Artifactual Literacies and TESOL: Narratives of a Syrian Refugee‐Background Family

Abstract

Theoretically framed in artifactual literacies, this study examined a refugee‐background family’s visit to a group of university students enrolled in a teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) methods class. One of the authors requested they give this presentation and collaborated with them in writing it. Participants included Maria and Omar, Syrian parents of three children who self‐identify as Muslim. Primary data included transcripts of the families’ collaborative composing with the first author and of the presentation itself, in addition to a multimodal PowerPoint. Secondary data included interviews with the family before and after the presentation. A narrative analysis of this data revealed that through stories (evoked by artifacts), the family presented themselves to the students as legitimate and sociable newcomers. They also presented themselves as appreciative yet ambivalent about U.S. customs and defiant of stereotypical representations of Islam. The authors argue that artifacts, imbued with border‐crossing memories and experiences, can empower refugee‐background students to construct counternarratives and negotiate identities that challenge xenophobic discourses and positionings. Further, because TESOL professionals are at the front lines of supporting refugee‐background students, it is important for TESOLers to be cognizant of the potential of artifacts in making migrant narratives visible.

Educators working together: Listening to children’s voices and stories about cultural and family artifacts during pandemic teaching

“…Children have created diverse artifactual stories, with photographs being the most used elicitation tool (Allen et al, 2002; Clark and Moss, 2001; Moss, 2001; Newman et al, 2006). The use of artifacts has allowed immigrant children’s border crossings to mitigate the impact of stereotypical representations within schools (Karam et al, 2020). Telling stories from artifacts can center children’s voices and enhance their sense of agency (Harris et al, 2020).…”

The outsider within: The agentic practices of Family Group Conference coordinators in the context of families with children at risk

“…More generally, research on agency has highlighted its importance for well‐being (Kahana et al, 2012; Kotan, 2010; Tuason et al, 2021), life satisfaction (Veronese et al, 2019) and positive future thinking (Bryant & Ellard, 2015), as well as its protective, resilience quality in situations of risk (Karam et al, 2021; Okech et al, 2012; Veronese et al, 2018). Thus, the agentic framework is particularly relevant in the context of FGC, in which families with children at risk work together with their social network towards a plan of their own choosing.…”

Exploring global religious traditions through artifactual literacy projects

“…Thus, I found an artifact project that provided insightful glimpses into students’ life experiences and the literacies practiced by their families. Also, the use of artifacts can be beneficial to language learners and students of color to empower student narratives (Karam et al , 2021; Marciano and Watson, 2021) and to “build bridges and invite connections” (Lehman, 2015, p. 4) in academic spaces where the curriculum often ignores student identity and background. The use of artifacts, or material objects, that bring in culture and everyday life (Pahl and Rowsell, 2010) can also evoke memories and lived experiences that can have various connections to texts (Ivanova, 2014).…”