Reflective Case Study of a Literacy Instructor Teaching English to Refugee Adult Learners
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| Title: | Reflective Case Study of a Literacy Instructor Teaching English to Refugee Adult Learners |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Clarena Larrotta (ORCID |
| Source: | Adult Learning. 2025 36(1):38-48. |
| Availability: | SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 11 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Adult Education |
| Descriptors: | English Language Learners, Refugees, Adult Learning, Adult Education, Literacy Education, Case Studies, Reflection, Teaching Experience, English Teachers, Adult Programs, Adult Literacy |
| Geographic Terms: | Texas |
| DOI: | 10.1177/10451595241235699 |
| ISSN: | 1045-1595 2162-4070 |
| Abstract: | The United States has been the global leader resettling refugees since the 1970s; its resettlement program is the largest in the world. The state of Texas has a high number of admissions and longstanding refugee programs which makes it a strategic site for research. This article reports findings of a reflective case study within an open enrollment literacy program in Central Texas. It describes the experiences of a literacy instructor teaching English to refugee adult learners for six years. The research questions guiding the study are: (1) what are the experiences of a literacy instructor teaching English to refugee adult learners? and (2) what can other English language instructors transfer from this reflective case study to their classroom settings when teaching refugee learners? To document the case study, it was important to keep a systematic account of facts and reflection. Thus, the instructor kept a reflective journal for a semester and participated in a series of conversational storytelling interviews to generate data for the study. Thematic analysis procedures guided the data analysis process and allowed for identifying five major themes to report study findings. These are: (1) traumatic stress, (2) classroom dynamics, (3) active listening, (4) flexibility for teaching and learning, and (5) curriculum challenges. Study findings provide examples and narratives that can be useful to practitioners interested in this topic. This article is an invitation to instructors of adult refugee language learners to engage in reflection and become more aware of their teaching practices. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2025 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1455309 |
| Database: | ERIC |
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| FullText | Links: – Type: pdflink Url: https://content.ebscohost.com/cds/retrieve?content=AQICAHj0k_4E0hTGH8RJwT4gCJyBsGNe_WN95AvKlDbXJGqwxwH8yQkleA20hxv66SM33fxRAAAA4zCB4AYJKoZIhvcNAQcGoIHSMIHPAgEAMIHJBgkqhkiG9w0BBwEwHgYJYIZIAWUDBAEuMBEEDEba-MTWABb7Tnw2tAIBEICBm0BhKy9_xqjM4VghHpW2J62IJ59eNpN6VMgkvPqG9kvxKjshxKcuDJAvAkBIAYyKvxhF1Lv-Oi_chfWFP_ane6QWYJjFHhKql_65alWoLNRvR3aisjEtWIyaL3aEylNuaUTO1vvwGLFdNOvQbObVDO9uMdDk4dE-fsT0knmitgDsErkfB4EOMdBKlfwY2HJmayhJ7dXR-SOyxk7g Text: Availability: 1 Value: <anid>AN0181945450;adl01feb.25;2025Jan01.02:44;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0181945450-1">Reflective Case Study of a Literacy Instructor Teaching English to Refugee Adult Learners </title> <p>The United States has been the global leader resettling refugees since the 1970s; its resettlement program is the largest in the world. The state of Texas has a high number of admissions and longstanding refugee programs which makes it a strategic site for research. This article reports findings of a reflective case study within an open enrollment literacy program in Central Texas. It describes the experiences of a literacy instructor teaching English to refugee adult learners for six years. The research questions guiding the study are: (<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref1">1</reflink>) what are the experiences of a literacy instructor teaching English to refugee adult learners? and (<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref2">2</reflink>) what can other English language instructors transfer from this reflective case study to their classroom settings when teaching refugee learners? To document the case study, it was important to keep a systematic account of facts and reflection. Thus, the instructor kept a reflective journal for a semester and participated in a series of conversational storytelling interviews to generate data for the study. Thematic analysis procedures guided the data analysis process and allowed for identifying five major themes to report study findings. These are: (<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref3">1</reflink>) traumatic stress, (<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref4">2</reflink>) classroom dynamics, (<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref5">3</reflink>) active listening, (<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref6">4</reflink>) flexibility for teaching and learning, and (<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref7">5</reflink>) curriculum challenges. Study findings provide examples and narratives that can be useful to practitioners interested in this topic. This article is an invitation to instructors of adult refugee language learners to engage in reflection and become more aware of their teaching practices.</p> <p>Keywords: reflective case study; English literacy; adult refugee learners; teaching refugees</p> <p>"The importance of showing interest, asking appropriate questions, and providing encouragement and support were crucial aspects teaching refugees."</p> <hd id="AN0181945450-2">Introduction</hd> <p>The 1951 Refugee Convention for Refugee Resettlement defines a refugee as "someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin due to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion" ([<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref8">14</reflink>], p. 80). Refugees will rarely be able to return to their country. Therefore, there is a critical need for them to have appropriate opportunities and support to be able adapt to the host community and culture.