ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a case study of a Mayan child, Yadira Yah Cab, growing up between two cultures and languages. The research took a participant-observer approach. The chapter focuses on the experiences of a child who is making sense of learning. It includes this research for its focus on the individual learner, and the considerable gap children may experience between home and school. The chapter discusses the creative ways Yadira negotiates and converges her school and home language and literacy practices. Yet, it is also important to recognise that her literacy practices are constrained by the limited experiences she has with authentic texts. The content of her letter shows that she has mastered only basic literacy skills, stark evidence of the systemic inequities in the Mexican educational system. Yadira is a foreigner in the literacy world.
