The integration of students’ culture and language into instruction is paramount to effective teaching practice. In order for this integration to occur, teachers must be familiar with students’ backgrounds and experiences. To many practitioners, especially those who may not share their students’ language or culture, this is easier said than done. How, specifically, can one learn about students and families beyond the information one finds in school files? This article proposes the use of dichos or popular sayings in Spanish as a tool to explore Hispanic Spanish-speaking families’ culture and language through family storytelling. A key component of the Hispanic oral culture and Spanish language discourse, dichos are examined as culturally and linguistically appropriate tools for eliciting family stories and promoting teachers’ learning.

The Family Storytelling Through Dichos (FSD) Model

The Family Storytelling through Dichos (FSD) model (see Fig. 1) depicts the theoretical framework for storytelling elicited by dichos as a learning tool for teachers. The two large, intersecting circles represent the Spanish language and the Hispanic culture, two components of Hispanics’ identity. The small circle to the right located within the Hispanic culture circle represents Hispanics’ high regard for family or familism, a core cultural value. Finally, the fourth circle located at the center of the diagram contains the approach proposed in this article. This circle intersects the three other realms in the model: the Spanish language, the Hispanic culture, and family. The arrows going from the fourth circle towards the family, culture, and language realms represent teachers’ learning. The model suggests that family storytelling elicited by dichos may be an effective tool for learning about students and families, since it integrates critical elements of the Hispanic culture and language. The following section elaborates on the three key components of the FSD model: familism, family storytelling, and dichos.

Fig. 1
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The Family Storytelling through Dichos (FSD) Model

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Familism

A Hispanic cultural value, familism or familismo is a vital frame of reference for Hispanics (Condon 1985; Paz 1961; Zinn 1982). It is the belief that family (nuclear and extended) is central to one’s life. Thus, family solidarity, family integration, intra- and inter-generational support, and a commitment to family members are all priorities over the needs of the individual (John et al. 1997; Gamble and Modry-Mandell 2008; Sabogal et al. 1987). Although studies suggest that familism may be more or less prevalent among Hispanic generations, a recent study found that it remains most frequently cited in the published literature as a key factor to understanding Hispanic family processes and issues (Gamble and Modry-Mandell 2008).

Family Storytelling

Family stories affect and reflect family culture (Kellas 2006). Through family storytelling, a family’s identity is constructed, at least in part, by the stories in its repertoire (Kellas 2006). A family’s collection of stories, including its themes, are instrumental in understanding who the family is in terms of its norms, values, and goals. Aside from the cultural value of family stories, they have been explored as an approach to developing biliteracy skills in bilingual classrooms based on the assumption that knowledge from the students’ homes and communities is a valuable resource for academic work (Dworing 2006). Family storytelling involves children in speaking, listening, and exploring through meaningful conversations (Gest et al. 2004; McVicker 2007; Sipe 2002), thus encouraging vocabulary development. In sum, family stories are rich sources of knowledge teachers can tap into for learning about their students and families, and for developing students’ literacy skills through a culturally and linguistically relevant approach.

Dichos

An integral component of the Hispanic culture, dichos may prove effective in eliciting family stories or summarizing lessons learned by Hispanic Spanish-speaking families. Rooted in the Hispanic oral tradition (Zuñiga 1992), dichos or popular sayings are commonly used by Spanish-speaking people to express their values, attitudes, and perceptions (Espinoza-Herold 2007). Dichos are often present in Spanish-speaking families’ everyday oral discourse. They are also widely used in Spanish-speaking television and radio shows both in the United States and Spanish-speaking countries. As short, traditional guides of conduct, dichos endorse moral and ethical values (Delgado-Gaitán 2004) as well as transmit cultural values and beliefs to younger generations by teaching lessons about life, offering advice, summarizing ideas, and expressing a specific perspective on a given situation (Chahin et al. 1999; Zuñiga 1992). These metaphorical images of Hispanics’ cultural values and beliefs are spontaneous, brief, and often developed with rhyme (Zuñiga 1991, 1992). Dichos are funds of knowledge of a people, and are part of the historically accumulated body of knowledge essential for household functioning and well-being among native speakers of Spanish (Gonzalez et al. 2001; Moll 1992). Most of the published literature on dichos available to date comes from the field of counseling psychology, where dichos have been explored to enhance counseling approaches with Hispanic Spanish-speaking clients (Altarriba and Santiago-Rivera 1994; Iterian and Diaz-Martinez 2006; Zuñiga 1991, 1992). Given their cultural and linguistic relevance among Hispanics, dichos may encourage family storytelling. Interestingly, the review of extant literature revealed that the use of dichos as a tool for examining family stories or promoting family involvement approaches has not been documented to date.

