Looking beyond Language: An Examination of College Literacy Readiness of Students from Refugee Backgrounds

Abstract

ABSTRACT For people who have experienced forced migration, postsecondary education provides a way to look forward instead of backward. Despite a high prevalence of college aspirations, refugee-background students are often considered not college-ready. The goal of this study was to understand the literacy practices that refugee-background students used to navigate the literacy expectations of a college program. This article reports findings from a case study with six focal students enrolled in a connected learning program. I uncovered strategies that were indicative of highly proficient readers including posing guiding questions, building schemata, intertextuality, and metacognitive awareness. However, I found little indication that participants evaluated online resources. I discuss these findings in relation to current understandings of college readiness and offer recommendations for institutions of higher education.