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Adolescent Literature & the ELL:  Breaking Boundaries

Jim Cope – jcope@kennesaw.eduDavid Johnson – djohnson@kennesaw.edu

For a copy of this presentation, go to:

http://ksuweb.kennesaw.edu/~jcope/Presentations/

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Theoretical Perspectives on ESOL

• BICS vs. CALP (James Cummins)

Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills vs. Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency

• Acculturation Process (John Schumann)• Comprehensible Input (Stephen Krashen)• Communicative Competence (Michael Canale, Merrill

Swain, Sandra Savignon)• Interlanguage (Larry Selinker)

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Avoiding Hegemony

• Western bias• Literature as a way to avoid• Inclusion of multicultural literature

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Why novels?Why adolescent novels?

• BICS and CALP – address both• Acculturation – moving closer to target culture

and facilitating acquisition of target language• Comprehensible input - meaningful

communication• Consistent rhetorical patterns (vs. short

readings)…covert language acquisition• Vocabulary• Sense of accomplishment• Follow characters

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Example of classroom practice

• Lowry, Lois. The Giver

1994 Newbery Medal winner• No country in particular• Compare and contrast

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Writing

• Contrastive Writing Styles• Reader vs. Writer responsibility• East Asian tradition• Explicit vs. implicit

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Educational Culture• Issues

• Student vs. Teacher centered• Group work• Disagreeing with the teacher

• “ It’s important to keep in mind that in addition to learning subject matter, ESL students also learn whole new approach to learning itself.” -- Ilona Leki

• “The nail that sticks up gets hammered down.” -- Japanese proverb vs. “Don’t be one of the crowd”

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Cultural Issues Discussed in Novel-based ESOL Classes

• Arranged Marriages• Dating• Parental discipline• Gender roles

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Specific Novels and Cultural Issues

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Cambodian AmericansChildren of the Riverby Linda CrewBiblio: Delacorte, 1990. 213 pp. $14.95ISBN: 0-385-2926-8ALAN Date: Spring 1991Genre: Contemporary FictionTheme: Social IssuesGrade: High SchoolSundara was thirteen when she fled the Khmer Rouge army with her aunt's family. Now seventeen, she struggles to adjust to her new life in Oregon: the never-ending work, uncertainty at the Fate of her own family in Cambodia, the clash of her home/community and school/community cultures. Traditional students will gain an understanding of the immigrant experience by reading this very moving story. At the same time, they'll see themselves from a new perspective; through Sundara's eyes common aspects of American life appear strange, humorous, or shocking. Immigrant adolescents, on the other hand, will identify with Sundara's courageous attempts to cope with new surroundings and situations.

At a time when young adult fiction with characters from multicultural backgrounds is badly needed, Children of the River will be a welcome addition to any high school library. It would make excellent independent or group reading, especially for females. Review: Bonnie Ericson, California State University, Northridge for the ALAN REVIEW

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Korean Americans

Finding My Voice by Marie G. Lee

Reading level: Ages 9-12

Paperback Reprint edition (September 1994)

Laureleaf;

ISBN: 0440218969

Editorial Reviews

From Horn Book In the small Minnesota town of Arkin, Ellen Sung is the only Asian student in her high school. Pressured by her parents' expectations that she attend Harvard, as does her high-achieving sister, Ellen struggles to assert her own identity. Finding the balance between her studies, the gymnastics team, parties, and dating is made more painful by the racism Ellen confronts at school. One of few young adult books about a Korean American, this story reflects a resonating experience of adolescence that is very accessible to readers.

