Playing the Game of Academic Literacy: Strategic Literacy Practices of Refugee-Background Students

• In Event: Roundtable 1

Abstract

Refugee-background students enter college with diverse language, literacy, and professional experiences. College readiness benchmarks are often limited in scope, prioritizing cognitive aspects while imposing dominant cultural values and overlooking diverse cultural and linguistic knowledge. Using a multiple case study, this study highlights the strategic maneuvers that refugee-background students made to navigate the literacy expectations of an online, competency-based college program. We explore how past experiences shaped student perceptions of literacy expectations. Findings revealed that participants perceived a chasm between themselves and graders. They equated the coursework with games and puzzles. These perceptions informed the literacy practices that students adopted. Though the participants were successful in the program, they leveraged literacy practices that could be overlooked by college readiness assessments.

Authors

• Meagan Ann Hoff, Collin College

• Megan Krou, The University of Texas