What do you know about language and literacy acquisition? If you are reading this, you obviously can read English. Do you remember how you learned to speak and read? As you think about language and literacy, think about your own literacy journey. What literacy practices did you take part in as a child, at home, in school, and in the community?

Before you read this chapter, please take a moment to answer the questions that follow. Record your answers in the KWL chart (Ogle, 1986), listing how you learned and what you would like to learn about literacy. And finally, when you are finished reading, not just this chapter but the entire book, you can go back and list what you have learned.

Table 2.1 Language and Literacy KWL

Know	Want to Learn	Learned
What do I know about how I learned how to talk? What do I know about how I learned how to read? What do I know about how I learned how to write?

Do you remember learning about these areas? Many of us do not. Language acquisition is a natural process that typically occurs without specific instruction.

Purpose of the Chapter

The purpose of this chapter is to assist you in understanding the complex process of language and literacy acquisition. The general assumption for many is to see literacy as the process of decoding and encoding print or reading and writing. Is that how you answered the question “what does literacy mean?” This would not be completely incorrect, but it would also not be the complete picture of what is involved in literacy. Literacy is a complex process that we often oversimplify to mean being able to read and write. As teachers and tutors, we think of our job as helping students to learn to read and write, but to successfully assist students in the process there are other factors we need to consider. Go back and reflect on your literacy journey we asked you to answer earlier. What are your memories of literacy practices from childhood? Do you remember being read to by a parent, grandparent, older sibling, or other caregiver at home? Did you have a bedtime story ritual? Do you remember a favorite book that was read to you over and over, read so much that you had memorized large portions of the text? Were there songs, rhymes, or oral stories you remember hearing at home or in the neighborhood? Think about your community literacy memories too. There are many types of community literacy events such as story time at the library, bible stories told at church events, or listening to elders or family members tell oral stories, recite poems, retell myths and legends, or share stories about historical people and events.

All of these are important oral literacy events that helped form your understanding of language and literacy as a child even before you entered formal schooling. These familial and social language practices help build the literacy blocks needed to begin an understanding of literacy at school for students. As a tutor, it is important that you understand your student’s home, school, and community language and literacy background. You cannot assume your student will share the same home, school, and community literacy background as you, so getting to know your student’s literacy story is important to being a successful tutor.

Several key terms will be important as you meet your student and begin working with them. Understanding the components involved in language and literacy acquisition and their use will be discussed throughout the chapter.

Each term is defined for you, and specific definitions will be highlighted within the text. As you begin to tutor, you will be able to use these terms to describe your student’s language and literacy abilities.

Oral Language and Literacy

Before you learned to read or write you were exposed to a plethora of language events and practices at home and in your community, whether or not you were aware of this. Even before you learned to talk, you were bombarded by thousands of sounds, rhythms, and words that as a young child you may have tried to imitate. As your language began to develop into clear words, simple phrases, and eventually more complex sentences that supported your thought processes your ability to verbally communicate with those around you grew, and your message was acknowledged (e.g., “cookie” “I cookie” “I want cookie” was usually rewarded by receiving a cookie for each utterance; Lindfors, 2008). While many of the students we will work with may come from a home where English is spoken in the form deemed accepted in the school environment (Corson, 1997; Schleppegrell, 2004), we will also have students who come to the program where a variety of English or a language other than English is spoken at home or in their community. You will need to understand the complexity of your student’s language experience and resources and know how to build on what they bring to the tutoring environment; students offer an enormous amount of information and knowledge about their communication style. It is up to the tutor or teacher to acknowledge and value the student’s linguistic repertoire. A person’s linguistic repertoire is made up of all the codes and language varieties that they draw on and utilize to facilitate understanding and communication (Bell, 2013). Thus, tapping into a student’s linguistic strength and making connections to the language of school is part of the tutoring task. Let us first discuss a raciolinguistic perspective, language varieties, and then students who speak a first language other than English to begin to understand the language capabilities students bring with them.

Raciolinguistic Perspective

A raciolinguistic perspective in language education looks at the intersections of language and race and how power structures exist to create a view of acceptable standardized language practices versus the “nonstandard” or the language practices of raciolinguistically minoritized speakers. A raciolinguistic perspective supports the view that multilingual students have a wealth of linguistic resources at their command. This view moves us away from accepting entrenched doctrines on language variance as a deficit and acknowledging that these perceived differences are indeed strengths and resources (Alim et al., 2016; Rosa & Flores, 2017). A raciolinguistic perspective undergirds tutoring practices as the language resources of all students are honored and utilized to support literacy instruction that focuses directly on the students and their knowledge.