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Japanese Americans (p. 4)Under the Blood-Red Sun

by Graham SalisburyReading level: Ages 9-12Paperback - 246 pages Reprint edition (December 1995) Yearling Books; ISBN: 0440411394Editorial ReviewsFrom Booklist Gr. 5-9. Salisbury captures the dilemma of the Japanese who lived in Hawaii during World War II through the narrator, Tomi, born in Hawaii, and his Japanese parents, who had escaped the poverty of Japan, only to find themselves enmeshed in a war they are unprepared to fight. As tensions between Japan and the U.S. mount, eighth-grader Tomi finds himself more and more the target of his classmates' and neighbors' suspicions. Well aware of the increasing tension between native islanders and Japanese immigrants, Tomi desperately tries to tone down his grandfather's displays of nationalistic and family pride, a job the boy finds distasteful (he, too, loves the stories of his ancestors), yet horrifyingly necessary. Neither his grandfather nor the rest of the family can ignore the seriousness of the situation after the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. On a baseball field when the first planes fly over, Tomi and his best friend, Billy, climb a nearby tree to escape the strafing and to see what is happening. Salisbury spares few details--the fear, the horror, the sounds, the smells all envelop the reader as they do the characters. And so do the grief and shame. The Japanese embarrassment is palatable, and, of course, life is never the same again. Tomi's father is eventually deported to a U.S. prison camp; his mother loses her job; and his little sister is so traumatized that she refuses to leave the house. The action-packed novel focuses on the Japanese American perspective during World War II; yet, there are few real villains here. The author subtly reveals the natural suspicions of the Americans and the equally natural bewilderment of the Japanese immigrants when they suddenly become the personification of the enemy. It is a tribute to the writer's craft that, though there are no easy answers in the story, there is empathy for both cultures.

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Chinese American

Dragonwings by Laurence YepReading level: Ages 9-12HarperTrophy; Paperback - 248 pages (September 1989) ISBN: 0064400859

A Newbery Honor Book, 1976. "Moon Shadow's father works in the family laundry, but he is also a maker of fantastic kites & his dream is to build & fly an airplane. The pursuit of this dream unifies the story, which is enriched by Chinese folklore, details of family relationships, & problems of discrimination...An unusual historical novel, unique in its perspective of the Chinese in America & its portrayal of early 20th-century San Francisco."--School Library Journal.

A Chinese immigrant and his son build a flying machine in "an unusual historical novel, unique in its perspective of the Chinese in America and its portrayal of early 20th century San Francisco, including the Earthquake, from an immigrant's viewpoint."--"School Library Journal." 1976 Newbery Honor Book; ALA Notable

Children's Books of 1971-1975; 1976 "Boston Globe/Horn Book" Award Honor Book; "New York Times" Outstanding Children's Books 1975; "School Library Journal" Best of the Best 1966-1978.

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Mexican Americans

Baseball in April and Other Stories by Gary Soto

Reading level: Ages 9-12Paperback - 111 pages 10th edition (April 2000) Harcourt Brace; ISBN: 0152025677Editorial ReviewsLos Angeles Times Book Review [Soto's]

sensitivity to young people's concerns and his ability to portray the world as it is perceived by children is nothing less than remarkable. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

The Boston Globe A fine collection of stories that offers a different cultural perspective about feelings common to all teenagers. Soto writes well and with tremendous insight into the process of growing up.

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Mexican Americans

Any Small Goodness: A Novel of the Barrio by Tony Johnston

Biblio: Scholastic Press, 2001, 128 pages. ISBN: 0-439-18936-5 Genre: Contemporary FictionTheme: Identity/Self, Social IssuesGrade: Middle School

“In life there is bueno and malo.  If you do not find enough of the good, you must yourself create it.” This wisdom from Turo’s father is the heart of this wonderful book.  Turo and his family moved to the barrio of East Los Angeles with a great deal of trepidation, but the family’s love for one another and belief that goodness can be found in the most hostile of places makes the move a positive one.  The book is a chronicle of tragedies followed by acts of courage and hope.  The tone is uplifting and hopeful. 

