Digital, Hybrid, & Multilingual Literacies in Early Childhood

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In this article, we discuss the latest research in

early literacy development and its implications

for teaching and learning based on sociocul-

tural approaches to language, culture, and literacy.

Building upon previous work on the sociocul-

tural infl uence in early childhood literacy (Raz-

far & Gutiérrez, 2003), our objective is to provide

practitioners with a synthesis of developments in

this new millennium and their implications for the

question: what counts as literacy in early child-hood? This is particularly relevant since, arguably,

no ten-year period in human history has seen such

rapid growth and change in information technol-

ogy, digital media, online gaming, and children’s

access to them.

Given these developments, our review of the

sociocultural literature on early literacy develop-

ment over the last decade reveals three signifi cant

foci: 1) the use of electronic and digital media as

mediational tools, 2) the use of hybrid languages

as mediational tools, and 3) the use of multiple

languages, literacies, and discourses, especially

of immigrant and nondominant communities.

As technology blurs the boundaries of interac-

tion, talk, and discourse, adults (practitioners, par-

ents, and caregivers) are increasingly expected to

become “digital natives” in order to adequately

mediate the learning of the “Web 2.0” genera-

tion. The implications for literacy development

are signifi cant, and we argue that a sociocultural

or cultural historical approach to literacy develop-

ment is an invaluable tool for understanding these

rapid historical shifts, given this perspective’s

emphasis on the social and historical context of

development.

In previous decades, sociocultural research has

provided valuable insight into children’s home

and community literacy practices, teachers’ use

of these practices to improve learning in schools,

and an understanding of what should count as lit-

eracy (see Razfar & Gutiérrez, 2003). While these

critical issues remain peripheral to the national

discussion of early literacy development (see

National Early Literacy, 2002; US Department

of Education, 2008), sociocultural research has

continued to address these topics. In addition, it

has provided a novel perspective on an emerging

phenomenon in relation to early literacy devel-

opment: multimodal activities with digital and

hybrid language mediation.

We begin our discussion with an overview of a

key sociocultural concept found in all of the stud-

ies: semiotic mediation as embodied by meaning

making, especially as it relates to the use of tech-

nology (digital mediation), multiple languages

(multilingual mediation), and hybrid cultural tools

(hybrid mediation). We then provide a thematic

discussion of lessons learned based on 14 major

sociocultural research studies published from

2001–2009 in well-recognized, peer-reviewed

journals dedicated to early childhood literacy.

SEMIOTIC, DIGITAL, AND HYBRID MEDIATION

From a sociocultural point of view, learning is

fundamentally social and mediated by signs, sym-

bols, and cultural artifacts that have been used

over many generations, though each new genera-

tion transforms those tools to suit its purposes. It

is through mediation with more competent mem-

bers of their surroundings that children learn to

appropriately use symbolic tools to solve prob-

lems, participate in social activities, and, most

important, engage in embodied meaning mak-

ing. In addition, learning can be viewed as the

Aria Razfar and Eunah Yang

Digital, Hybrid, & Multilingual Literacies in Early ChildhoodAs information technologies transform literacy from print-based media into digital, hybrid, and multilingual forms, learning and instruction must adapt. This paper provides relevant insights and practical guidelines drawing on the latest sociocultural research.

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Copyright © 2010 by the National Council of Teachers of English. All rights reserved.

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conventional signs (Vygotsky, 1981). Today, this

would include Internet chat, interactive online

gaming, hand-held devices, the keyboard, etc.

It is important to remember that these tools or

“signs” always involve a constraining dimen-

sion as well as enabling new affordances. Valsiner

(2001) introduces a hierarchy of semiotic regula-

tion with opposing tendencies where, on the one

hand, mediation involves context specifi city and,

on the other hand, it involves abstract generaliza-

tion. The use of signs as mediational tools is in

a constant dialectical relationship between these

tendencies and serves to remind us that intrap-

ersonal and interpersonal processes are inher-

ently distinct, yet related. The concept of semiotic

mediation leads to an understanding of literacy

development (reading and writ-

ing) as a dialectical, collabor-

ative effort of a community of

learners, rather than as soli-

tary acts (Zebroski, 1994). For

socioculturalists, literacy con-

stitutes one of the most critical

semiotic mediational tools, and

reading and writing should always be natural, pur-

poseful, and developed through appropriate oper-

ations in the child’s environment (John-Steiner &

Mahn, 2003).