Table 1 shows 10 common dichos found in popular bilingual resource books that can assist non-Spanish speaking teachers in understanding and interpreting most commonly used popular sayings in Spanish. With regard to dicho interpretation, it should be noted that not all popular Spanish dichos translate into popular sayings in English. Dichos are in fact more prevalent and more widely used in the Hispanic culture than English popular sayings are in most English speaking cultures. Some books that can assist in interpreting dichos with and without an equivalent in the English language are the Dictionary of proverbs, Spanish/English and English/Spanish (Carbonell-Basset 1996); Folk wisdom of Mexico/Proverbios y dichos mexicanos (Sellers et al. 1994); 101 Spanish proverbs (Aparicio 1998); Mexican Sayings: A treasure of a people (Ballesteros and Ballesteros 1992), and My first book of proverbs/Mi primer libro de dichos (Gonzalez et al. 2002).

Table 1 Ten common dichos found in popular bilingual resource books
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Learning About Families Through Storytelling

This article contends that dichos may have the potential to help teachers learn about students and families by eliciting family stories. The implementation of a family storytelling mini-project would involve the interaction between students and an older generation such as parents or grandparents. In short, the purpose of a project of this kind is to elicit family stories or anecdotes based on storytellers’ interpretation of favorite dichos. Throughout the school year, students can add stories to family anthologies that can be shared with parents, grandparents, and other family members. To introduce the project in the classroom, the teacher explains the project’s purpose and instructions to students and families. Families work on their projects at home, and after projects are completed, the whole class shares their family stories. The following section describes the family storytelling approach in detail.

Eliciting Family Stories

The child and family member communicate in the language of their choice. The storyteller (for example, parent or grandparent) is asked to tell a favorite dicho and to explain its meaning to the child. The child writes down the dicho and its meaning. Then, the storyteller is asked to think about a family story or episode where the storyteller could have heard, said, or thought of the chosen dicho. The storyteller takes a few minutes to think about the story. When the storyteller is ready, the child states the selected dicho again, and tells the storyteller he/she will proceed to ask yes and no questions to guess the main character in the story. After the child has guessed the identity of the main character, the storyteller shares the whole story from beginning to end. Once the storyteller is finished, the child reconstructs the story in writing and prepares to share it with the class.

Example 1

The following excerpt illustrates a conversation between Elenita, a third grader in a bilingual program, and Don Carlos, her grandfather. Both speak in their native language. Elenita elicits a story based on her grandfather’s selection of a dicho. After the excerpt, the translation of the story Elenita wrote appears followed by her original work in Spanish (Figs. 2, 3).

 

Elenita: Abuelito, dime un dicho que te sepas y explícame lo que quiere decir

Elenita: Grandpa, tell me a dicho you know and explain to me what it means

Don Carlos: A ver… (thinks for a minute). Querer es poder. Eso quiere decir que si de verdad quieres algo, lo puedes lograr

Don Carlos: Let’s see…(thinks for a minute). Where there is a will, there is a way. This means that you can achieve anything you really want

Elenita: Ahora piensa en una historia en la que escuchaste, dijiste, o pensaste este dicho, y dime cuando estés listo

Elenita: Now think about a story where you heard, said, or thought of this dicho, and tell me when you’re ready

Don Carlos: Déjame pensar…a ver…(thinks for a minute). Ya, ya estoy listo

Don Carlos: Let me think…let’s see…(thinks for a minute). Okay, I’m ready

Elenita: Ahora voy a adivinar quién es el personaje principal de la historia. Te voy a hacer unas preguntas y tú solamente puedes responder sí o no. ¿Estás listo?

Elenita: Now I’m going to try to guess the main character in the story. I’m going to ask some questions and you can only answer yes or no. Are you ready?

Don Carlos: Muy bien. Pregúntame

Don Carlos: Good. Go ahead, ask

Elenita: Este personaje, ¿es un hombre?

Elenita: Is this person a man?

Don Carlos: No

Don Carlos: No

Elenita: Entonces es una mujer. ¿Es menor que yo?

Elenita: Then it’s a woman. Is she younger than me?

Don Carlos: No

Don Carlos: No

Elenita: Entonces es mayor. ¿Es una hija tuya?

Elenita: Then she’s older. Is she a daughter of yours?

Don Carlos: Sí

Don Carlos: Yes

Elenita: ¿Es mi mamá?

Elenita: Is she my mon?

Don Carlos: Sí. ¡Adivinaste!

Don Carlos: Yes. You got it!

