Saturday, September 29th, 2018
Featured Workshop Title:
Multiliteracies and translanguaging practices among Latin@s outside schools: The
relevance of tapping into unconventional views of literacy
Presenters:
Myriam Jimena Guerra, Ph. D., Texas A & M University- San Antonio
Sonia Sanchez, Ph. D., Northside ISD
Lucila D. Ek, Ph. D., UTSA
Bios:
Myriam Jimena Guerra was born and raised in the beautiful city of Cali, Colombia and graduated from La Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia, with a degree in Social Communication and Journalism. She obtained a Doctorate degree in Culture, Literacy and Language in the Department of Bicultural- Bilingual Studies, at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Dr. Guerra has worked for over fifteen years in the educational setting, working with bilingual and English language learners and mentoring bilingual educators as well. In 2016, she joined the Texas A & M University-San Antonio’s family as an Assistant Professor, in the Bilingual and ESL Department.She has published in Academic journals, The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Teaching, and collaborated on a chapter about Cultural Multiliteracies, published in the book Multicultural literature for bilingual children: Their words, their worlds.
Sonia Noemi Sánchez attended Boston University where she earned a B.S. in Bilingual
Education and the University of Texas at San Antonio, where she earned both an M.A. in
Bicultural-Bilingual Studies and a Ph.D. in Culture, Literacy, and Language. She has authored a book review and co-authored a chapter in both the Handbook of Latinos and Education: Theory, Research, and Practice and Multicultural Literature for Latino Bilingual Children: Their Words, Their Worlds. Scholarly presentations include sessions on Latina identity formation, immigrant/refugee education, and literacy. She currently serves as a School Improvement Facilitator for a local school district.
Lucila D. Ek is a Professor in the Bicultural-Bilingual Studies Department at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She received her PhD in Urban Schooling from the University of
California at Los Angeles. Her research focuses on the intersections of language, literacy, and identity in Chicana/o/x and Latina/o/x immigrant communities. Dr. Ek examines these processes within and across educational settings, including schools, homes, and churches with the intent of bridging these spaces. Her research has been published in Anthropology & Education Quarterly, International Multilingual Research Journal, Bilingual Research Journal, the Urban Review, and the Journal of School Leadership, among other venues.
Workshop summary:
This presentation examines the multiliteracies and translanguaging practices of Latina/o/x in different settings outside school. Three different case studies help to uncover the complexities of the uses and meaning of literacy among immigrant and bilingual Latinas/os/x and the importance to tapping into these literacies that range from young school children, adolescent youth in California, to adult members of lowrider clubs at the Southwestern region of the United States.
A central argument is the notion that the literacy crisis is the inability of mainstream educators and policy makers to understand literacy outside of conventional notions of reading and writing and to understand what people are doing with language and literacy outside the school walls. We will also discuss implications for classroom practices.
Featured Workshop Title:
Multiliteracies and translanguaging practices among Latin@s outside schools: The
relevance of tapping into unconventional views of literacy
Presenters:
Myriam Jimena Guerra, Ph. D., Texas A & M University- San Antonio
Sonia Sanchez, Ph. D., Northside ISD
Lucila D. Ek, Ph. D., UTSA
Bios:
Myriam Jimena Guerra was born and raised in the beautiful city of Cali, Colombia and graduated from La Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia, with a degree in Social Communication and Journalism. She obtained a Doctorate degree in Culture, Literacy and Language in the Department of Bicultural- Bilingual Studies, at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Dr. Guerra has worked for over fifteen years in the educational setting, working with bilingual and English language learners and mentoring bilingual educators as well. In 2016, she joined the Texas A & M University-San Antonio’s family as an Assistant Professor, in the Bilingual and ESL Department.She has published in Academic journals, The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Teaching, and collaborated on a chapter about Cultural Multiliteracies, published in the book Multicultural literature for bilingual children: Their words, their worlds.
Sonia Noemi Sánchez attended Boston University where she earned a B.S. in Bilingual
Education and the University of Texas at San Antonio, where she earned both an M.A. in
Bicultural-Bilingual Studies and a Ph.D. in Culture, Literacy, and Language. She has authored a book review and co-authored a chapter in both the Handbook of Latinos and Education: Theory, Research, and Practice and Multicultural Literature for Latino Bilingual Children: Their Words, Their Worlds. Scholarly presentations include sessions on Latina identity formation, immigrant/refugee education, and literacy. She currently serves as a School Improvement Facilitator for a local school district.
Lucila D. Ek is a Professor in the Bicultural-Bilingual Studies Department at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She received her PhD in Urban Schooling from the University of
California at Los Angeles. Her research focuses on the intersections of language, literacy, and identity in Chicana/o/x and Latina/o/x immigrant communities. Dr. Ek examines these processes within and across educational settings, including schools, homes, and churches with the intent of bridging these spaces. Her research has been published in Anthropology & Education Quarterly, International Multilingual Research Journal, Bilingual Research Journal, the Urban Review, and the Journal of School Leadership, among other venues.
Workshop summary:
This presentation examines the multiliteracies and translanguaging practices of Latina/o/x in different settings outside school. Three different case studies help to uncover the complexities of the uses and meaning of literacy among immigrant and bilingual Latinas/os/x and the importance to tapping into these literacies that range from young school children, adolescent youth in California, to adult members of lowrider clubs at the Southwestern region of the United States.
A central argument is the notion that the literacy crisis is the inability of mainstream educators and policy makers to understand literacy outside of conventional notions of reading and writing and to understand what people are doing with language and literacy outside the school walls. We will also discuss implications for classroom practices.