CaseStudyofFamilyLiteracyofUrbanandRuralHuiNationalityPrimarySchoolStudentsinNingxia-

1、Case Study of Family Literacy of Urban and Rural Hui Nationality Primary School Students in Ningxia I. Introduction.Ningxia Hui Nationality Autonomous Region, the biggest Hui nationality habitat area in China, has long been included as one of the most underdeveloped parts of the territory. With the

2、globalization of science and technology, together with the highly accelerated prosperity of the Chinese economy, Ningxia has obtained dramatic improvement. It is no longer the so-called isolated backward place in Northwest China, but one of the indispensible components of the greatest nation which i

3、s proudly keeping steps with the rapidly-innovated information era and pursuing the most influential voice of the globe. Unavoidably, compared to most eastern coastal provinces, Ningxia still appears to be inferior in various aspects in the socio-economic life especially in terms of education based

4、on the scarce natural resources, poor literate basis and inadequate education investment. According to the master of the Education Department Office of the Ningxia, the education of Hui people has been greatly accelerated over the years due to the strategies and special policies carried out by the g

5、overnment with great priority. More universities are established, the enrollment numbers is enlarged, in school and graduate students number both increased. According to the latest statistics (Ai Zuo, 2010), in 2009, Ningxia Hui Nationality students enrollment at all levels has come to 53.83 million

6、, accounting for 37.38% of the total students and Muslim teachers had reached 24.7% of the total number of teachers. However, with the enhancement of the education level, one strange phenomenona lso stands out increasingly that there is no apparent inequality of Hui and Han nationality but an increa

7、sing unbalance between urban and rural distribution. What are the inherent factors for this phenomenon? This paper focuses on the current situation of the family literacy of 2 primary school students coming from urban and rural area respectively, both from Hui family, aiming to probe the differences

8、 by comparing the parents social status, educational background, the family educational input, the parents behavior models, home atmosphere, literacy belief, family literacy patterns which embrace early literacy( pre-school), home reading models, education investment ideals on bilingual and Arts-com

9、petence cultivation, home writing and drawing, IT and media exposure and parental-school interaction. By analyzing the data in details, the paper attempts to investigate the internal factors existing in the distinctions offamily literacy, meanwhileit harbors the expectation to arouse people to keep

10、an eye on this phenomenon so as to prompt some improvements and measures from both the educators and parents especially. The research question is brought forth: What are the factors that lead to the difference of the family literacy between urban and rural Hui nationality primary school students in

11、Ningxia? 2. Research method Many scholars make researches on the urban and rural differences in terms of education. (Elley, 1992, pp. 62-64) argued that “urban -rural differences occurred predominantly in less developed countries such as Slovenia, Hungary, Greece and Portugal, Trinidad-Tobago, Indon

12、esia and Venezuela. ” and “rural -urban differences in reading were negligible in several of the more highly developed countries such as Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and the United States, and in favor of rural schools in France, Switzerland and New Zealand ”. According to recent Australian res

13、earch, apparent urban-rural differences were largely due to differences in the proportion of lower socioeconomic status students in rural schools. The education difference in urban and rural places in Ningxia has drawn more peoples attention. In addition to the socio-cultural factors contributing to

14、 the problem, such as the local educational basis, teachers proficiency, school policy and culture, curriculum design and textbooks, the teachers teaching methodology, the students learning strategies, motivations, students family literacy should be put great emphasis on for the following reasons:1s

15、t, Family literacy functions as the solution to the low literacy rate, poverty, unemployment and poor health; 2nd, family literacy provide opportunities for the members to improve education and life skills and tools to prepare, compete and thrive in the future life; 3rd, family literacy benefit both

16、 children and parents a lasting and meaningful change in their relationship, ideology, intimacy, mutual understanding and sharing learning experience. In order to make the observations and data more objective and representative, the researcher compared all the factors that may lead to confusing vari

17、ables and eventually chose 2 sample students family after a deliberate consideration. One urban Hui family (Case1) in the centre city primary school and one rural Hui family (Case 2) in a village school were selected, representing two communities. The 2 families are both primary Grade-3 students in

18、Zhongwei city because they can objectively produce the genuine situation instead of those in the capital city Yinchuan ,where many factual factors will be concealed, ignored, sometimes exaggerated or eliminated due to its special political location and comparatively developed social context. And the

19、 2 sample families are either the researchers friends or her relatives. The data collection consists of thedaily observations,daily interactions and chatting, family visits and telephone conversations. In order to make a thorough investigation, the researcher makes phone call interviews again to cap