During early childhood, children and adults

develop multiple literacy practices through par-

ticipation in socially organized activities, such as

play, oral storytelling, and painting. These activ-

ities are often fl uid in terms of roles taken up by

young children, and dynamic in terms of the cul-

tural tools they use to achieve concrete ends.

Vygotsky showed the signifi cance of semiotic

mediation in children’s development of higher

cognition through the transformation of objects

into symbols. For example, during imaginary

play, children often display the multiplicity of

meaning through a single object—a stick can rep-

resent a horse, a block can stand for a telephone,

etc. Thus, through imaginative play, children

can be free from the constraints of conventional

meaning and push the boundaries of possibility

(Vygotsky, 1978).

While broomsticks and blocks were (and

still are) commonly available materials for play-

ful purposes, the digital age has fundamentally

changed imaginative play in many respects, espe-

cially in terms of visual images, audio stimu-

lation, and embodied action. Instead of riding

transformation of individual, social, and discur-

sive identity(s) through participation in culturally

organized activities (Gee, 2004).

Semiotic mediation is one of the fundamen-

tal principles of a sociocultural approach to lit-

eracy. It conceptualizes three interconnected

aspects of human development: 1) the interper-sonal—the organization of personal/environmental

relations in a context of everyday actions; 2) intra-personal—the relationship between actions and

refl ection on actions in process; and 3) experiences

transferred to general life-course development

(Valsiner, 1997). Semiotic mediation connects the

internal and external, the social and the individual;

embodied meaning making is experienced through

an interdependent system of constraining and

enabling relationships (social,

cultural, and physical) and

actions. Thus, thoughts are con-

ceived as actions and actions

are thoughts, neither of which

can ever really be separated or

abstracted from the relations

through which they develop

(Shotter, 1993); furthermore, what has conven-

tionally been described as “higher-order abstract

thinking,” where ideas can seemingly be detached

from context and actions, is better understood as

embodied meaning making or “individuals-acting-

with-mediational means” (Wertsch, 1991, p. 12).

Through semiotic mediation, children par-

ticipate, negotiate, and interact in cultural and

social practices. They constantly act on and inter-

act with the world through semiotic tools. As they

engage in meaning making, they become increas-

ingly adept at using the tools, and eventually they

achieve greater independence or “self- regulation”

in using the tools in novel situations without assis-

tance. This is different from dominant views of

“transfer,” in that the novel situations in which

semiotic mediational tools are used have a con-

tinuous relationship with previous and historical

contexts of use. While there is a historical connec-

tion, there are emergent and new purposes, func-

tions, and participants that position the learner to

actively adapt and transform the tools to achieve

new goals. As a result, through semiotic media-

tion, there is a qualitative transformation in the

learner’s identity as they participate within cul-

tural and social practices.

Semiotic tools include language, number sys-

tems, drawings, diagrams, maps, and all sorts of

During early childhood, children and adults develop multiple literacy practices through participation in socially organized activities, such

as play, oral storytelling, and painting.


a broomstick and pretending to be a horse (an

image mostly defi ned by the child), a child

engaged in digital play assumes a predetermined

character, like “Mario” in Donkey Kong climb-

ing ladders and jumping over barrels, where all of

the images and actions are provided for the child.

The technology itself is more than just a medium;

it sometimes becomes the object of play, like the

child who pretends to talk on her cell phone using

a carrot (Wohlwend, 2009).

The fi rst group of studies we will examine

focuses on multiple modalities of early literacy

development through play, including play that

is mediated by digital tools such as cell phones,

iPods, and popular media characters. The sec-

ond group of studies focuses on digital media and

its impact on narrative activity in the homes. The

third and fourth groups of studies focus on hybrid

practices using media characters and multilingual,

intergenerational interactions. Table 1 provides an

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Table 1

Studies about Multimodal Literacy Practices Activity (Mediational Tools)

1. Smith (2002). Click on me! An example of how a toddler used technology in play Play (Computer)

2. Gillen (2002). Moves in the territory of literacy? The telephone discourse of Play (Telephone)

three-and four-year-olds

3. Wohlwend (2009). Early adopters: Playing new literacies and pretending new Play (cellular phone, iPod, popular media

technologies in print-centric classrooms characters)

Studies about Digital Media-tion Activity (Mediational Tools)

4. Kim & Anderson (2008). Mother–child shared reading with print and digital texts Three different types of storybooks:

traditional print book, CD-ROM storybook,

and hypertext storybook

5. Smith (2001). Click and turn the page: An exploration of multiple storybook Three different types of texts: traditional

literacy print text, CD-ROM text, and Language

Experience Approach storybook (student-

created dictated storybook)

