controversy ensued regarding students from Liberia, who were assumed to be American because of their perfect fluency and lack of accent in English (English is Liberia's official language because Liberia was originally established as a free slave state in 1820 ). However, the students are extremely low performing in written language. They were all failing at least one class. A few professors were frustrated with what they perceived as the student's low achievements, low motivation, low skills. In fact, some even expressed stereotypes of low performing American minorities. It wasn't obvious that the students' low skills are a reflection of the lack of focus on literacy in Liberia; books aren't read as children, stories are shared and passed down. Furthermore, Liberia has the second lowest literacy rate in Africa yet citizens are fluent in the spoken language.
My thoughts are revolving around this situation as a possible focus for my ethnographic research.
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Rachel,
ReplyDeleteLike I said today, I think this is a very interesting research possibility! Maybe this is strictly 825's invasion of my brain speaking, but I think the whole oral literacy vs. written literacy debate linked to the stereotyping issues would be a worthwhile challenge to undertake.
Sarah
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ReplyDeleteRachel,
ReplyDeleteThis is a fantastic research topic, and as I told you in class, I strongly encourage you to pursue this topic. The situation you described above and in class is similar to 1.5 generation students' academic socialization journeys in the US. Moe specifically, this population is quite unique as they are neither defined as ESL immigrant nor as adult L2 learnes who came to the US later in life. There are several books and articles written on 1.5 generation students' academic literacy as well as out-of-school practices. A simple EBSCO host and google scholar search would help you find the major ones.
Another important issue you can look at (which is related to literacy and culture) is the salience of racial identity. How do racial identity differ beween African American and Liberian students? I know that some scholars and activist organizations in the US are looking at identity issues emerging in immigrant population. While race becomes a crucial issue in the US, it does not become as important as it is here in the African states. Therfore, many scholars talk about the racial conflicts that these individuals experience when they migrate to the US. Race and socialization could be interstesting intersecting points in your work. As Ch 2 and 3 of Heath &Street explain, some related literature on such issues will help you dig deeper.
I look forward to hearing more about your evolving research.
Rachel,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very intriguing topic that I would like to learn more about.