This article is located within new literacy studies (NLS), exemplified in the work of Street (1994), and Barton and Hamilton (1998), which addresses literacy from a sociocultural perspective and as a social practice (Street 1985). The framework conceptualises literacy in terms of what people do with reading, writing and texts in real-world contexts, and why they do it (Perry 2012:54). However, practices involve more than actions with texts; practices connect to, and are shaped by, values, attitudes, feelings and social relations (Barton & Hamilton 2000). In this regard, social relationships are crucial, as ‘literacy practices are more usefully understood as existing in the relationships between people, within groups and communities, rather than as a set of properties residing in individuals’ (Barton & Hamilton 2000:8). New Literacy Studies theorists have illustrated that as children are socialised into particular literacy practices, they are simultaneously socialised into discourses that position them ideologically within the larger social milieu (Gee 2001). Sociocultural theorists have further illustrated how the social organisation of learning in out-of-school settings can promote language and literacy development (Hull & Schultz 2002; Vasquez 2003). The contexts of interest for NLS extend beyond formal teaching environments and include the practices that typify children and adults’ everyday literacy lives (Sefton-Green et al. 2016). In her studies, Dyson (2003) shows how children from a variety of social, cultural and linguistic backgrounds can draw deeply upon their out-of-school knowledge of non-academic social worlds to negotiate their entry into school literacy. Dyson (2003) advocates a curriculum where educators can draw children into understanding and using symbols and resources from their experiences, in school-like ways. Purcell-Gates (2007) presents a similar observation based on her research of literacy in community settings. She argues that if the curriculum does not relate to learners’ lives outside of school, their education will be meaningless. For children more likely to learn better, she advises educators to make literacy instruction more relevant to learners’ lives, by tapping into their out-of-school literacy practices.

Out-of-school literacy practices are not always restricted to the physical spaces outside school but can occur within the physical school boundaries outside the formal classroom context. In her study on in-school and out-of-school literacy practices, Maybin (2007) illustrates the heterogeneous configuration of a classroom space where formal (linked with school setting) and informal (linked with home or vernacular setting) literacy practices swap roles, interact with one another and even run parallel to each other. Lenters (2007) also shows how literacy practices extend from the family at home to peers at school, such as discussing novels read at home with other learners. A growing body of research aimed at bridging the gap between out-of-school literacies and classroom practices (Hull & Schultz 2002; Street 2005) and recent research from New Zealand suggest that some children may be placed at a disadvantage when they go to school, if their early literacy experiences are not closely matched to the pedagogy and practice of school (McLachlan 2006:33). When home literacy practices differ substantially from primary school literacy practices, children could experience difficulties in learning. Often emergent or early literacy develops in social contexts rather than through formal instruction. Other research advises educators to tap into ‘funds of knowledge’ from children’s communities, in order to enrich and transform these learners’ classroom experience (González, Moll & Amanti 2005). Literacy that occurs outside a school context can become a community resource and in such instances ‘families, local communities and organisations regulate and are regulated by literacy practices’ (Barton & Hamilton 1998:13). A key social practice that most children engage in is play. As we unpack the concept of play and creativity, we gain insight into how children navigate their social space in different play activities.

Vygotsky’s (1978) work is highly influential in early childhood research, as a factor in child development. Vygotsky (1978) views play as crucial to cognitive development and a leading activity that leads children towards the acquisition of new skills and/or knowledge and understanding. His belief is that play facilitates the development of cognitive processes linked to creativity, such as problem-solving, and is fundamental to some of the child’s greatest achievements. Play has also been reported to enhance creative practice in a range of areas such as numeracy, literacy and the arts (Holmes & Geiger 2002; Wood & Attfield 2005). Play is a practice that enables children to learn, innovate and reflect on resources available to them from multiple social domains. From the emergent literacy perspective, play is considered an integral aspect of literacy development as it occurs in both in-school and out-of-school activities. In this study, we present play as a central rhetoric in childhood literacies (Banaji, Burn & Buckingham 2010). Play in this context can be viewed as a phenomenon that, drawing from play theorists such as Wood and Attfield (2005), can be defined in numerous ways but must be seen as an activity that is complex, multifaceted and context-dependent.

Creativity is children’s everyday productive acts across a diverse range of domains (Marsh 2010). Children use and adapt media scripts in their play, such as characters from television programmes; they parody advertisements and programmes and draw on language taken from media in rhymes and songs (Griffiths & Machin 2003; Grugeon 2005). Children’s play frequently draws on media sources in imaginative and fantasy play, in which they take on the role of media characters such as superheroes, acting out scenarios observed in everyday life. This type of play is frequently criticised as being imitative rather than creative (Linn 2008), as it is assumed to be replicative and mimicked. Numerous studies outline the originality that underlines this type of play, however, with children adapting characters, storylines and settings in imaginative and creative ways (Wohlwend 2009). As Gee (2006) points out, the games children play have a greater potential to build new learning systems than learning in the school setting.

