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Understanding the Role of Digital Technology in the Transitions of Refugee Families with Young Children into A New Culture: A Case Study of Scotland
... Such resistance can affect work process and content . The future of relationship-based practice in social work unavoidably encompasses hybrid skills, digital and direct (Pink et al., 2022;Andries & Savadova, 2021;Nordesjö et al., 2022). ...
This chapter draws upon learning from qualitative research with social workers
providing services to asylum seekers in Northern Greece and Southern Italy during
the Covid-19 pandemic. It explores and compare challenges, difficulties, and enabling factors in social work practice with asylum seekers at this time, in the two countries. Interviews of 20 social workers in each country were conducted in the five
months preceding March 2021.
The overall aim of the study reported here was to explore young children’s everyday experiences with digital technologies at home. We focus on the part of the study in which we adapted an experience sampling technique (Hektner et al., 2007) to learn how the day-to-day lives of children aged five were experienced and interpreted. Over a period of two weeks, Savadova prompted five mothers three times a day to send her pictures or 30-second videos of their five-year-old participant child. The parents were also invited to send answers to five brief questions asking where the child was, who they were with, what they were doing, why they were doing it and how they were feeling, along the lines of the study described by Plowman and Stevenson (2012).
The global refugee crisis is a significant current challenge affecting millions of children. The process of refugee migration comes with major immediate as well as long-term risks to children's physical and mental health, education, and prospects. Despite the multiple dangers and challenges during migration, most refugee families have access to and make use of interactive technologies, prior to, during, and after migration. This SIG meeting is an opportunity to discuss novel potential roles for technologies to alleviate some of the challenges faced by child refugees.
The document reports on results of a cross-national analysis building on data coming from 234 family interviews with both children and parents, carried out from September 2014 until April 2017 in 21 countries. It exposes the key findings regarding first children’s usage, perceptions of the digital technologies and their digital skills in the home context but also on parents’ perceptions, attitudes, and strategies. Beside the cross-national analysis, a dedicated section provides contextualized snapshots of the study results at national level. It then takes a close up on 58 families in ten countries in which researchers came for a second interview distant of one year monitoring. Conclusion reflect on the potential benefits, risks and consequences associated with their (online) interactions with digital technologies and provide recommendations to policymakers, industry, parents and carers.
We share insights from exploratory research with Syrian youth at the Za'atari Refugee Camp in Jordan about the role of information and mobile technology in their daily lives, and how they serve as information, communication and technology (ICT) wayfarers. Survey findings (n=174) show most youth own mobiles and SIM cards, and WhatsApp and Google are the most popular apps/engines. Design Workshop data contradicted youth survey self-reports of being heavy ICT users on behalf of others. Instead, narrative-drawings (n=50) created using LEGO Mini-Figures depicted situations involving primarily instrumental assistance, with fewer representations of informational, technological and emotional assistance, per Dervin's Sense-Making framework. Depicting mostly events in Syria, with several in Za'atari, the narrative-drawings reflect the youths' affinity for the forms of assistance outlined in the fourth Geneva Convention. The research informed longer workshops in the camp setting in accordance with the methodology's original aim to co-design ICT mediary devices that support the youths' mediary behavior, as represented by their narrative-drawings and survey data, and in support of UN Sustainable Development Goals.
In 2015, an unprecedented number of unaccompanied minor refugees came to Europe. To verify reports in mass media as well as professionals’ and volunteers’ impressions regarding the importance of digital media, this empirical study was conducted in the summer of 2015 in cooperation with the “Children’s Charity of Germany” (Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk e.V.). The study focused on the question of how unaccompanied minor refugees use digital (social and mobile) media in the context of their forced migration to Germany. It explored how they use these media to stay in contact with family and friends in their country of origin and beyond, to establish new relationships, to orientate themselves in the receiving country, and to search for (professional) support. Thus, the role of digital media in maintaining transnational social networks and enabling participation in a receiving society is investigated. This article presents key findings and their theoretical implications as well as a methodological and ethical reflection on this research.