</p> <p>The State Department data show that with 56,881 admissions; Texas received more refugees than any other state in the last decade ([<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref9">13</reflink>]). Texas cities with the highest number of refugee resettlements across the country included Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin, and Houston. This high number of admissions, and the longevity of refugee programs, situate Texas as a strategic site for research.</p> <p>Utilizing a reflective case study methodology, this article documents six years of teaching experience of an English literacy instructor working with refugees. The goal is to gain understanding of the special circumstances characterizing refugee learners and how to mitigate refugees' traumatic stress within the limitations of adult learning programs. Thus, this article aims to add to existent research on teaching English literacy to refugee adult learners. Through reflection, we can make connections, question our assumptions, and gain understanding about our practice and behavior. This article is an invitation to instructors of adult refugee language learners to engage in reflection and become more aware of their teaching practices. Thus, the research questions are:</p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> 1. What are the experiences of a literacy instructor teaching English to refugee adult learners?</item> <p></p> <item> 2. What can other English language instructors transfer from this reflective case study to their classroom settings when teaching refugee learners?</item> </ulist> <hd id="AN0181945450-3">Refugee Learners</hd> <p>Once in the host country, refugees seek to restore a sense of safety, meaning, and connectedness in the aftermath of collective violence, persecution, or pervasive fear and abuse during flight ([<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref10">8</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref11">16</reflink>]). Post-migration stressors of isolation, discrimination, exclusion, ostracism, asylum insecurity, and detention are major predictors of psychosocial vulnerability and psychopathological conditions of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic suffering, and psychosis ([<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref12">4</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref13">8</reflink>]). All these factors explain why traumatic stress characterizes the refugee experience. Furthermore, once they arrive in the new country, they experience various additional traumatic stressors (e.g., low employment opportunities, language-culture barriers, changes in family dynamics and relationships). Hence, knowledge about traumatic stress is important when designing instruction.</p> <p>Refugees bring a wide-range of educational experiences and use different language learning methods depending on location, resources, language classes, and mobile technologies ([<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref14">1</reflink>]). Refugee learners also bring with them diverse cultural values and lifestyles. [<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref15">19</reflink>] states that refugees bring distinctive understanding and assumptions of the host culture due to their unique migration experience, as well as their diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. Ugurel also explains that refugees with no formal education have unique instructional needs. In such cases, the instructor should establish clear expectations to set them up for successful learning experiences. Understanding language learning needs is crucial not only for the integration of refugees but also for improving their well-being, effective sociocultural adaptation, communication, social engagement, and understanding of the norms and values of the host society.</p> <hd id="AN0181945450-4">The Adult English Literacy Program</hd> <p>The program is located in Central Texas in an urban area. It is open enrollment; new learners join classes on a weekly basis. It serves refugees, asylum-seekers, and asylees. Virtual and in-person classes are offered. The program serves over 700 refugees a year from 15 nations with morning and evening classes for up to five years after arrival in the United States. A monthly cultural orientation and lunch event allows local community members to connect with the refugees. The program uses the Mainstream English Language Training (MELT) objectives developed by the U.S. Department of Education for refugees in 1983 ([<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref16">12</reflink>]). The MELT provides a list of topics, objectives, and skills for the instructors to cover. Topics include basic language (e.g., personal identification, social language, time), finances (e.g., banking, shopping, money), employment (e.g., job search, work skills), health, housing, and transportation. These topics are adapted by the instructors across three proficiency levels, pre-literate or non-literate, beginner, and intermediate.</p> <hd id="AN0181945450-5">Methods</hd> <p>Framing the article as a reflective case study encouraged us to be more aware of who we are as teachers and researchers and to be methodical for transparency purposes when reporting research findings ([<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref17">10</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref18">11</reflink>]). This included looking back at teaching experiences and decisions made for lesson planning and delivering content during class time as well as the decisions we made for data collection and analysis. Reflexivity involved critical thinking examining our preconceptions about the object of study; in this case, best teaching practices when the learners are refugees ([<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref19">2</reflink>]). Critical thinking is also a factor when considering the cultural influences behind who we are ([<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref20">3</reflink>]). Qualitative research welcomes the examination and inclusion of the subjective. Since preconceived ideas exist prior to research, embracing them can become a strength ([<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref21">3</reflink>]). Doing so can make the research process transparent and trustworthy.