Perspectives on Three Spanish-English Biliteracy Journeys Elizabeth Visedo University of South Florida, [email protected]
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School January 2013 From Limited-English-Proficient to Educator: Perspectives on Three Spanish-English Biliteracy Journeys Elizabeth Visedo University of South Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Other Education Commons, and the Other International and Area Studies Commons Scholar Commons Citation Visedo, Elizabeth, "From Limited-English-Proficient to Educator: Perspectives on Three Spanish-English Biliteracy Journeys" (2013). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/4787 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. From Limited-English-Proficient to Educator: Perspectives on Three Spanish-English Biliteracy Journeys by Elizabeth Visedo A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Second Language Acquisition and Instructional Technology College of Education and College of Arts & Sciences University of South Florida Co-Major Professor: Deoksoon Kim, Ph.D. Co-Major Professor: Valerie Janesick, Ph.D. Steven Downey, Ph.D. Janet Richards, Ph.D. Date of Approval: June 17, 2013 Keywords: academic achievement, culturally and linguistically diverse, empowerment, Latino, online qualitative research methods Copyright © 2013, Elizabeth Visedo DEDICATION Para Pettita Todo a fuerza de madre To Pettita Mother-powered, through it all ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Foremost, may respect, kindness, and compassion garnish my co-major professor Dr. Deoksoon Kim’s path in as much abundance as she relentlessly dispensed me for the past four years. Then, my heart-felt thanks to Dr. Steve Downey, for his straightforward advice and encouragement; to Dr. Janet Richards, for her solid support and her unparalleled coffee; to my participants for their work and reliance; to those who helped me find them, Rosie Castro- Feinberg, Dr. Linda Evans, and Eulises Avellaneda; to Dr. Dustin DeFelice and Dr. Oksana Vorobel, for their professional audits and personal friendship; and to Dr. Phil Smith, for his backing, understanding, and prayers in my hardest times. Also, my gratitude goes to Florencio Visedo Navarro, my father, for showing me the way; to Mabel D’Alessio de Markus, my teacher of English and mother of the heart, for presenting me with another way; to Petti Visedo, my mother, for taming terrible dragons, fighting fierce minotaurs, smiling along every way until the very end; and finally and forever to my co-major professor Dr. Valerie J. Janesick, for mentoring and trusting me, always in my corner with wisdom and passion; I owe you tea for life. i TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ix LIST OF FIGURES x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xii ABSTRACT xiii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 Contextual Background 2 At the End of the Literacy Decade 2 Some National Statistics 3 Spanish in America 3 Educational achievement 3 L1-Spanish students and college 4 College choices 4 Implications of L1-Spanish learners’ achievement for America 4 Theoretical Framework 5 Antecedents: Dewey and the Frankfurt School 5 Exponents: Freire, Giroux, and McLaren 7 Postponements: Critical Pedagogy in L2 English 10 Applying Critical Pedagogy to Educational Research on Biliteracy 11 A Political Approach to L1-Literacy, L2-Literacy, and Biliteracy 12 Critical-Pedagogy Research 13 The Dialectical Method as a Research Approach 14 My Positioning in Biliteracy Research 14 Personal Background 14 Biliteracy experience 15 Teaching experience 16 Discursive Mode Exposé 16 The Problem 18 Purpose 19 Exploratory Questions Guiding the Study 19 Importance of the Study 19 Theoretical Importance 19 Methodological Importance 20 Practical Importance 20 Definitions 20 Biliteracy 21 Code-Switching 21 Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners 21 Culture Shock 21 Educator 21 High Achievers 21 Identity 22 L1-Spanish 22 ii The need for an unbiased term 22 L2-English 22 Language Shock 22 Organization 23 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE 24 Literacy in the 21st Century 24 L1 Literacy 26 Digital technologies and L1 literacy 27 L2 Literacy 29 Digital technologies and L2 literacy 30 Biliteracy in the 21st Century 31 Culture Contact 32 Similarity-attraction principle 33 Culture distance principle 33 Categorization and stereotyping 33 Primary socialization 33 Cultural syndromes 33 Intercultural contact dimensions 34 Intercultural contact outcomes 34 Identity 34 The Continua of Biliteracy 36 Overview 37 Contexts 37 The micro-macro continuum 39 The oral-literate continuum 39 The monolingual-bilingual continuum 39 Media 39 The simultaneous-successive exposure continuum 40 The similar-dissimilar structures continuum 40 The convergent-divergent scripts continuum 41 Content 41 The minority-majority continuum 42 The vernacular-literary continuum 42 The contextualized-decontextualized continuum 42 Development 42 The reception-production continuum 43 The oral-written language continuum 43 The L1-L2 transfer continuum 44 Biliteracy Contexts 44 Biliteracy Media 48 Digital technologies as biliteracy media 48 Biliteracy Content 49 Biliteracy Development 50 L1-Spanish CLD Learners 51 Academic Underachievement 53 Beyond Deficit Perspectives 54 School versus Family? 