Investigating literacy narratives among ethno-linguistically diverse South African students

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Authors

Carstens, Adelia

Journal Title

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Publisher

De Gruyter

Abstract

This article reports on a study of pre-service teachers’ literacy narratives in a South African institution of higher learning. Literacy self-narratives of 57 students were collected and analysed for categories and themes under narrator and sponsor identities through the use of AtlasTi software. The results of the study show the role of historical, cultural and political contexts in shaping literacy identities of student teachers. The results also show huge disparities of literacy experiences among different racial and gender groupings, which highlight social and educational opportunities. Using New literacies and Multiliteracies frameworks, I consider how these literacy challenges may be transformed to facilitate a just and equitable society. Particular implications of the students’ constructions of literacy identities are considered at the end of the article.

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Keywords

Academic literacies, Literacy self-narrative, Literacy narrative pedagogy, Multilingualism, New literacies, South Africa (SA)

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Citation

Carstens, A 2015, 'Investigating literacy narratives among ethno-linguistically diverse South African students', International Journal of the Sociology of Language, no. 234, pp. 93-114.