http://www.secondaryenglish.com/anysmallgoodness.html

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Puerto Rican CultureGoing Home by Nicholasa MohrReading level: Ages 9-12Paperback - 192 pages Reprint edition (September 1999) Puffin; ISBN: 0141306440Editorial ReviewsSynopsis -- Feeling like an outsider when she visits her

relatives in Puerto Rico for the first time, eleven-year-old Felita tries to come to terms with the heritage she always took for granted. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher -- Felita's whole life seems to change the year that she turns twelve. Her mother begins to insist that her brothers go with her everywhere, and she's not allowed to hang out like she did last year. Nothing about growing up in a strict Hispanic household seems fair. Then Felita learns that one of her dreams will come true--she'll be spending the summer in Puerto Rico with her uncle Jorge. Even though she'll miss her family and her friends--especially Vinny--Felita knows she'll be happy.

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Cultural AwarenessThe Chosen by Chaim PotokPaperback - 271 pages Reissue edition

(July 1995) Fawcett Books; ISBN: 0449213447THE WALL STREET JOURNAL -- It is

the now-classic story of two fathers and two sons and the pressures on all of them to pursue the religion they share in the way that is best suited to each. And as the boys grow into young men, they discover in the other a lost spiritual brother, and a link to an unexplored world that neither had ever considered before. In effect, they exchange places, and find the peace that neither will ever retreat from again....

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Cultural AwarenessMy Name Is Asher Lev by Chaim PotokPaperback - 369 pages Reissue edition (August

1996) Ballantine Books (Trd Pap); ISBN: 0449911683Editorial ReviewsBook Description "Memorable...A book profound

in its vision of humanity, of religion, and of art."THE WALL STREET JOURNAL -- Here is the

original, deeply moving story of Asher Lev, the religious boy with an overwhelming need to draw, to paint, to render the world he knows and the pain he feels, on canvas for everyone to see. A loner, Asher has an extraordinary God-given gift that possesses a spirit all its own. It is this force that must learn to master without shaming his people or relinquishing any part of his deeply felt Judaism. It will not be easy for him, but he knows, too, that even if it is impossible, it must be done....

"A novel of finely articulated tragic power...Little short of a work of genius."-- THE NEW YORK TIMES

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Immigrants’ StoriesNew Kids on the Block: Oral Histories of Immigrant Teens

by Janet BodeBiblio: Franklin Watts, 1990. 126 pp. $12.90ISBN: 0-531-10794-9ALAN Date: Spring 1991Genre: NonfictionTheme: Race/Ethnicity/Social IssuesGrade: High SchoolTeen immigrants from a myriad of countries help to make our

classrooms places rich in culture and individual stories. Janet Bode presents oral histories of eleven teens whose families have come to America, often under harrowing circumstances, to claim their piece of the dream. Whether it's Von's story of his flight from Vietnam or Amitabh's story of leaving India, these adolescents share concerns about leaving homeland and loved ones, feeling alone in a country of strangers, wanting to fit in but not wanting to give up a cultural heritage, and their dreams of success coupled with the realities of hard work. The teen stories here speak to all of us about courage, freedom, and acceptance, but youngsters aren't likely to gravitate to this book on their own. Booktalk this one along with Ashahranner's fine Into a Strange Land: Unaccompanied Refugee Youth in America.

 Review: Richard F. Abrahamson, University of Houston for the

ALAN REVIEW

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Immigrants’ StoriesJourney of the Sparrows byFran Leeper Buss with Daisy CubiasBiblio: Lodestar, 1991. 155 pp. $14.95ISBN: 0-525-67362-8ALAN Date: Spring 1992Genre: Contemporary FictionTheme: Identity/Self, Social IssuesGrade: High SchoolMaria, her pregnant sister Julia, and her frail brother Oscar barely escape the political upheaval in El Salvador with their lives. They flee to Mexico, and from there are transported to Chicago camouflaged as produce sealed in a flimsy crate. Once they arrive in the United States, their situation improves by only small degrees. As an undocumented worker Maria is at the mercy of unscrupulous hirings; as a stranger in an unfamiliar land, she is lonesome, afraid, and homesick; and as both the emotional and financial support of her small family Maria is burdened with the immediate care of her siblings as well as with the well-being of her mother and sister who wait in Mexico to be smuggled north. Despite her predicament, Maria's story is one of quiet triumph, not only of what one young girl can endure entering and living in this country, but also of what she can establish here. Review: Betty Carter, Texas Woman's University for the ALAN REVIEW

