Appropriating Literacy: Writing and Reading English as a Second Language

What does it mean to write and read in English as a second language? What does it mean to teach second language literacy? Because second language literacy has been viewed in terms that are largely psychological, cognitive, and individualistic, these questions have been answered too narrowly. But in Appropriating Literacy, Judith Rodby synthesizes insights from ESL, linguistics, composition, anthropology, literacy studies and literacy criticism to discuss the meaning of ESL literacy as a social, cultural and political practice. Drawing on the personal accounts of ESL students, literary critics, and authors, she analyzes the dialectical relationship between social interactions and the literacy practices through which ESL writers appropriate the English word.

The first part of the book is theoretical; the second discusses how to teach ESL literacy as a social practice, providing examples of classes that work - in both university and adult school contexts - and detailing the principles that make these classes successful. In closing, the author illustrates how teachers can read and respond to ESL students' texts so that both teachers and students can analyze and celebrate the multiple and often conflicting voices and ideologies of ESL writing.

Appropriating Literacy aims to describe a pedagogy of literacy that not only recognizes and explores the openness of English, but also allows for the continual formation of culture and community.