Linguistic Repertoire

Varieties of English

According to Bell (2014), a sociolinguistic researcher, the term variety is used to describe the many linguistic resources and nuances within a language. In this book the term variety will be used to describe the many fluid forms, genres, or registers in the English language that people use to convey meaning and communicate messages. Alim et al. (2016) contest the notion that language varieties are fixed or static and move us toward the idea that varieties are fluid and are better defined as linguistic resources. Lave and Wenger (1991) argue we are all members of communities of practice, and participation in these communities informs our language use and identity. Some of the students who will come to the tutoring program are from homes or communities where they have experience in communicating in a different variety of English than what is used or expected in the school environment.

These students may have heard this form of English spoken since birth and have adopted this as their home language and as the language in which they successfully navigate their home and community environments. While this language variation may not be familiar to you, it is still a complex form of communication with its own rules and registers.

Examples of Varieties of English

While students may use a variety of English to communicate at home, they may have some exposure to what is called “school” English through media, TV shows, or other language experiences prior to entering the school environment. To assume they do not have any skills upon which to build on would be incorrect. Halliday (1993) tells us that “language is the essential condition of knowing, the process by which experience becomes knowledge” (p. 94). Halliday is talking about all forms of language and not just the language privileged by schools. For example, people from Texas use a specific variety of English in which the following sentence would be considered correct:

I’m fixin’ to go to the store.

Fixin’ is a word used often and regularly in Texas and other states. Varieties of English are specific to particular communities and are considered correct forms of language. They have consistent grammatical rules and vocabulary just as what is considered “standard” American English does. Corson (1997) explains the existence of language variations as a result of “historical divisions, different patterns of behavior, differences in power and differences in language experience” (p. 236). The example sentence is grammatically correct, and the usage and pronunciation of the word fixin’ is consistently applied in this particular Texas variety of English. People can be adept at using varieties of English and codes and can switch back and forth depending on the environment. It is the job of you, the tutor, to learn about and build on students’ language experiences and practices within their language repertoire without asking them to replace their own varieties of English. The difference between you and your student who may speak a variety of English is that you have had years of schooling and have developed the ability to switch back and forth depending on the context.

Language registers or codes refers to the use of language in relation to a given social situation (Fitzsimmons-Doolan, 2019). Think about all the different varieties of the English language you may have been exposed to and used depending on the context or situation. All of these are linguistic resources you have to navigate different language experiences. Do you have a certain group of friends who speak very casually and use slang with one another? Or maybe at home, where you and your family are so comfortable with one another that you may not even use complete sentences to communicate. In these instances, you have developed and used various registers or codes of English from formal, consultative, to casual or intimate (Joos, 1961). This basically means we use different forms of language to speak to different audiences, and this can play a significant role in teaching.

As educators, we must value the language the student brings with them to the tutoring session. We build on the language knowledge and skills the student brings, and through tutoring can begin to model forms and functions necessary to access “school talk” and to read different text genres. Students often use their home language skills as a foundation in developing their linguistic resources to use in a school setting. We look at the language skills a student brings to tutoring as an asset and then expand the student’s language repertoire through modeling, authentic communication skills, and a variety of reading and writing events used throughout the sessions. In addition to students who speak a variation of English, we will also tutor students who come from home environments in which a language(s) other than English is spoken.

Multilingual Students

For the purposes of this text, we will use the term multilingual students to represent students who speak a language(s) other than English at home and in their community. You may have heard the terms English learners or emergent bilinguals in schools or in the research literature. In this book the term multilingual student is preferred to these other labels. Many students labeled as English learners by schools are born in the United States (Mitchell, 2016; Zinshteyn, 2014) and have heard and spoken English prior to attending school and have developed a rich source of linguistic skills. The term emergent bilinguals used in research and by a growing number of schools to describe students learning English assumes that the student speaks only two languages and that they have emerging English language skills. Both terms—English learners and emergent bilinguals—have delimiting properties that position multilingual students at a linguistic disadvantage. The term multilingual student positions the student as knowing two or more languages. Why not just use the term bilingual student? This assumes the student only speaks two languages and while we may be aware of the two languages they do speak, we do not know their full linguistic repertoire. An example of this could be a family who comes from Guatemala. Most people assume that Guatemalans speak Spanish, and many do, but Quiché, a Mayan language, is the second most widely spoken language after Spanish in Guatemala. Many Guatemalans come to the United States as bilingual speakers of Quiché and Spanish.