A three-room Rural Development Programme house is home to Thandi, one of the learners participating in this study. Note that all names used are pseudonyms, for ethical reasons. Thandi is an orphan who lives with her aunt and grandmother. There is a television set in Thandi’s home and the family only watches programmes of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) because her guardians cannot afford Digital Satellite Television (DSTV). Thandi likes watching cartoons and educational programmes, which she says teach her a lot of things. She finds the children’s drama Dora the Explorer entertaining and educational, which she says teaches her to solve life problems. When playing, Thandi and her friends mimic lines from any TV drama they find interesting. Thandi is also an ardent follower of the local TV talk show Three Talk with Noeleen, hosted by Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu. When the researcher asked her what she learns from the show, she indicated that ‘many people such as celebrities come to talk to Noeleen’s show so we learn a lot from them’. She says she learns how the guests on Noeleen’s show achieved their success and the subjects that they did at school. What is interesting is that the programmes that Thandi likes are in English. She is able to understand the content without an interpreter. Thandi’s literacy practices are interesting because they seem to bridge the gap between reality and school knowledge. They also suggest incongruence between home and school learning as she identifies a gap in school knowledge, which seemingly does not prepare children for life after school at the level she is at. This suggests that Thandi acquires knowledge on possible career paths from the media. She is even made aware of the subjects that are prerequisite to pursuing different careers. Thandi is passionate about drawing and aspires to be a fashion designer. Thandi’s passion to become a fashion designer stems from her exposure to the works of famous South African designers such as Nkhensani Nkosi and David Tlale, whose works are profiled on local television and in magazines. Thandi also reveals that she likes Takalani Sesame, an award-winning South African children’s programme. According to Thandi, Takalani Sesame:

Thandi’s comment highlights social problems such as child abuse that are prevalent in Thandi’s community, which Takalani Sesame mirrors. From this programme, urban children like Thandi learn about rural life. Above all, the programme is in storytelling form, which helps child viewers to identify themes and messages in the story and also learn how to narrate their own stories. Although Thandi does not have a mobile phone of her own, she has access to her uncle’s phone. The researcher observes Thandi playing games on the mobile phone with her cousin Mpho. Thandi informs me that her favourite game is Teenage Girls. She complains that Mpho likes cheating as she chooses games that are complicated. When I ask how the games are complicated, Thandi says the instructions are in ‘difficult English’, which Mpho understands better because she is in Grade 6. Thandi is in Grade 3, in a Setswana-medium class although her home language is isiZulu. When Thandi encounters problems with Setswana homework she is assisted by her uncle’s girlfriend, who is Setswana-speaking. Literacy seems to be valued in Thandi’s home: her aunt has completed an auxiliary nursing course, and her grandmother has also attended an Adult Basic Education and Training course on literacy. Thandi reads books that she obtains from her school library. During weekends she does her homework in the ‘outside room’.¹ When she is done with reading books she turns to magazines and cuts out pictures that she pastes in her book. If she is not at school she spends most of her time playing with her friends.

Lindi is affectionately called the ‘Zulu girl’ by the other children in her class. She is originally from KwaZulu-Natal, which is a predominantly isiZulu-speaking province. Lindi and her twin sister, Linda, live with their grandmother in a ‘back room’ that they share with two young cousins and one older cousin who is a learners at a Further Education and Training college. After the death of their parents, Lindi and her sister moved from KwaZulu-Natal to come and live in Gauteng with their isiXhosa-speaking maternal grandmother, who is originally from the Eastern Cape. A devoted member of the Twelve Apostles Church, Lindi reads the Bible aloud to the congregation in her church during service. This makes her the focus of admiration of her grandmother who remarked, ‘Lengane inesiphiwo sokufunda ibhayibheli’ [This child has a gift in Bible reading]. Lindi is one of the few young people in her church who help the ‘uneducated’ adults with Bible reading. Besides reading the Bible, Lindi always reads an isiZulu newspaper, Isolezwe. She indicates that she likes reading the isiZulu newspaper because she finds the way stories are written very interesting. In school, she is in an isiZulu first-language class. As an isiZulu first-language speaker, her isiZulu accent and pronunciation of isiZulu is considered ‘standard’ by her educator. From earlier observations of her classroom, it is evident that Lindi is very outspoken and usually dominates most isiZulu class discussions. Lindi and her sister, Linda, seem to be admired by their classmates for their eloquent isiZulu. Their educator always asks them to read most of the isiZulu texts during lessons. The educator emphasises that the class should pay attention to the way Lindi and Linda pronounce isiZulu words. Lindi’s encounter with everyday literacy practices is exemplified in the following interaction with her grandmother, recorded at Lindi’s home on a Friday morning. It is a busy day and Lindi’s grandmother has to submit her pension forms to the Social Development office. Lindi’s 2-year-old cousin also has to go to the clinic for immunisations.