Social media are increasingly popular channels of information on which migrants base their decisions on whether to migrate and the destinations where to settle. While social media offer a relatively cheap, easily accessible, and media-rich means of communication, their use is not without challenges for asylum migrants. Various studies describe issues with access and evaluation of the truthfulness of available information for this specific group of migrants. This article discusses social media use by asylum migrants prior to and during migration. This study is based on in-depth interviews with 54 Syrian asylum migrants who recently obtained refugee status in the Netherlands. Syrians were the largest group of migrants applying for asylum in European Union (EU) member states in 2015 and 2016. The findings show that the majority of Syrian asylum migrants have access to social media information before and during migration, often through the use of smartphones. Besides uneven access to technologies, fear of government surveillance restricts the smartphone use of asylum migrants. The results of this study indicate that Syrian asylum migrants prefer social media information that originates from existing social ties and information that is based on personal experiences. Generally, this information is considered more trustworthy. Asylum migrants use various strategies to validate rumors that are present on social media and come from unknown sources. These strategies include checking the source of information, validating information with trusted social ties, triangulation of online sources, and comparing information with their own experience.
Thousands of minors are migrating unaccompanied to high-income countries. This special issue focuses on unaccompanied migrant minors from the Global South to Europe and the U.S. In this introduction, we seek to complement the contributions to this special issue by shedding light on what resources and experiences unaccompanied migrants arrive with, stressing these young migrants’ challenges at each stage prior to arrival and the challenges they face navigating the receiving context. We first clarify how the international community defines ‘unaccompanied minors’ or ‘unaccompanied children’. We then provide brief histories of unaccompanied minors in immigration flows to the U.S. and the EU. Next, we review the literature on the experiences of unaccompanied minors before, during, and after migration. Finally, we discuss key themes and insights from the articles provided in this special issue.
Prompted by discovering a paper written in 1980 which described a process of ‘ethnography by proxy’, I revisit this concept in the light of two research projects: a workplace study of an electronics company conducted in the early 1990s and a later home-based study of young children’s encounters with toys and technology. The paper defines ethnography by proxy as the process of delegating some of the ethnographer’s activities to participants in the research setting. It discusses a pragmatic response to some of the challenges of conducting fieldwork and considers the implications of delegating non-academic proxies to fulfil aspects of the ethnographer’s role, the different guises that may be taken by the ethnographer and what this shift in research relationships might mean for the interpretation of data. The concept of proxy has implications for some of the tenets of ethnographic research as it requires a re-examination of our roles and the relationship between researcher and researched. © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
The increased use of digital devices such as touchscreen tablets in the home for work, communication, entertainment, and information searching makes them naturally attractive to toddlers and preschoolers who learn to communicate by observing and interacting with parents and older siblings. This paper presents one of the major findings from a study in Canada and Australia that examined preschoolers’ (ages 3 to 5) home multiliteracy practices. By focusing on data from one of the participants in this study, this paper discusses how the use of iPad engages children in multimodal literacy practices, motivates literacy learning and provides opportunities for independent exploration and creation. This study is informed by complexity science and the data collected were analyzed using Green’s (1988, 2012) three-dimensional model of literacy. The findings shed light on technology’s evolving influence on society and contribute to insights in preschoolers’ home literacy practices.
Social inclusion of recent immigrants is a challenge in many countries for both immigrants and the host communities. To harness the potential of social, situated and opportunistic mobile interactions for the social inclusion of immigrants in a host country, we have developed an Incidental Learning Framework. This supports the design and evaluation of MApp, a suite of smartphone tools and services for recent immigrants. Developed within the European Union's MASELTOV project (http://www.maseltov.eu), the MApp delivers language learning activities, image-to-text translation, context-aware and interest-based recommendations, local information, game-based cultural learning and social support to immigrants in cities. Preliminary field trials in Vienna, Madrid and London have highlighted issues of mobile literacy, affordability, ethics and privacy challenges, as well as insights into motivations and possible measures of success. Incidental learning implemented on a smartphone app has implications for the relationship between formal and informal learning; new systems of learner support by other immigrants, mentors and volunteers; the design of learning materials that combine immediate assistance with longer term learner development; and potential conflicts between technological affordances, e.g. context awareness and learner tracking, and user preferences among vulnerable groups such as recent immigrants.
