Learners' perceptions of the literacy experience: India, America and France
Ujwala Samant, Rutgers University, USA
Paper presented at SCUTREA, 31st Annual Conference, 3-5 July 2001, University of East London
LEARNERS' experiences in three very different countries, yet all with the same goal in mind, adult education or literacy, are the foci of this paper. Doctoral research, experience as a learner in French language classes, research in classroom dynamics and the use of distance learning in ESL will be used to explore, compare and understand learners' perceptions of the process of literacy.
This paper attempts to pull together information from four projects, one in India dealing with women's choice of literacy as a weapon for combating social ills, in the US, a distance learning project for ESL, a nationwide project looking at American ESL programs and finally my personal experience as a learner in a French as a second language class. Learners pack classes for a variety of reasons. Here, they express these as well as clarify their position, showing again how programs do not listen to their needs. Despite all the progress made in adult education, we still decide for our adults, what they need to know. Are we sharing or suppressing our learner's voices, with our kindness?
India: Mumbai, acity of words
In 1992, women in two Mumbai slums gathered to deal with social problems that plagued their community: intergenerational alcoholism, gambling and domestic violence, after a meeting organized by a local CBO where women from other slums spoke of how they had organized for change. Leaders emerged from amongst them, articulate and clever, organizing both, women and the content of literacy. The importance of literacy skills dawned on them when they had to write a petition protesting the existence of illicit tills in their community. Ushatai, a leader in one community, pointed out that unless they knew what was in the petition, could sign their name in lieu of thumb prints; change would continue to elude them. Thus began their journey towards literacy. Both learners and their rather young teachers spoke very clearly of their reasons for becoming literate.
Sujata, an eleven year-old girl exclaimed with some annoyance, 'Don't you see why we are teaching them? It's because we are fed up of having to be their guides. And they are fed up of dragging us everywhere and of using us as their means of communication. At every bus stop, it's the same story with my mother. She exposes her illiteracy, her ignorance from the start. She does not know where the bus stop is. Then she does not know how to calculate change.
She cannot depend on us all of her life. We will be married and move away. She cannot be expected to live all of her life in the same way, always lost.' Mrs. Kshetre, one of the leaders, laughed and said, 'Difference? What advantages, if any? Look, nobody does anything without the anticipation of some gain. Of course we expected literacy to change our lives. We are not spending two or three hours per day on our work for nothing. We expect our lives to be different. We have learned about the law, to sign our names. When we travel, we don't need to ask others for help. We can do more things on our own. We can better articulate our demands. For example, when the television and radio people came to interview us, we could tell them that it was nice being interviewed. Like being queen for a day. But, what about afterwards? We told them about the unemployed young men in our slum. How we wanted people to invest in us, give us jobs to do.' As a group, prior to commencing learning, they arrived at which aspects of schooled skills were vital to survival in an urban milieu. They wanted to learn how to sign their names, to move around independently, to do their household budgeting and shopping. During 'class' sessions, they would go directly to the exercises in the kits or ask volunteers to focus the class to their needs. Themes and problem-posing, (Wallerstein) crucial to effective and long-lasting learning characterized classes. Topics sprang from overarching themes such as laws, and activities included learning about petitions, organizing a march, and negotiating with police.
Strong ideological beliefs under girded every aspect of these movements. Awareness of changes which grew from newly acquired skills were extolled with sophisticated eloquence regarding the permanence of personal change: 'there is no going back, we are finally participants in city life', and most importantly, spoke the language of rights it pertained to dowry, legal age of marriage and elections.
What aspects of learners' voices inform the process of literacy? The programs embodied Freireian participatory philosophy, directly and implicitly. My role as a researcher was defined and refined by participants, where I was initially regarded with caution and politeness. When my legitimacy was established, I found myself playing various roles: teacher, liaison, provider of information and but never an insider as researchers like to believe. During town meetings, I was an outsider, occasionally asked to comment on something, but never an active participant. Learners saw the links between literacy and employment and social change. A unique feature of these movements was that they wanted to be interviewed as a group. They felt it made their voice stronger, and multiple voices helped clarity and own information. All voice was communal.