20、ture data by asking a series of probing questions to stimulate the responses and ensure the validity of the information gained through the previous talking. Besides, the researcher does not make any modification of the substance of the original utterance for sake of maintaining the reliability and n

21、eutrality of the data. 3. Case study Case1. ( Ma Quanjin, 9 years old, urban Hui Nationality family ) The family is composed of 3 people. Both of the parents are well-educated as college graduates and have rather good manners in their daily life. Both of themattach much importance to the boys pre-sc

22、hool literacy and think the educational investment a must for the childs future development, they pay 200 Yuan monthly for the boys English study and musical instrument learning, and 100 for the childs books and cartoon disks. Usually the father takes more care of the boy during weekday by accompany

23、ing the boy with the homework, instructing the exercise items and correcting mistakes. The mother is in charge of the shared reading with a well-designed plan. The boy initiated his reading when he began to utter separated words or very simple sentences like I love mama. The mother repeated stories

24、to him every day before sleeping. Then the mother gradually increased the length and the content of the stories. As a result, the boy was able to recite many ancient Chinese poems at the age of 4 and could independently tell many stories when he was 5. He could already recognize many Chinese words e

25、ither on newspapers, magazines, labels on stuff around him, or from the plays and ads on TV. The mother always encourages the boy to write and draw whenever he wants. Accordingly, no matter in Kindergarten or in school, he seems to be competent in expressing ideas compared to his peer playmates. The

26、 teachers all argue that he has a remarkable ability to compose short essays. Besides, the boy was also enrolled in an English training center when he was 5 and has studied English for 4 years. He can write 26 alphabets and can identify the English terms of household stuff and can sing several Engli

27、sh songs. More importantly, he can manage simple communication such as greetings and basic expressions and his English is the best among his classmates. On weekends, the mother will spend more time conducting the routine family reading session. They read one by one, retell or discuss together. In th

28、e whole process, the mother plays the leading role and the boy is encouraged to speak more. Additionally, the parents make the boy involved in all the family activities because they think that the childs participating in family work can not only foster the childs personality but also reinforce the r

29、esponsibility and knowledge to prepare for future development. On the peculiar occasion forHui nationality,the whole families go to the Mosque for the worship service, which is a heritage education of the childs religion belief and it makes him conform to doctrines in accordance to Koran and know mo

30、re about the community conventions and society he exists in. More importantly, both the parents use computer to deal with their transactions or daily work, thus the boy is constantly exposed to all kinds of information, he gradually learns to read news and ads, watch movies and play games. Although

31、some signs are written in English, he has no problem getting access to what he wants. Last but not the least; the mother makes efforts in the family-school interaction. She is always active in responding to the school activities. Put the entire elements together, this boy is an excellent student bot

32、h in his school performance and his individual character development. Case 2 ( Ha Nan, boy, rural Hui Nationality family) This family consists of 4 people and is not abundant in wealth in that they just moved from a suburban village. Like most rural Hui family, the parents literate level is very low

33、. The husband only has a certificate of junior middle school and the wife even did not graduate from primary school because in rural Hui nationalitys ideal, it is unnecessary for Hui womeni n villages to get educated. They both attribute their inadequate living situation to the lack of literacy are

34、in the hope of pursuing a better life and changing their childrens destiny by offering them better chances for education. So they are generous about the childrens education investment although they are extremely economical generally. They buy books for the boy, but they cannot tell exactly what book

35、s to buy. The mother can hardly read the books to her child nor give any assistance or instruction. She always encourages the boy to read by himself. She also sends the boy to an English school but she does not know anything about English, no mention offering any instructions. The boy reads books oc

36、casionally the time he wants. He was not sent to the kindergarten and before going to the primary school, he almost knew no Chinese words, nor was he ever given a chance to write. Of course, as is in a remote village, there is no computer in the home. Besides, the parents rarely go to the boys teach

37、ers unless they are asked. On the whole, He was active in the playing with other children in village but turned to be quiet after going to school. The teachers all comment him as a very shy, timid and silent boy. 4. Data analysis and findings. The 2 cases apparently vary a lot in several aspects rel

38、evant to family literacy: Firstly, the parents educational background and social status are quite different which directly affects the degree on which the parents instruct, participate and aid the child to get a pre-school education. According to Tinker (1971), parents play significant role in the C