Abstract: In this paper we discuss the potential of iPads for supporting literacy learning in special education, with a focus on how the gestural and sensory experience of touch can enable young learners with moderate to complex physical and/or cognitive disability to engage in fun, independent and inclusive classroom-based literacy activities. We report on a case study where we observed the literacy learning opportunities offered by the touch screen interface provided by iPads for a diverse group of students aged 3 to 19 years in a special school in the English Midlands. We also made field notes and sought teachers' and students' views about the potentials and challenges of using iPads in the classroom. We begin by outlining our interdisciplinary theorisation of touch, and conceptualisations of its role in learning. Applying these concepts to the data, we discuss the affordances and constraints of iPad devices in terms of mobility, flexibility and sensory experience. We then illustrate how the sensory and kinaesthetic experience of human touch often enhanced the students' motivation, control and independence when engaged in literacy endeavour with iPads, and led to high levels of achievement and creative opportunities for their self-expression.
A review of evidence on the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the early years was commissioned by the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency. Views of practitioners, parents and children were obtained and practitioner ICT audits completed. Most young children grow up in media-rich digital environments in which they actively engage. Family members and practitioners are positive and actively promote use of ICT through ongoing socio-cultural practices. There appears to be a gap between children’s access to and use of ICT at home and in early years settings, and between state-maintained and non-maintained sectors. Training implications are marked. Cost of purchase, maintenance and replacement of age-appropriate digital technology remains a challenge and the development of active pedagogy to maximise benefits of technological advances must generate imaginative solutions.
Research for effective psychological interventions for refugee and asylum-seeking children has intensified. The need for interventions in environments more easily accessed by children and families is especially relevant for newly arrived populations. This paper reviews the literature on school and community-based interventions aimed at reducing psychological disorders in refugee and asylum-seeking children.
Comprehensive searches were conducted in seven databases and further information was obtained through searching reference lists, grey literature, and contacting experts in the field. Studies were included if they reported on the efficacy of a school or community-based mental health intervention for refugee or asylum-seeking children. Two independent reviewers made the final study selection, extracted data, and reached consensus on study quality. Results were summarized descriptively. The marked heterogeneity of studies excluded conducting a meta-analysis but study effect-sizes were calculated where possible. Twenty one studies met inclusion criteria for the review reporting on interventions for approximately 1800 refugee children. Fourteen studies were carried out in high-income countries in either a school (n = 11) or community (n = 3) setting and seven studies were carried out in refugee camps. Interventions were either primarily focused on the verbal processing of past experiences (n = 9), or on an array of creative art techniques (n = 7) and others used a combination of these interventions (n = 5). While both intervention types reported significant changes in symptomatology, effect sizes ranged from 0.31 to 0.93 and could mainly be calculated for interventions focusing on the verbal processing of past experiences.
Only a small number of studies fulfilled inclusion criteria and the majority of these were in the school setting. The findings suggest that interventions delivered within the school setting can be successful in helping children overcome difficulties associated with forced migration.
This report describes an exploratory study of a school-based mental health service developed to address the psychological needs of refugee children. The service was made available in three schools and followed a consultative framework. Refugee children were discussed with the mental health team and children at greatest risk were seen. A questionnaire of psychological functioning was completed by teachers before and after the intervention. Data were collected on 47 refugee children and two control groups (ethnic minority and indigenous white children). Subgroup analyses compared children who were seen directly by the service with those for whom only consultation was provided. Refugee children had poorer overall adjustment at baseline particularly in the emotional and peer problem domains. The greatest improvements following the intervention were seen in hyperactivity for the refugee group and in peer problems for the refugees directly seen by the service. While further studies are necessary to assess its efficacy, this exploratory study indicates that an intervention which involves collaboration with teachers and parents, in an environment where children spend much of their time, can benefit vulnerable children.
Networked technologies are a key tool for today’s refugees; not only on the move but also upon arrival in their new surroundings. Where mobile Internet access is affordable and infrastructures are stable, as in Europe’s metropoles, refugees can use smartphones to cope with everyday challenges. The paper presents findings from a qualitative interview study with Syrian refugees who recently settled in Vienna, Austria. The study implemented a three-fold methodology, combining face-to-face interviews, WhatsApp chats, and participant research. Results are presented from a localized appropriation notion (the act of making use of local specific media environment when drawing a media technology into one’s life) identifying practices in the contexts of: place-making and geographical orientation; information access and self-help; language learning and translation; and ‘doing family’. Hence, refugees are both emotionally attached to and technically dependent on their devices. The article concludes that smartphones hold an untapped potential for integration processes.