In America: Coffee at Crossroads Café - The case of Pennsylvania
The state of Pennsylvania undertook a project to teach learners of English as a Second Language, or ESL using distance-learning methodology with televised broadcasts of a program called Crossroads Café. In interviewing learners, it became apparent that this approach worked with some groups better than others. Women liked the show and the fact that they could tape it and watch it at their convenience, with friend and family. Some were very happy that they could identify with the characters, almost all of who spoke with accents similar to theirs. They were emphatic about the need to belong to a group where they could exchange information, share concerns and practice what they had learned. Learners had no control over the choice or content of curriculum, which was designed by professionals in the field of ESL. Classes showed mixed levels of educational backgrounds and differential styles of learning were not addressed. Highly educated learners referred to the show as 'juvenile', 'offensive' and not useful for learning. According to one French woman, it did not teach them American pronunciation, using simplistic content.
They had to travel to participate in classes. For women, travel was not easy, given the constraints such as childcare, household chores, and part-time jobs. Few mentioned the lack of dependable public transport and inclement weather, adding to the inconvenience of attending classes. Learners also stated that whilst watching the tapes was interesting, they preferred completing workbooks with supervision and help. Since Crossroads Café was meant to teach American English and culture, it was almost unanimous that learners' wanted help the opportunity to hear and practice the language.
ESL Classroom interactions: what's going on?
In a nationwide study of ESL classrooms, we found that getting learners to express themselves was not always an easy task, especially if the teacher remained in the room.
Learners across the USA had high praise for their teachers, who believed they were being learner-centered. Despite the K-12 style of running a class, learners stated that teachers were very understanding of their problems and helped them out of class. Observations showed that learners rarely initiated class discussions and teachers never asked them what their needs of learning were. In interviews, goals for learning English included communication, helping children with homework, reading the newspaper, filling forms, calculating interest and participating in the PTA. Of their own homework, they stated that they were not as regular as they would have liked, but saw it as 'the way to make permanent what we learn in class.' They also said that they were afraid of homework because they had nobody to turn to in case of difficulties. They found certain tasks, as long as they were not school skills, interesting to do, such as calling the library to check the hours. Learners appeared to learn, regardless of the quality of teaching or curriculum, citing increased confidence in their ability to communicate after attending classes. They wanted to learn all there was to know about American culture and argot, and to speak like them. All of them stated two main needs: a support system in class and out of class to keep their new knowledge intact and consistent exposure to American speakers for practice. Learners mentioned that they tended to sit in linguistically similar groups and come to class with them, because it made asking for help easier. Interactions in class were more question and answers and facts. They rarely expressed opinions. Learners in ESL classes said they were happy to come to classes because they left with a feeling of confidence.
France: Je veut ... non, je voudrais parler Francais!
I moved to France, speaking very little French. With a neighbor, I enrolled in French language classes. The class was diverse in terms of educational levels (PhD to a few years at the girls' madrasa), native language (Arabic, Berber, Marathi, Portuguese), religion (Muslim, Catholic, Hindu), age (26-60+), nationality (Algerian, Indian, Iraqi, Lebanese) and fluency in spoken French (fluent to barely speaking). The teacher was a retired middle schoolteacher who used the texts from that level. In speaking with learners, it was clear that a number were fluent speakers, from excolonies of France. Their reasons for coming to class included employment, learning to write, use a chequebook, do finances, while others had specific goals. A Lebanese woman said she needed French to find work and understand legal consequences if she left her abusive husband. A young Iraqi widow told me that she needed to learn how to do weights and measures to work in a Moroccan restaurant. A man from Cape Verde said his employer wanted him to learn to balance books. The teacher began the class by making sure everybody could sign their names followed by math worksheet. There was no discussion on what learners wanted or needed. The Lebanese woman, Samar asked me as the most educated in the room, to tell the teacher the needs of the class. This effort was turned into a class exercise.
The teacher then asked each of us our goals. I said, I want, no, I would like to speak French like the French, with no accent.
Samar said, I want to know how to use a chequebook. I want to ask the doctor to help me not get pregnant.
The teacher was flustered by the subject and quickly moved on to the next person. The men in the class snickered and a discussion ensued on whether women have or should have the right to birth control, without the spouse knowing.
Learners commandeered a few sessions, but the teacher would return to grammar and drill. When the class discussed the situation in Iraq, people cried, offered support to Zahra over her homesickness, the loss of her husband. Political discussions made the teacher uncomfortable, yet in terms of language production, these were rich sessions. Gil, the man from Cape Verde, said, What we want to learn, we do not get taught. My boss says he wants me to learn one thing. The school has decided another. Nobody is getting what they need or want, because nobody talks to one another. And nobody thinks we know anything, so they never ask us.
