Other Peoples Words

Introduction
1. The theoretical lens of Purcell from which she conducts her research is that she is
trying to explain why students from low socioeconomic families continually have
trouble in school. Unfortunately, the majority of people usually form opinions
about these types of people before even getting to know them. To illustrate,
people typically assume that those people don't care about education, or are
genetically unfit, or cannot even speak correctly, much less learn to read and write
standard English (Purcell). This is important for Purcell to define because her
research deals with two individuals that have been classified as those people.
Therefore, Purcell needed to define her theoretical lens in order for her audience
to understand how people from low socioeconomic families are viewed in the
public eye.
2. Cultural identification is formed by Socioeconomic status, religion, family
education history, tory, gender, ethnicity, sociopolitical status-all of these
sociocultural factors intertwine and interact to result in individual cultural
identities (Purcell). So often, teachers immediately stereotype specific cultures,
which can hinder their perspective of the learner. Therefore, teachers need to
understand the students cultural background in order to better educate that
student. In other words, teachers need to acquire the concept of nested contexts. A
nested context is being able to describe the ways in which factors such as social
class, gender, and race interconnect and influence each other(Purcell). In other
words, teachers should try to look at the world in the perspective of their student.
For teachers should be trying to understand how their students culture can affect

the way that they learn. Thus, a teacher must acquire this skill in order to be an
effective teacher.
Chapter 1
1. Jenny dropped out of school in seventh grade because for her school did not come
easily to her. She unfortunately sees her son, Donny, struggling in school, which
causes her to finally decide that she cant continue living on her life not knowing
how to read and write. For that reason she makes the conscious decision to go an
university to seek help with improving her reading and writing skills, so she can
finally help her son with his homework. The book states, Jenny was particularly
concerned about the effect of her nonliterary on Donny's ability to learn to read
and write in school. This drove her to find her way to the university-based
Literacy Center(Purcell). The person in charge of this center told Jenny that she
would work personally with both her and Donny, but the lady in charge asked that
in return she had permission to record their lessons in order for her to do further
research.
Chapter 2
1. Urban Appalachian are also referred to as the invisible minority. These specific
groups of people are mainly white, Baptist, and blue collared. In addition to this,
their typically lifestyle includes hunting, pickup trucks, campers, and working on
cars. Fortunately, the majority of third generation Urban Appalachians usually are
better educated, healthier, and typically do not claim the mountain region as their
home.
2. The prejudice and stereotypes that this cultural group has to face is being seen as
hillbillies. The book states, Scholars point out that, while African American

migrants grants are discriminated against in part because of their color,

Appalachian migrants are discriminated against because of cultural differences
between mountain subculture culture and urban culture(Purcell). To illustrate,
one of the cultural differences is that they rely on getting any type of support from
their family because for them charity is the absolute last resort. Therefore, when
the university offered to give Jenny and Donny supplies to help them through
school, Jenny would always refuse. She also insisted on paying the university the
best way she could, which was giving the lady in charge a beautiful quilt that
Jenny made.
Chapter 3
1. Written language is assuming that the reader and the writer are not in the same
room when the persons writing is being read. Thus, when someone is writing
they have to write in a way that someone will be able to comprehend it. For
instance, students use written language to write a paper or a formal letter. While,
when a student uses oral language, they are typically having conversations with a
friend or teacher. In addition to this, in written language, a writer can only use an
endophoric reference. This means that a writer cannot use personal pronouns
without using some sort of reference. For when someone is talking to another
individual, they can use personal pronouns because they can personally point to
what they are talking about.
o In the book, Teaching Children to Read by Ray Reutzel articulates the
importance of oral language. He states, Oral language is critical to the
development of reading and writing. He also discusses effective
instruction strategies that will better benefit students. These strategies