This study examined the literacy practices of children ages 5–11 as they engaged in out‐of‐school use of virtual worlds. The purpose of the study was to explore the nature, purpose, and role of literacy in children's use of a virtual world. In this article, I reflect on how children's use of literacy practices in the virtual world constructed and maintained an online social order. One hundred seventy‐five children in an English primary school completed an online survey from which their use of virtual worlds was examined. Individual and group interviews were then conducted with 26 children across the year. The interviews established that children used the virtual worlds to extend contact with peers they had regular interaction with in the offline world. Further, three 11‐year‐old children were filmed at home as they used the virtual world Club Penguin. Additional interviews were conducted with the three children and their parents. Data analysis focused on the ways in which children drew on specific literacy practices to construct and maintain an interaction order. A key finding is that literacy operates as a means of developing online social cohesion, but the literacy practices that serve this function are located within the social, material, and cultural structures in which the children operate in the offline world and thus cannot be viewed in isolation from these wider discourses.
تناولت هذه الدراسة تطبيقات القراءة و الكتابة لدى الأطفال الذين تتراوح أعمارهم بين 5 و 11 سنة، عندما شاركوا خارج المدرسة في كيفية استخدام العالم الافتراضي. وقد كان الغرض من هذه الدراسة توليد بنيات نظرية ذات أسس قوية عن كيفية استخدام الأطفال لممارسة القراءة والكتابة في بنيات العالم الافتراضي والإبقاء على نظام اجتماعي عبر الإنترنيت. قام 175 طفلا من إحدى المدارس الابتدائية الإنجليزية بالإجابة على أسئلة دراسة عبر الإنترنيت حيث تم بحث استخدامهم للعالم الافتراضي. وأجريت كذلك مقابلات انفرادية وجماعية على ستة وعشرين طفلا طوال السنة. أثبتت المقابلات أن الأطفال قد استخدموا العالم الافتراضي من أجل توسيع الاتصال مع أقرانهم الذين يتفاعلون معهم بصورة منتظمة في العالم الحالي. وعلاوة على ذلك، فقد تم تصوير ثلاثة أطفال في سن الحادية عشرة وهم في بيوتهم عندما استخدموا نادي العالم الافتراضي Penguin™. أجريت مقابلات إضافية مع الأطفال الثلاثة وآباءهم. وركزت التحليلات البيانية على السبل التي اعتُمد عليها أثناء ممارسة قراءات وكتابات محددة من أجل بناء و المحافظة على "نظام تفاعلي" (غوفمان، 1983). النتيجة الرئيسية التي تم التوصل إليها هي أن القراءة والكتابة يعملان كوسيلة لتطوير التماسك الاجتماعي عبر الإنترنيت، بيد أن ممارسات القراءة والكتابة التي تقوم بهذه الوظيفة توجد داخل البنيات الاجتماعية والمادية والثقافية التي يعمل فيها الأطفال خلال العالم الحالي، ولذلك لا يمكن النظر إليها بمعزل عن هذه الخطابات الواسعة النطاق.
本研究考查5至11岁儿童在校外使用虚拟世界时所投入的读写文化实践。本研究旨在创建扎根理论建构来解释在虚拟世界中，儿童的读写文化实践使用，如何构建及维持线上的社交秩序。就读于一所英文小学的175名儿童，完成一项考查儿童如何使用虚拟世界的线上调查。在该学年中，26名儿童接受进一步的个别及小组访谈调查。结果证实，儿童利用虚拟世界来扩展他们朋辈间在离线世界中经常交往之联系。此外，三名11岁儿童在家里使用虚拟世界《企鹅俱乐部》的情形均被摄录下来，而该三名儿童及其父母随后也接受进一步的访谈调查。研究资料分析主要集中在儿童如何凭藉着特有的读写文化实践来构建及维持一种「互动秩序」（Goffman, 1983）。一个关键的研究结果就是，读写文化实践的运作，是作为发展线上社会凝聚力的一种手段，但产生这种功能的读写文化实践，却是存在于儿童在离线世界里的社会、物质与文化结构之中，因此，这些读写文化实践的运作，是不能以一个孤立于其较广泛的话语的观点来看待。
Cette recherche porte sur les pratiques de littératie d'enfants de 5 à 11 ans quand ils vont dans des mondes virtuels en dehors de l'école. Cette étude avait pour but d'élaborer des concepts théoriques solides sur la façon dont les enfants se servent des pratiques de littératie dans le monde des concepts du monde virtuel et conservent un ordre social en ligne. Cent soixante et quinze enfants d'une école primaire anglophone ont répondu à une enquête en ligne portant sur leur utilisation des mondes virtuels. Il a été ensuite procédé à des entretiens individuels et de groupes avec 26 enfants tout au long de l'année. Ces entretiens ont montré