Monday, November 17, 2014

Ethnography questions on Chicago Mexicans

1.      How is the ability to read and write distributed in a community?
Lower class is less literate, upper class/wealthy have increased literacy.  Education is expensive.  Older Mexicans have less schooling than their children.  Birth order matters as well – younger kids get to go to school at the expense of the elders.
2.      What is the relationship between the abilities to read and write?
Sometimes you can learn to write before learning to read – learning the symbols…but not the meaning (??)  Limited, contextual knowledge.  We assume that reading comes before writing – that’s how it is in our school systems. 
3.      How do these abilities vary with factors such as age, sex, socioeconomic class, and the like?
SEE ANSWER ONE
Girls tended to help out at home, boys go make money.  EX nine year old with dead mother and father in US went to work
4.      With what kinds of activities are reading and writing associated, and in what types of settings do these activities take place?
Church, writing letters to family members who aren’t in US.  That’s the biggest motivator for learning writing/reading.  Maybe a bit for work?
5.      What kinds of information are considered appropriate for transmission through written channels, and how, if at all, does this information differ from that which is passed through alternative channels such as speech?
Literacy is learned through speaking (somehow).  Learning is a speech thing.  The letters are described.  Our brains hurt.  Written things are personal communiques – not particularly complicated.  Maybe that’s how they can learn to do it?
6.      Who sends written messages to whom, when, and for what reasons?
Letters.  SEE OTHER ANSWERS
7.      Is the ability to read and write a prerequisite for achieving certain social statuses, and, if so, how are these statuses elevated by other members of the community?
People who can write are used to write letters for others.  Social responsibility/status.  They are sought out for their services. 
8.      How do individuals acquire written codes and the ability to decode them--from whom, at what age, and under what circumstances, and for what reasons?
At all ages.  If you don’t have formal schooling, you’re going to need lots of motivation in order to learn to read and write.  It’s harder to accomplish as you get older.  EX Cigarette box man.
9.      What are the accepted methods of instruction and of learning both in and out of school?
In school – reading is first, then writing.  Outside of school others can teach you.  You’re going to have to get creative if you can’t find resources.
10.  What kind of cognitive functions are involved?
Symbolic thinking (understanding what a symbol is EX “A”).  Problem solving. 
11.  In summary, what positions do reading and writing hold in the entire communicative economy and what is the range of their social and cultural meanings?
Those who are literate get more attention from the community, their skills are in demand.  Those who can read & write English are more integrated into the US society.  Literacy bolsters the economy.  EX Avocado town.  Literacy expands your social “market” – you can reach new audiences and communicate better.  Also, higher paying jobs require literacy which elevates socioeconomic status. Literacy equals more opportunities in the US.
            live the whole year in Mex
            Chicagoans sending $ to Mex

            ½ & 1/2 

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