Attachment Theory in Relation to Literacy/Reading Acquisition for Immigrants, Refugees, and the Disenfranchised

Abstract

The increase in immigrant, refugee and disenfranchised children in education is growing exponentially, and therefore, causing a demand for understanding the reasons that marginalized children are struggling to succeed within the current educational system. One response to this academic quandary is, as the research suggests, that attachment to the caregiver is a vital platform for all child development and learning Bowlby (1958). Another proposition is that attachment theory premises can be used to identify if and how attachment to a parent impacts attachment to literature and literacy development, which directly affects academic achievement. The association between attachment to the caregiver and a child’s attachment to literature among Anglo-Germanic groups (Van Ijzendoorn, 1996) has been studied, and the results demonstrate a direct correlation between the rapport with the caregiver and literacy acquisition and reading readiness. The link between attachment and literacy/reading acquisition as a cognitive phenomenon has not yet been studied among children that comprise immigrant, refugee, and disenfranchised children, and therefore, is the hypothetical imperative for recommended research.