Karen Refugee-Background Students’ Exploration of Linguistic and Cultural Identities Through Multimodal Creative Artwork

Abstract

When refugee-background students begin formal schooling in the U.S. system, they are expected to adapt and learn, often losing touch with their home language and culture. This qualitative case study examined how Karen refugee-background students in an elementary immersion classroom explored their linguistic and cultural identities through multimodal creative artwork. The participants were two second-grade Karen refugee-background students at a Korean immersion school: Minnie and Nari. Data were collected and analyzed through students’ artwork, classroom observations, and interviews. Findings illustrate that while Minnie displayed strong linguistic and cultural affiliation and identities as a Karen speaker learning English and Korean, Nari, influenced by positive school experiences, found her linguistic and cultural identities as an English speaker who was learning Karen and Korean languages and cultures. This study gives insight into Karen refugee-background students’ experience in an elementary immersion classroom and the importance of identity exploration.

Keywords

• karen students
• refugee-background students
• linguistic and cultural identities
• multimodality
• student artwork