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Language & Literacy I-Search Paper

Elide Grande

California State University Dominguez Hills

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At the age of two, Santiago (who has not stepped foot in a daycare nor preschool) is very

advanced at browsing through YouTube videos on his parents' phone. Santiago enjoys playing

endless ABC, number, and color songs as well as nursery rhymes. Watching him sing and dance

is almost as amazing as observing him move from one video to the next making sure to hit the

“skip ad” option. However, even more remarkable is seeing how much he has learned through

the use of technology. It does not matter when or where, two-year-old Santiago, can point out

letters and tell you the name- even if they are not in order. He can also count to twenty, but can

identify one through ten at random. Also, he is able to point out object desired using his new-

found knowledge of colors. For instance, during one of my visits to his home, Santiago was

playing and browsing through videos as usual. He then stood up, walked away from the phone,

and went into the kitchen. After two or three attempts of trying to retrieve a cookie from the

counter he walked away, grabbed his mother’s arm and directed her towards the kitchen counter.

Santiago then pointed at the cookie in a plastic container and said “white, white box”. His mother

then said “oh, cookie?”, and hands it to him. Santiago, with a satisfied expression, runs off with a

cookie in his hand.

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As I was observing this event take its course, I realized the importance of it because here

is child who has not step foot outside of his home environment, who only speaks in one- or two-

word sentences, yet he is already using and making sense of many forms of literacies. This event

made me wonder why schools focus primarily on reading and writing to determine a child's

literacy skill, when there are children, like Santiago, who are not at the stage of reading or

writing but that can express their literacy skills in a different manner. Especially today since

technology has become a big part of our culture. The Net Generation (Alverman & McLean

2007) uses technology for multiple purposes such as reading a book, communicating, research,

and the likes. Therefore, this paper will explore the different literacies Santiago is learning and

practicing through the use of technology.

Literacy is mainly identified as the ability to read and write in a way that allows you to be

successful in the workforce (Alevermann and McLean 2007). However, with an on growing

society filled with diversity and culture (Nieto 2010), literacy should be identified as the ability

to communicate with society in a way that conveys meaning through print, oral, music,

gestures/motions, and visual representation (Alverman & McLean 2007, Haggarty 2010). By

seeing literacy as more than the ability to read or write, we are allowing children to express their

knowledge and assisting them to continue developing higher skills of literacy.

Take two- years old Santiago, who is growing up with technology being part of his

culture, and through this culture he is learning how to scroll through videos based on visual

representation. At his current age, Santiago is going through stages (Genishi and Dyson 2009),

so instead of being able to read he is choosing videos based on the images that appear of the

preview. Visual representation is a form of literacy that allows students to convey meaning,
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questions, and evaluated text through images rather than words (Dumentz Carry). As Santiago

used his current knowledge to look for a way to express himself, he decided to use visual

representation by choosing “white, white box”. He described both the object and its color

because his videos have taught him to look for visual representation in order to convey meaning.

Another factor of literacy used in this event was verbal/oral presentation. Oral language,

according to Fillmore & Snow (2002), is a foundation for children's literacy both in school and

out of school. As Santiago begins to create meaning of the words of the songs he listens too, he

is building on his foundation of literacy. This is because he is using his knowledge of sounds and

words and he is combing them creating meaning from utterance (Genishi & Dyson 2009).

Santiago used his basic understanding of oral language “white, white box” to create meaning,

and through that meaning he was able to obtain his desired object - a cookie.

Furthermore, as mentioned in the definition, another factor of literacy are gestures/

motions. Gestures are important because they express meaning and understanding even if the

child is not ready to say it (Michael Roth). For instance, even if Santiago's mother was a bit

confused with his visual representation and oral presentation of “white, white box”, she would

still be able to make sense of what he needed. This is because he also pointed and stared at the

cookie box, thereby, making it likely that she would have understand him regardless. Such is the

case with many pre-kinder students, according to Margarita Rosales a pre-K educator for the last

ten years, students tend to know what they need, but find it difficult to express it in words much

more in writing, so they use gestures to express themselves. Mrs. Rosales is a strong believer in

the different accepts of literacy and finds it really unfair for children to be judged on their

“literacy skills” based primarily on writing and reading.

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Literacy has more aspects than simply being able to read and write. The event discussed

on two-year Santiago is an example of the literacy that occurs in children's home. This is

important to early childhood educators because it allows them to be aware of the oral, visual, and

motion skills children already have, as they serve as a foundation to building stronger literacy

knowledge. As a future educator, I plan on incorporating the different aspects of literacy into my

classroom. One way to do so is by using technology, since most of my further students are going

to be digital natives (Alverman & McLean 2007), which means they were raised in a world

where technology has a huge role. Through the use of technology students can practice their

alphabet, colors, numbers, read interactive books, and learn about music and its rhythm. Plus, it

allows students to choose from a verity of different videos, songs, books, so they will be able to

pick something that they are interested in, which will allow them to become excited about

learning. Also, to practice print they can write about the books read or songs heard through the

use of technology. Furthermore, learning how to browse and use technology to their advantage

can assist them throughout their education and in their future careers as well as creating a

connection with the world.

Moreover, looking into how this simple event had many aspects of literacy has really

opened my eyes. It has made me aware that, as a future educator, I need to step away from the

narrative way of teaching (Freire2000) because students are not coming into the classroom

empty. Instead they are coming in with factors of literacy already developing and ready to

continue to explore and gain further knowledge. Therefore, even though Santiago is not capable

of putting words together to create a coherent sentence, and he can’t read or write, he can show

his understanding is other ways. This is why is important for educators to see these factors in
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order to help the students going into a pre-K or kindergarten classrooms continue to improve and

develop stronger literacy skills.

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Reference

http://www.easybib.com/guides/citation-guides/apa-format/

Alvermann, D., & McLean. A. C. (2007). The Nature of Literacies. Secondary School Literacy

(pp.1-16). Mational Council of Teachers of English.

Fillmore. W. L., & Snow, E. C. (2002). What Teachers Need to Kmow about Language (pp.7

45). Mc Henry, IL: Center for Applied Lingustics and Delta System Co. Inc.

Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Retrieved

from http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook

Genishi, C., & Dyson, H. D. (2009). Standardized Language, Standardized Childhood. Children

Language and Literacy (pp.11-34). New York.

Haggarty, M. (2010). Exploring Curriculum Implications of Multimodal Literacy in a New

Zealand Early Childhood Setting. European Early Childhood Education Research

Journal, 18,177-189.

Rosales. M. (2018, October 05). Personal Interview.

Nieto, S. (2010). Culture and Learning. The Light in Their Eyes (pp.77-100). New York:

Teachers College Press.