39、hilds literacy development. The conditions and personalities of parents lead to different functions which sometimes even interchange. For example, in Case 1, both of the parents alternatively act as the companion and instructor during the boys learning. Accordingly, Children gradually enhance their

40、capacity to think, to reason, to put ideas into practice, to make corrections and improvement. (Tinker, 1971, pp:35) Comparing the two families, the mother in Case 1 has less time to stay with the child but manages to facilitatea successful family sharing reading which not only contributes to the in

41、ternalization of the knowledge but also prompt the childrens comprehension ability (See Sulzby,1985). Bus 2nd, reading story books which has a little meaning and plot; 3rd, sharing the book to exchange ideas or stimulate children to understand. books with repetition, rhythm and rhyme may attract chi

42、ldrens attention and turn out to be their favorite. In Case 1, as a teacher, the mother certainly offered the boy suitable materials to read, while in Case 2, the parents even can not tell which book to buy, what a magic for an ignorant child to get what the best for him. 3rdly, although the parents

43、 of 2 families all attach importance to the childs education investment, different outcomes were achieved due to the method of the parental instruction and supportive stimulus, the frequency and childs learning style. Take the learning of English as illustration. In Case 1, the boy could identify al

44、phabet which can be seen as one of the initial steps of the children literacy about the sound-symbol relationship and singing English songs also help children learn to segment and blend. Usage of the repertoire is an evidence of the development of automaticity and internalization of the boy and it w

45、ill aid to enhance the phonemic awareness. In Case 2, the boy never speaks or practices, how can he prepare himself a basis for mastering the world lingual Franca? What more, according to Jalongo (2007, 246) drawing and writing are forms of self-expression. The boy in Case 1 is always encouraged to

46、practice write or draw, but the boy in Case 2, although is talented in drawing, is never given a chance to develop this potential to express himself in another way. 4thly, the parents behavior models and ideals have different effects on the fostering and construction of the childs personality, thus

47、toregulate the childs emotion development which has correlation with the childs learning style and progress process. Sue.(1987, P.14 )said Young Children may be seen not merely as passive recipients of childcare philosophies, but as consciously reacting to the constraints which they and their parent

48、s experience in daily life. According to Reynolds (1997), parent should act as a constructive communicator and a facilitator to the childs learning. Vygotsky (1962) also illustrated that parents should play roles in social interaction for their kids learning. In Case 1, the parents establish a harmo

49、nious family atmosphere in which the child feel secure and trustful, the process of his understanding will be encouraged and all his literate input are naturally internalized. Communication and interaction with parents enhance his cognitive and self-concept and pass on cultural norms and ideologies

50、between each other. In Case 2, the boy is more like being placed on an isolated island. His literacy development is just like a monologue in an opera of his own in which his parents are physically existing on the stage but factually absent in acting any characters. 5thly, the quantity of information

51、 and opportunity to get exposed to computer and a variety of media also contributes to the difference in the childs literacy development. According to Casey (1997), in her research on the effects computer has on the childrens early literacy, she cited computer is very powerful early literacy tool an

52、d All children, regardless of language or culture, can be supported and empowered by the use of technology during their early literacy development. With computer, children learn much earlier and more effectively.In Case 1, the boy can easily use computer because of the frequent exposure to it, disre

53、garding the boys interest and intelligence. In Case 2, the family has no computer maybe because of the inferior of their location or the parents practical consuming ideal; no mention how the boy can learn something from it. 6thly, the family-school interaction also plays vital function in the childs

54、 literacy development. Judy (2005) in her book advocated to establish two-way communication with parents and emphasized the parents function as the 1st teacher and students from the supportive families perform better than those who lack of parental teaching. Kathy (2004) argued that home-school conn

55、ection and reading skills have life long influence on childrens minds that lead them to be readers throughout their life and shared reading or read-aloud as the immersion phase which stimulate the children to think and understand more about the content being read. Reynolds (1997) put forward a trian

56、gular partnership between the parents; teacher and child should be established. Parents and teachers were thought to require scientific training to ensure the normalized development of the next generation. (Sue, 1987, P. 14 ) In Case1, the mother always exchanges ideas with the teachers and actively

57、 cooperates with school which will be greatly support for the childs literacy development. In Case 2, the parents hardly do anything, regardless their ability. 5. Discussion and implication The 2 Cases demonstrate the current diverse between urban and rural families. It is obvious that family literacy not only matters the children, but also the parents; not only education, but also physical, emotional and mental development wer