Yau
& Jimenez, “Fostering the literacy strengths of struggling Asian American
readers LA80:3
The
authors contend that the “model minority myth” contributes to a situation where
struggling Asian American students are frequently under served. This article follows three such students in
order to identify reading strategies that are effective for developing their
literacy skills. All three students
exhibited a discrepancy between their developmental levels and their potential
development that could be accounted for by their low English literacy
skills. They were also participants in
ESL classes and had a demonstrated learning difficulty.
Intervention
for these students involved one-to-one time with a bilingual teacher for
reading and writing instruction as well as home visits. Instructional design took into account the
cognitive abilities of each child, as well as influence of each child’s reading
experiences on psychological development, and the social and cultural contexts
of each child.
Thus
the literacy strengths of each child were used as a platform on which to build
successful reading experiences. These
strengths included artistic talents, creative and critical thinking displayed
through playing with riddles, and analytical thinking.
In
addition, the literacy materials chosen reflected themes and cultural content
familiar to the students. Stories about
immigrants that were richly illustrated,
books about Asian culture, and bilingual information books were
used. The students interacted
extensively with these materials through reading, discussing, and writing. In one case, a student interviewed family
members and constructed a book of his own to reflect his cultural and family
history.
Reading
strategies that were effective for helping this students develop their literacy
skills include organizing and consolidating accumulated experiences,
formulating knowledge through talking and writing, reflecting on understanding,
re-reading, and writing to organize and synthesize text.
The
authors conclude that discussion focused on literature enables ELLs to
construct meaning through social interaction with a more competent English
speaker. The child’s stronger language
should not be ignored as its offers the strongest platform for cognitive
development. They emphasize that ELLs
need to be engaged in reading and writing that is personally relevant, socially
interactive, and connected to their own cultural experience.
One
of the boys connects with the book, “Grandfather’s Journey” by Allen Say. My 21 year old daughter came across this
book in her Children’s Literature course a couple of years ago and it moved her
to tears. We are not Asian, but the
theme of leaving behind a country that you love and adjusting to another one is
part of her life experience. It is a
deeply moving book for anyone who has cross-cultural transitions as a part of
their family history.
I
think it is good to remember that our students carry a lot to school with them. One of the boys was experiencing
communication problems with his own mother because of language. This made me cry. The cultural stress some of these families are facing is
intense. Many immigrant children have
escaped war or a harsh life, but on the other hand, in the country that their
family left there are still people and places that they love. It is good to look for ways to validate that
history, it will help such students positively reconstruct their new identities
in the new place. They need people who
understand them and want to know who they are.
I
think we need to remember that our students may not be who their appear to be
and it is up to find out. We just
recently left our youngest son at college where part of his orientation program
included a cultural awareness/tolerance activity. Students lined up across the gym floor and were to take a step
forward or a step backward in response to comments like: “I have received an
inheritance” (step forward) or “I have grown up in an area where gangs are a
problem” (step back) I “I have had to adjust my clothing or appearance in order
to fit in” (step back) “Drug trafficking is a problem in the neighborhood where
I grew up” (step back) “I have been treated differently due to being a minority
ethnic background” (step back)…..My white-boy Joe average looking son wound up
with his back against the rear of the gym by the end of the exercise. The director of the exercise looked at him
as if to say “What are YOU doing back there?” …. you never know. We aren’t all what we seem. The Laotian mom’s experience made me cry.
The
main application of this article could be summed up as “be a student of your
students”. These three students
responded to intensified personalized instruction, I haven’t seen a child who
doesn’t respond to this type of attention.
The big challenge for the classroom teacher is how to manage and learn
about so many different individuals with their various needs and interests. The instruction these students were
receiving was very personalized. Is
this kind of personalized instruction generally available in schools? Or does “pull-out” time tend to be for
participation in a program that is more generalized?
The
issue of equity regarding the needs of Asian American students is an
interesting one. The authors note
inequity in two arenas. First, is the
tendency for struggling Asian American students to be overlooked and
under-served because such students don’t fit the accepted positive
stereotype. Second, though more
literature is becoming available, there isn’t all that much reading material
especially for the Southeast Asian ethnic groups.
Another
form of literacy that could have been brought in to provide connection for the
Laotian boy is the embroidered story cloths that Laotian do. These cloths tell the incredible stories of
their refugee experience pictorially.
I’ve seen samples in museums, but don’t if there has been a book that
collects these
Some other books that effectively deal with immigrant issues and cross-cultural living are: The Lotus Seed ISBN:0152014837, and Marianthe’s Story: Painted Words, Spoken Memories ISBN:0688156614
Attached is a child oriented explanation of the stages of cultural adaptation that we all go through when we move. The bigger the difference between the two places, the longer the adaptation will take and the more significant the identity issues become. All immigrant families are in various stages of this process. It can be helpful to understand their experience.