Language, Culture, and Instruction in the Classroom: An Exploratory Study of Educators of Refugee Students

Author(s):  
Rina R. Bousalis ◽  
Eileen N.Whelan Ariza ◽  
Susanne I. Lapp
Refuge ◽  
1996 ◽  
pp. 9-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Yau

This is an abridged version of a full report entitled Refuge Students in Toronto Schools: An Exploratory Study. The report, which was released by the Toronto Board of Education in 1995, (1) discusses the situation of refugee students in Toronto schools, (2) examines how school staff dealt with the change in student population and the challenges they faced, and (3) suggests ways to help teachers, schools and the school system meet the needs of the newly arrived refugee students. While this article captures most of the major findings of the study, a considerable amount of details contained in the full report-for example, some of the statistics, case studies, anecdotes collected from refugee students and parents, and specific programs and suggestions-are omitted in order to accommodate the length requirement of this publication. Readers who are interested in the detailed study can contact the Research and Assessment Department of the Toronto Board of Education.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-130
Author(s):  
Raúl Rojas ◽  
Farzan Irani

Purpose This exploratory study examined the language skills and the type and frequency of disfluencies in the spoken narrative production of Spanish–English bilingual children who do not stutter. Method A cross-sectional sample of 29 bilingual students (16 boys and 13 girls) enrolled in grades prekindergarten through Grade 4 produced a total of 58 narrative retell language samples in English and Spanish. Key outcome measures in each language included the percentage of normal (%ND) and stuttering-like (%SLD) disfluencies, percentage of words in mazes (%MzWds), number of total words, number of different words, and mean length of utterance in words. Results Cross-linguistic, pairwise comparisons revealed significant differences with medium effect sizes for %ND and %MzWds (both lower for English) as well as for number of different words (lower for Spanish). On average, the total percentage of mazed words was higher than 10% in both languages, a pattern driven primarily by %ND; %SLDs were below 1% in both languages. Multiple linear regression models for %ND and %SLD in each language indicated that %MzWds was the primary predictor across languages beyond other language measures and demographic variables. Conclusions The findings extend the evidence base with regard to the frequency and type of disfluencies that can be expected in bilingual children who do not stutter in grades prekindergarten to Grade 4. The data indicate that %MzWds and %ND can similarly index the normal disfluencies of bilingual children during narrative production. The potential clinical implications of the findings from this study are discussed.


1997 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 371-377
Author(s):  
Wendy Zernike ◽  
Tracie Corish ◽  
Sylvia Henderson

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