Elenita: Bueno, ahora cuéntame la historia por favor

Elenita: Great. Now please tell me the story

Don Carlos: Pues fíjate que hace muchos años tu mamá era una niña muy chiquita y trataba de aprender a andar en bicicleta, pero un día se cayó y se hizo daño en las manos y las piernas, así que después tuvo miedo de subirse a una bicicleta y ya no quiso volver a intentar. Unos años más tarde tenía más o menos tu edad, como nueve años, y un día llegó a la casa llorando

Don Carlos: Well, long time ago your mom was a very little girl and she was trying to learn to ride a bike, but one day she fell and hurt her hands and legs. As a result, she became afraid of riding bikes and did not want to try ever again. A few years later, she was already about your age; she was about nine years old and one day she came home crying

La razón era que unos niños de la escuela se rieron de ella porque no sabía andar en bicicleta. Yo le dije, mi hijita, querer es poder. Si tú de veras quieres aprender a andar en bicicleta, claro que vas a poder. Y si no quieres saber nada de bicicletas, entonces ya no llores. Ese día tu mamá me pidió que le volviera a enseñar a andar en bicicleta, y unos días más tarde ya andaba en bicicleta para arriba y para abajo, como si nunca hubiera tenido miedo. Tu mamá aprendió a andar en bicicleta porque entendió que querer es poder. Y esta fue la historia

The reason was some children at her school laughed at her because she didn’t know how to ride a bike. I told her, baby, where there is a will, there is a way. If you really want to learn to ride a bike, of course you can do it. Now, if you’d rather not hear anything about bikes, then stop crying. That day your mom asked me to help her learn to ride a bike, and a few days later she was riding her bike up and down just as if she had never been afraid before. Your mom learned to ride a bike because she understood that where there is a will, there is a way. And this is the story

Elenita: Gracias, abuelito. Ahora voy a escribir la historia antes de que se me olvide y voy a dibujar a mi mamá en su bicicleta. ¿De qué color era?

Elenita: Thanks, grandpa. I’m going to write the story before I forget, and I’m going to draw my mom riding her bike. What color was it?

Fig. 2
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Translation of Elenita’s first family story

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Fig. 3
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Elenita’s first family story (original piece)

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A variation of this approach consists of using dichos as morals in family stories. The storyteller is asked to tell a favorite dicho and explain its meaning while the child writes down this information. Next, the storyteller is asked if he/she can remember a lesson he/she learned where the chosen dicho could play the role of the moral to the story. The storyteller thinks about this question for a few minutes. If no story is remembered in relation to the chosen dicho, the child and the adult move on to another favorite dicho until the right match between a dicho and a moral to a story is found. Once the match is found, the storyteller explains the lesson he/she learned and its connection with the selected dicho. Finally, the storyteller shares the whole story from beginning to end and the child reconstructs the story in writing.

Example 2

The following excerpt illustrates a conversation in Spanish between Elenita and Doña Esperanza, her grandmother. Elenita asks about a favorite dicho of her grandmother’s and a story learned that would be associated with it. A translation of the story Elenita wrote appears after the dialogue, and then her original work appears written in her native language (Figs. 4, 5).

 

Elenita: Abuelita, dime uno de tus dichos favoritos y dime qué quiere decir

Elenita: Grandma, tell me one of your favorite dichos and tell me what it means

Doña Esperanza: Déjame ver… (thinks for a minute). Nunca es tarde para aprender. Este dicho quiere decir que uno nunca es demasiado viejo para aprender algo nuevo

Doña Esperanza: Well, let me see…(thinks for a minute). It’s never too late to learn. This dicho means that one is never too old to learn something new

Elenita: ¿Y te acuerdas de la historia de alguna lección que aprendiste en donde este dicho pueda ser la moraleja?

Elenita: Do you remember the story of some lesson you learned where this dicho can be the moral?

Doña Esperanza: Pues no sé, a ver…déjame ver (thinks for a minute). Sí, creo que sí

Doña Esperanza: I don’t know, let me see… (thinks for a minute). Yes, I think I do

Elenita: ¿Me cuentas esa historia?

Elenita: Can you tell me the story?

