Reading the World Beyond the Word: The Enactment of the Culture of Reading in English-Portuguese Biliterate Settings

• Other Authors: Ramos Sollai, Silvia Regina (author)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Curriculum planning; Multicultural education
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/2018_Su_RamosSollai_fsu_0071E_14448

In order to answer in what ways the teaching of reading in Portuguese at an English-Portuguese Dual Language Immersion (DLI) Program is supportive of the home language and minority culture in a biliterate community during the very earliest phases of reading acquisition, this single-case qualitative study was designed to count on focus group interviews, classroom and community observations, and material and photographic data collection 1) to explore in and outside classroom biliteracy continuity; 2) to describe Portuguese home language and Brazilian minority culture of reading and/ or lack of it; and, 3) to identify the implementation of the field’s current practices. The sample was selected purposefully as it was an exemplar home-school-community biliterate setting from a U.S. southeastern school district, where English was the majority language and Portuguese was the home language. Under the lens of the Continua of Biliteracy by Hornberger (1989) and Hornberger & Skilton-Sylvester’s (2000), I analyzed macro issues of teaching, research, and planning into biliteracy. The integrated pattern of beliefs, goals, and dynamics around reading were analyzed through the culture of reading (Behrman, 2004), whereas Vukelich & Christie (2009)’s suggestion of Emergent Literacy and Scientifically Based Reading Research Perspectives were applied into instructional methods and micro issues. At a macro level, the results showed that until deliberate efforts are seen to elevate languages other than English and minority cultures to human capital by the responsible bodies, any attempt of reaching a multilingual-multicultural education will be known for its pending adjustments, and not for the European model of multilingual empowering education the U.S. looks up to. At a micro level, there seems to be a greater disparity in COB’s biliteracy content if compared to their context, media, and development analytical endpoints. In the final analysis, the U.S. educational system cannot afford to isolate the nation due to communication limitation; especially in times divisive ideologies are unwelcomingly gaining more space. In seek of maintaining a leading role; the ability to promote dialogue comes from the skill of reading the world beyond the word. Suggestions for further study on a Portuguese pluricentric approach seem relevant since an increase in federal and states initiatives for English-Portuguese dual language immersion programs, due to the fact that Portuguese is considered a critical and less commonly taught language by major federal agencies, such as U.S. Department of Defense. === A Dissertation submitted to the School of Teacher Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. === Spring Semester 2018. === April 10, 2018. === Dual Language Immersion, English-Portuguese biliteracy, home language, minority culture, multilingual-multicultural education, reading acquisition === Includes bibliographical references. === Marcy P. Driscoll, Professor Directing Dissertation; Peggy Sharpe, University Representative; Christine Andrews-Larson, Committee Member; John Myers, Committee Member.