ERIC Number: EJ1350858
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: EISSN-1175-8708
Community Cultural Wealth and Literacy Capital in Latin American Communities
Trigos-Carrillo, Lina
English Teaching: Practice and Critique, v19 n1 p3-19 2020
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the literacy practices of the families and communities of first-generation college students in Latin America, and how community and family literacies can inform the understanding of first-generation college students' identity and cultural values. Design/methodology/approach: This transnational ethnography was conducted in local communities around three public universities in Mexico, Colombia and Costa Rica. Participants included nine fist-generation college students and more than 50 people in their families and communities (i.e. relatives, parents and friends). Data gathering occurred at the university outside the formal space of the classroom, at home, and in the community. Data were interpreted through the lens of the community cultural wealth framework. Findings: The author found that first-generation college students and their families and communities engaged in rich literacy practices that have been overlooked in policy, research, and media. It is argued that the concept literacy capital is necessary to acknowledge the critical literacy practices communities engage in. Literacy capital was manifested in these communities to preserve cultural traditions, to sponsor literacy practices and to question and resist unjust sociopolitical circumstances. Practical implications: The findings of this study should inform a culturally sustaining pedagogy of academic literacies in higher education. Beyond asset-based approaches to academic literacies in Latin America, critical perspectives to academic literacies teaching and learning are needed that acknowledge the Latin American complexities. Originality/value: These findings are significant because they unveiled how people in local communities were informed about the sociopolitical dynamics at the national and international scale that affected or even threatened their local culture, and how they used their literacy capital to react critically to those situations.
Descriptors: Literacy, First Generation College Students, Latin Americans, Family Literacy, Self Concept, Cultural Background, Ethnography, State Universities, Cross Cultural Studies, Student Attitudes, Foreign Countries, Culturally Relevant Education, Teaching Methods, Academic Language, Social Influences, Cultural Influences, Learning Processes, Mexicans
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Mexico; Colombia; Costa Rica
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A