TRAVELLING THE INFORMATION HIGHWAY AND BYWAYS
2.7 The Anthropological and Socio-Linguistic Perspectives
practised in various countries. There has been a lack of critical postmodern critique in adult education (Flannery, 1995) and these perspectives offer views on the new approaches.
Street (1993) through his ideological model of literacy, explains that there is no neutrality in education. But a distribution of power and authority, which has consequences for the acquisition and meaning of the institutions in which it is embedded, that is, how and why it is used in a particular context. Literacy is then seen as ideological: how and what is taught reflect the social structure and reflections of power within society. What is taught could depend on the dominant language/culture that prevails in society. The various adult literacy institutions are vested with different kinds of authority and power, which could subordinate learners to support the needs and interests of the dominant class or their own vested interests. There are various types of adult literacy classes operating, for example, in religious institutions, industries, political organizations, government institutions and social institutions. Education from this perspective can be seen as a form of social control. Street's (1993) view, as articulated above, falls within the critical perspective.
Through the anthropological and socio-linguistic perspective I will narrow my lens by using Street's (1993) ideological model to demonstrate how the power of politics in literacy can reflect on practice and the power of the oppression of women can place a double bind for women to act upon their desire for change. To do this I will use Kathleen Rockhill's (1993) experience of Hispanic immigrant women in the United States of America (USA). The dominant language in the USA is English. Here a certain kind of cultural capital,18 that of the dominant culture, is confirmed, legitimized and reproduced. For the Hispanic immigrant women, English is their second language. There are many different literacies in the Hispanic community. According to Rockhill (1993), multiple literacies have different dialects within the same language. These dialects are embedded in many communicative patterns that have different cultural meanings as well as different language structures. Rockhill (1993) maintains that the mainstream culture differs from and is invested with more power than those in the community and the home.
The English language gains what Bourdieu in Gibson (1986) calls ' cultural capital': the concept cultural capital means the notion of everyone possessing some form of language, meaning, thought, behavioural styles or values.
Rockhill (1993) goes on to argue that often all learners are not treated the same.
Literacy is established as a measurable thing, a skill, or commodity that can be acquired in literacy programmes. Literacy is often recognized only in terms of the dominant language and culture. Even though individuals are literate in other languages these are not given cultural capital. The preceding discussion demonstrates how power relations can affect the powerless, oppressed women in the classroom. The following quote clearly affirms the point made:
In expressing his concern on the rate of illiteracy in America, the director of the Mayor's Committee in Philadelphia made the following statements on adult literacy: "Frightening because adult illiteracy costs billions ...Frightening because it is embedded in the social landscape of crime, drug abuse and hopelessness in a land of plenty... But frightening, too, because of the debilitating effect of illiteracy has on our ideals of citizenship and liberty. Is it any wonder that with one of five adults unable to fully read a newspaper that voter turnout has steadily fallen to record low? (New York Times in Rockhill, 1993:157).
This quotation expresses the underlying political reasons as to why literacy should be deemed necessary. America, which is a first world country, where everything is plentiful, cannot be seen as having illiterates. The questions one should ask are:
Illiterate from whose perspective? Are other literacies given recognition when the claim is made of being illiterate? To be literate in the USA, does that mean to be literate in the dominant language and culture of that country? As a politician the mayor's comments on the need to have adults literate because voter turnout was poor indicates vested interests in promoting adult literacy. Literacy is treated as though it is outside the social, political relations and ideological practices in which it is embedded, when paradoxically it is situated within those practices.
According to Rockhill (1993), Hispanic women experience a struggle for power on the broader sphere, i.e. against the dominant culture, but there is also a struggle for voice in their own personal lives. They need to liberate themselves from female oppression at home. Rockhill's (1993) study of literacy development among Hispanic woman showed the following:
• Literacy is embedded in power relationships in everyday life
• It is socially constructed
• It is ideological and has cultural significance
This study draws many parallels to Rockhill's where the women are Black, oppressed and feel the need to study English, which is their second language.
However, in South Africa, English is not compulsory according to statements made in the Language in Education policy(1999). However, some researchers have suggested the need for English to be part of the South African ABET curriculum. In the next example I demonstrate how literacy is situated within the social practice of society, is closely related to its actual uses and is specific to the cultural context.
2.7.1 Literacy: Relationship to its Actual Uses and Cultural Context Scribner & Cole (1981) conducted extensive research in Sierra Leone in North- western Liberia on literacy practices of the Vai people. Scribner & Cole (1981) assert that:
Literacy does not simply mean knowing how to read and write a particular script but applying this knowledge for specific purposes in
specific contexts of use (Scribner & Cole, 1981: 236).
The Vai people had access to three scripts, an indigenous Vai script, the Quranic script and the English alphabet. Many Vai people are multiliterate in, Vai, Arabic, and English. Although they are multiliterate, literacy rarely leads to the acquisition of new bodies of knowledge. Scribner & Cole (1981) point out that unlike industrial countries the meaning and uses it has among the Vai had been related to the cultural and social context.
The Vai people have developed diversified uses of writing, which are based on pragmatic, ideological and intellectual factors and these sustain literacy. Peers and family informally taught Vai script writing and its purpose was pragmatic, mainly for personal letters and keeping of sales. Scribner and Cole (1981) concluded that Vai script literacy was no vehicle for introducing a new way of life. They called it
literacy without education because it did not open new bodies of knowledge, did not lead to growth in new intellectual disciplines and did not cause any social change. Literacy needs to be critical, to challenge "new ways of thinking about major life problems" (Scribner & Cole, 1981: 239). I differ from Scribner &
Coles's (1981) view because I believe it is possible to use language for functional purposes with critical consciousness. Personal writing of letters can be self- reflective and offer scope for critical consciousness. The Vai script assisted learners to keep records of sales. This could have contributed to some rudimentary accounting practice, assisting learners on acquiring knowledge on profits, losses, auditing books and could have given them life skills in entrepreneurship.
Quranic literacy was a vehicle to learn to read and recite from the Quran. The method of teaching was mainly recitation with little explanation of the texts being read. Religious ideological practice seemed to be at the heart of learning the Quran.
English literacy was used for its intellectual factors as well as its cultural capital and was taught formally. It was the official language of commerce and government affairs and was given much recognition in society, as "it was important that every town have at least one literate person in English to act as town clerk for purposes of dealing with government'"(Scribner & Cole, 1981:70).
English youngsters attending school achieved a status of 'being schooled'.
Scribner & Cole's (1981) research suggests that literacy is culturally organized systems of skills and values learned in a specific setting. Castell, Luke & Egan (1986) explain how the context in which literacy is taught is significant because it has an impact on the cognitive possession of skills and the uses to which they can be put. Literacy is taught for various purposes, as Scribner & Cole's (1981) research indicated. Each type is taught in a different context and for a different purpose, which affects the level to which literacy skills are acquired. Baynham (1995), analyzing Scribner & Cole's research, explains why it is important for
literacy to be a purposeful activity in social interaction. He says literacy needs to be understood in terms of the social power relations that are operating and the values and ideologies, which could be expressed implicitly or explicitly.
The anthropological and socio-linguistic perspective clearly demonstrates the need for me as a researcher to take into an account of how learners actually thought about literacy and how they applied it in their everyday lives. The deeper insight to the adult female domestic learners' lives will help provide information on how literacy impacts on them. The examples I have cited have much significance for this study because they illustrate the impact of English literacy on adult learners.
Theory and practice work hand in glove. Hence, I present practice not as a separate entity but as part of theory. In the next section I examine literature that will reveal insights into the practical issues that affect adult learners when acquiring literacy.
SECTION B