This ethnographic study examined literacy brokering among Sudanese refugee families in Michigan. Literacy brokering occurs as individuals seek informal help with unfamiliar texts and literacy practices. Data collection involved participant observation, semi‐structured interviews, and collection of artifacts over 18 months. Researcher analysis of data identified patterns through coding and theme analysis, using the literacy brokering event as the unit of analysis. Three southern Sudanese refugee families participated in the study, including four focal children (two boys and two girls) in kindergarten and first grade. Challenging current notions of brokering, results show that brokering was not merely a matter of translation and that issues of genre also were important. Most brokering events provided knowledge about the purposes for, uses of, and textual features of specific written genres. Together, these types of brokering contributed to Sudanese participants' understandings of texts, genres, and, most importantly, literacy practices in their new U.S. context. Many people acted as brokers for the refugees, including their own young children, who were just emerging into English literacy themselves. Literacy brokering allowed these children to help their parents as they simultaneously gained important literacy knowledge and skills themselves. These results add to existing knowledge about the construct of literacy brokering as well, the nature of literacy practices, and issues of family literacy. لقد استقصت هذه الدراسة الثقافية التتبعية عملية توسط تعلم القراءة والكتابة بين عائلات اللاجئين السودانيين في ميشيغان. يحدث توسط تعلم القراءة والكتابة حين يستفتى أفراد المجتمع في نصوص غير مألوفة وممارسات القراءة والكتابة. ويشتمل جمع البيانات على مراقبة المشتركين وإجراء مقابلات شبه منظمة وجمع معلومات عبر 18 شهراً. لقد حدد تحليل بيانات الباحث ترتيبات بواسطة تحليل الرموز والمواضيع مستخدماً حادث توسط تعلم القراءة والكتابة كوحدة التحليل. وقد اشتركت ثلاث عائلات لاجئين سودانيين في الدراسة بما فيها أربعة أطفال (ولدان وبنتان) وهم في الروضة والصف الأول. إذ تُبيّن النتائج أن توسط التعلم لم يكن مجرد أمر الترجمة فحسب وأن مسائل النوع نقطة مهمة في التعلم وهو الأمر الذي يؤدي إلى تحدي مفاهيم توسط التعلم الدائري. وقد وفر معظم أحداث توسط التعلم معلومات عن الأسباب لأنواع الكتابة المختصة واستخدامها ومعالمها النصوصية. وبالمجموعة هذه الأشكال والألوان من توسط التعلم ساهمت في فهم المشتركين السودانيين للنصوص وأنواع الكتابة وممارسات التعلم في سياقهم الجديد في الولايات المتحدة. وقد توسط أناس كثيرون لللأجئين بما فيهم أطفالهم الصغار الذين قد دخلوا في التعلم الإنجليزي أنفسهم لتو. وأتاح توسط التعلم هؤلاء الأطفال لمساعدة والديهم وهم أنفسهم اكتسبوا في نفس الوقت معرفة تعلم القراءة والكتابة ومهاراته. وتضيف هذه النتائج إلى العلم الموجود بشأن بنية توسط التعلم وطبيعة ممارسات التعلم ومسائل حيال التعلم الأسروي. 本民族志研究考查在美国密歇根州的苏丹难民家庭之间所出现的读写文化中介过程。当个别难民需要认识不熟悉的语篇和读写文化实践而寻求非正式的帮助时,便出现了读写文化中介过程。为期18个月的研究资料搜集活动包括了进行参与式观察、半结构式访谈和文化产物的采集。研究者在分析资料时,是以读写文化中介过程中的事件作为分析单位,并通过编码和主题分析的方法,辨认出其中的格局。有三个来自苏丹南部的难民家庭参与本研究,其中包括四名就读幼稚园和一年级的焦点孩子(二男二女)。研究者对现时读写文化中介过程的看法提出质疑,因为其...
This paper presents an analysis of the ways in which a community of orphaned Southern Sudanese refugee youth-the "Lost Boys of Sudan"-transformed traditional practices of storytelling as they adjusted to life in the U.S. The result of their experiences as orphaned refugees, this transformation discloses larger issues related to literacy, identity and community for these youth. Theoretical perspectives regarding literacy and storytelling as social practices, reflecting participants' social, cultural, and political contexts, framed this research. Focal participants were 3 orphaned young men, all refugees from Southern Sudan. Ethnographic methods including participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and artifact collection contributed to data collection. Data analysis consisted of coding field notes and interview transcripts for emerging themes and conducting discourse analyses on interview transcripts. Results indicated that participants acted as storytellers and also talked explicitly about storytelling's cultural importance. Participants transformed the act of storytelling by altering the purposes, audiences, and media for storytelling that they had encountered or told before. Transformed storytelling revealed the importance of both becoming educated in the U.S. and also of maintaining a sense of Sudanese identity and community among these refugee youth. Their stories also reflected an important tension between orphan identity and maintaining a sense of Sudanese community, as well as a focus on educating non-Sudanese about refugees' experiences. ResúmenEste artículo presenta un análisis de las maneras en que una comunidad de jóvenes huérfanos refugiados del sur de Sudan-"Los niños perdidos de Sudan"-transformaron
Using discourse analysis focused on identity and politics, we analyze the narratives of two Congolese refugees to explore issues of access to higher education. Data for this analysis come from a larger ethnographic study of educational opportunities for refugees in one US city. The narratives that these participants tell reveal both the ways in which various institutional factors limited their access to higher education and the agentive ways in which these refugees advocated for themselves. Refugees' educational experiences and aspirations may be invisible to those in power in resettlement contexts, or those in power may question, doubt, or ignore such experiences and aspirations. As a result, various institutions act as gatekeepers to limit refugees' access to higher education.
In this qualitative case study, we explore local adult educators’ preparation to teach refugees, along with their professional development needs. This analysis focuses on 10 tutors and instructors in a midsize Southeastern city. Data collection involved an open‐ended questionnaire, semi‐structured interviews, and observations; analysis involved open coding, theme generation, data matrices, and participant checking. Findings indicated that most participants had some level of preparation, although the amount and nature of this preparation varied widely; yet, even those with teaching certification felt un‐ or under‐prepared to teach ESL and/or literacy to adult refugees. Participants needed relevant training, opportunities to connect with “people resources”, and other supports. We discuss implications for offering ongoing, targeted professional development for adult ESL educators.
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