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ERIC Number: EJ1119123
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1066-5684
EISSN: N/A
"La Biblioteca Es Importante": A Case Study of an Emergent Bilingual Public Library in the Nuevo U.S. South
Alvarez, Steven; Alvarez, Sara P.
Equity & Excellence in Education, v49 n4 p403-413 2016
Research examining ethnolinguistic community schools (García, Zakharia, & Otcu, 2013) proposes that local spaces not directly affiliated with schools sustain bilingualism and identity. Though researchers often theorize about how community schools sustain home language literacies, less research examines how local public spaces sustain bilingualism among immigrant communities and, more broadly, what this would resemble. With a conceptual framework modeled after García's (2009, 2011) theorization of translanguaging as a dynamic bilingual practice, we offer a counter to monolingual assumptions permeating current language education policy and ideologies. This case study of a public library examines a translanguaging space that offers a window into an emerging Latin American immigrant community in the U.S. South and the complexities of bilingual contact in the United States as a whole. We found that this nurturing public library fostered bilingualism, intentionally refuting language-minoritized stigmas for students learning English. With targeted programming and mentorship, the library challenged misinterpreted "deficit" views of emergent bilingual communities with reoriented views of English language learning to a translingual orientation (Horner, Lu, Royster, & Trimbur, 2011) that extends the innovative and critical practices of shuttling across diverse language repertoires. The public space of the library honored and cultivated the literacy practices of its local communities, and the importance of this is, without overstating, that public spaces for bilingual learning further the missions of all schools.
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Kentucky
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A