Global literacy andforeign language education

in central Appalachia

Ella Smith, Ph.D. studentsmith.5118@osu.edu

The Ohio State UniversityForeign & Second Language Education

School of Teaching & Learning

The Appalachian region

Central Appalachia

Appalachian Regional Commission, 2009

KY 53TN 14VA 7WV 7 N=81

• 2010 census population: 1,918,473 (1.6% since 2000)

A demographic profile of central Appalachians

Median age: 40.4

Breakdown:25-64 54%Under 18 22.3%65+ 15%18-24 8.6%

Change since 2000:

+2.8%-6.6%+13.7%-4.6%

Pollard & Jacobsen, 2011

(What central Appalachia really looks like)

• Race

Demographics

Breakdown:White 95.4%Black 1.8%Hispanic 1.3%Other races 1.5%

Change since 2000:

+0.6%+8.2%+72.8%+35.4%

Pollard & Jacobsen, 2011

• Education(of individuals 25+, 2005-2009)

Breakdown:less than HS diploma

28.9%HS grad, no post-secondary degree53.6%Associate’s degree5.5%Bachelor’s degree+11.9%

Demographics

Pollard & Jacobsen, 2011

Demographics

• Migration patterns(Ages 1+, 2005-2009)

Breakdown:Did not move86.9%Moved within county

7.8%Moved within state3.2%Moved outside of state2.1%

Pollard & Jacobsen, 2011

Stereotypes

Harkins, 2004

“people who cannot, and do not care to, locate Iraq or France on a map—assuming they even own an atlas”

(Bageant, 2007, p. 2)

• “it is problematic to talk about culture as though it is monolithic and static … we must understand culture as shared and particular” (Seidl, 2007, p. 179)

• “the needs of the Appalachian people are no different from elsewhere, the need to be respected for who they are and for what they bring to the multicultural table” (Sohn, 2006, p. 2)

Culture is not fixed!

• Reading and writingLiteracy

• Barton & Hamilton, 1998• “… primarily something people do” (p. 3)• “Like all human activity, literacy is essentially

social, and it is located in the interaction between people.” (p. 3)• From p. 7 …• “a set of social practices”• “associated with different domains of life”• “patterned by social institutions and power

relationships”• “purposeful and embedded in broader social

goals and cultural practices”• dynamic

Literacy

• Bloome, 1985, p. 134

• “Social interaction surrounds and influences interaction with a written text.”

• “… reading has social uses which are an extension of people’s day-to-day cultural doings.”

• “… reading is a socio-cognitive process. Through learning to read and through reading itself, children learn culturally appropriate information, activities, values, and ways of thinking and problem solving.”

Cultivating global literacy

• 4 components (Carnegie Mellon University)• Knowledge• Intellectual skills• Social/cultural competencies• Ethics

Global literacy

• Knowledge• situate issues and perspectives in context• frame problems and seek solutions for them,

recognizing their complexity• understand the history, characteristics, and

components of numerous global systems• make historical and contemporary

connections

Carnegie Mellon University

Global literacy

• Intellectual skills• apply appropriate models, frameworks, and

theories to situations to solve problems and make predictions• analyze critically• challenge assumptions and interpretations• seek and recognize a variety of perspectives• ask relevant questions• seek, locate, and evaluate information• make appropriate comparisons• weigh the costs/benefits of actions

Carnegie Mellon University

Global literacy

• Social/cultural competencies• observe carefully and analytically• listen respectfully• communicate effectively across various

media• utilize both local and global resources• collaborate across time, distance, and

cultural/disciplinary differences• adapt to diverse cultural contexts and

unfamiliar situations

Carnegie Mellon University

Global literacy

• Ethics• develop informed, thoughtful ethical

positions about local and global issues• engage in actions in a manner that reflects

social/global responsibility and personal empowerment

Carnegie Mellon University

Researching foreign language education

in central Appalachia• “Formative assessment empowers teachers and

students because it gives them specific information about individual performance.” (Tovani, 2011, p. 13)• Where are we now?• Where are we going?• How do we close the gap?

(quoted in Tovani [p. 54, as taken from Stiggins et. al, 2004)

• Study of in-service foreign language educators in central Appalachia• Qualitative + quantitative research methods

• Appalachian Regional Commission. (2009). [Map illustration of the geographical range of Appalachia]. Subregions in Appalachia. Retrieved from http://www.arc.gov/research/MapsofAppalachia.asp?MAP_ID=31.

• Bageant, J. (2007). Deer hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America’s class war. New York, NY: Crown Publishers.

• Barton, D., & Hamilton, M. (1998). Local literacies: Reading and writing in one community. London: Routledge.

• Bloome, D. (1985). Reading as a social process. Language Arts, 62(2), 134-142.

• Carnegie Mellon University. (n.d.). Global literacy: How are we defining it? How are we assessing it? Retrieved from http://www.cmu.edu/global/education/global-literacy/.

References

• Harkins, A. (2004). Hillbilly: A cultural history of an American icon. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

• Pollard, K., & Jacobsen, L. (2011). The Appalachian region in 2010: A census data overview. Prepared for the Appalachian Regional Commission by the Population Reference Bureau.

• Seidl, B. (2007). Working with communities to explore and personalize culturally relevant pedagogies: “Push, double images, and raced talk”. Journal of Teacher Education, 58(2), 168-183.

• Sohn, K. K. (2006). Whistlin’ and crowin’ women of Appalachia: Literacy practices since college. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.

• Tovani, C. (2011). So what do they really know?: Assessment that informs teaching and learning. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.

References continued