que les enfants utilisent les mondes virtuels pour étendre leurs contacts avec les pairs avec lesquels ils sont en interaction dans le monde hors ligne. De plus, trois enfants de 11 ans ont été filmés chez eux lorsqu'ils allaient dans le monde virtuel du Club Penguin™. On a également réalisé d'autres entretiens avec ces trois enfants et leurs parents. L'analyse des données a été centrée sur la façon dont les enfants tirent parti des pratiques spécifiques de littératie pour construire et maintenir un “ordre interactif” (Goffman, 1983). Le principal résultat est que la littératie agit comme un moyen de développer la cohésion sociale en ligne, mais que les pratiques de littératie qui servent à cette fonction sont situées dans les structures sociales, matérielles et culturelles dans lesquelles les enfants agissent dans le monde hors ligne et ne peuvent donc être considérées indépendamment de ces discours plus larges.
Авторы исследовали вербальное общение детей 5–11 лет за стенами школы – в виртуальных мирах. Цель исследования состояла в том, чтобы дать теоретические обоснования упорядоченного диалогового поведения детей в Интернете. Сто семьдесят пять учащихся начальной школы в Англии заполнили он‐лайн анкету, связанную с использованием ими виртуального пространства. В течение года были проведены индивидуальные и групповые интервью с 26 детьми. Эти беседы показали, что дети используют виртуальное общение для расширения контактов с теми сверстниками, с которыми они регулярно взаимодействуют в реальной жизни. Затем трех одиннадцатилетних детей снимали на видеокамеру, когда они общались с домашних компьютеров с участниками всемирного виртуального игрового Пингвин‐Клуба. С этими детьми и их родителями были проведены дополнительные интервью. Данные анализировались, прежде всего, с точки зрения конкретной словесной практики, которая помогает детям выстраивать виртуальное взаимодействие и “соблюдать порядок общения” (Goffman, 1983). Ключевой вывод состоит в том, что навыки грамотности являются средством развития сетевых социальных связей, но сами эти навыки лежат в плоскости социальных, материальных и культурных структур, в которых дети взаимодействуют в реальном мире, и поэтому их нельзя рассматривать изолированно от других видов дискурса.
En este estudio se examinaron las prácticas de alfabetización de niños desde los 5 hasta los 11 años en cuanto al uso de mundos virtuales fuera de la escuela. Este estudio se hizo para generar constructos teóricos básicos sobre cómo el uso de las prácticas de alfabetización de los niños en el mundo virtual construyen y apoyan el orden social en línea. Ciento setenta y cinco estudiantes de una escuela primaria inglesa completaron una encuesta en línea en el que se les preguntaba sobre su uso de mundos virtuales. Se entrevistaron a 26 niños en grupos y por individual por un año. En estas entrevistas se averiguó que los niños usaban los mundos virtuales para ampliar el contacto con los mismos coetáneos con los que tenían contacto regular en su tiempo fuera de línea. Además, se filmaron tres niños de 11 años en sus casas mientras usaban el mundo virtual Club Penguin™. Se hicieron otras entrevistas con estos tres niños y sus padres. El análisis de los datos se enfocó en la manera en que los niños se servían de las prácticas de alfabetización para construir y conservar un ‘orden de interacción’ (Goffman, 1983). Un hallazgo clave es que la alfabetización sí funciona como un medio para desarrollar cohesión social en línea, pero las prácticas de alfabetización que cumplen esta función se encuentran dentro de las estructuras sociales, materiales y culturales en las que operan los niños en el mundo fuera de línea y por lo tanto no pueden ser consideradas fuera de dichos discursos más amplios.