include: interviews, give/follow demands, small group, explain/convince,

etc. In addition to this, Reutzel explains that the best way for a student to
acquire the skill of oral language is by allowing them the opportunity to
talk. Students should be given opportunities throughout the day to talk.
2. Children learn about reading and writing during their preinstructional years
because children learn language in three dimensions. The three dimensions
include: Cultural View and Functions of Written Language; Natures and Forms of
Written Language; and Print/Speech Relationships. The book states, Everything
they learn about written language before schooling is constrained by what they
learn about its functions and the values placed on its various forms within their
particular sociolinguistic communities and cultures(Purcell). Additionally,
children begin to lean about how text represents meaning during the
preinstructional years.
o In the book, Assessment in Early Childhood Education illustrates how
primary teachers should assess their students to see whether or not they are
having any sort of trouble in the classroom. To illustrate, the book states,
Achievement tests are useful when making decisions about instruction. If
a child is exhibiting learning difficulties, a psychologist might administer
the Peabody Individual Achievement Test to gain information about
childrens math, reading, and spelling skills (Wotham, page 65).
3. Big Donny and Jenny could not read or write anything for the majority of their
lives. They would both try to look for familiar names and pictures in order to
provide them guidance. To illustrate, when Jenny would be outside the home
trying to look for a specific place, she would be looking for physical indicators to
find stores, offices, and items in the grocery store. She would also only be able to

locate buildings by their size, colors, and the shapes of the signs. Jenny also
confesses to Purcell that her family never sends them post cards because they all
know that they cannot read. Jenny goes on to say that she would never think to
turn over the postcard and read it because she thought that the picture was the
only reason why people send post cards. Since Jenny would just look at the
pictures in order to understand a certain topic, this unfortunately also impacted
how Donny viewed reading. For that reason when Donny began to read he would
just look at the pictures and provide his own words to describe the picture.
Chapter 4
1. Purcell asked Jenny one day to read a passage from a fourth grade reading level
book in order for her to get a sense of what Jennys reading ability was. While
Jenny was reading, Purcell got the feeling that Jenny assumed that when someone
is reading, they must individually isolate words with no concept of the way that
sentences are structured. Jenny developed this idea of reading because she only
mastered a few skills of reading. That is why; Purcell came to the conclusion that
a new type of instruction needed to be established for Jenny and Donny.
2. The emergent literacy suggests clear avenues for instruction for Donny because he
appeared very likely to be confused with standard reading/writing instruction.
Therefore, Purcell decided that it would be in Donnys best interest to establish a
foundation of necessary information about written language before continuing on
with instruction. For that reason, Purcell encourages Donny to be involved with a
variety of different literacy events. Purcell states, He must observe, participate
in, and experiment with written language being used for many different real-life
life purposes(Purcell). Through this process, Donny will be able to learn the

skills necessary for reading and writing, but he must first create a conceptual
foundation. This foundation includes: an understanding of why print is
meaningful; how print allows for diversity in communication; and how print has a
variety of symbols that people can use to decode language in reading and writing.
3. The theoretical approach of the learning center is to teach students that language
is studied to provide meaning and a genuine purpose in ones life. There are also
specific components that are taught when it comes to teaching language. These
components include: sounds, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. The final theory
of the learning center is that a student develops language in a variety of
frameworks. Purcell states, In skills-based instruction children read from
materials specially written to teach sequenced skills, in the Literacy Center
children read from materials written to fulfill authentic functions of
print(Purcell). In addition to this, the Literacy Center teaches that reading and
writing are both functions that need to be performed, while a skill based approach
believes that students first need to learn how to read and then they eventually read
to learn.
4. Purcell proclaims, The efficacy of teaching phonics to beginning readers and
writers, I believe that explicit instruction in this aspect of the reading/writing
process is quite beneficial for most learners, especially those who experience
problems(Purcell). She continues to explain that when teaching student phonics,
instruction should include several demonstrations and activities that reveal to the
student the reason for reading and writing. Donny knew the majority of the
consonant sounds, but he struggled with differentiating vowel sounds. For
instance, Purcell would say the sound /w/ and Donny would perceive the sound as

/y/. For this reason, the skill-based approach did not work effectively for Donny
because he did not have a basis basic reading skills, such as phonemic awareness.
To illustrate, when Donnys teachers were using the skill-based approach this was
the knowledge that Donny knew: That his name could be written, that print is
read and not pictures, and that books could be read by looking at the pictures
and producing one's own language to go with them(Purcell). As a result, through
instruction at the Literacy Center, Donny has improved immensely with reading
and writing.
o This semester I had the opportunity to tutor two first graders at
East Elementary School. As I was tutoring them, my main goal
was to teach them phonics and how to read sight words. In a lot of
ways, I felt like Purcell trying to lay a foundation of reading skills
for these two boys. My tutees had the very similar issues as Donny.
For they both knew their consonant sounds, but had trouble with
certain vowel sounds in words. For example, my one tutee could
not read the word one because the vowel sound makes a /w/
sound and not a /o_e/ sound. This concept unfortunately stumped
him for the majority of the semester. Luckily, through constant
practice of reading the word to him he eventually remembered the
word.
5. Purcell dismissed the idea that Donny and Jenny may both have a learning
disability because she realized that they both were not properly taught the skills
needed for reading and writing. Purcell declares, As time went on, and Jenny and
Donny both learned the skills and strategies needed for reading and writing

