En Los Dos Idiomas

• 5 yrs. in Chicago, 6 weeks in Mexico
• Participant-observation & open-ended interviews with adult members of the families in the study & audiotaped informal discourse in the homes of members and in public settings in the neighborhood
• Families in the study are Mexicano immigrants (approx. 45 people) 
• working class - blue collar jobs
• limited education - 0-8 years of schooling
• Compadrazgo: refers to the Mexican system of godparentlike relationships that function as a reciprocal exchange network to facilitate economic survival and provide emotional and social support. 
• provides a means in which traditions are easily passed
• crucial in urban areas such as Chicago
• The individuals who were raised in Chicago have more schooling than those raised in Mexico since those raised in Mexico had to help support the household
• Literacy skills generally correlate with level of education, but some people had personal motivation to learn & use literacy, such as religious reasons and personal obligations (maintain correspondence with people in Mexico)
• Learning literacy lirico
• picking up literacy informally from others who used only spoken language to pass on the knowledge of writing
• Would learn to read and write from magazines or cigarette cartons
• when people need these skills, they will be motivated to learn them - school isn't necessary
• bare bones approach - don't know grammar, etc. only know letters
• Social nature of literacy learning
• Maintain personal relationships
• the learning process itself is social
• Literacy skills are needed for shopping, paying bills, and jobs
• Education doesn't only enhance literacy skills, but it enables people to deal with people more effectively and to handle life's problems
• *I found this very interesting. Education improves social skills immensely because you're always surrounded by people.