The social context of second language literacy and biliteracy

The chapter consists of seven sections. Sections 1 and 2 present a brief overview of prominent theoretical frameworks examining home and community settings in second language literacy acquisition. Section 3 includes a brief description of the language and literacy policies in North America. Section 4 addresses home literacy practices and parental attitudes and beliefs toward first and second language literacy. Section 5 explores community-based literacy development practices and community support for biliteracy. Section 6 describes the relationships between home and community literacy practices, language and literacy educational policies, and the mainstream schooling of minority language students in the North American context. Research on bilingual programs in a number of contexts is reviewed, and the impact of such programs on literacy is discussed. The last section examines the magnitude of the effects of immigration status, socio-economic status, parental education, the child’s gender, heritage country, and length of residence in the host country on children’s achievements in L2 literacy.