Studies about Hybrid Mediation: Media and Popular Culture Activity (Mediational Tools)

6. Compton-Lilly (2006). Identity, childhood culture, and literacy learning: A case Media characters (e.g., superhero, video

study games)

7. Dyson (2001). Donkey Kong in Little Bear country: A fi rst grader’s composing Video game characters (e.g., Donkey

development in the media spotlight Kong)

8. Dyson (2003). “Welcome to the Jam”: Popular culture, school literacy, and the Popular cultural characters in the media

making of childhoods (e.g., movie, radio play)

9. Pahl (2002). Ephemera, mess, and miscellaneous piles: Texts and practices in Media and popular culture characters (e.g.,

families Pokémon, Super Mario)

Studies about Hybrid Mediation: Multiple Literacy Practices Activity (Mediational Tools)

10. Genishi et al. (2001). Writing in an integrated curriculum: Prekindergarten Bilingual practices, symbols, numbers, play,

English language learners as symbol makers (this study is moved from theme drawing, writing, playing, singing, and

1 to theme 3 since it is about young ELLs) dancing

11. Gregory et al. (2007). Snow White in different guises: Interlingual and Interlingual and intercultural exchange

intercultural exchanges between grandparents and young children at home in between grandmother and grandchildren

East London during shared storybook reading

12. McTavish (2009). “I get my facts from the Internet”: A case study of the teaching Bilingual practices, bilingual newspapers

and learning of information literacy in in-school and out-of-school contexts and popular novels, Internet, video

games, TV

13. Taylor et al. (2008). Affi rming plural belonging: Building on students’ Bi-/Multilingual practices

family-based cultural and linguistic capital through multiliteracies pedagogy

14. Wollman-Bonilla (2001). Family involvement in early writing instruction Genre hybridity in “Family Message Journal”


117

overview of the studies we examined and will dis-

cuss in this paper.

Human learning and development is intimately

connected to the types of mediational tools avail-

able to people, both enabling and constraining the

types of interactions that can occur. For example,

the alphabet is considered to be one of the most

dramatic cultural artifacts to affect how human

beings interact with each other and the world,

allowing generations previously separated by time

and space to interact; since the invention of the

alphabet, no mediational tool has impacted literacy

and meaning making like information and media

technology. Children increasingly fi nd themselves

in a semiotic world(s) that is dramatically differ-

ent from the predominantly print-based one in

which their parents’ generation became literate.

This “new literacy” environment is broader, more

dynamic, fl uid, multilayered, and multimodal. In

terms of children’s identity development, there are

signifi cant challenges and opportunities presented

by such a dramatic shift, and sociocultural research

over the last decade has aimed

to examine the complexities

and implications of the emerg-

ing digital and hybrid semiotic

worlds of early literacy devel-

opment. In the remainder of

this article, we analyze the lat-

est sociocultural scholarship on

early literacy and discuss the pedagogical implica-

tions in terms of multimodal, digital, and hybrid

texts and literacy practices.

MULTIMODAL LITERACY PRACTICES: MEDIATION AND IMAGINARY PLAY While the digital age has transformed the tools,

interfaces, and organization of some play activity,

the fact remains that play is still a pivotal activity

for children’s identity and literacy development

and remains a focus of sociocultural approaches.

We examined four studies that focus on how chil-

dren dynamically manipulate signs and symbols

during imaginary play to engage in oral narratives

and explore notions of “self.” These ethnographic

studies collectively illustrate how children use

multiple modalities—drawing, acting, playing,

talking, and even technology—to co-construct

meaning with adults, develop meta-linguistic

awareness, and, most important, push us to con-

sider broader notions of what counts as literacy in

early childhood.

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One of the complexities facing children in the

digital age is that technology is both the object and

the means of children’s literacy activity. Follow-

ing her previous study of a child’s learning path

using CD-ROM storybooks (Smith, 2001), Smith

(2002) further described how her son James under-

stood and reenacted technology use in play. Chil-

dren have to simultaneously become literate in the

technology while pursing the content of the narra-

tive. During CD-ROM storybook reading, James

enjoyed predicting what the hypertext item would

do while co-constructing meaning with his mother.

He also showed his eagerness to control the hyper-

text response, saying, “I am going to make this happen” through gesturing a clicking motion.