</p> <hd id="AN0181945450-6">Positionality Statement</hd> <p>We are a Latina Spanish-English bilingual professor and researcher (Clarena) and a White, English monolingual, female doctoral student and former English literacy instructor (Shannon). We are both interested in language-culture teaching and research focusing on learners who are immigrants. Clarena has 26 years of experience teaching English to adults in Latin America and the United States. Shannon has 11 years of experience teaching English in a variety of contexts in the United States and China.</p> <p>We approached this project as an opportunity to learn about teaching practices that have potential to support the adaptation and integration processes of refugees. We believe in implementing an assets-based approach to teaching and learning, and we view immigrants and refugee learners as capable and talented human beings. We acknowledge that there is a tendency to view refugees as lacking or as being unhappy and misfortunate. However, we do not share such a point of view.</p> <p>[<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref22">18</reflink>] explains that in reflective case studies, "researchers explore their own unique situation and past experiences as a learning tool to problem solve in practice" (p. 6), in this case, reflecting back on the six years of English literacy teaching experience of Shannon working with refugees. At present she is a doctoral student and no longer teaching refugee learners. For this reason, a reflective case study methodology made sense. [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref23">3</reflink>] acknowledge the researcher's position and influence in the research context. The professional experiences, motivations, teaching philosophy, and roles of the researcher are influential conducting reflective case studies. Thus, our combined experience teaching English literacy to adult immigrants influenced the analysis and report of findings described in this article. We are not exempt from making mistakes teaching multicultural students and we do not know everything there is to provide effective language instruction to refugee learners. Reflecting back on her teaching practices, Shannon is able to acknowledge a gap in knowledge and awareness of the importance of approaching teaching from an assets-based point of view. In her words: "I could have done a better job planning the lessons for helping the learners on how to apply class content to their daily lives, but at the moment we were just learning English literacy and building sentences. I did not have the same level of awareness that I have today."</p> <hd id="AN0181945450-7">Data Collection</hd> <p>[<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref24">15</reflink>] identify six elements to guide reflective research. (<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref25">1</reflink>) Anecdotal data: recall relevant stories about the experience of interest. (<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref26">2</reflink>) Organizational data: describe aspects such as time, space, and resources utilized. (<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref27">3</reflink>) Methodological: relates to the identification of issues, hypothesis formulation, and design of activities. (<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref28">4</reflink>) Relational data: identify crucial moments when relationships and trust developed among participants. (<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref29">5</reflink>) Emotional: Offer testimonials regarding feelings that emerged during the event under analysis. (<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref30">6</reflink>) Acquired learning refers to the new knowledge acquired by the participants. These six elements served as guidelines for the data collection process documenting recollections teaching English literacy classes to refugee adult learners in an open enrollment program. It was important to keep a systematic account of facts and reflection entries to document the experience ([<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref31">15</reflink>]). Thus, journaling and interviews were the main data collection sources.</p> <hd id="AN0181945450-8">Journaling</hd> <p>Since Shannon was no longer teaching at the refugee English literacy program, keeping a reflective journal was helpful to generate fine-tuned, reflexive, qualitative data ([<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref32">20</reflink>]). Shannon wrote journal entries with examples and stories describing six years of accumulated knowledge teaching refugees. This was a semester-long practice to allow her enough time to think, write her recollections, examples, and follow [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref33">15</reflink>] steps to reflective research.</p> <hd id="AN0181945450-9">Interviews</hd> <p>Shannon participated in eight, twenty-minute storytelling interviews ([<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref34">5</reflink>]). Clarena asked Shannon open-ended questions to help her recall relevant narratives and generate raw data for the study. The storytelling approach to interviewing was helpful to collect substantial data through conversation in a fluid manner.