Beginning Literacy as the Object of Study in Language and Literature Teaching: An Ethnographic Perspective and Contributions to Teacher Training

Abstract

This article presents the concepts and fundamentals of the lines of research on Language and Literature teaching from an ethnographic perspective which we have been conducting in Argentina Currently these lines of research are being carried out at Universidad Pedag gica Nacional and focus on continuous teacher training distance learning specifically addressing the challenges that affect Beginning Literacy in our country The article explores how teachers describe their teaching experiences regarding the reproduction of educational slogans from the approaches that have guided curriculum designs and teacher training over the last four decades It also presents how teachers produce other meanings regarding specific aspects overlooked by such reproduction In this regard the meanings through which teachers describe the challenges that their students face in mastering written language are defined and analyzed Teachers sometimes do not know how to address these difficulties as they have not been introduced to linguistic perspectives related to the distinctive features of Beginning Literacy Rather than that they are presented with educational policy definitions regarding reading and writing that omit these insights Finally the rationale selecting studies on Beginning Literacy from a linguistic perspective is introduced highlighting the collaboration with teachers to address this gap in their training