As James spent a year (age 2½ to 3½) learning

how to use the CD-ROM storybook, he gradually

began to use the hypertext function in novel situ-

ations. One day, James and his father were enjoy-

ing peanut butter and honey sandwiches at the

kitchen table, and James pointed to his father and

said, “Daddy, click on me!” Following his father’s

pointing action and a verbal

click, James began singing a

song, then turned to his father

and clicked him. As James was

experiencing the new CD-ROM

storybook, he gained under-

standing of the intertextual seg-

ment of hypertext whereby the

character within the storybook might sing a song,

dance, talk, and serve as a link to various video

segments. This “click on me” play illustrates

James’s development of symbols as he appropri-

ated the technological metaphors and reenacted

them in a new situation with his father—a great

example of embodied meaning making. He was

learning both the story as well as technology use.

Wohlwend (2009) illustrated how kindergar-

ten and fi rst-grade children use multimodal ways

to make meaning during play, combining pre-

tend play, artifacts representing modern technol-

ogies like iPods and cellular phones, and popular

media characters. Great examples are the girl who

used a carrot to pretend she was speaking on a

cell phone and the kindergarten boys who played

with an iPod they made using classroom materi-

als. These examples demonstrate how the tech-

nology itself has become an object of activity

during pretend play and an intimate part of chil-

dren’s lives. The children clearly demonstrated

not only a strong affi nity with cell phones and

Children increasingly fi nd themselves in a semiotic world(s) that is

dramatically different from the predominantly print-based one in which their parents’ generation

became literate.


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iPods, but also characters from popular cartoons

like Thomas and Friends; they would pretend to

be listening and singing to Thomas and Friends

tunes while holding up the paper iPod. By assign-

ing meaning to objects through gestures and dra-

matizations, Vygotsky (1978) believed the child

was being prepared for literacy, “as an acorn con-

tains a future oak” (p. 107). It is through sym-

bolic play activity that children assign meaning to

objects (i.e., technology) and form the basis for

writing where “written signs are simply gestures

that have been fi xed” (p. 107).

Children’s oral and literacy development is a

continuous process, and Gillen (2002) argued for

a need to go beyond the oracy/literacy dichotomy

that persists in many traditional views of children’s

early literacy practices. Her study of three- and

four-year-old children’s spontaneous telephone

play illustrates how they develop

the complex conventions of

“telephone talk” through imag-

inary conversations. The tele-

phone, as a mediating artifact,

helps children develop meta-

linguistic awareness of distant

audiences, beyond “the here and now,” and com-

municate across time and space. In the following

example, Charlotte, a 3–4-year-old child, demon-

strates her understanding of the “emergency tele-

phone call genre” (pp. 33–34):

Ring ring,Hello.( ) is here um I just want to ring you because um me da got a sore leg sore arm . . . so please will you come at half past eleven. It’s half past eleven now so please () coming ‘m (bandaging) him, he’s bent his arm he’s not so well so can you come and ( ) for half past eleven . . . Bye.

While she doesn’t use the term “emergency,” she

does communicate this complex idea by men-

tioning the time and then subsequently repeating

twice that it is “half past eleven now.” For a three-

year-old to engage in embodied meaning mak-

ing with ideas like “emergency” and “time” in the

context of a pretend telephone call speaks to the

learning potential afforded by pretend conversa-

tions using telephones.

These studies collectively show how chil-

dren use technological artifacts to engage in play

through multiple modalities such as drawing, act-

ing, playing, and talking. The semiotic practices

highlighted in these studies serve to broaden our

understanding of what counts as literacy in early

childhood. This perspective enriches the existing

print-based views of literacy and reminds us that

as the semiotic world of young learners expands,

so too must the literacy world of the adults who

serve as primary mediators of early literacy

development.

DIGITAL MEDIA-TION

Another area in which sociocultural theory has

made unique contributions to our understanding

of early literacy development are studies of chil-

dren actively engaged in digitally mediated activ-

ities such as interactive cartoons and movies,

video games, and music across

various contexts. These studies

dispel some of the misconcep-

tions surrounding the nature

of digital media and their rela-

tionship to learning. Children

growing up in a post-Internet

world will naturally have new forms of semiotic

mediation available to them. The Web 2.0 gen-

eration is just entering middle-childhood, and

they engage in a variety of new literacy activities

using electronic storybooks and informational lit-

eracies that draw on Internet, multiple languages,

and discourses. These “new literacies” have

emerged as an important part of our lives, even

replacing traditional print-based media (Gee,

2004).

