Research Presentation by Jenna Altherr Flores: How Refugee-Background Adult Second Language Learners with Emerging Literacy or Interrupted Education Make Meaning

Abstract: Many refugee- and immigrant-background adult second language learners are becoming literate while simultaneously learning the language their literacy is manifesting in. In addition to traditional forms of literacy (phonics, handwriting, letter knowledge, etc.), their visual and multimodal literacy is also emerging. This talk discusses how refugee-background adults with emerging literacy or interrupted education construct meaning from multimodal texts, in particular in-house English language and literacy assessments. Many materials designed for beginning English language learners rely heavily on visual cues, and thus knowledge of how diverse populations make meaning from multimodal texts is crucial for designing tests and other materials that claim to support learning. Utilizing a critical multimodal social semiotic approach, the research examined how these learners engage with learning materials, and how assessment practices may be inadvertently biased against individuals with no or vastly different literacy experiences.

About Jenna Altherr Flores: Jenna Altherr Flores’s research takes a critical approach to language and literacy testing, teaching, and materials design to investigate how students make meaning in texts, and to examine issues of power and ideology. Her research particularly focuses on refugee- and immigrant-background adult second language learners with emerging literacy or interrupted education. Her work has been published in The International Journal of Multilingualism, Critical Multilingualism Studies, The European Journal of Applied Linguistics and TEFL, and the Literacy Education and Second Language Learning for Adults (LESLLA) proceedings. She is on the LESLLA board of directors, was a prior chair of TESOL International’s Refugee Concerns Interest Section, and is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Belize).