Validating Arabic measures of literacy and love of reading for refugee children

• In Event: Poster Session 02
  In Poster Session: PS 02 Topic - Solicited Content: Refugee Children

Abstract

Introduction
Programs and studies examining literacy and attitudes towards education and learning among Arabic speaking refugee children are hampered by a lack of validated measures. Despite interest in and efforts to improve educational outcomes among young refugees, there has been no validation of any measure of attitude to reading in Arabic-speaking child populations or in any child refugee population. Without measures validated for use with that population, it is not possible to evaluate whether a program is successful at improving love of reading for them (van Ommeren, 2003; van Ommeren et al., 1999) and thus this gap is problematic for intervention implementation and evaluation.

Research aim: In this project, we will examine the validity and reliability of Arabic-language mother- and child-reported measures of love of reading for use with Syrian refugees living in Jordan.

Methods
This is part of a larger ongoing randomized controlled trial evaluation of the We Love Reading intervention in Jordan; at SRCD, we will present baseline data from mother-child dyads (n = 360 mothers, n = 360 4-8-year-olds). Participants are Syrian refugees who are sampled from Amman and Za’atari/Mafraq through a local NGO, Taghyeer Foundation. Mothers and children separately complete surveys with an individual fieldworker using tablet computers to record their responses. Mothers report on their child’s love of reading with a 7-item scale of parents’ perceived child attitudes towards reading (Ozturk & Ohi, 2018), developed in Turkey. Children will report on their love of reading with the efficacy for reading and reading orientation subscales of the Young Reader Motivation Questionnaire (YRMQ, Coddington & Guthrie, 2009) and the reading attitude subscale of the Reader Self-Concept Scale (RSCS, Chapman & Tunmer, 1995).

We are currently preparing to collect this data, with data collection to be completed by early 2021. No Arabic language versions of the parents’ perceived child attitudes towards reading, YRMQ, or RSCS exist, so we are currently translating the measures to Arabic, then will back-translate the measures, and finally will show the translated measures to local experts to ensure that the meaning of each item is in line with the original version.


Analysis
We will evaluate measurement reliability and face, content, construct, and convergent validity. Internal consistency will be assessed with Cronbach’s alphas and split-half reliability, construct validity with confirmatory factor analyses, and convergent validity using the mother and child reports.

Conclusion
Our study will provide evidence for the validity of reading measures in Arabic-speaking child populations. These measures are key to evaluating the effectiveness of literacy and educational interventions in Arabic-speaking children, including those who have the greatest need because of ongoing humanitarian crises.

Authors

• Kristin Hadfield, Trinity College Dublin
  Presenting Author

• Isabelle Mareschal, Queen Mary University of London
  Non-Presenting Author

• Amal El Kharouf, University of Jordan
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sophie N. Cave, University of York
  Non-Presenting Author

• Rana Dajani, Hashemite University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sophie von Stumm, University of York
  Non-Presenting Author