ELECTRONIC BOOKS While earlier sociocultural research heavily

focused on the availability of traditional, print-

media and the literacy events surrounding them

(i.e., bedtime stories, Author’s Chair, etc.), a num-

ber of studies over the last decade have sought to

better understand how electronic books (e-books)

have reorganized literacy events in the early years

of development. In addition to traditional print-

based books, children across all socioeconomic

lines engage with electronic picture storybooks

available as CD-ROM, DVD, and free movie

fi les available on the Internet (Kim & Ander-

son, 2008). There are also commercial electronic

story books available, especially targeting young

children between three and six years old (De Jong

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Children growing up in a post-Internet world will naturally

have new forms of semiotic mediation available to

them.


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& Bus, 2004). Research has shown that younger,

more digitally savvy parents are more likely to

introduce digital texts to their children, but some

fundamental questions have been addressed con-

cerning this new medium: How do e-books alter interactions with children, and how do they com-pare to traditional print formats? How do we select and use digital texts? What are the poten-tial benefi ts and/or harms for children’s emergent literacy?

We examine several recent studies that have

engaged these questions using a situated and

embodied semiotic approach to early literacy

development. Kim & Anderson (2008) report on

multiple ethnographic studies of mother–child

book interactions that provide valuable con-

trasts within three different contexts: traditional

print format, electronic CD-ROM book, and elec-

tronic video clips from Internet websites. The

participants were a middle class Korean mother

and her two sons, ages three and seven, who

recently immigrated to Canada

from South Korea. The use of

electronic books was already

familiar to this Korean fam-

ily, and they regularly read

e-books in addition to tradi-

tional print books at home, almost entirely in

Korean. Overall, they found that the print book

interactions lasted longer than the e-book inter-

actions for both children because the mother read

almost every sentence on the page, while the

e-books were used for auditory purposes. In addi-

tion, participants had greater control of the print-

based media because they could better adjust the

pace of the reading and the intermittent explana-

tions based on the needs of the child. When the

e-books were in a more open-ended format and

the participants had greater control over the page

turning (as opposed to automatic page-turns),

the mother and child could have more quality

interactions.

As with any mediational tool, the question

of whether children benefi t more from elec-

tronic book use depends on the context of use,

the developmental history of the participants, and

the different cultural factors. Perhaps it is more

important to consider the benefi ts and limitations

of each medium on a case-by-case basis rather

than to make sweeping generalizations. One of

the intrinsic characteristics of e-books is that chil-

dren become very interested in the technology

itself, and it is diffi cult to separate this from their

focus on the story line.

In the previously mentioned study of James,

Smith (2001) found that James’s interest in the

CD-ROM storybooks was highly mediated by

his desire to explore the new technology and

play with the gadgets; this, of course, led to

other motor skill developments and more inde-

pendence in reading on his own. This was par-

ticularly evident during hypertext functions,

something James enjoyed greatly. The CD-

ROM storybook use showed unique interactional

styles; James sometimes responded directly to

the screen as if the characters talked to him. As

he appropriated the use of the technology—such

as using a mouse and clicking on the screen—

with his increased motor skills, he gained even

more independence. James could produce texts,

songs, and movement as he clicked objects on

the screen. This study illustrates the poten-

tial of hypermedia technologies for giving the

learner control over the learn-

ing environment, thus fos-

tering increased interest and

independence. In a traditional

print-based medium, the child

is in greater need of the adult’s

presence, which also raises issues of bond-

ing and affi nity between the mother (or other

adult fi gure) and child. Reading should not be

reduced to a simple mechanical, cognitive pro-

cess because it is also about the relationships

that are engendered, but it is clear from many

of these studies that the children develop strong

emotional connections to the various technolo-

gies and functions they perform.

HYBRID MEDIATION: MEDIA, POPULAR CULTURE, AND MULTILINGUAL PRACTICES

We use the term hybrid mediation to denote the

intermixing of multiple signs, symbols, texts,

and mediational artifacts from various oral/

visual/l iterate genres for the purpose of embod-

ied meaning making in novel situations and

contexts. This type of recontextualization is a

valuable marker of embodied meaning mak-

ing and is becoming increasingly normative

for children in the digital age. It is not surpris-

ing that children are inundated with media con-

tent and popular culture materials, especially in

their homes and non-school community settings.

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How do e-books alter interactions with children, and how do they compare to traditional

print formats?


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Their identities, group affi liations, and “fan

identities” are highly mediated through these

popularly available media outlets (Gee, 2002;

Newkirk, 2006). Given much of the defi cit

model research of media (especially television)

that suggests these media make children passive

learners and take away more active, worthwhile

activities, their learning potential is largely dis-

missed by adults and educational institutions

(Robinson & Mackey, 2003). The sociocul-

tural research in this area has aimed to provide

an asset model of media and popular culture

whereby children benefi t from enriched reper-

toires of media text.