through instruction adapted to fit this original hypothesis, the diagnosis of

dyslexia became even less appropriate(Purcell). She continues to articulate that
instruction is essential to helping a student progress. I can attest to this idea
because in preschool I was diagnosed with a learning disability. During my years
in grade school the majority of my teachers did not make accommodations for me
or give me that extra help that I desperately needed. However, I did have a tutor
from kindergarten till my sophomore year of high school, who taught me the basic
skills that I needed to acquire in order to know how to read. If it werent for my
tutor, I would have probably ended up in a very similar situation as Donny and
Jenny.
6. Donnys viewed him as a total failure because the school thought that each
student was at the same reading level. They assumed that every first grade student
understood the different functions of print. The school also adopted the idea of
whole class teaching. This required that the whole class would progress
through material at the same time. For that reason, if students were falling behind
then they had to make sure that they were keeping up with the class as much as
possible. Unfortunately, this caused Donny to give up and not even try to keep up
with the rest of the class because he was so behind. In other words, he did not
know that letters have sounds, he did not know the difference between the
instructional terms spell and read, and he did not know that one must match
eye gaze to individual words in order to read(Purcell). These are concepts that all
the other students in his class knew, but since Donny didnt he was viewed as
failure.

7. Purcells approach to designing instruction for Donny is to first teach Donny the
basics of reading that he was lacking. To illustrate, Donny first learned that
language can be represented with print, and he moved tentatively into an early
understanding of the phonemic basis of written English through invented
spelling(Purcell). Purcell also suggested that Donny should repeat second grade
and continue to attend the Literacy Center during the summer, so he could catch
back up. In addition, she also created fun projects for Donny to do in order to
understand certain concepts. For instance, they decided to make a book, so Donny
could see the form and functions of print.
8. The partner-reading procedure is often helpful when developing readers are
reading text that is at the upper limit of their ability(Purcell). Purcell selected the
partner-reading procedure because she could help Donny maintain his
concentration and attention with the text. This procedure also allows the student
with opportunities to hear word pronunciations, sentence intonations, and
syntactical phrasings(Purcell).
9. Purcell suggests that direct instruction must be integrated into instruction until the
student begins to become more of a cultural insider than an outsider. For reading
and writing are practices that require students to be directly instructed in order to
acquire the certain skills that an insider withholds. Purcell states, It is unfair and
unethical to withhold insider information until children, or adults, figure it out for
themselves, as if they were insiders all along (Purcell). Therefore, teachers
needed to teach their insider information to their students.
Chapter 5

1. Jenny viewed the process of reading by working hard at assignments given by the
teacher. She also believer that learning how to read takes a lot of hard work and
effort. Similarly, She believed that if only someone would make her (and Donny)
learn all the rules for reading words (sounding out rules), then she would be able
to read(Purcell). For this reason, Purcell came up with a goal that she was going
to find something that was going to help Jenny become the reader that she always
wanted to be. In this case, Purcell came to the conclusion that she would provide
Jenny with materials that would better benefit her. The materials that Jenny
needed were meaningful, predictable text that would help her begin to grow as a
reader.
2. Authentic literacy tasksoften reveal the extent to which skills learned in
isolation generalize to life(Purcell). For example, Purcell had Donny fill out an
application for a library card. As he was filling out the form, Purcell was right
there next to him, so if he had any questions she would be able to answer them
right away.
o In the book, Assessment in Early Childhood Education describes
authentic learning and assessment. The book states, If we are to
use authentic or performance assessment to understand how
children can apply or use what they have learned, the learning
experiences they are provided must also be authentic or
meaningful(Wortham, page 214). In this case, Purcell gave Donny
an authentic assessment by having him apply his writing skills to
fill out an application. This can also be seen as a performance

