Chapter 8: Literacy Capital in two Immigrant Families: Longitudinal Case Studies

For many children and families, global mobility is a 21st-century reality. Countries around the globe are feeling the effects of immigration due to war, economic challenges, and social and religious exclusion. As families participate in these global flows, they bring their literacy practices with them into their adopted countries, homes, and classrooms. Some of these literacy practices are in turn recognized, valued, and accepted while others are not.

This chapter examines the literacy capital of two young children in immigrant families over a five-year period as the children moved from first grade into fifth grade. The full collective case study involving nine families was framed by an intentionally broad research question focusing on literacy and identity construction for children from immigrant families. We hope to follow these same children through high school. In this chapter, we focus on differences in the ways children are positioned as literacy learners and on how literacy practices are recognized and valued in school. Specifically, we focus on how each student was positioned relative to idealized notions of literacy success.