Multilingual students may have well-developed social English language skills but still need assistance linking their academic language skills to English vocabulary to be considered successful in school. There is a growing group of multilingual students who come to tutoring with a wide range of English language skills and abilities. As tutors, it is important to learn your students’ home language abilities and their English skills. One can start by asking “getting-to-know-you questions,” such as do they speak mainly in the home language at home and in the community? Do they read and write in the home language? Which language do they feel more comfortable using when talking to friends and family members? If they play a sport outside of school, which language is used at practice and on the field? Which language do they prefer using when they are on the school playground with friends? These and a variety of other questions can be asked to better understand your student’s language experiences. These questions are used just to get to know your student better, to be able to provide them with the best materials and resources, and to know which language to use to send home notices and invitations for conferences and other events.

Other information that would assist you in better understanding your student’s language skills is knowing how long they have been in a U.S. school, how long they may have attended school in the home country, and whether English language instruction was part of the curriculum in the home country. You may teach K–6 students who have been in U.S. schools for a few months, or a year or two, or students who have spent their entire school experience in U.S. schools. Speaking a home language other than English does not mean a student was not born in the United States. Students who come to tutoring will have varying amounts of exposure to U.S. schooling, which makes getting to know your student—and their literacy needs—paramount. We acknowledge the languages our students bring with them as assets and create lesson plans to support their English reading and writing skills while encouraging them to continue using their home language(s). By asking your students specific questions about their talents and ability to speak multiple languages and inquiring about their reading and writing habits, you can begin to select appropriate and engaging materials for your lessons. Home language surveys are used in schools across the country to determine if students are eligible for language support services and assessments. The following language and literacy questionnaire in this chapter is used only to assist you in beginning the process of getting to know your student’s language abilities. Remember, the more you know about your student’s language experiences, the more information you will have to craft appropriate and engaging lessons.

Language and Literacy Questionnaire—Getting to Know Your Student

The following questions can be used as a guide as you get to know your student. You can select the questions you believe are most appropriate for them. This is just one way to get to know your student better. After you have discussed these questions with your student, you can have the student ask you the same questions about your language and literacy skills so they can learn more about you too. Also, it is a great way to share your own language experience with the student and for you to think about your literacy journey. When the tutoring session ends it is important to reflect on what you have learned about your student so you can focus on their language and literacy strengths and the student’s literacy needs, and then begin planning the lesson for your next session. A reflection guide is provided in Appendix 2.2.

Table 2.2 Language and Literacy Questionnaire

Possible Questions to Ask	Response
Which languages do you speak at home?
Which languages do you use in the neighborhood and your community?
How many different languages do you speak?
Which languages do you use to read and write when you are at home or in the community?
Which language do you feel more comfortable using to talk to friends and family members?
If you play a sport outside of school, which language is used at practice and on the field?
Which language do you prefer using when you are on the school playground with friends?
Would you prefer to read a book in your home language or in English?
If you were reading a book in your home language, where on the page would you start reading?
Do you enjoy reading for fun?
Do you read at home?
What types of materials, books, or stories do you like to read?
Do you ever read aloud to others or younger children at school or in the community?
Do you enjoy being read to?
Who reads to you at home (or used to read to you when you were younger)?
Where do you go to get books to read at home?

Please view the video of a multilingual student responding to the language and literacy questionnaire.

