Global literacy and foreign language education in central Appalachia

1. Global literacy andforeign language education in central Appalachia Ella Smith, Ph.D. studentsmith.5118@osu.eduThe Ohio State UniversityForeign & Second Language EducationSchool of Teaching & Learning

2. The Appalachian region

3. Central Appalachia KY 53 TN 14 VA 7 WV 7 N=81 Appalachian Regional Commission, 2009

4. A demographic profile of central Appalachians (What central Appalachia really looks like) • 2010 census population: 1,918,473 (1.6% since 2000) • 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

5. Demographics • Race • 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

6. Demographics • Education(of individuals 25+, 2005-2009) • Breakdown: • less than HS diploma 28.9% • HS grad, no post-secondary degree 53.6% • Associate’s degree 5.5% • Bachelor’s degree+ 11.9% Pollard & Jacobsen, 2011

7. Demographics • Migration patterns(Ages 1+, 2005-2009) • Breakdown: • Did not move 86.9% • Moved within county 7.8% • Moved within state 3.2% • Moved outside of state 2.1% Pollard & Jacobsen, 2011

8. “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) Stereotypes Harkins, 2004

9. Culture is not fixed! • “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)

10. Literacy • 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 • Reading and writing

11. 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.”

12. Cultivating global literacy • 4 components (Carnegie Mellon University) • Knowledge • Intellectual skills • Social/cultural competencies • Ethics

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. Researching foreign language educationin 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

18. References • 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/.

19. References continued • 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.