</p> <hd id="AN0181945450-10">Thematic Analysis</hd> <p>The work of [<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref35">7</reflink>] guided the data analysis process. First, becoming familiar with the data involved continual reflection and conversation, reading and rereading the data. Second, codes were generated and associated with small chunks of relevant data. Third, several codes were clustered together to discover broad themes. Fourth, themes were reviewed and refined for data reduction. Fifth, the themes were assigned definitions and labels to capture the essence and wording from the data. The final step was writing the study report.</p> <hd id="AN0181945450-11">Findings</hd> <p>Analysis of the data uncovered five major themes. These are: (<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref36">1</reflink>) traumatic stress, (<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref37">2</reflink>) classroom dynamics, (<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref38">3</reflink>) active listening, (<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref39">4</reflink>) flexibility for teaching and learning, and (<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref40">5</reflink>) curriculum challenges.</p> <hd id="AN0181945450-12">Traumatic Stress</hd> <p>Trauma and stress were elements constantly present in the learners' lives and program participation. It manifested in various ways such as learning ability, grief and loss, anxiety, anger, fear, and sensitivity to noise and visual aids.</p> <p>Some African students presented specific trauma challenging their ability to learn. A lot of repetition was needed, more than usual. I attended a seminar on what trauma does to the adult brain; it helped me to be more empathetic and patient, to try other ways to present the same material to make sure there was lots of repetition in the lesson. Some students displayed a consistent inability to grasp basic language concepts. Difficulty holding a pencil, forming letters, drawing, and writing their name were common in African and Afghan students.</p> <p>In some instances, teachers and volunteers helped students hold a pen and create letters on paper. It was important for instructors to empathize with trauma-related learning difficulties. Traumatic stress was also present in the form of triggered emotions.</p> <p>I remember a student crying during the break. She had lost her husband...</p> <p>In general, the classroom environment provided positive experiences and was welcoming for the learners...some learners manifested a high level of anxiety and distress from an image used in class or an example in the lesson which struck a nerve...</p> <p>Any visual aid utilized for the lesson of the day can trigger bad memories and feelings of distress. Some students responded emotionally to shark or monster images. The students showed an outburst-like anger or fear. Thus, avoiding images that could be remotely disturbing is a must. Furthermore, as illustrated in the example below, hypervigilance is another marker of traumatic stress.</p> <p>For a period of time, a student was constantly alert regarding two male classmates. She complained they were making sexual advances toward women in class. The issue was brought up multiple times to me, other teachers, and administration. We all acted by listening to her and committing to watch for inappropriate behavior to take appropriate actions.</p> <p>Listening and being observant are good ways to support students who present symptoms of traumatic stress. The instructor will not always have the appropriate solutions to address the multiple issues that refugee students go through, but they can show empathy and respect. They can also help to identify resources and possible solutions.</p> <hd id="AN0181945450-13">Classroom Dynamics</hd> <p>Planning lessons to account for cultural differences, creating a classroom environment to help students feel accomplished, using a variety of images to disrupt stereotypes, and taking advantage of teacher authority contributed to creating a positive classroom dynamic.</p> <p>The learners had a range of motivations for being in class, mostly to get a job. When they felt successful in the classroom, they exhibited happiness, which is a sense of achievement at being able to build the language skills necessary to be a more desirable employee. Other students found learning fulfilling. Others found community among their classmates or in the program, and attending the program provided a sense of belonging and camaraderie.</p> <p>Coming to class involved more than improving English skills; it supported working towards acquiring job readiness skills, learning fulfillment, and socializing. Another finding relates to the importance of using images that represent a diverse range of people doing a variety of activities.</p> <p>Using pictures of people who looked like the students performing various work-related tasks was helpful. Some images challenged cultural gender norms, such as women fixing cars and men caring for children. Learners sometimes had no previous interaction with ethnic groups different from their own and exhibited inappropriate behavior (mocking others, excluding classmates) based on ethnicity...I used culturally diverse pictures of people interacting with each other...The images portrayed people doing everyday activities, working, performing house chores, or grocery shopping.</p> <p>Presenting diversity across gender roles and ethnicity through images and content embedded in the lesson promoted a safe, inclusive, and sometimes positively challenging learning environment. It was important to acknowledge basic differences between Eastern and Western cultures, particularly how the host culture is perceived. This awareness is especially important to avoid miscommunication. Another way to maintain a safe and inclusive environment was to utilize teacher authority:</p> <p>While teachers in American culture are not often seen as authoritative, they are respected as such in many cultures...When a group of students from one culture found themselves to be the majority in the classroom, they often took on a role of dominance. They would kick other students out of their seats to save seats for friends. Some would only partner up with students of the same culture and purposefully exclude others. As an authority in the classroom, I stopped this behavior in a respectful way.