Media & Popular CultureThese ethnographic studies examine how young

children appropriate and recontextualize popular

digital media characters in hybrid ways and how

they develop advanced forms of writing as a result.

In a single child case study of 6-year-old Noah

(Dyson, 2001), Noah regularly infuses texts from

cartoons, video games, and movies from home

into his school compositions

with digitally based characters,

plots, and visual images. These

hybrid texts are great examples

of symbolic mixing that draws

from multiple genres and media

and demonstrates the creativity

of the child in authoring something novel. In one

example, Noah composes a text where he takes

a character from the video game genre, Donkey

Kong, and merges it with a character from his for-

mal text books, Little Bear. Thus, in his writing

composition, Donkey Kong, a gorilla-like video

game creature, meets Little Bear. The symbolic

fl exibility that Noah shows is not unique to him,

but a key to children’s literacy development.

In another ethnographic study of African

American fi rst graders (Dyson, 2003), the chil-

dren appropriate and recontextualize the sym-

bols and sounds from the popular movie Space Jam in group singing, recitation, and performance

of memorable dialogues, language play, dramatic

play, and knowledge display. Similarly, Pahl’s

(2002) ethnographic study in three homes also

showed how young children engage in playful lit-

eracy activities using texts from cards, television,

video games, T-shirts, fi lms, drawings, songs, and

family narratives. For example, the children reg-

ularly created hybrid characters using Pokémon

and Super Mario to make cards, video games,

T-shirts, and even scenes to display on cardboard

televisions. In their play, they drew, sang, and nar-

rated these media textual characters. The mean-

ings were also linked to their personal identities

and experiences. For instance, Sol, a Pokémon

card-game lover, became Professor Sol as he used

shiny paper to create new cards portraying Poké-

mon creatures.

Drawing on media and popular culture can

have potential benefi ts for struggling readers and

those who have developed an aversion to print-

based literacy. A six-year-old African Ameri-

can boy, Devon, was identifi ed as a struggling

reader and assigned to a Reading Recovery pro-

gram (Compton-Lilly, 2006). According to his

mother, Devon hated everything to do with books

and would not touch writing anymore, com-

plaining regularly that reading was “too hard.”

His teacher tried to build on Devon’s literacy

world outside school, and gradually he showed

increased engagement. He was now positioned

as an “expert” when it came to video games and

other popular media images.

The instructor used these media

images to link his world to

words, and writing lessons

were organized around these

themes. For example, when he

tried to spell “tiger,” he empha-

sized “g,” connecting it to his favorite video game

title “Yu-Gi-Oh.”

All of these studies provide concrete steps

to build on students’ non-school literacies and

serve to broaden our view of literacy and its vari-

ous modalities. The children’s experiences show

that digital media content has tremendous poten-

tial for developing more formal literacy practices,

especially for struggling readers. In much of their

school writing assignments, children made sense

of their world and communicated their thoughts

by drawing on vocabulary, genres, and frames that

they had come to know through digital media.

These texts are integral to children’s affi nity and

sense of belonging to the larger society. Thus, dig-

ital media-tion plays a critical role in the iden-

tity and literacy development of young children,

and teachers need to pay attention to the various

genres and media that are available to them; in so

doing, they can not only make the link to school

texts viable, but, more important, they can pro-

mote cognitive growth. As Vygotsky said, “If

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Drawing on media and popular culture can have potential benefi ts for struggling readers and those who have developed an aversion

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121

reading and writing are only used . . . for what-

ever the teacher thinks up . . . the child’s activity

will not be manifest in his writing and his bud-

ding personality will not grow” (Vygotsky, 1978,

pp. 117–118).

Multilingual Mediation: Multiple Languages, Literacies, and DiscoursesThe fi nal theme we identifi ed is a long-stand-

ing one in sociocultural approaches to learning,

multilingual mediation: the use of multiple lan-

guages, literacies, and discourses in immigrant

and nondominant populations. Of course, over the

last decade, some of these studies also take into

account the digitally medi-

ated practices of these popula-

tions. Ethnographic studies of

children in immigrant and non-

dominant homes continue to

demonstrate the sophisticated

and diverse repertoire of medi-

ational tools available to them. Children in these

contexts are not only preserving their heritage lan-

guages and cultural tools, they are also develop-

ing new hybrid forms that merge new technologies

with multiple national languages, literacies, and

discourses. In some respects, these studies con-

tain aspects of all the themes we have previously

discussed (play, digital and hybrid mediation, and

identity) in the context of multilingualism.