based assessment because Purcell was observing and mentally

assessing Donny as he was filling out the application.
3. One day Jenny, Donny, Timmy and Purcell took an adventure to the public library.
When they got there, they were eager to look and pick out books. However,
before they were able to check out their books, they had to fill out a library card
application. When they turned in the application, the librarian was hesitant at first
because the back of the application did not appear as if Jenny had filled it. The
librarian asked Purcell, The mother did this? Luckily, the librarian didnt try to
challenge Jenny and Purcell that much and proceeded to type in the information
from the application into the computer system. It turned out that Donny already
had a library card because he took a field trip with his class. Overall, the librarian
did give them a hard time when they first turned in the application, but she did not
hinder their learning to read.
4. When Jenny first started lessons at the Literacy Center, She already believed that
the reason she could not sound words out was because she spoke a dialect that
was wrong(Purcell). That is why, Purcell began to encourage Jenny that she
was capable of reading, and Purcell would also praise her when she succeeded.
Also, Purcell concluded that the reason for the majority of Jennys misspellings in
her dialect was due to her dialect. Eventually Jennys dialect did not hider her
learning anymore for Jenny began to write journal entries to Purcell. This allowed
Purcell to make corrections for Jenny, which showed Jenny what she needed to do
in order to improve her writing. Donny was also affected by his dialect, but
similar to his mother he just needed the extra practice.
o Jennys journal entries could be used as a portfolio assessment.
According to the book, Assessment in Early Childhood Education,

A portfolio collection is used to develop a holistic picture of

activities the student has engaged in over a period of time. The
portfolio should include many examples of a students work
(Wortham, page 241).
5. In order for a student to be a fluent reader, they must acquire the skill of
automatically recognizing words while they are reading. Purcell proclaims, Not
until readers have acquired a large store of automatically recognized words in
memory can they devote vote full cognitive attention to the comprehension
processes needed to read fluently for meaning (Purcell).
o As previously addressed, this semester I tutored two first grade
boys with their reading. As I was tutoring them, one of my main
goals for them was to be able to recognize and read words fast. I
noticed a huge difference when they were trying to read to me a
story that included words that they know automatically verses
when they needed to sound out each word.
Chapter 6
1. Print had entered Jenny's home in the sense meant by those who study and
describe emergent literacy: print was being used by relevant members of the home
and this use was a social one, by virtue of the social nature of families(Purcell).
Bringing print into the home was critical for Purcell because it showed that print
was slowly becoming the way of life for them. Purcell states, Jenny brought the
books she had learned in the Center, with their accompanying tapes, and read
them to the boysShe and the boys would listen together as they turned the pages
of the taped books(Purcell). Also, during this time, Big Donny was sent to jail

for six months, which caused Jenny to become extremely lonely. She decided that
she could write him letters while he was in jail. This was monumental for Purcell
because that meant that Jenny was practicing the new tools that she has been
learning through the Literacy Center.
Chapter 7
1. Purcell suggests to Jenny to invest in writing materials in order to help Donny
practice his developing literacy skills. She suggested that Jenny bought: paper
and pencils, markers, crayons, and pens(Purcell). When these materials are made
available to children they will experiment with creating symbols as they are
drawing and writing. To illustrate, children who learn to read before
experiencing formal instruction were engaged in writing-type activities such as
copying forms and letters, making lists, and writing their names and little
messages(Purcell). After Purcell made these suggestions to Jenny, she instantly
bought brand new supplies for Donny and Timmy. Sadly, six months later, Purcell
came to visit their home, and she came to find out that Donny and Timmy have
been using their writing materials as fishing poles. Jenny then tried to express to
Purcell that she cant get Donny to write at home. This episode helps to explain a
consistent phenomenon running through the data on Donny's progression toward
full literacy: his passive-aggressive resistance to reading and writing(Purcell).
2. Purcell declares, Donny's resistance to becoming a reader/writer only became
apparent to me around the time that I knew he could read and write the texts with
which he was presented(Purcell). As previously addressed, Donny was beginning
to have a passive-aggressive resistance towards reading. She realized this
because Donny was beginning to use his pencils as fishing poles, paper for crafts,