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Crossing the Wire by Will HobbsBiblio: HarperCollins (April 1, 2006), 224

pp. $16.89 ISBN: 0060741384 Genre: Contemporary FictionTheme: Identity/Self, Social IssuesGrade: Middle/High SchoolWhen falling crop prices threaten his family

with starvation, 15-year-old Victor Flores heads north in a desperate attempt to “cross the wire” from Mexico into the United States so he can find work and send money home. But with no coyote money to pay the smugglers who sneak illegal workers across the border, Victor must struggle to survive as he jumps trains, stows away on trucks, and hikes grueling miles through the Arizona desert.

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Immigrants’ StoriesRising Voices: Writings of Young Native Americans byArlene B. Hirschfelder and Beverly R. Singer (eds.)Biblio: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1992. 115 pp. $12.35ISBN: 0-684-13207-1ALAN Date: Winter 1993Genre: PoetryTheme: Race/Ethnicity, Social IssuesGrade: Middle / High SchoolThe book is a collection of short essays and poems written by

young Native Americans during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Simply, directly, eloquently, in lyrical honesty, without literary pretense, they open their hearts, minds, and souls. They speak of identity, family, homelands, nature, ritual, education, and the harsh realities of living in a world within a world. Their passions run deep. The non-Native American has to be moved by their innocence, their inner strength, their struggle—and ashamed of their treatment. Well documented, Rising Voices is an excellent resource for teachers interested in pursuing Native American studies in depth. Quite simply, it is a must book for helping students inform themselves of the heart and soul of the American Indian. What better way than through their own young voices? There is something here for all readers.

Review: Mike Angelotti, University of Oklahoma for the ALAN REVIEW

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Reference Works

Day , Frances Ann. Multicultural Voices in Contemporary Literature: A Resource for Teachers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1994 . 0-435-08826-2 / 1994 / 244pp / Paper / $25.00

Frances Ann Day presents ideas for bringing students and authors together in a way that promotes stimulating reading, imaginative writing, and cultural sensitivity. Her book, a true celebration of the lives and works of thirty-nine inspiring authors and illustrators from twenty different cultures, nurtures students' responses to literature. Educators and students alike are encouraged to learn more about the multiplicity of beliefs, experiences, lifestyles, and communities within each cultural group.

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References

*Miller-Lachmann, Lyn. Our Family, Our Friends, Our World: An Annotated Guide to Significant Multicultural Books for Children and Teenagers. Bowker, 1992. 0-8352-3025-2

Editorial Reviews From Book News, Inc. , June 1, 1992 A comprehensive, global guide to 1,038 of the best fiction and nonfiction books focusing on the cultures, identities, and histories of minority groups within the US and Canada, as well as native cultures in Asia, Central America, Africa, and others. Each chapter features an introduction, a map of the region highlighted, and an annotated list of books for preschool to grade 12 students. Three appendixes include professional sources, a series list, and a publishers directory. Indexed by author, title/series, and subject. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

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Other Resources

The Chinese American Family Album (American Family Albums)

by Dorothy HooblerThe African American Family Album (American Family Albums)

by Dorothy HooblerThe Cuban American Family Album (American Family Albums)

by Dorothy HooblerThe Jewish American Family Album (American

Family Albums) by Dorothy HooblerGrowing Up Chicana/o by Bill Adler

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Thank you

For a copy of this presentation, go to:

http://ksuweb.kennesaw.edu/~jcope/Presentations/