Multicultural Books Research Articles

Preservice teachers’ reflections on teacher self-identities through a multicultural children’s literature project

Abstract This study examined how 44 preservice teachers reflected on their teacher self-identities through exploring multicultural children’s books, which are published in different time periods, with a focus of analyzing characterization of main characters. The researcher collected data, including a multicultural book project, pre- and post-surveys on multicultural children’s literature and teacher identities, and a reflection paper. Data analysis consisted of looking for and coding emergent themes. The findings of the study showed that preservice teachers analyzed multicultural books from authentic perspectives, focused on how the authors used appropriate language, and examined trends in cultural details and illustrations published in different time periods. They analyzed characteristics of main characters by parsing the facts, by examining the context of the story, and by examining the personalities of main characters. They also refined their teacher identities and strengthened their commitment to become culturally responsive teachers by reflecting on the importance of equity, diversity, and inclusion and embedding high-quality multicultural children’s books into the curriculum. Implications and recommendations are also shared.

Reading Between the Lines in Discussing Multicultural Books for Children: Preliminary Results

ABSTRACTSelecting multicultural books for children is very important because multicultural literature helps children understand the issues of cultural diversity and gender biases. This study is a part of a larger research project that aims to build a culture‐rich environment in organizing and selecting books for children. In this study, we investigate whether the sentiments in online reviews of children's multicultural literature would represent readers’ opinions on the books and whether readers’ positive, negative, or neutral attitudes would be directly associated with the overall ratings of books. The preliminary results show that the review rating scores did not accurately indicate readers’ minds in discussing books. This study has an implication of increasing awareness of the ethnic or racial minority themes in children's literature by uncovering readers’ minds in discussing children's multicultural books.

Thinker, Learner, and Practitioner: Using an Insider’s Lens to Explore Critical, Cultural, and Global Consciousness Through Multicultural Literature

Literacy research highlights a need to explore the way literacy is used in the classroom and how current practices engage students with aspects of humanity and social justice. This doctoral research took place as a classroom inquiry that examined the potential for multicultural literature to expand adolescent learners’ worldviews and shape their perceptions as global citizens. From a constant stance of reflexivity, this teacher researcher recalls a dynamic eighth-grade language arts classroom as they engaged with multicultural books and real-life events, before and during a pandemic. This paper focuses on select themes and subthemes emerging from pedagogical practices used in the classroom throughout the study. Notions of time, space, place, and identity detail an intentional and purposeful pedagogy as learners interacted with literacy within and beyond their classroom community.

“She Looks Like Me”: Putting High-Quality Multicultural Literature in Children’s Hands During COVID-19

ABSTRACT Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, children, families, and educators faced unprecedented challenges that disproportionally impacted racially/ethnically diverse, low-income communities due to long-standing health system, socioeconomic, and educational inequities. With closures of schools, libraries, and child-care centers, many children were disconnected from the community and did not have access to books. Parents’ and educators’ concerns centered around children falling behind academically and socially. Therefore, in partnership with an afterschool center, we purchased and distributed 410 high-quality, multicultural books to children and families. Case study design explored: (1) how this access to multicultural books influenced the CARC children’s home-based literacy experiences and their responses to the texts; and (2) the challenges of parents/caregivers in supporting their child’s literacy needs during a global crisis. We described how we selected high-quality multicultural literature book sets. We identified three themes: (1) enjoyment, appreciation, and learning; (2) relevance of multicultural literature to children’s lives and identities; (3) difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through this collaboration, we increased access to multicultural books for children living in a low-socioeconomic and African American community. Our book distribution project positively impacted the children and families in this underserved community.

A Korean immigrant child’s identity negotiation in multicultural book club and critical dialogue as third space

ABSTRACT This study investigates how a Korean immigrant child in the United States negotiates a sense of herself through the participation in a multicultural book club and critical dialogues in an out-of-school setting. Using the lens of third space, it explores how the 7-year-old girl reveals and negotiates conflicting thoughts and ideas about her multiple identities. The research data include field notes of book club meetings and critical dialogues, transcripts of audio recordings of book discussion and critical dialogues, and the child’s journal entries and written artifacts. The interpretive data analysis reveals that the child brought her own understanding of herself and others based on pro-Eurocentrism to the literacy activities. However, the self-assigned identity was constantly challenged by the book club members. Based on the findings, the study discusses the potential of literacy as a catalyst for children’s negotiation of conflicting selves. It also offers pedagogical implications for literacy practice for Asian children and their identity negotiation.

A trilingual Asian-American child’s encounters with conflicting selves in the figured worlds of a multicultural book club

ABSTRACT This study explores a Japanese-Korean-English trilingual Asian-American child’s identity negotiation in a multicultural book club. Drawing upon the conception of figured world (Holland et al. 1998. Identity and Agency in Cultural Worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press), it investigates how the book club as a space of authorship offers the 9-year-old girl of migrants opportunities to negotiate her multiple identities while responding to the books and interacting with the book club members. The weekly multicultural book club was held in a local public library for 34 weeks. The data included field notes of the book club sessions, transcripts of the book discussions, interviews with the child’s mother, and the child’s journal entries. The data were analysed on a weekly/monthly basis with interpretative approaches. The findings revealed that the child appreciated diversity and fortified her identity as an activist self who stood against social practice that marginalised people from different backgrounds. However, the identity was questioned and challenged by the book club members. The book club pushed her into a space where she encountered different perspectives and negotiated conflicting identities.