Researchers, teachers, and staff collabo-

rated to build a learning environment for Can-

tonese-speaking preschool students that drew on

the children’s meaning making repertoire (Geni-

shi, Stires, & Yung-Chan, 2001). In contrast to the

phonemic and phonics-based activities curricu-

lum that focuses on language form, this team used

sociocultural principles to design activities that

positioned the children to become problem solvers

using the many symbolic tools available to them.

Children developed vocabulary as a byproduct

of exploring their physical world through hands-

on activities, such as dramatic play, singing, and

drawing. Over time, the children were empowered

as they used written language to represent their

thoughts and communicate with others effectively.

As a Cantonese and English bilingual herself, the

teacher regularly used both languages to mediate

the children’s participation. In most cases, teach-

ers are not able to provide this type of media-

tion; however, teachers do not need to be fl uent in

the child’s heritage language in order to value it

and position students to use it for the purpose of

learning.

To do this, teachers can draw on community

members or position themselves as “language

learners,” with the student and community mem-

bers serving as experts. Fifteen years ago, Rajan’s

family emigrated to Canada from India, where

his home language was predominantly Punjabi.

At his new school, 89% of the students speak a

primary language other than English ( McTavish,

2009). While his in-school literacy practices are

mostly focused on monolingual informational

texts and typical print-based activities (e.g., read-

alouds, literature response, oral reading circles,

etc.), his home is replete with

access to informational tech-

nology in both English and

Punjabi. Informational technol-

ogy has made cross-national

meaning making easily acces-

sible, allowing kids like Rajan

to maintain linguistic and cultural connections to

their heritage more easily than in previous gen-

erations. Rajan and his peers regularly engage

in electronic gaming, chatting, and other infor-

mational literacy practices. Unfortunately, the

schools in Rajan’s community do not utilize the

Internet and other informational technologies, so

the cultural disconnect between children’s homes

and school remains.

One of the best ways to promote an institu-

tional culture that values multilingualism and

makes it central to learning and development

is dual immersion and the concept of funds of knowledge. Drawing on the concept of funds of

knowledge (Moll, Amanti, & Gonzalez,1992),

Taylor, Bernhard, Garg, & Cummins (2008) par-

ticipated in a nationwide study of dual language

programs that effectively built upon multiliter-

acies pedagogy and multigenerational commu-

nity partnerships (24 schools in all). In their case

study based in a suburb of Toronto, the kindergar-

ten children, as well as their families, were repo-

sitioned as experts in their linguistic and cultural

funds of knowledge. One of the parents expressed

her excitement:

I was really excited about it (L1 maintenance class) because we’re actually . . . we really want our children to speak as much Chinese and un-derstand as much Chinese possible. Because we realize that any additional language is enriching

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[T]eachers do not need to be fl uent in the child’s heritage language in order to value it and position students to use it for the purpose

of learning.


and puts people in touch with their heritage . . . . There are heritage language classes, so we want-ed to sign her up for that, but it was a school night so we thought that would be too much to her. –Sarah’s mother (Taylor et al., 2008, p. 281)

These efforts have led to other effective pro-

grams for multilingual children where mul-

tilingualism was not simply relegated to the

second-class status of “background” or “prior”

knowledge, which often resulted in a feeling of

alienation from the larger society, but was instead

positioned as central to learning and a viable

option for participating actively; this stance helps

reconnect family and community members with

the child’s literacy development.

Gregory, Arju, Jessel, Kenner, & Ruby (2007)

examined the intergenerational shared read-

ing activity in a Bangladeshi Londoner family.

The grandmother, Razia, is of Bangali origin and

makes regular visits to London to visit her grand-

children. Her grandchild Sahil

is six years old. As Razia and

Sahil engaged in a joint read-

ing of Snow White, both par-

ticipants found themselves

engaged in a bi-directional pro-

cess of reinventing their shared

heritage in light of the morals and values presented

(i.e., Asian vs. European child-rearing styles).

Through her interactions with her “hybrid” grand-

child, Razia became aware of Sahil’s different lit-

eracy practices and adopted new ways to make

meaning by drawing on familiar resources.

