| This ethnographic case study explored the English literacy practices of a rural, Spanish-speaking, Puerto Rican community. Data collection took place in a K-9 school library which, with the help of a Title V grant, became a community center where students, parents, teachers, and other community members interacted. Data included ethnographic field notes from four months of participant observation, analytic memos, audio recordings of talk around text, textual artifacts, and interviews with ten focal participants. Focal participants included junior high students, teachers, lunch ladies, parents, and professionals. The study explored the questions: How do people negotiate English literacy practices (i.e. ways of using English text)? What is the nature of English literacy practices? What channels of communication (oral/written, Spanish/English) are used to accomplish one's communicative goals? What are the factors that matter (class, gender, cross migration, schooling) in determining a person's particular "linguistic toolkit"? What are the consequences (in terms of identity) of decisions about English use? What qualifies one to be a language broker? Who seeks out language brokers and why?; Analysis of literacy events using Hymes' ethnography of communication revealed that participants with a range of English language proficiencies used English text. However, it was found that people of different ages used different types of English text. This difference was explained by considering how the literacy practices of adults and young people were connected to the institutions with which they interacted.; Though English has earned the nickname "el dificil" (the difficult one) in Puerto Rico, the data showed that participants were able to accomplish their communicative goals with the substantial amount of English knowledge they had. This became clear through the study of language brokering events, when people (clients) approached others (brokers) for help negotiating English text. It was found that those who sought help from English language brokers often had quite advanced English skills, and the broker may have had limited Spanish skills. Brokering was thus a mutual building/sharing of knowledge.; This study informs current thinking on English as an international and colonial language and offers suggestions for English teaching that builds on locally relevant and meaningful practices. |