Video 2.1 Language and Literacy Questionnaire

One question we would never ask a student is one regarding their own or their family’s documented status in this country. Our goal is to learn about their literacy so we can teach them well. It is hoped this questionnaire will help you develop a better picture of your student’s literacy background. Remember that not every student will have the same literacy background. You learned in Chapter 1 about the rich and diverse funds of knowledge that can be found in your student’s home and community. This source of literacy knowledge may come in many forms, such as a rich oral tradition that would expose your student to wonderful cultural folktales, legends, myths, or family stories passed down through storytelling. Or you may have a student whose literacy exposure is through hearing Bible stories read aloud, or reading recipes to help prepare family meals, or perhaps reading technical manuals to help fix a computer or other mechanical items in the household (Gonzalez et al., 2005). Not every household has traditional children’s books to read, but that does not mean the household is not rich in language and literacy experiences. Not everyone who is fully literate and avid readers today grew up in a household full of children’s books. Exposure to texts and language skills is different for everyone, and enriching literacy experiences come in many different formats.

Your job as a tutor is to learn what types of language and literacy knowledge your student brings to the tutoring session and build a bridge to link their home and community literacy to school literacy practices. By now you should have a much better picture of the necessary components involved in understanding what literacy means. Another important element in the development of literacy, and one we have addressed indirectly throughout this chapter, is the social aspect of literacy. Throughout this chapter we have discussed language and the need to know the language skills our student brings from home, the community, and school to the tutoring session. Language is integral to reading, writing, and communicating and cannot be omitted from the definition of literacy. Literacy is a social act informed by the cultural practices of the participants (Street, 2013).

Social View of Literacy

At the beginning of this chapter you were asked what you knew about language and literacy. Within the chapter is a discussion of the inextricable link between language and literacy and the different forms and styles of language used by students to access literacy within their home and communities. Take a moment now and think about what you know about literacy and see if you can come up with a concrete definition of what literacy means to you. It is not easy to put into words because it is a complex and dynamic process. A traditional view of literacy, one many of you may be familiar with, would define literacy as the process of reading and writing, decoding and encoding to make meaning from text that conveys a message through a visual format and process that occurs with an individual (Gee, 2015; Hawkins, 2013). Where is the interplay of language and cultural context, experience, and understanding in this definition? As addressed earlier in this chapter, these are important components to literacy as well. To understand a definition of literacy that includes not just reading, writing, and language but also the cultural, political, and economic practices (Gee, 2015, Street, 2013) that inform literacy, a social view of literacy is needed. We know literacy includes reading (decoding) and writing (encoding) at a basic level. What are the purposes for reading? Do students read just to pass a test and advance to the next level? Why do students write the five-paragraph essay? Does writing this essay in some way advance students beyond the concrete walls and linoleum halls of schools? A definition of literacy should include an understanding of the social interactions and practices used by students in their daily life. How and where does your student use literacy? How and where do you use literacy? What modalities are used to express our literate self? All of these questions can be answered by looking at the social aspect of literacy events. As members of various language and literacy communities (school, social groups, book clubs, online communities, etc.), the interactions between and among participants help shape our identity as active learners who gain knowledge from the social transactions of literacy (Hawkins, 2013). If students have a specific purpose for engaging in active literacy practices within social learning communities and can call on their previous literacy experiences to build new knowledge, it is more likely they will successfully develop their literacy skills. The goal of tutoring is to help our students set a purpose for learning and assist them in developing their language and literacy abilities. To do this, you should be committed to constant communication with the student’s family and including them as part of the student’s community of learning.

Communicating With Families About Literacy

It is essential to understand how family literacy events or funds of knowledge inform the student’s literacy growth and development, but maintaining open communication with the family is also important. Families can provide us with vital information on how best to work with their children. To achieve this home/school connection we recommend that you communicate with families as much as possible. Your first interaction with the family should be welcoming so you can get to know the student and their family. Ask them questions; let them know you want to know about their child so you can work with them. You should continue to talk with the family as you tutor, letting the family know what you are doing and why. You should ask the family what goals they have for their child in the program. Students should also be asked to set goals for their tutoring experience. We will discuss working with families in detail in Chapter 3.

Summary

Understanding the rich literacy practices—often different from our own—that your student’s family uses at home and within the community is essential in assisting the student in achieving school literacy skills. Furthermore, acknowledging the language skills all students have and bringing them to the classroom discourse aids you in designing and creating appropriate lesson plans for tutoring. Finally, situating language and literacy as inseparable entities within a social model of literacy will help you in developing engaging lessons. Take a moment to return to the KWL chart and reflect on what you have learned about literacy. Continue to use the chart as you read on and gain more knowledge about literacy and literacy practices. Please review and revise your initial answers to the pre-reading questions.