Literacy and the Identity Development of Latina/o Students

Abstract

This research sought to better understand how literacy and identity interacted in the development of Latina/o students in four bilingual classrooms. The year-long project involved approximately 85 students and their 4 teachers. Data were obtained through classroom observations, dialogue between the teachers and the researcher, student interviews that included think-aloud procedures, cognitive strategy instruction, and various means of recording student response to the instruction. The results indicated that students' bilingual language and literacy knowledge and their understanding of identity had noticeable influences on each other. The ways that students constructed their biliterate identities were traced and theoretical implications were explored. How these students thought about English, the roles that English and Spanish literacy played in their lives, and the importance of language and literacy to maintaining and fostering interpersonal relationships were some of the prevailing and identifiable trends within the data.