Deborah Brandt, in " Sponsors of Literacy", argued that class and race can impact how much access a person has to literacy sponsorship. She spoke of Raymond Branch and Dora Lopez who both lived in the same area, but due to their uncontrollable circumstances, had different amounts and forms of literacy sponsors. As I read this article I found myself between both Branch and Lopez's situations. I agree with what Brandt said and for that reason I will be joining her in the argument. I'm currently a freshman in college and one of the classes I am enrolled in is philosophy. One of the things we have been going over is deductive arguments and whether they are valid and sound. An argument can be valid, but not always sound. For an argument to be …show more content…
He learned programming techniques and became a self-employed writer of software and software documentation. Dora Lopez is a Mexican American. Her father worked at a technical college as a clerk and her mother attended technical college while also working in a book store. To access Spanish-language newspapers and magazines, she had to travel seventy miles. She taught herself how to read and write in Spanish and used her mother's discount to buy books that were in Spanish. She was exposed to a computer for the first time at the age of thirteen. Later she partly worked as a translator for coworkers …show more content…
My mom is Panamanian and a very bright woman and loves school, while my dad is African American and didn’t care for school at all and isn't very educated. My mom first came to America to study at Vanderbilt University and my dad never went to college. When I was four my parents got a divorce and my mother maintained custody of me. In this day in time people would say that my odds are against me when it comes to becoming literate. Why? Well, I didn’t grow up in the best neighborhood. The area I was raised in was nicknamed "Little Mexico" because many illegal immigrants lived there. I quickly learned that most of the people around me didn’t know how to read or write and they only spoke Spanish. Imagine them living in an English speaking country. If they couldn’t read or write in their own language living in America must be pretty complicated. It would clearly seem like I wouldn't have much access to literacy sponsors at all. Literacy sponsors can be people, places, or even events that shape how a person reads and writes. Those same people, places, and events can play a big factor in a person's opinion about reading and writing as well. However, it was almost impossible for me not to have any literacy sponsors with my mom being in my
Opportunities abound to stamp out illiteracy at the federal, state, and local level. Are these enough? For those in need, maybe not. Most everyone’s needs are unique. National Family Literacy Program helps those families nationwide with literacy problems. In our own state of Florida, Governor Jeb Bush has set up the Governor’s Mentoring Initiative Program which has helped over 9,000 adults and children improve their reading programs.
Clive Thompson asserts in his essay, The New Literacy, that people today are writing more than ever as they socialize online. Nowadays, almost everybody uses social media, but it is more popular amongst younger people. Teenagers text and tweet every little thought that pops up in their head. However, numerous scholars can argue that texting and tweeting defiles the serious academic writing with slang and “text speak.” By way of contrast, Thompson claims that using shortened language and smileys online does not degrade a person’s abilities to write well in an academic paper. Furthermore, composing texts and tweets online can help an individual with their writing. By communicating online, we are able to learn grammar and writing through our own
Growing up in a Mexican household where education isn’t a priority or important has been one of my major obstacles that I’ve had to overcome. Although my family’s culture believes that education isn’t necessary their experiences and lifestyles have influence and motivate my choices for my future. I come from a home where I have no role model or someone influential. I have no one to ask for advice for college or anything involve in school. In most homes, older siblings help their younger siblings with their homework or projects but in my house no one was able to provide me with any help. I grew up to be independent and to do anything school related on my own. My parents are both immigrants who didn’t get to finish elementary
In the essay “The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society,” written by Jonathan Kozol, and published in Readings for Writers in New York in 2013, the author raises awareness to those willing to take action against the dangers of illiteracy in a society where one cannot thrive without such an ability. Throughout the writing, the author uses many powerful and intimate accounts of people who are illiterate and the times in which they were deemed helpless, as a tool to help the audience better understand the problem at hand. Mr. Kozol implements statistics as definitive evidence to show just how many persons are unable to read the written word. As another illustration of the dilemma still plaguing America to this day, he brings to light the
The National Center for Education Statistics estimates that 32 million adults cannot read. In New York City 25 percent of adults lack basic literacy skills, the number is even higher in some of the surrounding boroughs. When parents are illiterate it has a negative impact on quality of life, puts stress on the children they rely on for communication and inhibits the child’s educational success. Higher education correlates with greater income, better health, the improbability of committing crimes, likelihood to vote and contributes to the success of future generations. The majority of Literacy Partner’s parents improved a grade level or more during the 2014-2015 program year. Of Literacy Partners students taking the GED, seventy-six percent
The number of English language learning (ELL) students in the U.S. has grown dramatically in the last decade. According to a 1991 national study, there are over 2,300,000 students in grades K through 12 who are English language learners (August & Hakuta, 1997). This number has grown by over 1,000,000 since 1984. The majority of these students are Spanish-speakers (73%), followed by Vietnamese-speakers (3.9%). Because the overwhelming proportions of ELL students are Spanish speakers, the issue of bilingual education is largely a Latino one. No other language group makes up more than 4% of limited English proficient students. What complicates the issue of education for language minority students is their low socioeconomic status. 80% of ELL students are poor, and most attend schools where the majority of students also live in poverty and are English language learners. There is some difference in the level of poverty among language groups. Here, again, Latinos are disproportionately represented: 57% of Spanish-speaking families earn less than $20,000 compared to, for example, only 35% of families where Asian/Pacific Island languages are spoken (McArthur, 1993). Poverty has many implications for educational achievement, for example, parents' educational attainment mirror income levels, and parents' educational achievement is highly linked to that of their children's.
