Active Agents: The New-Immigrant Mothers' Figured Worlds of Home Literacy Practices for Young Children in Taiwan.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Active Agents: The New-Immigrant Mothers' Figured Worlds of Home Literacy Practices for Young Children in Taiwan.
Authors: Ch ing-Ting Hsin1 hsin@wisc.edu
Source: Asia-Pacific Education Researcher (De La Salle University Manila). Mar2011, Vol. 20 Issue 1, p17-34. 18p. 3 Black and White Photographs, 1 Diagram.
Subject Terms: *Literacy, *Learning, *Children, Women immigrants
Geographic Terms: Taiwan
Abstract: New-immigrant families in which one spouse (almost always the mother) is a foreigner (i.e., not Taiwanese) are stigmatized in Taiwan. Immigrant mothers are popularly viewed as being culturally deficient and without the knowledge needed to teach children literacy. Multiple-case studies have been adopted to study this situation. Thirteen Vietnamese mothers with children aged 4-6 years are recruited in a study designed to deepen the understanding of how mothers construct home literacy environments for their children. The researcher uses the notion of the figured world (Holland et al., 1998) to explore the mothers' beliefs, values, and expectations about literacy learning. An important conclusion is that immigrant mothers are active agents who value their children's learning of literacy, develop social networks, incorporate different resources, and use strategies in bicultural contexts to foster their children's literacy. Tension occurs when the figured worlds of mothers related to literacy intersect with the figured worlds of teachers'. Although teachers have more power in the existing social hierarchy than mothers, mothers have agency and the potential to empower themselves and other immigrant women. This study sheds light on the understanding of literacy environments of new-immigrant families and active roles of new-immigrant mothers. This study will hopefully help teachers to have a better understanding of these families and change teachers' perceptions and attitudes towards them. The understanding will also inform teachers' practices and encourage them to incorporate the resources of these families into literacy curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Asia-Pacific Education Researcher (De La Salle University Manila) is the property of De La Salle University Manila and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
FullText Links:
  – Type: pdflink
Text:
  Availability: 0
Header DbId: ehh
DbLabel: Education Research Complete
An: 59414354
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
PreciseRelevancyScore: 0
IllustrationInfo
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Active Agents: The New-Immigrant Mothers' Figured Worlds of Home Literacy Practices for Young Children in Taiwan.
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Ch+ing-Ting+Hsin%22">Ch ing-Ting Hsin</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> hsin@wisc.edu</i>
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Asia-Pacific+Education+Researcher+%28De+La+Salle+University+Manila%29%22">Asia-Pacific Education Researcher (De La Salle University Manila)</searchLink>. Mar2011, Vol. 20 Issue 1, p17-34. 18p. 3 Black and White Photographs, 1 Diagram.
– Name: Subject
  Label: Subject Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Literacy%22">Literacy</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Learning%22">Learning</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Children%22">Children</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Women+immigrants%22">Women immigrants</searchLink>
– Name: SubjectGeographic
  Label: Geographic Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Taiwan%22">Taiwan</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: New-immigrant families in which one spouse (almost always the mother) is a foreigner (i.e., not Taiwanese) are stigmatized in Taiwan. Immigrant mothers are popularly viewed as being culturally deficient and without the knowledge needed to teach children literacy. Multiple-case studies have been adopted to study this situation. Thirteen Vietnamese mothers with children aged 4-6 years are recruited in a study designed to deepen the understanding of how mothers construct home literacy environments for their children. The researcher uses the notion of the figured world (Holland et al., 1998) to explore the mothers' beliefs, values, and expectations about literacy learning. An important conclusion is that immigrant mothers are active agents who value their children's learning of literacy, develop social networks, incorporate different resources, and use strategies in bicultural contexts to foster their children's literacy. Tension occurs when the figured worlds of mothers related to literacy intersect with the figured worlds of teachers'. Although teachers have more power in the existing social hierarchy than mothers, mothers have agency and the potential to empower themselves and other immigrant women. This study sheds light on the understanding of literacy environments of new-immigrant families and active roles of new-immigrant mothers. This study will hopefully help teachers to have a better understanding of these families and change teachers' perceptions and attitudes towards them. The understanding will also inform teachers' practices and encourage them to incorporate the resources of these families into literacy curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Asia-Pacific Education Researcher (De La Salle University Manila) is the property of De La Salle University Manila and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=59414354
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 18
        StartPage: 17
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Literacy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Learning
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Children
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Women immigrants
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Taiwan
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Active Agents: The New-Immigrant Mothers' Figured Worlds of Home Literacy Practices for Young Children in Taiwan.
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Ch ing-Ting Hsin
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 03
              Text: Mar2011
              Type: published
              Y: 2011
          Identifiers:
            – Type: issn-print
              Value: 01195646
          Numbering:
            – Type: volume
              Value: 20
            – Type: issue
              Value: 1
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: Asia-Pacific Education Researcher (De La Salle University Manila)
              Type: main
ResultId 1