Becoming Literate in a Second Language: Connecting Home, Community, and School Literacy Practices

In order to help school-age English language learners (ELLs) develop the literacy competencies required for success at school, it is important to recognize and draw on the repertoires of literacy practices that students develop outside school. The concept of multiple literacies provides an analytic heuristic with which to consider the range of literacy practices in which ELLs engage across contexts in different languages and various modalities. In this article, my aims are (a) first, to provide an overview of research on the diverse literacy practices of ELLs, from young students to adolescents, at home and in the community so as to illustrate the range of research undertaken to date; (b) to suggest a critical literacy approach as an alternative framework for classroom practices; and (c) drawing on two prominent examples of innovative educational practices, to consider ways in which to link the multiple literacies of home, community, and school.