The literature on learner attrition and on resistance to participation in adult literacy programs suggests that the current delivery system may not be meeting the needs or expectations of many adults. A small but growing body of literature questions whether cultural dissonance between instructors and learners is a factor in learner attrition, and it advocates increasing cultural relevance in literacy practices. Some of the writings also advocate helping learners move toward critical reflection and social action. This Digest explores the poverty-racism-literacy connection, specifically as it relates to adult literacy, the imperative for culturally relevant practices, and the development of critical literacy. Alternative Definitions of Literacy In the prevailing and traditional definition, literacy is regarded as central to helping people obtain and retain employment, which is the key to moving them from dependency toward greater self-sufficiency.
Beth Johnson’s “The Professor is a Dropout” recounts the story of Guadalupe Quintanilla, a Mexican-American immigrant who moved to America with her grandparents at the age of 12. There she was enrolled in school where she had to take an IQ test that was entirely in English. Not knowing the language, she did poorly. She was labeled ‘Retarded’ and put into the first grade, forced to learn with children half her age. After a humiliating incident involving her being scolded for speaking in her native language, Lupe dropped out of school and instead helped out her Grandparents around the house, continuing to read and learn in Spanish at home. At 16, she married, and in five years’ time had three children. When her children started school they
The general consensus people have about literacy is that for someone to be literate they have to be able to read and write, The question that needs to be answered is what are the elements that affect the way one becomes literate and sponsors they will receive? Race, color and gender are the three main factors that play into the upbringing of an adolescent. These all affect the sponsors available and the literacy someone will be able to receive.
Education has always been a priority in my family. My father has come from very humble beginnings; where both of his parents were illiterate. He was raised on a farm with 16 brother and sisters. His parents put their blood and sweat into sending him to America in achieving the “American Dream”. My father had worked multiple jobs to support his family back home in Haiti. Today, my father owns his own taxi driving business stationed in New Jersey and New York City. My father has worked exceptionally hard in supporting and making sure I have all the necessity I need to mature as a person. My father’s parents not being able to read and not being able to assist him in his growing education has lead him to appreciate the idea of education in furthering a person's life. In addition, my father is able to provide for me more then his parents were able to provide for him educationally and financially
Emerging readers need to have understanding of the literacy elements. These readers need to have knowledge of what letters are and that letters make sounds. They also need to have knowledge that letter sounds form words in order to be a developing early reader. Children should and need to having phonemic and phonological awareness to become excellent readers. Phonological awareness consists of skills that typically develop gradually and sequentially through the late preschool period (What is Phonological Awareness?, 2013). They are developed with direct training and exposure. It is the teacher’s job as well as the parent’s job to help and aid in forming this awareness. This essay will explain what emerging literacy is, the
This becomes a broader community issue as more students with literacy support issues seek postsecondary education. Kimball suggested that departments responsible for protecting students’ access to reasonable accommodations need to do better explaining to content instructors the importance, and the value, of supporting students and their literacy needs (Kimball, et al., 1998). Levant clarified that not all students need the same literacy supports, but that most students, diagnosed or not, would benefit from adjusting teaching and assessment strategies in order to accommodate a variety of learners (Kimball, et al.,
I have very few recollections of my early years and the exact age I was able to read and write. Some of my earliest memories are vague on the topic of my literacy. However, I do remember small memories, such as, learning how to write my name in cursive, winning prizes for reading, and crying over every assigned high school essay. Over the last twelve years my literacy grew rapidly with the help of teachers, large school libraries, my family, and so on. There is always room for my literacy skills to grow, but my family’s help and positive attitude towards my education, the school systems I have been a part of, and the horrible required essays from high school helped obtain the level, skills, habits, and processes that I use as part of my literacy
Reading instruction in the elementary school is critical to students’ success in school. Students leaving elementary school, not reading at grade level, have a much lower chance of graduating from high school. “A student who can't read on grade level by 3rd grade is four times less likely to graduate by age 19 than a child who does read proficiently by that time. Add poverty to the mix, and a student is 13 times less likely to graduate on time than his or her proficient, wealthier peer” (Hernandez, 2011).
Literacy events occur quite often throughout my day. My mornings are usually repetitive with me waking up to an alarm sound and hearing the microwave ding due to my suitemate cooking breakfast. On my way out the door I always take a look at the kitchen trashcan because I hate a dirty kitchen. When closing the door, I insert my key in the door to lock it because I am not use to a door not automatically locking. Since I am a full time student, throughout the day I am involved in literacy events that involve anything that is school related. While walking to and from class, I sometimes look at the traffic lights. Usually I just walk with the crowd paying no attention to the traffic lights, which goes along with my “go