Another example of this genre hybridity comes

from the Family Message Journals project (Woll-

man-Bonilla, 2001). Immigrant family members

were invited to participate in their children’s writ-

ing instruction through a Family Message Journal,

where the children wrote a message to their fami-

lies about what they did and learned in school and

a family member would respond in writing. The

family member would mediate their child’s learn-

ing by:

• asking questions

• acknowledging impact

• acknowledging learning

• modeling informational text

• modeling jokes and riddles

• modeling narratives

• modeling moral lessons

• modeling poetic text.

Many of these responses included nonstan-

dard English practices; however, unconventional

grammar, punctuation, spelling, and composing

styles used by immigrant parents were explicitly

encouraged.

PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS AND GUIDELINES FOR EDUCATORS

The last decade has witnessed substantive digital

and demographic changes in the United States and

worldwide. The social context for early childhood

literacy development has shifted from an exclu-

sively print-based medium toward a more robust

semiotic fi eld that includes a variety of electronic

media. In this millennium, children and adults are

expected to fl uently interact in an increasingly

diverse world using multiple

mediational tools and modal-

ities. The linguistic and cul-

tural demands of the digital age

require a more situated per-

spective to understanding lan-

guage, literacy, and pedagogy

for early childhood and beyond.

Reductive views of literacy that focus exclu-

sively on decoding sounds and word recogni-

tion (e.g., National Reading Panel Report, 2000;

National Early Literacy Panel Report, 2002) are

necessary but insuffi cient in addressing the needs

of today’s children. The ethnographic studies

reviewed in this article help practitioners, policy

makers, and researchers collectively refl ect in a

more nuanced manner about this critical question

in relation to their own practices. They can apply

the relevant lessons to their own context where

they see fi t, and contribute new points to the con-

versation as a result of the differences. Never-

theless, we have provided guidelines (below)

for educators based on the latest sociocultural

research on early literacy.

GUIDELINES FOR TEACHERS

1. Multiplicity & Mediation: Focus on organiz-

ing activities that draw on multiple semiotic

mediational tools & modalities (especially

digital & hybrid practices).

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Reductive views of literacy that focus exclusively on decoding sounds and word recognition . . . are necessary

but insuffi cient in addressing the needs of today’s children.


2. From Literacy to Literacies: Integrate an

expanded view of literacy that includes digi-

tal, hybrid, and multilingual language prac-

tices (both for children & family members).

3. Technology as an Asset: Use technology as

an asset rather than a defi cit for developing

early literacy; let the technology serve you.

4. Digital Native: Move toward becoming a

digital native, especially if it means posi-

tioning yourself as a novice in the children’s

world. This will foster affi liation and make

you a better mediator of learning.

5. Be a Critical User, “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater!”: Be a critical user

of digital texts, understanding the constraints

(i.e., the page turning of e-books) and oppor-

tunities while maintaining the advantages of

print-based media. Technology is still a tool!

6. Literacy of Technology AND Literacy through Technology: Children and adults in

the digital age need to be aware of the mul-

tiple functions of language and literacy con-

tent, as well as how the medium/technology

shapes it.

7. Funds of Knowledge: Make children’s funds

of knowledge central to the learning process.

8. Intergenerational Links: Explicitly encour-

age intergenerational links by inviting the

family into the literacy activities.

9. Nonstandard English: Explicitly encourage

“nonconventional” and nonstandard varieties

of English, especially for immigrant family

members.

10. Everybody a Language Learner: Move

toward a culture of dual immersion, espe-

cially if not fl uent in the other languages

used by children, by positioning yourself as a

language learner.

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Aria Razfar is an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Eunah Yang is a doctoral student at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: NCTE THEORY AND RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE (TRIP) BOOK SERIES

The NCTE Books Program invites proposals for its TRIP series (Theory and Research into Practice). These books are single-authored and focus on a single topic, targeting a specifi ed educational level (elementary, middle, or secondary). Each book will offer the following: solid theoretical foundation in a given subject area within English language arts; exposure to the pertinent research in that area; practice-oriented models designed to stimulate theory-based application in the reader’s own classroom. The series has an extremely wide range of subject matter; past titles include Genre Theory, Unlocking Shakespeare’s Language, Code-Switching, and Writing about Literature. For detailed submission guidelines, please visit the NCTE website at http://www.ncte.org/write/books. Proposals to be considered for the TRIP series should include a short review of the theory and research, as well as examples of classroom practices that can be adapted to the teaching level specifi ed. Proposals should be submitted through NCTE’s Web-based manuscript submission and review system, Editorial Manager, at http://www.editorialmanager.com/nctebp/.


Digital, Hybrid, & Multilingual Literacies in Early Childhood

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