The Case of Three Karen Refugee Women and Their Children: Literacy Practices in a Family Literacy Context

ABSTRACT

The lack of research about the Karen, one of 135 ethnic groups from Myanmar limits literacy educators charged with educating this refugee population in public schools. In this case study the authors explore the literacy practices of Karen families when at school and in their homes and within an ESL family literacy program. The case of these refugee families and their experiences are analyzed within a sociocultural theoretical framework along with a focus on literacy adaptation through the lenses of cross-cultural studies, adult and language teachers involved in literacy practices, and literacy studies. Four core themes emerged from participant observation, including adult/parent learners’ engagement with memorization, parents’ literacy practices through reading texts aloud (recitation) to improve their speaking skills, and parents’ use of computers to engage with American media. The study offers important educational understandings of one of the world’s least known diaspora.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sabrina Quadros

Sabrina Quadros is a graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and currently serves as program coordinator for education in the Karen state of Myanmar/Burma. Her research interests include literacy practices, ESL/EFL teaching, and critical and cultural studies in education. 

Loukia K. Sarroub

Loukia K. Sarroub teaches at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and her work is at the nexus of literacy studies, linguistic anthropology, and cross-cultural and youth studies in and out of schools. She is the author of All American Yemeni Girls: Being Muslim in a Public Schools and has published her research in journals such as Harvard Educational Review, Reading Research Quarterly, Ethnography and Education, and Theory Into Practice.