Putting words into their mouths: ethnographic encounters of multilingual literacy practices in a British-Arab home

Abstract

Literacy is often viewed as schooled literacy in the dominant language, generally English, and the role of the home in marginalised communities has often been undervalued in the past. In this paper, I examine, through a socio-cultural lens, the role played by the home and community in literacy learning. Through data elicited from observation of multilingual family interactions and conversations, as well as interviews with family members I examine the home and community literacy practices of a British-Arab family and ask how these practices intersect with schooled literacy. I concluded that multilingual families have far greater language and literacy skills than presumed, and that schools need to recognise the language and literacy practices that multilingual families engage in at home and in the community. This paper also highlights and emphasise that social justice for all requires educational shift starting with a shift in pedagogy.