</p> <p>A strategy here is to facilitate cross-cultural interaction and promote trust. Compelling students to participate in learning with people from other cultures creates an opportunity for them to examine and accept or adopt new behaviors and viewpoints.</p> <hd id="AN0181945450-14">Active Listening</hd> <p>Showing interest in the learners as individuals, paying attention to learning preferences and need for socialization, treating them as adults and with respect are important aspects of teaching refugee learners. Active listening included "showing interest, providing feedback and encouragement, and helping students think through problem-solving. It involved asking questions about how they were doing at home and whether they felt safe in their daily lives." Active listening was also about how the instructor's response and behavior catered to student learning needs. For example, paying attention to students' learning preference:</p> <p>A challenge that learners frequently faced related to agency expressing their preferred learning styles and individual learning needs...They often insisted on writing down everything I wrote on the white board, even if the lesson was a listening practice.</p> <p>Treating the learners as adults and with respect was an intentional strategy: "lack of English language skills among students does not suggest lack of intelligence or capability, and certainly not inferiority." Content and facilitation should show respect to support student learning. Similarly, creating space for fellowship was helpful:</p> <p>I wanted to promote an English-speaking community both during the lessons and during the 30-minute tea-break. However, the program is made up of people who have experienced trauma, and it was also important that students could use the space to have valuable fellowship and make friends.</p> <p>Promoting respect for learners and supporting their learning and socialization needs illustrate active listening. Teaching English was not the only goal, helping the learners to adapt and find community were equally important.</p> <hd id="AN0181945450-15">Flexibility for Teaching and Learning</hd> <p>Flexibility included how languages are used in the classroom, accepting all accents and language varieties, as well as modeling respect for diversity. Thus, "the classroom was friendly to non-English speaking conversations. A good balance between learning English and allowing for valuable, safe conversations in other languages was important." Flexibility often required improvisational planning. For example, "learners often had to leave class to attend to their children crying inconsolably in childcare. Moving in and out of the classroom to care for children was necessary and accepted." This was not seen as an issue but as a human need to be addressed. Attendance was also fluid due to open enrollment, which meant not knowing who would be in class that day.</p> <p>It was important to have a central theme for a week's worth of lessons, but to include room for adjustment. Sometimes students with lower ability were the majority in a given day, sometimes it was those of higher ability, and lessons must be adapted.</p> <p>In addition, teaching about respecting and accepting diverse language accents and pronunciation was crucial:</p> <p>American English should not be given a higher status over English of other countries. When students corrected each other's accents, I explained that it's okay to pronounce words differently... I didn't correct my students' speech or show preference for saying a word one way or the other unless it was difficult to understand. I discouraged students from correcting each other's pronunciation when it was a matter of preference.</p> <p>Regarding language usage, a good balance can be to promote English-only conversation when oral practice is the focus and encourage using other languages when helping one another with the lesson. Shannon also reflected on the importance of having volunteers in the classroom or the virtual environment.</p> <p>Because classroom attendance was fluid and ability level varied vastly, some students could benefit from having a volunteer sit with them to explain and demonstrate following instructions, provide individualized assistance, and repeat class content for them. Coming to class is important; they will benefit from regular attendance.</p> <p>Having a volunteer to support their learning experience beyond what the teacher can provide can be a great benefit to refugee learners. However, this was not the case in her classes:</p> <p>I never felt confident using volunteers for lesson planning. Due to the fluid nature of enrollment, it was difficult to understand how to best use them as a resource. It was easier to let them assist when they took the initiative to support my class as they saw fitting. But it was difficult to plan in advance how to take advantage of their support.</p> <p>Even experienced instructors need mentoring on how to use all resources available to them. Giving up control of the teaching-learning situation is part of being flexible. However, this was not Shannon's strength.</p> <hd id="AN0181945450-16">Curriculum Challenges</hd> <p>There was not a curriculum readily available for teaching, only the MELT guidelines. The instructors created lesson-plans depending on who was present on a given day. Sometimes there were one or two students and sometimes there were fifty. Lessons had to be adapted, breaks were included for copies to be made, and volunteers were heavily relied upon to help the teachers. The MELT guidelines were intended to serve all types of learners regardless of proficiency level and cultural background. This in itself was a challenge since one size does not fit all:</p> <p>Instructors used different resources such as workbooks, books on grammar, vocabulary, reading, and writing practice for a wide-range of language levels. Most textbooks followed an agenda and had a particular learner in mind, which was not refugee learners.