Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

“We Were Taught English Using Nepali”: Bhutanese-Nepali Youths Reflecting on Their Prior Literacy Experiences in Negotiating Academic Literacies in a US University

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Refugee Education across the Lifespan

Part of the book series: Educational Linguistics ((EDUL,volume 50))

  • 725 Accesses

Abstract

While UNHCR estimates there are approximately 26 million refugees globally, only 1% of them have access to higher education. In US higher education, number of refugee-background students is often not tracked as they tend to be lumped together with other domestic students. While we do have some studies that explore transition and acculturation issues, studies that focus on academic literacy experiences of students with refugee-backgrounds are still low. As part of a bigger longitudinal study, which explored literacy challenges and negotiations of such students, this chapter discusses the need for understanding students’ prior views and literacy experiences in designing effective pedagogical practices so that such academically underprepared students also can succeed in higher education.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    I am using this term in the sense my participants used it, i.e. interchangeably with literacy education they received in refugee camps.

References

  • Banki, S. (2008). Resettlement of the Bhutanese from Nepal: The durable solution discourse. In H. Adelman (Ed.), Protracted displacement in Asia: No place to call home (pp. 29–55). Ashgate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baynham, M., & Prinsloo, M. (2009). The future of literacy studies. Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bazeley, P. (2013). Qualitative data analysis: Practical strategies. Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brandt, D., & Clinton, K. (2002). Limits of the local: Expanding perspectives on literacy as a social practice. Journal of Literacy Research, 34, 337–356. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15548430jlr3403_4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, T. (2001). Improving quality and attainment in refugee schools: The case of the Bhutanese refugees in Nepal. In J. Crisp, C. Talbot, & D. Cipollone (Eds.), Learning for a future: Refugee education in developing countries (pp. 109–161). UNHCR.

    Google Scholar 

  • Callahan, R. M. (2005). Tracking and high school English learners: Limiting opportunity to learn. American Educational Research Journal, 42(2), 305–328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dhakal, D. N. S., & Strawn, C. (1994). Bhutan: A movement in exile. Nirala Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duff, P. (2001). Language, literacy, content, and (pop) culture: Challenges for ESL students in mainstream courses. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 58(1), 103–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duran, C. S. (2017). Language and literacy in refugee families. Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Giordano, J. B., & Hasse, H. (2016). Unpredictable journeys: Academically at-risk students, developmental education reform, and the two-year college. Teaching English in the Two Year College, 43(4), 371–390.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirano, E. (2011). Refugees negotiating academic literacies in first-year college: Challenges, strategies, and resources. Doctoral dissertation. Retrieved from http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/alesl_diss/18/

  • Holliday, A. (2010). Analysing qualitative data. In B. Paltridge & A. Phakiti (Eds.), Continuum companion to research methods in applied linguistics (pp. 98–110). Continuum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutt, M. (2003). Unbecoming citizens: Culture, nationhood, and the flight of refugees from Bhutan. Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johns, A. M. (1997). Text, role, and context: Developing academic literacies. Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kafle, M. (2019). Negotiating academic literacy in mobility: Undergraduate refugee students’ challenges in US higher education. Doctoral dissertation. Retrieved from https://etda.libraries.psu.edu/catalog/17397mpk198

  • Kanno, Y. (2018). High-performing English learners’ limited access to four-year college. Teachers College Record, 120(4), 1–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kanno, Y., & Harklau, L. (Eds.). (2012). Linguistic minority students go to college: Preparation, access, and persistence. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kanno, Y., & Kangas, S. E. (2014). “I’m not going to be, like, for the AP” English language learners’ limited access to advanced college-preparatory courses in high school. American Educational Research Journal, 51(5), 848–878.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kanno, Y., & Varghese, M. M. (2010). Immigrant and refugee ESL students’ challenges to accessing four-year college education: From language policy to educational policy. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 9(5), 310–328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kanu, Y. (2008). Educational needs and barriers for African refugee students in Manitoba. Canadian Journal of Education, 31(4), 915–940.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kell, C. (2017). Traveling texts, translocal/transnational literacies, and transcontextual analysis. In A. S. Canagarajah (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of migration and language (pp. 413–430). Routledge.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lam, W. S. E., & Warriner, D. S. (2012). Transnationalism and literacy: Investigating the mobility of people, languages, texts, and practices in contexts of migration. Reading Research Quarterly, 47(2), 191–215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lea, M. R., & Street, B. V. (2006). The “academic literacies” model: Theory and applications. Theory Into Practice, 45(4), 368–377.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leki, I., Cumming, A., & Silva, T. (2008). A synthesis of research on second language writing in English. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leung, C., & Lewkowicz, J. (2017). Second language academic literacies: Evolving understandings. In B. V. Street & S. May (Eds.), Literacies and language education, encyclopedia of language and education (3rd ed., pp. 169–180). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02252-9_14

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lillis, T. (2014). Academic Literacies. In C. Leung & B. V. Street (Eds.), The Routledge companion to English studies (pp. 361–374). Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lillis, T., & Scott, M. (2007). Defining academic literacies research: Issues of epistemology, ideology and strategy. Journal of Applied Linguistics, 4(1), 5–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Montero, K. M. (2018). Narratives of trauma and self-healing processes in a literacy program for adolescent refugee newcomers. In S. Shapiro, R. Farrelly, & M. J. Curry (Eds.), Educating refugee-background students: Critical issues and dynamic contexts (pp. 92–106). Multilingual Matters.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Nordquist, B. (2017). Literacy and mobility: Complexity, uncertainty, and agency at the nexus of high school and college. Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ortmeier-Hooper, C. (2008). English may be my second language, but I’m not ‘ESL’. College Composition and Communication, 59(3), 389–419.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ortmeier-Hooper, C., & Ruecker, T. (Eds.). (2017). Linguistically diverse immigrant and resident writers: Transitions from high school to college. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pulla, V. (Ed.). (2016). The Lhotsampa people of Bhutan: Resilience and survival. Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pulla, V., & Dahal, P. (2016). Life in refugee camps. In V. Pulla (Ed.), The Lhotsampa people of Bhutan: Resilience and survival (pp. 31–45). Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reyes, A. R. F. (2013). Journeys to transformation: South Sudanese refugees negotiate community college education in Massachusetts. Doctoral dissertation. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.umb.edu/doctoral_dissertations/120/

  • Sharma, M. (2016). Presentation on Bhutanese Refugees as part of Welcoming refugees: Policy and personal perspectives. Interdisciplinary Roundtable on Immigration, Penn State, April 22. Retrieved from http://mediasite.dsl.psu.edu/Mediasite/Play/eef38b8a75a942c88009e2c016fbea9e1d

  • Taylor, S., & Sidhu, R. K. (2012). Supporting refugee students in schools: What constitutes inclusive education? International Journal of Inclusive Education, 16(1), 39–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tervo, R. (2017). Purpose and resilience: The experience of Burmese refugees in US higher education. Master of Arts in Higher Education Theses, 85. Retrieved from https://pillars.taylor.edu/mahe/85/

  • Wingate, U. (2015). Academic literacy and student diversity: The case for inclusive practice. Multilingual Matters.

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Madhav Kafle

Authors
  1. Madhav Kafle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Madhav Kafle .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of English, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    Doris S. Warriner

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Kafle, M. (2021). “We Were Taught English Using Nepali”: Bhutanese-Nepali Youths Reflecting on Their Prior Literacy Experiences in Negotiating Academic Literacies in a US University. In: Warriner, D.S. (eds) Refugee Education across the Lifespan. Educational Linguistics, vol 50. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79470-5_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79470-5_7

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-79469-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-79470-5

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation