Learning Across Borders
Building Bridges of Cultural Understanding Across Borders: High Impact Dual-Immersion Programs Among Immigrant and Refugee Populations
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Micki Abercrombie-Donahue
This grounded theory ethnographic study explored the implementation of two school district dual-immersion programs within an immigrant and refugee community in California. The study explored administrator, teacher, and parent perceptions of two dual-immersion programs designed to help students to develop multilingualism, multi-literacy, and multicultural competence. The researchers identified the key factors that contributed to the development of cultural and linguistic competence and equality of educational opportunity within districts with high concentrations of culturally and linguistically diverse Developing Language Learners (DLL). The study occurred in two school districts with dual-immersion programs serving students in the central valley of California. Educators within research site one served 3,034 students with a 98% Latinx student population (California Department of Education, 2016). Educators in research site two served 992 students with a 91% Latinx student population. This mixed methods ethnographic study explored three major research questions: 1) What are the key components of effective dual-immersion programs? 2) What are the mechanisms used to foster cultural and linguistic competence in dual-immersion programs? 3) What is the role of parental involvement in dual-immersion program improvement? The researchers collected data from student ELPAC and CAASPP test scores and identified areas of strength and weakness in both programs. Utilizing surveys and semi-structured interviews to explore perceptions of the current programs, the researchers identified key areas for improvement. The researchers used the results to create targeted professional development activities that can help the audience to advocate for educational equity, strong linguistic and cultural competence, social justice, and equity.
Teaching Language Through the Eyes of Refugees: A Translanguaging Lens
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Maria Paraskeva, Evi Kompiadou, Daoud Al Soueis, Virginia Arvanitidou, Roula Tsokalidou
This paper presents the pilot research and the first conclusions of an innovative language teaching project in non-formal education for adult refugees. It is an action research project attempting to investigate both the factors that hinder as well as those which promote language learning, for the equal socio-linguistic integration of refugees. The project started with field visits in order to investigate the refugee profiles and a study of the needs and expectations of the populations in question. Starting from the proposition that languages are not identified as distinct and entangled entities (Bloomaert & Rampton, 2011), but rather as a continuous and changing network of multilingual choices consistent with the changing multilingual identities and the communication needs of refugees, we apply the educational process of translanguaging (García & Kleyn, 2016, Tsokalidou/Τσοκαλίδου, 2017). Translanguaging, as a creative language synthesis, goes beyond the boundaries of language structures, embraces questions about the composition of values in contemporary multicultural societies, and contributes to a better understanding of the production of bi/multilingual discourse (Tsokalidou, 2017). The educational material focuses on multimodal identity texts (Cummins & Early, 2011, Κούρτη-Καζούλλη & Τζανετοπούλου, 2009, Skourtou et al., 2006), as a flexible and multimodal research tool. The texts emerged gradually through an induction process, in order to respond not only to the needs and expectations of the population, but also to the aims of the research team and the research theoretical framework.
Raciolinguistic Bilingualism or Normative Monolinguality? : Leveraging the Linguistic Resources of Refugee and Immigrant Students in Arizona
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Mary Carol Combs
This study surfaces a paradox in language and education policies in the U.S. border state of Arizona. Migrant and refugee K-12 students resettled in the state speak languages the U.S. State Department considers “critical” (less commonly taught, but valuable for international business, journalism, diplomacy, and military intelligence). Four of these languages are present in contemporary school classrooms in Arizona – Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, and Somali. State schools also serve large numbers of Spanish-speaking students from Mexico and Central America, as well as Chinese, Vietnamese, and Iranian native speakers and heritage learners. Arizona education policy supports school immersion programs to promote critical languages, yet it also prohibits native speakers of these languages from enrolling. This prohibition is counterproductive given that migrant students are the very individuals whose proficiency in these languages would seem to predict the best chance for success in an immersion program. Arizona’s critical language policy is also discriminatory. It prioritizes the linguistic training of affluent, mostly white, native English speakers, who are invited to appropriate the first languages of migrant students, while at the same time, forcing migrant students into segregated English only, grammar-based classrooms if they are learning English as a second language. In effect, Arizona policy positions non-native speakers of critical languages as authoritative and native speakers of the same languages as inconsequential, even invisible. This research explores this paradox and analyzes how Arizona’s critical language policy contradicts conventional notions of linguistic and cultural capital as the expertise of a particular group.
Intercultural Competence Development in Early Childhood: A Case Study of "Out of Eden Learn" Project in a Greek Kindergarten
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Iria Asanaki
This is a study conducted within the framework of the first public kindergarten's participation in an international online programme of Harvard Graduate School of Education. The studied platform is called ‘Out of Eden Learn’ (OOEL). It gives classrooms the opportunity to communicate and interact with others from diverse cultural environments. The purpose of this research is to find out whether and how the usage of this platform helps children develop intercultural competency in early childhood. Research Questions: 1.Are the goals of the OOEL project being satisfied as we apply it in the Greek kindergarten? Which goals and to which extent are they being determined? 2.Can the OOEL project develop any intercultural/global competencies in children? Which competencies can be developed and to what extent? 3.Can OOEL project be used in Intercultural Education curriculums? Why? How can that be assumed? The framework used draws on intercultural education. The project promotes educational inclusion and bias elimination, acceptance and understanding, empathy and solidarity. “Intercultural differences” as well as “Intercultural and Global Competencies” are central terms of the research as the online project connects students all over the world no matter of their place, nationality, religion, race or financial situation. The adopted method for this study has been based on the qualitative method. The 'interview', 'observation rubrics' for early childhood and 'participatory observation' have been used as research tools. Research results conclude that intercultural skills’ development effectively contributes to the children's preparation as responsible members of a global community.