Doña Esperanza: Pero claro que sí. Cuando yo era niña, vivía en el campo con mis hermanos y mis padres. Como no había escuelas en el campo en esos tiempos, pues no pude ir a la escuela. Así que me la pasaba ayudando a mis padres en la labor, sembrando, cosechando, y vendiendo nuestras verduras en el mercado. Cuando crecí, me casé con tu abuelito, tuve mis hijos, y ellos sí pudieron ir a la escuela, así que aprendieron a leer y escribir y estudiaron muchos años. A mí ya de grande me daba vergüenza no saber leer ni escribir, ni poder firmar papeles y cosas de esas. Luego tú naciste, y fuiste mi primera nieta, y una de tus maestras del kínder me dijo un día que nunca era tarde para aprender. Me recomendó una escuela para adultos. Así que así de grande, abuelita y todo, me decidí y fui a la escuela de adultos y aprendí a leer y escribir. Después de muchos años regresé a la escuela, y ahora me siento feliz de que sé leer y escribir.

Doña Esperanza: But of course. When I was a little girl, I lived in the country with my brothers and sisters, and my parents. Since there were no schools in the country back then, I could not go to school. I spent my time helping out in the fields, growing vegetables, harvesting, and selling them in the market. When I grew up, I married your grandpa, we had our children, and they could go to school, so they learned how to read and write and they went to school for lots of years. As a grown-up woman, I was embarrassed that I did not know how to read or write, and that I could not sign papers and things like that. Then you were born, and you were my first grandchild, and one of your kindergarten teachers told me one day that it wasn’t too late to learn. She recommended a school for adults, and so although I was already an old grandma, I decided to go to that school to learn to read and write. I went back to school after many years, and now I feel happy I know how to read and write

Elenita: Yo no sabía que había kínder de adultos. ¿A tí te gustó ir?

Elenita: I didn’t know there was a kindergarten for adults. Did you like going?

Fig. 4
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Translation of Elenita’s second family story

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Fig. 5
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Elenita’s second family story (original piece)

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Learning from Elenita’s Family Stories

Based on Elenita’s family stories, we know Elenita seems to have a close relationship with both grandparents who participated in her project. The grandparents seem to be native speakers of Spanish. They are familiar with the meaning of dichos and use them with ease when telling their stories. Elenita communicates in Spanish with both grandparents, who seem to be strong role models for her Spanish language development. Both grandparents selected stories about the importance to overcome obstacles, so we may assume they have a positive, optimistic outlook on life. Elenita’s grandmother lived in the country and has experience growing vegetables. She also has high regard for education and seems to have been involved in one of the child’s early school grades.

Elenita’s teacher could use the information gleaned from both stories in at least three ways. First, she could relate to the child’s grandparents by finding ways to use the grandparents’ favorite dichos in face-to-face conversations with the family. The teacher’s use of these dichos would send a message to the family that the grandparents and the teacher are on the same page with regard to their perspective on overcoming obstacles. Second, the teacher could encourage specific academic-related behaviors at home by applying the dichos grandparents chose to school-related scenarios. For example, both grandparents’ dichos could be used to instill or strengthen the family’s belief that their child can excel academically and become a fluent speaker and writer of two or more languages. Therefore, the family’s help with supervision of homework and daily reading time, for instance, could be promoted by using the dichos as mottos in face-to-face conversations with the family or in classroom newsletters. Third, Elenita’s teacher could find a great ally in the child’s grandmother, who could play the role of leader in promoting Elenita’s family involvement at home.

Other Applications of Dichos

In addition to serving as authentic vehicles for eliciting family stories, dichos can be used for multiple purposes. For example, they can serve as tools for parental involvement. Since they validate the language and culture of the home, they can potentially hearten family participation in children’s education (De Gaetano 2007; Fernandez 2000; Hamilton et al. 2003). Dichos can also help to develop children’s and adults’ literacy in the English or Spanish languages. For instance, dichos can be the focus of projects where students research popular sayings that convey similar meanings in various languages. In addition, given their prevalence as a people’s brief traditional guides of conduct, dichos lend themselves as themes for discussion regarding cultural values and inter-cultural understanding. Finally, dichos can also provide themes for biographies or creative writing in elementary school classrooms and adult literacy programs alike.

Conclusion

To be able to integrate students’ language and culture into instruction, teachers must find ways to learn about families and their backgrounds. A viable way to do this may be by using dichos to elicit family stories that children can write and share in the classroom. This approach is culturally and linguistically appropriate for three reasons. First, it relies on dichos, a culturally and linguistically relevant tool for oral communication among Spanish speakers. Second, the approach incorporates a Hispanic cultural value, familism, in that it encourages interaction and dialogue among family members from different generations for the completion of a school-related project. The third reason family storytelling through dichos is a viable approach is that storytelling has the power to reflect family culture, thus providing insights into family norms, values, and goals. Not only has the family storytelling through dichos approach a great potential as an effective tool for helping teachers learn about families, it can also support the development of children’s literacy skills by engaging students in a meaningful, collaborative project.