</p> <p>A variety of relevant and appropriately sensitive images that corresponded with exercises for the lessons were not available. However, "images were very important when teaching literacy and beginner levels where the learners depended on visual aids."</p> <p>The MELT did not provide guidance on how to teach the different language skills. However, writing was important for the learners. Upon registering for the program, they are provided pens, pencils, a notebook, and a binder, which they brought faithfully to class and used eagerly. The following is a description of how Shannon guided the writing practice:</p> <p>We built sentences on the board and in their notebooks. I guided them using grammar rules to create sentences. Inspiration came from images or from actions performed in class. For example, if students could identify certain aspects of a photograph, we would start with aspects they could articulate in English and build a whole sentence. This was also an opportunity to build vocabulary... We read the sentences together and individually to practice reading and pronunciation... spelling was a natural part of this process.</p> <p>This example points to the need for a curriculum that fulfills the teaching and learning needs for the refugee adult English literacy classroom. There was not an actual curriculum but a list of practical topics to be covered. The instructors must use their teaching experience to make decisions about lesson planning and best approaches to teaching refugees. They created the materials to support the lesson and followed their best judgment on how to teach to develop all language skills.</p> <hd id="AN0181945450-17">Discussion</hd> <p>To adapt to the host country and to participate in various areas of life (e.g., education, community, and democracy), refugee learners' instructional needs must be reconsidered to encompass their unique characteristics. Study findings revealed five major themes: Traumatic stress, classroom dynamics, active listening, flexibility for teaching and learning, and curriculum challenges.</p> <p>Regarding <emph>traumatic stress</emph>, as [<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref41">6</reflink>] explains, when people of refugee status are in the English class, they have been uprooted and have already migrated with extreme insecurity. This was evident in the narratives provided in the present article. The literature suggests that post-traumatic experiences such as forced migration and high levels of daily stressors are present in different settings of the learners' lives, including the language classroom ([<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref42">4</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref43">8</reflink>]). In particular, in the program described in this article, this manifested through emotional distress for some learners and learning difficulties for others.</p> <p>In relation to <emph>classroom dynamics</emph>, the social integration of refugees requires a positive state of mind to adapt and accept the host society without sacrificing their own cultural identity. Learners from diverse cultural backgrounds should foster a bond through continuous social interaction ([<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref44">17</reflink>]). Study findings highlighted the importance of challenging cultural tendencies (e.g., gender roles, discrimination, and inappropriate behaviors) to practicing acceptance of others as well as tolerance. The instructor can do this by purposefully partnering people with those who do not look like them to facilitate cross-cultural interaction.</p> <p>Instructors' professional competence has been directly linked with their perceptions of refugee behavior ([<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref45">9</reflink>]). Instructors who are more accepting of a multicultural classroom, and who have a higher view of their own teaching efficacy within this context, tend to perceive learner behaviors of any kind in a more positive way. Shannon did not have particular expectations about refugee learners' behaviors or knowledge base. She was learning on the go, similar to what the other instructors in the program were experiencing. Using a humanistic approach and an assets-based teaching style was relevant.</p> <p> <emph>Active listening</emph> meant learning about students' experiences, asking questions about their well-being, discovering their learning styles, treating them as capable adults, and promoting respect and support for all in the classroom. Regardless of where they come from, all students deserve to have their perspectives listened to and learning needs met; however, because of misconceptions and little knowledge about refugees and how to best support them, some may choose to not interact with or help refugees ([<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref46">17</reflink>]). Shannon was intentional when planning the lessons and interacting with the learners to get to know them and to create a community of learners where they supported each other's progress and found fellowship. The narratives provided in the article are not intended to depict her teaching style as flawless. Her efforts creating a safe and rewarding learning environment were serendipitous. However, reflecting back on her teaching experiences and examining existent literature to create this article allowed us to identify best teaching practices to share with other instructors.