Vignette 1:

This extract highlights how Lindi helps her grandmother with household chores such as bathing her little cousin. Lindi is also aware of the everyday literacy practices with which her grandmother has to engage. She asks her grandmother when she is going to submit their ‘grant’ forms (the state child support grant for destitute children). She also displays knowledge of the literacy practices involved in completing the forms. Mentioning the writing of identity numbers in the forms suggests that Lindi is exposed to everyday literacy practices in the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) (grant) forms. Lindi’s grandmother reveals that Lindi’s uncle will complete the forms as the knowledgeable other. Lindi uses multimedia sources of information, the catalogues and television advertisements.

Tumelo is a Setswana-speaking girl from Rustenburg. It is her first year at Kutlwano Primary School. She lives in a two-room shack with her parents, two young brothers aged 7 and 2 years old and her 22-year-old aunt, who has recently moved from Mafikeng, North West Province, to look for a job in Gauteng. Tumelo is the eldest of the three children in her family. Her mother, who is employed as a call centre agent, works long hours and is barely at home. Tumelo and her sibling who is in Grade 2 are looked after by their aunt while the 2-year-old is taken to an informal crèche nearby. Whenever she is at home, the aunt devotes much of her time to household chores. She uses whatever remaining time to do her studies for her distance-learning course in Education. Tumelo’s father is a general worker in a factory at the local industrial area. He is seldom home as he has to leave for work very early to get to work on time. Although Tumelo’s father works long hours, he actively participates in the affairs of Tumelo’s school as the School Governing Body chairperson. He is also doing distance-learning studies in Theology at the University of South Africa. Tumelo’s mother is pursuing her studies in Teaching at the same institution. Tumelo is a reserved but intelligent girl. Her peers always chuckle when she speaks Setswana, which sounds different from the township Setswana ‘lingua franca’ spoken by most of her classmates. Whenever the class is given Setswana vocabulary work, her peers seek her assistance with difficult words.

Vignette 2 – Thandi and her friends’ play event: The observation of Thandi at play with her friends Lebo and Mandy took place on a Sunday afternoon in their yard. Thandi had just returned from church with her aunt. Usually on Sunday her aunt does not like having Thandi and her friends play in the house as she says they make the house dirty.

In the above extract, Thandi and her friends’ play initially focuses on their recollection of some scenes from a local television soapie, Generations.² They illustrate how they design their literacy event along the storyline of the soapie as they identify with its characters. They reveal that they follow the storyline as they claim that one of the main characters, Phenyo, is cheating on his wife, Dineo, with Noluntu. An interesting aspect of this play activity is the children’s critical engagement with social issues, such as infidelity, as they reveal that Phenyo is cheating on his wife. This suggests that they are critical of the contents of the soapie. Although the soapie has an age restriction of 13 years, these children indicate that they ‘sneak’ to watch it without their parents’ knowledge. During the same play activity, the children’s focus shifts to school-like dramatisation. In this part, they emulate school literacy practices as they dramatise a school disciplinary proceeding. They portray how a troublesome learner is disciplined by the educator and the principal. They play different roles such as those of parent, educator and principal. It is apparent that they are probably aware of what happens in disciplinary events when a child does not do their homework. They even suggest that a parent should mediate their child’s reading process at home. In this regard, Thandi and her friends emulate the roles of their educators, parents and school principal. In this play activity there is evidence of bilingualism and code switching. The children switch comfortably between isiZulu and English.

Vignette – Tumelo and friends ‘play hospital’: The following excerpt describes a play event at Tumelo’s home on a Saturday afternoon. Tumelo is playing with her friends Mashudu and Lindi. Because it is a very hot day, the girls are playing in the shade.

