Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Domains, questions, and directions
- 2 Language and literacy in Morocco
- 3 The cultural context of schooling
- 4 Doing fieldwork in Morocco
- 5 Learning to read in Arabic
- 6 Social factors in literacy acquisition
- 7 Beliefs and literacy
- 8 Learning to read in a second language and a second literacy
- 9 Functional literacy: School learning and everyday skills
- 10 School dropout and literacy retention: Out of school, out of mind?
- 11 Literacy and poverty
- 12 Linking research and policy
- 13 Literacy, culture, and development: Concluding thoughts about a changing society
- Appendix 1 Cognitive consequences of Quranic preschooling
- Appendix 2 Details of test construction
- Appendix 3 Parent interview
- Appendix 4 Student interview
- References
- Name index
- Subject index
- Plate section
7 - Beliefs and literacy
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 October 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Domains, questions, and directions
- 2 Language and literacy in Morocco
- 3 The cultural context of schooling
- 4 Doing fieldwork in Morocco
- 5 Learning to read in Arabic
- 6 Social factors in literacy acquisition
- 7 Beliefs and literacy
- 8 Learning to read in a second language and a second literacy
- 9 Functional literacy: School learning and everyday skills
- 10 School dropout and literacy retention: Out of school, out of mind?
- 11 Literacy and poverty
- 12 Linking research and policy
- 13 Literacy, culture, and development: Concluding thoughts about a changing society
- Appendix 1 Cognitive consequences of Quranic preschooling
- Appendix 2 Details of test construction
- Appendix 3 Parent interview
- Appendix 4 Student interview
- References
- Name index
- Subject index
- Plate section
Summary
Writing for the record
Nestled in a side street in a certain section of the medina in old Marrakech is the hanout (small storefront) of an adl (public scribe), Si Abdullah who is well known for his skill in handling the “problems of writing” for a wide range of low-literate clientele. A renter asks Si Abdullah for an “official” letter to his landlord, having failed to persuade the landlord to let him stay in his lodging at the usual monthly rate (which has not, thanks to Allah, changed for 15 years).A mother seeks his help to produce a letter assuring a certain school administrator that her son is temporarily out of school “for a good reason.”In each case traditional methods of oral social interaction and persuasion are no longer sufficient to carry the day, or to establish a written record, increasingly important for later follow-up if required. Although both the renter and the mother had attended primary school, they know the importance and power of carefully crafted written documents – the difference between a document prepared by a specialist and one prepared by literacy novices like themselves.
Up to this point we have considered the nature of Arabic literacy in Morocco and the cognitive and social factors that influence its acquisition. Our focus on cognitive skills and social factors is crucial because it provides a way to conceptualize a direct intervention in improving children's learning of literacy skills. Yet it is also becoming increasingly apparent that learning in and out of school is greatly influenced by the beliefs, attitudes,and values that individuals possess.
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- Information
- Literacy, Culture and DevelopmentBecoming Literate in Morocco, pp. 140 - 167Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1994