</p> <p>Existent literature does not address <emph>flexibility in teaching and learning</emph> the same way as it was illustrated in this article. For example, [<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref47">21</reflink>] highlights key influences on teachers' selection and use of materials to "include learners' preferences and learning needs, settlement needs, teachers' principles of practice, curriculum and assessment goals, and context constraints" (p. 68). Thus, the literature does not address specific issues teaching English literacy to refugees such as the importance of accepting all accents and language varieties, and modeling respect for diversity as being crucial elements of flexibility in teaching and learning. Lastly, availability of a relevant curriculum continues to be a challenge and a topic for future research. Study findings highlight the need to create a structure for lessons that could address these learners' unique needs and characteristics. Guidelines and a variety of resources on how to teach all language skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing, culture) to refugee learners with a wide range of proficiency levels (e.g., pre-literate or non-literate, beginner, and intermediate) are still needed.</p> <hd id="AN0181945450-18">Recommendations for Practice</hd> <p>It is important for instructors to serve as facilitators of learning and as community liaisons to engage every learner. To do this, acknowledge and utilize interpersonal strengths, compassion, and respect. Also recognize areas of professional weakness and look for ways to compensate for them. For example, to overcome language barriers employ translation apps and interpreters, and be patient and persistent. Keep in mind that good communication takes time. In addition, in larger classes, make good use of program volunteers; they can provide individual attention to the learners and support their specific learning needs. Acknowledge that personal biases exist and have a good disposition to receive feedback from both colleagues and learners. Lastly, because instructors are not counselors, do not expect to know what to do in all precarious and trauma-related situations. However, identify resources to consult and to whom to direct learners.</p> <p>Administrators and program directors play an important role improving the teaching conditions and program offerings for refugee adult learners. They can allocate a budget to purchase appropriate teaching materials and to pay for lesson planning time so that teachers invest time to identify relevant teaching resources. Administrators and program directors can also apply for grant money to address program needs. They can encourage teachers to participate in formal and informal professional development opportunities such as conferences, webinars, and peer mentoring.</p> <hd id="AN0181945450-19">Conclusion</hd> <p>This reflective case study documented the experiences of a literacy instructor, the second author of the article, teaching English to refugee adult learners in an open enrollment program. The article presented examples of specific trauma that refugee learners exhibited while participating in the program and the effects on the instruction process. Classroom dynamics presented the need for awareness of cultural diversity and the motivations refugees have for learning the language. The importance of showing interest, asking appropriate questions, and providing encouragement and support were crucial aspects teaching refugees. Flexibility for teaching and learning illustrated instances when the instructor modeled respect for diversity and encouraged learners to be respectful and supportive of each other. Lastly, curriculum challenges described the need for a specialized curriculum to serve the unique learning needs of refugees. Shannon shared her experiences as an English literacy instructor and recognized where there was room for improvement in her teaching. A reflective research method can help teachers to also act as researchers by keeping records of their practice and journaling about their experiences teaching and interacting with refugee learners. Generating this data will provide tangible evidence for self-examination and professional growth. Hopefully, the article will inspire adult educators to engage in reflective practice to enrich their teaching.</p> <hd id="AN0181945450-20">ORCID iD</hd> <p>Clarena Larrotta https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0121-8226</p> <ref id="AN0181945450-21"> <title> References </title> <blist> <bibl id="bib1" idref="ref1" type="bt">1</bibl> <bibtext> Abou-Khalil V., Helou S., Flanagan B., Pinkwart N., Ogata H. (2019). Language learning tool for refugees: Identifying the language learning needs of Syrian refugees through participatory design. Language, 4(71), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4030071</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib2" idref="ref2" type="bt">2</bibl> <bibtext> Alvesson M., Sköldberg K. (2000). Reflexive methodology: New vistas for qualitative research. Sage.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib3" idref="ref5" type="bt">3</bibl> <bibtext> Barrett A., Kajamaa A., Johnston J. (2020). How to. be reflexive when conducting qualitative research. 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TESOL in Context, 21(1), 59–77.</bibtext> </blist> </ref> <ref id="AN0181945450-22"> <title> Footnotes </title> <blist> <bibtext> The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.</bibtext> </blist> </ref> <aug> <p>By Clarena Larrotta and Shannon D. Ture</p> <p>Reported by Author; Author</p> <p></p> <p>Clarena Larrotta is a full professor in Adult, Professional, and Community Education at Texas State University.</p> <p>Shannon D. Ture is a doctoral student in Adult, Professional, and Community Education at Texas State University.