The Effect of an Intercultural Communication Model on the Reading Comprehension of Refugee and Underprivileged Learners

Abstract

This study describes a shifting of paradigm in the literacy education of Syrian refugees and underprivileged Lebanese learners (n = 72) in three eighth-grade classes in a public school in Lebanon. The study used a pre/post experimental control-group design to address its research questions. As complement to a Human Rights Education curriculum framework suggested in 2018, an intercultural communication model named the Third Space Literature Circle (TSLC) is offered, its goal to improve the reading comprehension of underprivileged Syrian and Lebanese learners. An experimental group (n=49), received the TSLC model instruction whereas the control group (n=23), received the regular reading instruction. Results show that the experimental group outperformed the control group; in particular, some members of the experimental group became more fluent describing their experiences than their control group-counterparts.

Skill Mismatch, Nepotism, Job Satisfaction, and Young Females in the MENA Region

“…In looking for remedies for joblessness, Sunata and Özdemir (2021) focused on the necessity of involving the private sector in educating Syrian refugee children in Turkey, specifically in language education, relative to global refugee governance; this can lead to fewer skill mismatches among refugees when they are ready to enter the labor force (Awada 2021;Brun and Shuayb 2020;Coban 2023;Crul et al 2019; El Khoury and Ardizzola 2021; Greaves et al 1999Greaves et al , 2019EL Kaissi 2023;Kanafani 2023;Kelcey 2019;Kelcey and Chatila 2020;Shuayb and Crul 2020). Uduji and Okolo-Obasi (2021) examined Nigeria's multinational oil companies' initiatives on the migration of rural youths; one implication of their study showcases that these companies' intervention in youth development initiatives, creating jobs and providing financial support for local entrepreneurs, could deter such a migration (Mazzetto and El-Khoury 2020;Pollock et al 2019).…”

Perceived challenges living and integrating into Finnish society: A study among immigrants in Finland

“…Communities with such tight relations that cross national and geographical borders are called transnational communities. Members of these communities are considered to belong to both the country that they reside in and to the place from which they emigrated (Lee, 2009;Awada, 2022). Immigrants invest in their relations and status in the host society by not abandoning similar relations in the country of origin, thus, benefiting from double citizenship possibilities and resources available to citizens, also paying the high-effort bill of living in the juncture between two or more cultures.…”