55 Home literacy practices 55 Home as the context of biliteracy 56 Maintaining the L1 56 Cross-Cultural Respect and Biliteracy 57 iii Con respeto 57 Linguistic Autobiographies 58 A painful choice 59 Two sides of one coin 59 A multilingual self 60 An analysis of linguistic autobiographies 61 L1-Spanish CLD Learners in Higher Education 61 Filling In a Research Gap 61 CHAPTER 3: DESIGN AND METHODS 63 Methodological Rationale for Qualitative Inquiry 63 Design 64 Qualitative Case-Study Research 64 The qualitative multicase study 65 The quintain 65 The cases 65 Why three? 65 Snowball selection 66 Participants’ Biliteracy Autobiographies as Data-Collection Tools in Case Studies 66 Development of the Study 67 Preliminary Phase 67 Assessment and modification of instruments 67 Participant referral procedures 68 Informed consent 69 Selection of participants 69 Participant training 70 Human subjects’ protection 70 Pseudonyms 70 New email addresses 70 Protected blogs 71 Data Collection, Analysis, and Interpretation 71 Methods of Qualitative Data Collection 71 Blogs 72 e-Journals 73 e-Journal guide 73 Artifact e-portfolios 73 Artifact e-portfolio guide 74 Blogging procedures 74 Semi-structured interviews via Skype 74 Individual interview protocols 75 Group interview via Skype 75 Group-interview protocol 75 Interview recording, transcription, and editing 75 Recording 75 Transcription 76 Editing 76 Summary of Data Sources 77 The Role of the Researcher 77 Researcher’s reflective e-journal 78 External audits 79 “Extreme” Member Check 79 Negative Case Analysis 80 The Dialectical Method of Data Analysis and Interpretation 80 Ontological moment 80 iv Epistemological moment 80 Coding and multiple recoding 81 Moment of inquiry 81 Intellectual reconstruction 81 Exposition 81 Audits by the critical friends 82 Praxis 82 Cross-Case Analysis, Answers, and Report Writing 82 Trustworthiness 83 The Critical Criteria 83 The Constructivist Criteria 84 Credibility 84 Transferability 85 Dependability 85 Confirmability 85 Triangulation 85 Methods 86 Technology 86 Investigators 86 Data 86 Theories 87 Ethics 87 Limitations 87 Summary 88 CHAPTER 4: PRESENTATION OF THE DATA 89 Chapter Overview 89 How to Read the Cases 90 Code-switching 90 Sources 90 Paralinguistic features 90 Pseudonyms 91 Famous quotes 91 Headings 91 Participant Profiles 91 Fátima: A Journey of Hope 92 Fátima’s Context 93 A rich symbolic universe 93 L1 literacy 93 School in Peru 94 Coming to the U.S. 94 School in the U.S. 94 Plans for college 95 A vocation 95 Teaching ESOL 96 Lately 96 Fátima’s Ordeals 97 Fátima’s identity at play 97 Fátima: What might have been 98 Fátima’s culture shock 99 Uprooting and homesickness 99 Confusion 100 Prejudice 100 Information chasm 104 Health 105 v Fátima’s language shock 105 Self-doubt 107 Fátima’s Breakthrough Paths 108 Fátima’s helpers 108 Family 108 Mentors 112 Friends and buddies 113 Fátima’s tools 114 Books and letters 114 Technologies 115 Fátima’s belonging 115 Fátima’s acknowledgement 116 Fátima’s empowerment 116 Fátima’s identity revisited 117 Fátima’s advocacy 119 Fátima’s Evaluation 120 Findings in Fátima’s Case 121 Addressing Sub-Question 1: Key Factors in Fátima’s Biliteracy Experience 121 Addressing Sub-Question 2: Relevance of Fátima’s Biliteracy Experience to Become an Educator 123 Addressing Sub-Question 3: Impact of Digital Technologies in Fátima’s Biliteracy Experience 124 Addressing the Main Exploratory Question from Fátima’s Perspective 124 Final Thoughts on Fátima’s Journey of Hope 125 Séneca: A Journey of Praxis 127 Séneca’s Context 127 A rich symbolic universe 127 L1 literacy and school in Colombia 128 Coming to the U.S. 129 Seizing an opportunity 130 In college 130 Lately 131 Séneca’s Ordeals 131 Séneca’s identity at play 132 Séneca: What might have been 133 Séneca’s culture shock 133 Uprooting and homesickness 133 Confusion 134 Prejudice 135 Information chasm 137 Health services 139 Séneca’s language shock 140 Self-doubt 142 Séneca’s Breakthrough