DIVERSITY IN LITERACY 1

Diversity in Literacy

Hsieh, Sheng-Kang

Graduate School of Education

University of Pennsylvania
DIVERSITY IN LITERACY 2

Diversity in Literacy

Literacy can be viewed from sociopolitical, cultural, linguistic,

psychological, historical, and literary perspectives, which makes literacy more diverse

and changeable. However, the diversity in literacy brings more challenges and

opportunities to today’s education, culture is one of the most influential ones. The

United States is often described as a “melting pot,” in which diverse cultures and a

large number of immigrants come together to form this nation. One classroom shares

with more than one culture, one race in this country. Matsumoto (2000) defines

culture as a dynamic system of rules, both explicit and implicit, established by groups

in order to ensure their survival, including attitudes, values, beliefs, norms, and

behaviors. Culture changes over time in response to environmental and social changes

(Matsumoto, 2000, p.24).

Language and culture are inextricably intertwined. If the teacher introduces

the English word “aunt” in the class, some Asian students whose native language are

not English may be confused, since there are a lot of relative words in Mandarin

Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, for instance, “舅媽”, “姑姑”, “伯母”, “嬸嬸”, they

are all translated with “aunt” in English. Most oriental culture is deeply influenced by

Confucianism, which emphasizes the importance of family and social harmony. This

situation emphasizes the importance of multicultural education. The more distant a

DIVERSITY IN LITERACY 3

child’s culture and language are from the culture and language of school, the more at

risk that child is (Nieto, S, 1999). How do we ensure that the differences of culture,

language, gender, and race will not stand in the way of educational success? Effective

pedagogy needs to take into account how students' languages, cultures, and other

differences exist within and are influenced by mainstream U.S. culture as well as by

other subcultures with which they come into contact (Nieto, S, 1999). Therefore,

educators should be the ones to support these children, and let them know who they

are and identify with their own culture.

Apart from the cultural differences, with the progress of information and

communications technology has led to the emergence of the global village, people

around the world become closer. We can access information and knowledge beyond

national borders. The term “multiliteracies”, a new form of literacy has emerged,

people nowadays need to interact effectively by using multiple languages, and

communication patterns that more frequently cross-cultural, community, and national

boundaries. Hence, literacy pedagogy now must consider the burgeoning variety of

text forms associated with information and multimedia technologies. (New London

Group, 1996). Such literacy abilities involve multimodal information processing and

communication skills. The New London Group (1996) defines “Situated Practice” as

an immersion in meaningful practices within a community of learners who are

DIVERSITY IN LITERACY 4

capable of playing multiple and different roles based on their backgrounds and

experiences (New London Group, 1996). By applying situated practices in the

classroom, educators are able to facilitate learners’ interaction, discussion, interests,

and meaning-making. It demonstrated how literacy can be a social practice where

students can uncover the assumptions of knowledge, view knowledge from diverse

ethnic and cultural perspectives, and help them to become thoughtful, committed, and

active citizens in their nation and the world (Banks, 2003).

The Open Doors 2021 Report shows that more than 317,000 Chinese

students enrolled in U.S. institutions in 2020/21, making China remains the number

one source of international students in the United States (U.S. Embassy & Consulates

in China, 2021). Wang (2017) found that WeChat played a central role in the literacy

and social lives of those Chinese students as they forged new friendships and

developed resources necessary in coping with the myriad challenges at the university.

Digital spaces have become another site to observe literacy as unfolding at the nexus

of individuals, digital culture, and transnational migration (Wang, 2017). It highlights

people in the 21st century are no longer just making meanings through reading printed

books and writing on paper, instead of using emoji, stickers to interact with friends

through social media, even searching for the answers on the Internet. Black (2005)

acknowledges that reading and writing as discrete skill sets that cannot be learned
DIVERSITY IN LITERACY 5

independently of social interaction but as dialogic meaning-making processes that are

acquired and embedded in specific social contexts (Black, 2005). These social

contexts are influenced by culture, language, and education. Therefore, a person with

transnational roots may draw on cultural, experiential, and imaginative knowledge

embedded in migration to deepen their understanding of texts and cultures (Wang,

2017). We should teach students not only to read the word, but to read the world.

Reading the word requires basic knowledge and skills. While reading the world

requires students to question the assumptions of institutionalized knowledge and to

use knowledge to solve the problems (Banks, 2003).

Freire (1970) states that we must teach students to combine critique with

hope. When we teach students how to critique the injustice in the world, we should

help them to formulate possibilities for action to change the world (Freire, 1970).

People unable to read and write is not the most serious problem in the world, instead,

people come from different ages, cultures, races, religions, and countries cannot live

in peace and work together to fight against our common enemies, such as Covid-19

pandemic, global climate change, sexual violence, racial discrimination, all of which

are the issues we still need to work on and focus on.

DIVERSITY IN LITERACY 6

References

Banks, J. A. (2002). An introduction to multicultural education (3rd ed.). Boston:

Allyn and Bacon.

Banks, J. A. (2003). Teaching literacy for social justice and global citizenship.

Language Arts, 81(1), 18-19.

Black, R.W. (2005). Access and affiliation: The literacy and composition practices of

English-language learners in an online fanfiction community. Journal of

Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 49(2), 118–128. doi:10.1598/JAAL.49.2.4

China Remains the Top Sender of International Students to the United States in

2020/2021.(2021, November 17). Retrieved February 19, 2022, from U.S.

Embassy & Consulates in China: https://china.usembassy-china.org.cn/china-

remains-the-top-sender-of-international-students-to-the-united-states-in-2020-

2021/

Freire, P., Ramos, M. B., Macedo, D. P., & Shor, I. (1970). Pedagogy of the

oppressed. Bloomsbury Academic.

Jones, S., & Woglom, J. F. (2016). From where do you read the world? Journal of

Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 59(4), 443–473.

Matsumoto, D. (2000). Culture and psychology: People around the world (2nd ed.).

Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures.

Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60–92.

Nieto, S. (1999). The light in their eyes: Creating multicultural learning communities.

New York: Teachers College Press.

Wang, X. (2017). Transnational Chinese Students’ Literacy and Networking Practices.

Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 60(6), 687–696.