Language is Identity: Telling and Reading the Right Kinds of Stories

The field of reading instruction has long valued storytelling for literacy development, but what kinds of stories are bi/multilingual students exposed to at school? Through the cognitive phenomena of conceptual metonymy and metaphor, this article links language to identity and exposes practices that...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Reading teacher 2022-11, Vol.76 (3), p.297-308
Main Authors: Przymus, Steve Daniel, Heiman, Daniel, Hibbs, Brian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
1‐Early childhood
2‐Childhood
3‐Early adolescence
4‐Adolescence
Bilingual Instructional Materials
Bilingualism
Code Switching (Language)
Cultural Awareness
English (Second Language)
Family literacy
Language learners
Language Usage
Literacy
Metaphor
Metonymy
Multilingualism
Oral language
Reading Instruction
Second Language Instruction
Second Language Learning
Self Concept
Story Telling
Storytelling
Teaching Methods
Theoretical perspectives
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Summary:The field of reading instruction has long valued storytelling for literacy development, but what kinds of stories are bi/multilingual students exposed to at school? Through the cognitive phenomena of conceptual metonymy and metaphor, this article links language to identity and exposes practices that act to fracture the identities of bi/multilingual students, redefined here as active bilingual learners/users of English (ABLE). Three teacher practices are detailed for creating a school world that reflects the identities of ABLE students: (1) using content‐based story retells, (2) critically questioning the display of languages on school walls and in dual‐language books, and (3) co‐constructing stories with ABLE students and their family/community members. Examples of these practices are provided, concluding with Language is Identity Awareness (LiIA) activities and how to activate critical consciousness through translanguaging pedagogy. Opening up space for critical translanguaging pedagogy is needed to start telling, writing, and reading the right kinds of stories.
ISSN:0034-0561
1936-2714
DOI:10.1002/trtr.2135