</p> </aug> <nolink nlid="nl1" bibid="bib14" firstref="ref8"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl2" bibid="bib13" firstref="ref9"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl3" bibid="bib16" firstref="ref11"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl4" bibid="bib19" firstref="ref15"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl5" bibid="bib12" firstref="ref16"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl6" bibid="bib10" firstref="ref17"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl7" bibid="bib11" firstref="ref18"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl8" bibid="bib18" firstref="ref22"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl9" bibid="bib15" firstref="ref24"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl10" bibid="bib20" firstref="ref32"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl11" bibid="bib17" firstref="ref44"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl12" bibid="bib21" firstref="ref47"></nolink> |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Reflective Case Study of a Literacy Instructor Teaching English to Refugee Adult Learners – Name: Language Label: Language Group: Lang Data: English – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Clarena+Larrotta%22">Clarena Larrotta</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0121-8226">0000-0002-0121-8226</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Shannon+D%2E+Ture%22">Shannon D. Ture</searchLink> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Adult+Learning%22"><i>Adult Learning</i></searchLink>. 2025 36(1):38-48. – Name: Avail Label: Availability Group: Avail Data: SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com – Name: PeerReviewed Label: Peer Reviewed Group: SrcInfo Data: Y – Name: Pages Label: Page Count Group: Src Data: 11 – Name: DatePubCY Label: Publication Date Group: Date Data: 2025 – Name: TypeDocument Label: Document Type Group: TypDoc Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research – Name: Audience Label: Education Level Group: Audnce Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Adult+Education%22">Adult Education</searchLink> – Name: Subject Label: Descriptors Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22English+Language+Learners%22">English Language Learners</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Refugees%22">Refugees</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Adult+Learning%22">Adult Learning</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Adult+Education%22">Adult Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Literacy+Education%22">Literacy Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Case+Studies%22">Case Studies</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Reflection%22">Reflection</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teaching+Experience%22">Teaching Experience</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22English+Teachers%22">English Teachers</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Adult+Programs%22">Adult Programs</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Adult+Literacy%22">Adult Literacy</searchLink> – Name: Subject Label: Geographic Terms Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Texas%22">Texas</searchLink> – Name: DOI Label: DOI Group: ID Data: 10.1177/10451595241235699 – Name: ISSN Label: ISSN Group: ISSN Data: 1045-1595<br />2162-4070 – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: The United States has been the global leader resettling refugees since the 1970s; its resettlement program is the largest in the world. The state of Texas has a high number of admissions and longstanding refugee programs which makes it a strategic site for research. This article reports findings of a reflective case study within an open enrollment literacy program in Central Texas. It describes the experiences of a literacy instructor teaching English to refugee adult learners for six years. The research questions guiding the study are: (1) what are the experiences of a literacy instructor teaching English to refugee adult learners? and (2) what can other English language instructors transfer from this reflective case study to their classroom settings when teaching refugee learners? To document the case study, it was important to keep a systematic account of facts and reflection. Thus, the instructor kept a reflective journal for a semester and participated in a series of conversational storytelling interviews to generate data for the study. Thematic analysis procedures guided the data analysis process and allowed for identifying five major themes to report study findings. These are: (1) traumatic stress, (2) classroom dynamics, (3) active listening, (4) flexibility for teaching and learning, and (5) curriculum challenges. Study findings provide examples and narratives that can be useful to practitioners interested in this topic. This article is an invitation to instructors of adult refugee language learners to engage in reflection and become more aware of their teaching practices. – Name: AbstractInfo Label: Abstractor Group: Ab Data: As Provided – Name: DateEntry Label: Entry Date Group: Date Data: 2025 – Name: AN Label: Accession Number Group: ID Data: EJ1455309 |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1177/10451595241235699 Languages: – Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 11 StartPage: 38 Subjects: – SubjectFull: English Language Learners Type: general – SubjectFull: Refugees Type: general – SubjectFull: Adult Learning Type: general – SubjectFull: Adult Education Type: general – SubjectFull: Literacy Education Type: general – SubjectFull: Case Studies Type: general – SubjectFull: Reflection Type: general – SubjectFull: Teaching Experience Type: general – SubjectFull: English Teachers Type: general – SubjectFull: Adult Programs Type: general – SubjectFull: Adult Literacy Type: general – SubjectFull: Texas Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Reflective Case Study of a Literacy Instructor Teaching English to Refugee Adult Learners Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Clarena Larrotta – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Shannon D. Ture IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 02 Type: published Y: 2025 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 1045-1595 – Type: issn-electronic Value: 2162-4070 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 36 – Type: issue Value: 1 Titles: – TitleFull: Adult Learning Type: main |
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