Abstract
The arrival of increasing numbers of refugee students with a background of trauma and disrupted education in Australian schools has presented new challenges for schools. This paper describes a Literacy Transition Pilot Program (LTPP) that was designed as an intervention for 11 Sudanese students entering secondary schools in Sydney who were considered ‘at risk’. The LTTP was conducted in an Intensive English Centre (IEC) and required significant modification of existing institutional practices, curriculum content and teaching strategies. The paper reports on a case study within the LTPP of student outcomes and discusses some implications for school systems as well as classroom teachers. While ESL instruction has traditionally focussed on developing English language skills, it is clear that in the case of refugee children, schools also have to create a supportive environment to promote well-being, address gaps in cognitive skills, concepts of literacy and understandings about the world.
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Cranitch, M. Developing language and literacy skills to support refugee students in the transition from primary to secondary school. AJLL 33, 255–267 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03651838
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03651838