and all his markers were lost. He wanted to create literacy events into craft
events (Purcell).
3. Purcell states, I concluded that my cultural tools of literacy, when interjected into
Donny's world, became his cultural tools(Purcell). In other words, Purcell uses
pencils for writing, while Donny uses them as fishing poles. Purcell uses paper to
write on, while Donny uses paper to form objects. Instead of Purcell getting
frustrated with Donny, she began to realize that tools become tools only as they
serve existing functions or needs(Purcell). Thus, Donny was using his pencils
and paper in a way that served specific functions for him culturally.
Unfortunately, Donny did not see reading and writing as a reasonable function,
but saw fishing and crafts to be culturally reasonable.
Chapter 8
1. Jenny's desire for literacy, both for herself and for her child, was impeded by a
wall of exclusion erected by a society and an educational system that willfully
failed to see her and Donny, and thus to consider and include them(Purcell).
Jenny and Donny both felt disapproved and rejected by the school system. Jenny
just wanted to know how to read and write, but she felt that there was a wall
standing in between her and this goal. This wall was built because of how
exclusive the school system was acting towards Jenny and Donny. To illustrate,
the school would not listen to Jenny, when she tried to explain to them that Donny
needed to be held back. The school continued to not listen to her until Purcell
directly contacted the school. The reason that the school would not listen to Jenny
is because urban Appalachians are widely viewed by school personnel as unfit

parents who care little about education (Purcell). In addition, they are seen as
unfit parents because they cannot read or write.
2. Purcell believed that this wall could be breached if Donny and Jenny could make
the connections between literacy and life. Both Donny and Jenny needed to start
reading texts that they could relate back to their lives. This would eventually help
them to succeed not only in reading and writing, but also in the way that they talk
to their peers. In other words, Purcell proclaims, As this occurs, if it occurs, they
will shape the types of literacy they encounter to fit their world as well as be
shaped in ongoing ways by their participation in a literate world (Purcell).
Chapter 9
1. Discourse is a way of being, a sociocultural identity kit (Purcell). In other
words, Discourse is the way that a person interprets information. For Donny and
Jenny, their Discourse is nonliteracy because they both cannot interpret
information properly due to their lack of education. Additionally, this concept
explains literacy differences in culture because a student learns best by
performing social practices through scaffolding and social interaction with peers.
When children are born into literate families, they already have a foundation of
written language, which helps them to acquire the skills being taught to them in
school. However, for children who were born in low literate families, then
learning how to read and write is not a natural skill for them to learn. This
requires them to pay more attention in class and put more effort into their
schoolwork. Equally important to realize about these students is that they usually
have a lower social status due to the fact that they cannot read or write. Purcell
states, Children and adults in these low-income, minority, differently literate

communities munities will experience greater difficulty learning to read and write
in schools designed for children from middle-class literate homes (Purcell).
2. This case study confirms the theoretical tenets of the field of emergent literacy for
a variety of reasons. First, this study proves that when children include text into
their everyday routine, they will eventually gain the skills needed to read and
write. By the same token, this study proved that the idea that students benefit the
most from print-rich society (Purcell). To illustrate, Jenny and Donny both
benefited from not only bringing text into their home, but also by encouraging
each other to independently read. In addition, emergent literacy research has
allowed us to understand stand better the ways in which young children, in their
daily lives at home and in community, build conceptual understandings about
written language as they observe and participate in its use (Purcell).
3. Purcell views school as a place of learning for all types of learners. For that
reason, schools should develop goals that will ultimately raise a teachers
expectations of their students outcomes. Therefore, schools need to create a
curriculum that allows literacy opportunities for all types of learners. In order for
learners to become academically successful, teachers need to be trained properly.
For all students deserve to have a teacher that believes in their potential, and
doesnt put limits on their ability. A great teacher needs to acquire the mindset of
being a proactive teacher to their students. Proactive teachers know children, and
they know how they learn. They know the ways in which children differ and the
ways in which they are similar. They know how to nudge, to soothe, to challenge,
to reinforce (Purcell). In order for a teacher to become a proactive teacher, they
must first learn the proper knowledge. For instance, a proactive teacher needs to

know how to effectively teach literacy that will be beneficial to their students.
Purcell concludes by stating, We must arm teachers with knowledge edge and
cultural appreciation and then give them the autonomy, authority, and freedom to
teach-each and every child.

References

Purcell-Gates, V. (1995). Other people's words: The cycle of low literacy. Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press.
Reutzel, D. R., Cooter, R. B., & Blake, B. E. (2008). Teaching children to
read: The

teacher makes the difference. Upper Saddle River, NJ:

Pearson/Merrill

Prentice Hall.

Wortham, S. C. (2008). Assessment in early childhood education. Upper

Saddle River,

NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall.