ERIC Number: EJ1036498
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014-Sep
Pages: 36
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1468-7984
EISSN: N/A
Assessment of Burmese Refugee Students' Meaning Making of Scientific Informational Texts
Croce, Keri-Anne
Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, v14 n3 p389-424 Sep 2014
This two and a half year study examines how non-native English-speaking Burmese refugee students from first to third grades made meaning of scientific informational texts. The study is framed by sociocultural theory and transactional theory. Primary data were drawn from 160 student retellings of scientific informational texts. Secondary data included student interviews and classroom observations. This study contributes to culturally relevant pedagogy by revisiting what it means to read a scientific informational text. It was found that students' understandings of scientific informational texts were informed by the sociopolitical contexts of their lives. The results of the study also suggest that non-native English-speaking students' early language approximations should be valued, as they transact with the language patterns in scientific informational texts.
Descriptors: Refugees, Sociocultural Patterns, Elementary School Students, Science Education, Information Sources, Interviews, Observation, Culturally Relevant Education, Teaching Methods, Asians, Social Influences, Political Influences, Language Patterns, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Socioeconomic Status, Foreign Countries, Semiotics, Scientific Literacy, Qualitative Research
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Burma; Maryland
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A