We produced case studies of fourteen families based on nine rounds of data collection during the period from June 2008 to October 2009. We focused on fourteen children who were three years old when our visits started and used an ecocultural approach to examine their experiences of learning and playing with technologies at home. The study describes i) which technologies children encounter at home, ii) how family practices influence children’s encounters with technology, and iii) what children are learning through their interactions with technology. We present a framework of four areas of learning that could be supported by technology: acquiring operational skills, extending knowledge and understanding of the world, developing dispositions to learn, and understanding the role of technology in everyday life.
This small-scale study focuses on young children’s reported information and communication technology (ICT) experiences in the home and the role of parents in providing technological opportunities, recognition and support. The children of the parents involved were all enrolled in nursery and reception classes (4—5 years of age) in two settings (referred to hereafter as Stafford School and Hill School). The term home is used here to denote any context in children’s lives beyond the school/nursery environs whilst the interpretation of ICT is equally broad and inclusive in nature and encompasses any technology associated with the handling and electronic transmission of information and/or its use in controlling the operations of machines and other devices (HMI, 1989). In this context therefore ICT would include such things as telephones, televisions, video, audio recorders, CD and DVD players, CD-ROMs, programmable toys, games consoles, radios and, of course, computers. The study found that differences in the incidence and availability of ICT in the children’s homes could be subtle on occasion and were the result of a number of factors. Children might have ‘access’ to certain technologies in that they were present in their home environments but this did not necessarily mean that children were always able and/or allowed to ‘use’ those technologies. It supports the arguments made by Marsh and others elsewhere (Marsh, 2004; Marsh et al., 2005) that young children are already in possession of ICT knowledge and competences when they arrive in nursery and reception classes partly as a result of varying levels of parental intervention and modelling as well as being in the process of acquiring new knowledge, skills and attitudes. The study also argues that parents’ involvement with ICT was often characterized by conscious but sometimes uncertain efforts to limit opportunities and access to ICT in the perceived best interests of the children (Clarke, 2006).
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，因为其研究结果显示，读写文化中介过程不仅是关乎翻译的问题，有关体裁的问题也是重要的。大部分的读写文化中介过程中的事件，都能提供有关特定书面体裁的目的、用途和语篇特征等方面的认识。总的来说，上述中介过程的类型，帮助了这些苏丹难民家庭理解语篇、体裁和最重要的是他们在美国新语境中的读写文化实践。为难民做读写文化的中介者的有很多人，其中包括了难民自己的年幼子女，而这些幼童自己却是刚刚处于学习英语读写文化的萌发期。在读写文化中介过程中，这些孩子在帮助他们父母的同时，自己也能获得重要的读写文化知识和技能。这些研究结果增添了现时对读写文化中介这个构建的认识、对读写文化实践本质的认识，以及对家庭读写文化问题的认识。
Cette étude ethnographique examine les négociations de littératie dans des familles de réfugiés soudanais du Michigan. Des négociations de littératie se produisent quand des individus cherchent une aide informelle pour des textes non familiers et des pratiques de littératie. La collecte des données a impliqué une observation participante, des entretiens semi‐structurés, et une collecte d'artefacts pendant plus de 18 mois. L'analyse des données par le chercheur a identifié des structures à l'issue d'un codage et d'une analyse par thèmes, en prenant l'événement de négociation de littératie comme unité d'analyse. Trois familles de réfugiés du Sud‐Soudan ont participé à l'étude, soit quatre enfants principalement (deux garçons et deux filles) au jardin d'enfants et en première année. A l'encontre des notions courantes de négociation, les résultats montrent que les négociations ne sont pas avant une question de traduction et que les questions de genre sont aussi importantes. La plupart des cas de négociations apportent des informations sur les buts, les utilisations, et les caractéristiques textuelles de genres écrits spécifiques. Ensemble, ces types de négociation ont contribué à la compréhension des participants soudanais des textes, des genres, et, ce qui est le plus important, des pratiques de littératie dans leur nouveau contexte américain. De nombreuses personnes sont intervenues comme négociateurs pour les réfugiés, dont leurs propres jeunes enfants, émergeant tout juste de leur propre littératie en anglais. Les négociations de littératie ont permis à ces enfants d'aider leurs parents tout en acquérant en même temps d'importantes connaissances et compétences en littératie. Ces résultats s'ajoutent aux connaissances existantes concernant le concept même de négociation de littératie, la nature des pratiques de littératie, et des questions de littératie familiale.
