EXPLORING LITERACY PRACTICES IN A SECOND LANGUAGE

There has been a consensus in research and practices that social and cultural aspects of lives contribute to literacy development, particularly in second language learning. The conception of literacy has been shifting from the lens of formal literacy learning in school settings into broader opportunities in sociocultural contexts, and some may exclusively look at the intersection between the two. In this article, I discuss the concept of continuities of literacy development and out-of-school literacy practices by carefully interpreting empirical research that have been done in the last decade. The discussion in this article enriches the notion of literacy learning that diverse settings of literacy practices, parents’ role, and various available texts are significant predictors to the continuities of literacy development. I argue that ESL learners independently mediate their own literacy development either at school or community by taking advantages of rich opportunities available at the environment, which explained novice-expert relationship, hybridity, and intertextuality.