In this week's readings, we see further evidence that literacy can really be split into two different components. First, there is the very mechanical element of being literate in the mechanics of a language, meaning the vocabulary and grammar of the language. Second, there is the content, which we have seen from this week's readings can very often be cultural.
It seems clear from "Indigenous Bilingual and Bicultural Education" that the more familiar one is with the mechanics of the language they are speaking, the easier it is to learn the content. Learning mathematics and science in one's primary language is the best way to learn mathematics and science concepts. However, we have seen from Haneda's work "Becoming Literate in a Second Language" that content can not always be separated from the actual mechanics of a language.
In Haneda's piece, we explore cultural elements of a language, where religious schools and cultural classes are teaching concepts in a tongue more native to that religion or culture than English. Can these concepts not be taught in English? Yes, they probably could, but with greater difficulty. It is here that we see that the language itself carries culture within it. When learning another language, one is bound to come to a point where they are trying to translate a word or a phrase into the other language from their own, and they are having a hard time doing so. Sometimes the word doesn't exists, and the similar words that do have translations are just missing something on their meaning. Sometimes it is a phrase that can put something so eloquently in the native tongue for which there is just no equivalent in the secondary tongue, and the only way to express that thought or feeling or emotion is to explain it with many more words, where the eloquence of the initial phrase is now long gone. Such is the place with learning religion and culture in their native tongues.
Sometimes, historical significance is wrapped into the language and the culture. For Native Americans on reservations and Jews in World War II, many times it was a crime to write or speak in their native tongues. Incidents like these make it more important for the cultural conversation to happen in that tongue, to show the strife and struggle that has been overcome and express pride in being able to still speak the language spoken by family members generations ago.
Baker, in her work "Trilingualism", goes even further by suggesting that each language, native or not, has within it its own varieties, from the informal and conversational to the formal and "correct" way of speaking it. Here, the argument turns from the ease to express content in a native tongue to the ease to express content in the most comfortable way in that native tongue. The formalities of a language can be learned in a grammar class, and the structure and use of those formalities should not stand in the way of allowing students to develop their minds and think critically using language as a medium, and not a barrier, for expressing their thoughts as easily as possible.
Lastly , Michael Stubbs reviews that no language is primitive to any other, and that each suits the community it serves. In effect, it does not matter if students debate in an Amazonian tribal language, Harlem street slang or proper Merriam Webster's English, the tools needed for those students to debate properly and effectively are present in each language. He furthermore goes to show that the stereotypes associated with different dialects and variations on a language are unfounded, and do not connote a level of intelligence or understanding.
What these readings lead us to is that literacy is not about words, or grammar, or punctuation. Literacy is about thought. Once the ability to create and communicate rational thought is developed in one language, it can be communicated in other languages. The thought process, however, is key. Forcing an individual to learn how to think through a language he or she is not comfortable with will only stifle the individual's thought in ALL languages. Therefore, the individual should be taught to think in the language that is most comfortable for them.
We must also realize that not all thoughts and ideas can be communicated in other languages with 100% accuracy. Learning different cultures and their languages will give us better insight into the thoughts capable in the world, and give us a better understanding of our fellow human beings and their rich heritages.
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