Abstract
In this chapter, ethnographic methods to illustrate some of the dynamic relationships involved in the transmission and development of literacy values and practices in a Malay family in Singapore are used. Interactions between parents, between parents and children, and between the home and the school all contribute to the nature of reading and writing practices in the family. School experiences are mediated in particular ways by the parents’ personal histories, religion and occupation and by the experience of the older siblings. The family’s literacy practices are also continually changing as the children act and react in sharing literate experiences throughout their development. The descriptions bring into focus the nature of children’s literacy learning in the home: they do not just acquire language and literacy skills but also learn different ways of relating to texts and of being a reader and writer through participation in social practices and the pursuit of social relations.
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Notes
- 1.
These are publicly governed and developed but often resident owned. About 85% of Singaporeans live in such flats. They are located in housing estates, which are self-contained satellite towns with schools, supermarkets, clinics, hawker centres, as well as sports and recreational facilities.
- 2.
The ‘Hadith’ is the recorded and verified words and actions of Prophet Muhammad.
- 3.
The parts of a woman’s body other than the face and hands.
- 4.
Lah is one of the discourse particles in the informal or colloquial variety of Singapore English (Lim 2007). It may be used to convey the mood and attitude of the speaker (as used in this quote) or used with a request or command to indicate impatience (e.g., “Finish your homework lah”) or to turn it into a plea (e.g., “Give me more time lah”).
- 5.
One practice among Muslims is to learn to read the Qur’an. For non-Arabic speaking Muslims, this may amount to no more than reciting the texts without understanding the meaning. Any understanding of what one ‘reads’ has to come from a religious teacher or the translations (cf. Gregory and Williams 2000). A common belief among Muslims is that one still earns a reward from Allah even if one is only reciting the Qur’an.
- 6.
Items in quotation marks are the texts read from the book.
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Acknowledgements
Much of the research material was obtained with funds from a research grant awarded by the Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice, National Institute of Education, Singapore (CRP 26/03 MAB and CRP 19/04 MAB). The author wishes to thank the participating family without whom this paper could not have been written.
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Abu Bakar, M. (2016). Transmission and Development of Literacy Values and Practices: An Ethnographic Study of a Malay Family in Singapore. In: Elaine Silver, R., Bokhorst-Heng, W. (eds) Quadrilingual Education in Singapore. Education Innovation Series. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-967-7_2
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