Nafeesa, a woman from Kabily said, The only thing we are getting is practice when we talk about things that are precious to us. About the world we live in. And Mme P tries to change the subject. Why do we come here? Personal opinions were not expressed in front of the teacher. By the sixth week, there were only nine people left in the class, six of whom were mandated. Instead, learners held discussions in public places and in people's homes.
There were a few people who spoke regularly on the phone.
Learners had no say in the class and the teacher was not comfortable with straying from the classic teaching of a standard curriculum.
Common features in learners' experience
With the exception of India, learners had no input into the content, or structure of curriculum or classes. In India, government-supplied books were used but they retained control of the selection and teaching of topics. In America and in France, learners enrolled in an existing program.
Most learners did not express any regret or need for classes to be different. Beder and Medina (2001, report under review) speak about learner socialization and expectations in their study of ABE classes in America. Learners are socialized into believing that adults like children enroll, attend classes, with teachers use blackboards, choral repetition and other K-12 pedagogy. Occasionally learners with higher levels of education protested during interviews that they found some techniques demeaning and childish.
Learners saw ESL classes as a stepping-stone to school, and the GED diploma. An engineer from Spain mentioned that whilst he could use English for work, he could not conduct everyday conversations. In the Indian context, through the process of learning, women made distinctions between education, literacy and knowledge. Mrs. Dhume said, That there are many kinds of education is something I have learned recently. At first I used to think that I am going to become educated, like my son. Then slowly it dawned on me that I was not becoming educated in the school sense, I was becoming literate. But, I am not merely literate. I am educated as well. I have become educated on subjects such as laws, how to deal with the police and how to get work out of clerks. All of this is also a kind of education, isn't it? What Mrs. Dhume was talking about is the acquisition of information deemed necessary by her to successful city living. For her, navigating the city's bureaucratic network is an education. A few points come across in all the conversations: the initial disappointment over the fact that they were not going through conventional schooling. The second thing is the realization that formal schooling is many years of hard labor. The third, a gradual awareness that there are gaps in their information that need to be filled which could help in changing their lives. The fourth is acceptance of the fact that even though literacy is not education, it is hard work and a useful tool. In ESL and FSL classes, language was seen as the vehicle to enter American or French culture, and becoming active participants.
Formal schooling or school skills (Cook-Gumperz, 1986), are valued by all learners and in ESL and FSL classes, the curriculum is built around them. Culture is the common thread that links all lessons. Learners spoke well in general of their teachers. In one ESL class, the teacher came in for some caustic criticism by her learners because she was not giving them level-appropriate material, nor was she engaging the learners. A Frenchwoman and a Chinese woman, partnered for an exercise said, Is she babysitting us? We have done this exercise so many times over. We know who we are, where we live, why we came to this country and what we like and don't like about it. Let's talk about our holidays instead.
A slow, but complex conversation followed, where both women talked about their trips, using American argot and expressions, instead of the exercise prescribed by the teacher.
Learners' do not appear to offer opinions nor did they suggest a change of activities, better suited to their knowledge of English.
Auerbach (1990) has some insights about the success of participatory literacy programs and how active participation by parents helps family literacy flourish.
Learners in the FSL and ESL classes were mute as far as expressing their needs. With multiple levels rampant in classrooms, it might be the perfect moment to listen to what they want and how their participation could enrich in the experience. Learners who are articulate in critiquing how and what a teacher teaches, are silent when expressing themselves in her presence. Is learning a partnership in adult education? Or is the power differential and social distance an issue? At first glance, ESL learners and teachers appear close.
Yet there is an obvious power difference seen when learners do not feel supported in traditional classrooms. In the French classes, learners were instructed to call the teacher 'Madame', whereas in most of the American ESL classes, they were on first name terms. This could be a cultural reflection of how teaching is viewed in two nations. In India, the power differential was less obvious because teachers were from the same milieu as students. Age determined how people were addressed. Older learners' were called 'aunt' or 'lady' or 'older sister'. Whether their silence was out of deference for their teacher, or fear of reprisal, or if they merely accepted her/his role for what he/she did, was not always clear. Unless classes had come together with a clear, unifying political agenda, as in India, learners' rarely criticized teachers' overtly or requested a subject change.