The Ecology of Literacy and Language: Discourses, Identities and Practices in Homes, Schools and Communities
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THE ECOLOGY OF LITERACY AND LANGUAGE: DISCOURSES, IDENTITIES AND PRACTICES IN HOMES, SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES
INTRODUCTION
An ecological model of language and literacy is a useful metaphor that recognises multiple languages and literacies, taking on the different oral and written languages communities draw on in their daily lives, but also accounting for institutional policies and practices that impinge on those everyday practices. Scholars in the field of language and literacy studies have drawn upon cultural studies, psychology, sociology, anthropology and theories of the mind and culture to understand literacy and language within a wider structure. One of the challenges for researchers who draw on the ecology metaphor is that this approach to language learning both asks for attention to identity and learning, but also requires an understanding of the relationship between language, literacy and social environments. Therefore, researchers of literacy and language have to account for institutional policy thinking on language and literacy, while at the same time studying face-to-face interaction in sites as diverse as homes, classrooms, community centres and neighbourhoods. One key aspect of thinking in the field of the ecology of literacy and language is the concept of social practice. By focusing on practice theory, relationships between people and things can be unpacked and described. Practices take place within communities and social structures, and come into being through interaction and can be understood as taking place within a network of social relations. By understanding the concept of ecology as one connected with studying the web of everyday practice and interaction, a lens can be created to look at that ecology in relation to language and understand its workings. E A R LY D E V E L O P M E N T S
The term ‘ecology of language’ has been used by a number of scholars, with reference to literacy and language, including Haugen, who defined language ecology as, ‘the study of interactions between any given language and its environment’ (Haugen, 1972, p. 325), and in doing so, considers the environment as both psychological and sociological. Barton described the ecological metaphor as being useful because it A. Creese, P. Martin and N. H. Hornberger (eds), Encyclopedia of Language and Education, 2nd Edition, Volume 9: Ecology of Language, 305–315. #2008 Springer Science+Business Media LLC.
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takes as its starting-point an interaction between individuals and their environments (Barton, 1994, p. 29). He referred to Bateson’s Steps to an Ecology of Mind, written in the 1930s and 1940s, which brings the lens of an anthropologist onto a number of disparate areas, including biology and psychology (Bateson, 1972 reprinted 2000). This signalled the way in which the ecology metaphor enables an appreciation of the inter-disciplinary nature of literacy and language studies. This review discusses an ecological approach to studying language and literacies in homes, schools and communities. For example, Hea
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