The Power of Literacy in Underserved Languages: Strategies for Improving Reading, Writing, and Access to Knowledge

Dear Colleagues,

Imagine a world where you grow up never having enough to read. That's the reality for many children who speak minority or indigenous languages (hereafter “underserved languages”). The scarcity of juvenile titles in their own languages is a constant barrier to learning for many children. This literacy inequity slows the progress of UN SDG#4 (inclusive and equitable quality education and learning) and limits access to quality education as guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26. 

This special issue will explore efforts to improve the supply of juvenile titles in the languages of the world for which relatively few literacy materials are available. We are interested in novel approaches to expanding access to juvenile titles (fiction, non-fiction, games, videos, etc.) in languages that are underserved in educational settings but are the mother languages of young learners. Contributors may include scholars of education, literacy, language policy, language preservation, sustainable technology, university instructors and researchers, or schoolteachers who focus on book production and supply chains, language policies for promoting literacy, and approaches to creating a culture of reading. We recognize that strategies for improving reading and writing are different when there are sticky challenges that are not common in the Global North. Many children in the Global South must transition to unfamiliar languages rapidly to advance their educations, in part because the materials and teacher training that are incorporated into their education system do not focus on local or indigenous languages.

Some suggested themes for the special issue include:  

• Reading and writing for advancing SDG 4
• Digital storybook platforms
• Strategies for promoting a culture of reading
• The power of translingual literacy
• The role of emerging AI applications in promoting literacy in underserved languages
• Strategies for book creation and distribution
• Strategies for involving families in literacy activities
• Strategies for building the supply of juvenile titles
• Culturally sustaining pedagogy in reading and writing instruction
• Using AI ethically to support readers and writers in underserved languages
• Addressing knowledge and literacy inequity
• Harnessing open education resources and Creative Commons licensing

Dr. Beth Lewis Samuelson
Guest Editor

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• literacy equity
• knowledge equity
• literacy in underserved languages
• multilingualism
• multilingual education
• plurilingualism