Burmese Children's Meaning Making in a Multimodal-Storybook-Making Project

• In Event: Understanding and Valuing Immigrant Parents' Experiences, Knowledge, and Perspectives in Language Education

Abstract

This study explores how a Burmese family makes meaning in a multimodal-storybook-making project. The theoretical frameworks used in the study include literacy as a social practice and the social semiotics multimodal perspective. Data sources include field notes, interviews with the participants, video recordings of each home visit, and the participants’ artifacts. Findings show that the children highly valued their parents’ stories and designed the topics for their storybooks based on their parents’ stories, the children co-constructed meaning with their siblings, and the parents participated in their children’s learning by sharing their experiences and comments. Findings suggest that educators should open space for refugee children to represent their family literacy practices, exercise their agencies, and make meaning with peers in classrooms.

Author

• Aijuan Cun, The University of New Mexico