The above extract describes Lindi and her friends at play. This event reveals the different discourses that the children are exposed to in their environment. The children bring a variety of sociocultural perspectives to this literacy event. This play setting becomes a meeting place for these children’s experiences, such as the visit to a doctor. The play event draws from the discourse of medicine as illustrated in the children’s use of medical terms such as ‘book for operation’ and ‘injection’. Although Mashudu might not know or could have forgotten the word ‘prescription’ she knows that some medication can be purchased from a pharmacy if one has a doctor’s prescription note. Mashudu has experience of using medical aid as she indicates that her mother produces her medical aid card when they visit a doctor. Mashudu, however, is not aware that her mother actually pays for the medical aid and brags about the doctor treating her without charge. Lindi also knows hospital discourse, as she is aware that one has to book an operation. She even mentions that the operation is done in ‘theatre’, meaning the operation theatre. Tumelo refers to hypertension as ‘BP’, which is common South African township lingua when people refer to ‘high blood pressure’ as ‘BP’. Mashudu also demonstrates a knowledge of the Caesarean operation performed to deliver babies. In this play event, the children describe the unsatisfactory state of the South African health system. The children move from describing the appalling situation in state hospitals, a long waiting period before one gets treatment (she spends the whole day) and the staff being rude to patients. Mashudu in particular makes meaning of the medical context and transforms it into dramatic play.

Children’s encounters with literacy at home hold multiple implications for their careers as readers and writers. What is crucial in all the children’s encounters with literacy are the mediators of literacy (Williams 2004). Analysis of the child participants’ experience with literacy is framed by the theory of language learning as socially constructed knowledge and understanding that develops through interactions with more experienced members of the community (Rogoff 2003). These more experienced members of the community are significantly important, given that practices such as mediation and scaffolding are regarded as critical to effective learning (Rogoff 2003). Kelly (2004) argues that as children come to school, they bring different experiences of how to act and interact during literacy events and may hold different values and beliefs about the nature of literacy. For some children, these experiences and understandings will match those sanctioned by the school; for others, there will be significant differences. In the following extract, Ms Dube, an educator in Thandi’s school, reveals how parents in her community prepared children for school:

Ms Dube reiterates that children’s formal literacy encounters are not confined to school. Learners are exposed to discourses when parents and guardians expose them to counting and colours in the home language. According to Ms Dube, older siblings also play a valuable role:

Older children socialised the younger ones into school literacies so that they would start school ‘school-ready’. They read stories and poems to the younger ones, which the younger ones would ‘cram’. Older children would then ask the younger children to demonstrate their comprehension of the story by narrating it in their own way or through drawing pictures. In their ethnographic study, Gregory (2001), too, highlighted the importance of siblings in bilingual learning. In addition, children who have been exposed to reading before entering school are more likely to succeed in learning to read (Mol & Bus 2011). Providing children with books and writing materials and talking to them about letters and writing encourages their development in print awareness and the importance of written language (Roberts 2008; Sénéchal 2006). It has also become increasingly evident that children whose families are involved in their education are more successful in school (Dearing et al. 2006). It is within their communities that children interact with peers and siblings in developing and acquiring different literacies. Children’s social worlds change as they move beyond their families and interact with peers in organised play groups and preschools. In our study, Ms Dube also highlights the importance of home-language teaching. She reveals that in her community, children learnt from their parents and siblings before they even started formal schooling. She supports the perception that the home environment should play a key role in the child’s performance in school.

Family plays a vital role in children’s literacy development (Kelly 2004). In a nuclear family context, the mediation role is often taken on by older siblings. In a family context, children can practise their emerging skills freely and rehearse, display and experiment with language capacities and cognitive skills with their siblings well before they do so with older people (Weisner 2002). These language interactions positively impact the child’s language and literacy development. Mrs Miya, a parent interviewed in this study, described how her reserved daughter, Tumelo, becomes talkative when interacting with her friends. The observations made on the visits to the homes of the three focal learners and the interviews that were conducted with their parents and educators reinforce the important role played by the family. We found that in most cases parents are not able to spend much time with their children. From our work, it emerged that mothers or female guardians and siblings participate more in children’s literacy practices. In the townships of Johannesburg there is an acute shortage of accommodation, as a result of massive rural–urban migration and migrants from other provinces hoping to earn a living in Johannesburg, which is considered South Africa’s economic hub. All the educators interviewed in the study expressed the need for the parents or guardians to play an active role in the education of their children. As Ms Dube says:

Ms Dube’s argument is that although educators mediate the learning process, the school day is not long enough to enable educators to adequately reach out to all the learners. She appeals to parents to enhance what the children would have learnt in school and mediate learning by helping their children with their homework. Interestingly, a counterargument is presented by Tumelo’s parents, Mr and Mrs Miya. Mrs Miya complains that, like most working-class families in South Africa, she does not have time to assist her child with homework:

The same concern of time constraints is reiterated by Mr Miya:

The comments highlight the fact that Tumelo’s parents do not have as much time as they would like to assist her with homework. Mrs Miya complains that she finds the work given to her child beyond her ability. Tumelo’s father, Mr Miya, vocalised his opinion that teachers’ expectations are unrealistic: ‘How can I help in the teaching of the children? I’m not a teacher and don’t know any methods of teaching.’