Это этнографическое исследование посвящено “брокерским услугам” по общению со словом среди семей беженцев из Судана, проживающих в штате Мичиган. Такие услуги практикуются, когда люди, столкнувшись с незнакомыми текстами или языковой ситуацией, нуждаются в неформальной помощи. Сбор данных продолжался более полутора лет и включал в себя наблюдение за участниками исследования, полуструктурированные интервью и подбор артефактов. Единицей анализа собранного материала был каждый отдельный случай “брокерского вмешательства”, при этом кодировались их типы и темы. В исследовании участвовали три семьи беженцев из Южного Судана, в том числе – дети (два мальчика и две девочки), посещавших детский сад и первый класс школы. Вопреки распространенным представлениям о деятельности “брокеров‐грамотеев”, выяснилось, что этим посредникам приходится заниматься не только переводом с языка на язык, но и уделять внимание вопросам жанра и стиля. Наиболее распространенные случаи брокерства связаны с получением знаний о целях, способах использования и текстовых особенностях определенных жанров письменной речи. Вместе взятые, эти случаи брокерской помощи дают взрослым суданцам представление о текстах, жанрах и, что самое важное, о практиках и навыках грамотности в новом месте проживания – в США. Для беженцев роль брокеров играют многие люди, в том числе их собственные маленькие дети, которые и сами делают в это время первые самостоятельные шаги в области англоязычной грамотности. Став для своих родителей посредниками в их общении с печатным словом, дети одновременно получают важные знания и навыки. Эти результаты расширяют наши представления о том, как строится брокерство в области грамотности, а также о природе методов становления грамотности – в частности, в ситуации семейного общения.
Este estudio etnográfico examinó el corretaje de la alfabetización entre familias de refugiados del Sudán en Michigan. El corretaje del aprendizaje sucede cuando individuos buscan ayuda informal para entender textos y prácticas de aprendizaje que no les son conocidas. La colección de información duró más de 18 meses e incluyó observación de los participantes, entrevistas medio estructuradas, y la colección de artefactos. El análisis de los datos recogidos identificó patrones por medio del análisis de codificaciones y temas, usando el corretaje del aprendizaje como la unidad de análisis. Tres familias de refugiados del sur del Sudán participaron en el estudio, incluyendo cuatro niños (dos varones y dos hembras) de jardín de niños y de primer grado que sirvieron de enfoque. Desafiando nociones corrientes del corretaje, los resultados mostraron que el corretaje no era simplemente un caso de traducción y que el género también era importante. La mayoría de los casos de corretaje proporcionaban información sobre el propósito, el uso, y las características textuales de géneros escritos específicos. En conjunto, estas formas de corretaje contribuyeron al entendimiento por parte de los participantes sudaneses de textos, géneros y, más importante aún, las prácticas de aprendizaje en su nuevo contexto en los Estados Unidos. Muchas personas sirvieron de agentes para los refugiados, incluyendo sus propios hijos jóvenes, quienes también estaban empezando a aprender el inglés. El corretaje del aprendizaje les permitió a estos niños ayudar a sus padres al mismo tiempo que ellos mismos ganaban conocimiento y habilidades importantes sobre el aprendizaje. Estos resultados también contribuyen al conocimiento existente sobre el concepto del corretaje del aprendizaje, la naturaleza de las prácticas de aprendizaje, y cuestiones sobre el aprendizaje de la familia.
ABSTRACTS
In this article we report on ethnographic research that explores the range of ways in which Spanish‐English bilingual immigrant youth interpret English language texts for their families. Drawing on participant observation in the homes and classrooms of 18 young adolescents who serve as interpreters for their families, 86 transcripts of theseinterpreters' oral Spanish translations of English texts, and 95 journal entries written by the youth about their translating experiences, we document the multiple literacies of daily life that youth engage in while translating or “para‐phrasing” for their families. We focus on interpretations of written text for close family members, done at home, and chart the domains of these multiple literacies. Using an activity setting/interactional analysis, we then examine how two home “para‐phrasing” events unfold and contrast these with activity settings for literacy learning in school. This largely unexplored literacy practice is a common one in immigrant households, and we argue that bilingual youth's experiences as cross‐language “para‐phrasers” can be used to support the within‐language paraphrasing that is an important part of school literacy practices.
Vesna Ilić. 2013. Home-literacy practices and academic language skills of migrant pupils
- Vesna Ilić
- Ilić Vesna