School and Home Literacy Practices of a Refugee-background Seventh Grader in the U.S.

• In Event: Unforgetting Newcomer Experiences, Knowledges, and Identities: Humanizing and Future-making Pedagogies across Canada and the U.S

Abstract

This study presents the school and home literacy practices of a refugee-background seventh grader, Kan (pseudonym). The purpose of the study is to explore how Kan engaged in multimodal literacy practices in school and home settings. Theoretical perspectives on multimodal literacy (Kress, 2010; Mills et al., 2020) and time (Lemke, 2000) are employed to support the inquiry. The first theoretical perspective allows me to understand that literacy practices are represented in multiple modes (e.g., words, images, sound). The concept of time (Lemke, 2000) enables me to explore the participant’s engagement with multimodal literacy as a social and dynamic process that moves across time. Time is experienced and constructed by individuals as they engage with a variety of texts and literacy events (Bloome et al., 2009). Kan and his family were originally from Burma and stayed in Malaysia for several years before resettling in the U.S. Kan speaks multiple languages (i.e., Burmese, Malay, and English). The qualitative data included field notes based on observations, researcher-participant conversations, and artifacts during home visits. Data sources were analyzed using open coding and in vivo coding methods (Saldaña, 2016) as well as temporal discourse analysis, which used to examine the ways people experience time when engaging in their literacy practices (Compton-Lilly, 2014).

The findings revealed Kan’s reflection on his previous school literacy practices in the U.S. and his multimodal literacy practices at home. When reflecting on his school literacy learning after his family moved to the U.S., Kan shared his experience of attending an ESL class. His school literacy implies a conventional teacher-led literacy practice, which was on a small timescale but was also shaped by educational policies on a larger timescale (Lemke, 2000). To Kan, time in school was spent attending classes and completing required tests and tasks, which largely relied on English-only print-focused literacy practices. On the other hand, at home, he could have more time to navigate bilingual and multimodal literacy practices. His home space allowed him to (1) use his computer to navigate digital texts and play video games, and (2) mobilize two languages to help his family members translate and understand health resources and school materials. Spending more time on his computer also provided opportunities for him to explore his possible future career (e.g., becoming a computer engineer). The findings informed recommendations on bridging home-school connections and valuing the role of time (i.e., affordances and constraints) in students’ literacy practices and identities. Valuing time can help teachers understand various literacy practices that Kan and other refugee-background youth engage in and consider how to provide more flexible time in formal educational settings for the youth to explore their identities while engaging in multimodal literacies.

Author

• Aijuan Cun, University of New Mexico