Family Literacy

More Good Practices:
ESL and Family Literacy

The way that family literacy is defined has critical implications for the success of programs for families in which a language other than English is used in the home. On the one hand, family literacy programs can be defined narrowly to guide programs in the direction of teaching parents to do school-like activities at home in hopes of assisting their children with homework and ultimately, with school achievement. An alternate view taps into the family's socio-cultural reality and emphasizes strengths of the family.

The narrow definition corresponds to a close link between the culture of schooling and to mainstream literacy practices. For ESL parents, this can present major problems in which, ultimately, the demands of a family literacy program set up so many obstacles that parents are unable to participate. Basically, this view sees parents as lacking certain skills, including language, needed to foster school success for their children.

In the broader definition proposed by Auerbach (1996, 1989), family literacy addresses family concerns and strengthens parents' abilities to care for their children. When parents focus on acquiring English language and literacy from this perspective, they are in a position to enhance the role of literacy in their family. This has crucial consequences for the quality of family life. Parents gain confidence in their own skills, become less dependent on their children as English-language interpreters, and come to a new understanding of the value of their home language and culture.

The two definitions are distinguished in part by directionality: school-to-home programs as opposed to home-to-school. In the latter, a variety of strategies makes use of the home language and culture in the context of acquiring ESL. When the home is seen as a rich socio-cultural resource, not as a source of deficits, parents and their children can together experience the culture of hope, possibility, and promise. From this view, research (McCaleb 1994, Auerbach 1989) shows that families will experience greater success in learning English and knowing how to use it effectively to strengthen family life.

Auerbach, E. 1996. From the community to the Community: Adult ESL Literacy. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum

Auerbach, E. 1989. Towards a social-contextual approach to family literacy., Havard Educational Review, 59 (2): 165-181.

McCaleb, S. 1994. Building Communities of Learners: A Collaboration Among Teachers, Students, Families, and Community. New York: St. Martin's Press.