Dual-language Books

This article focuses on dual-language children’s books and their role as multicultural documents which establish a fruitful dialogic relationship between the cultural identities they represent. By means of a theoretic framework based on Translation Studies, and of a descriptive approach, the analytical part of the article takes into account the main characteristics of a text corpus selected from three different collections by Sinnos, one of the most important Italian publishing houses specialising in multicultural books.

Breaking Barriers with Student-Centred Teaching and Learning using Library Books in the United States' Poorest Schools

An analysis of a random sample of the 2930 applications for library books to a private U.S. Foundation from schools having 75% or more of students on free or reduced lunch identifies characteristics of these poorest schools and demonstrates how they would use the newly acquired books in relation to student and collection needs. Results reveal the impact of national and state legislation, the widespread use of the Accelerated Reader System, and the need for bilingual and multicultural books. These libraries appear more focused on improving student achievement test scores than on promoting general information literacy.

Critical literacy practices with bilingual immigrant children: multicultural book club in an out-of-school context

ABSTRACT This study investigates how and to what extent critical literacy activities in an out-of-school context serves as a space for bilingual immigrant children in the United States to solve their conflicts and challenges in life. Using the contextual format of a multicultural book club and a critical dialogue, the qualitative case study discusses the children's experiences with critical literacy practices for 19 weeks. The data include field notes on book club meetings and critical dialogues, transcripts of book discussion, and written artefacts they produced in the book club. The data were analysed on a weekly/monthly basis with interpretative approaches. The findings showed that the focal student, a seven-year-old immigrant girl, consciously or subconsciously revealed her conflicts and struggles with the book club members by sharing her thoughts, ideas, and feelings about the multicultural books and her lived experiences. Notably, when the conflicts and struggles were shared in the book club, the book club members built a coalition and helped her to resolve them.

Auckland libraries as a multicultural bridge in New Zealand

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to explore how immigrant library users view Auckland Libraries as a multicultural bridge in New Zealand. The research explored the various factors keeping different cultures apart in the New Zealand socio cultural systems and to find out the gaps in the provision of multicultural services in Auckland public libraries. The study also discusses the specific roles Auckland public libraries play in the development of multiculturalism in New Zealand from the perspective of immigrant users.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a qualitative research approach. Semi-structured interviews conducted with 15 participants including five library staff members and ten users of the Auckland library. Thematic analysis (qualitative data analysis, where data is grouped into themes) was used for data analysis.FindingsParticipants perceive that the Auckland Library had an advantage over other citizen service institutions in the development and services of multiculturalism in New Zealand. The participants understand that language, cultural background, beliefs and values are some of the causes of gaps between different ethnic groups, and only by learning from each other can groups enhance mutual understanding between them. The services and programs Auckland Library offer to immigrant enable various interactions among different cultural groups and enhance learning from one another to facilitate their integration into the New Zealand society. The findings show that Auckland public libraries have some gaps in multicultural services. In particular, there are more than 200 different ethnicities in Auckland, but the Auckland library's website does not have the function of a multilingual search tab service, lacks a multicultural book collection and some of the existing collections of books are of low quality, low literary value and so on. The study suggests that these issues need to be improved.Research limitations/implicationsThis was small-scale research involving the perspectives of only 15 participants. Nevertheless, the findings provide constructive insight into the development of multicultural services in Auckland libraries that can serve as a useful basis for a broader exploration of more immigrant groups in Auckland and New Zealand as a whole.Practical implicationsThe results of this research will provide valuable information for the Auckland libraries to have a better plan for multicultural services in the future. The findings will also serve as a reference for improving multicultural services in the Auckland libraries.Originality/valueAlthough other studies have looked at immigrants’ behavior and perception on various issues in New Zealand, this study is the first to look at how different immigrant groups percept Auckland libraries as a multicultural bridge to help integrate them.

Exploring multicultural books through predictions and social interactions: A case study with kindergarteners in the United States

Although previous studies have underlined the importance of social interactions, multicultural education, prediction/imagination, and bilingual/bi-literacy learning, the intersection of all these four areas is yet to be explored. This qualitative case study explored how young bilingual readers create meanings and develop literary responses through prediction, imagination, and social interaction while reading multicultural literature. As part of a larger longitudinal study, this study focused on kindergarten-age Korean-English bilingual children at a Korean Language School in a Midwestern city in the United States. The data were collected over five months using audio/video recordings, open-ended interviews, and children’s artifacts. The findings suggest that creative participation and social interactions using two languages help young bilingual readers to engage deeply with the reading and encourage multiple perspectives.

Rewiring Empathy: The Value of Multicultural Literature in the Classroom

Reading multicultural novels cultivates empathy for diverse people, cultures, and environments in ways that Internet use cannot. The act of reading fictional books has been shown to increase the capacity for empathy in the reader. Internet use, by contrast, has been shown to reduce students’ ability to remember, concentrate, and engage in the deep reading and contemplation activity that develops empathy. Empathy is vital to our global future. Hate crimes are increasing in the United States, United Kingdom, and elsewhere; worldwide, the number of political and climate-change refugees is increasing and the biodiversity of other species is declining. Addressing these problems requires an increase in human empathy and cooperation. Therefore multicultural books are vital to preparing students for our changing world. It is up to schools to discover, acquire, and prioritize multicultural books in the classroom.

Teaching English-Spanish cognate-recognition strategies through the Américas Book Award-winners and honor picture books

ABSTRACTCognates are words that are the same or nearly the same orthographically and semantically in English and Spanish. The majority of the more than 20,000 cognates are academic vocabulary words comprised of Latin and Greek roots and affixes. Several thousand cognates can be found in the picture books that have earned the Américas Book Award, which was established to honor quality multicultural books that portray Latino cultures in a positive light. The authors present lessons for teaching primary school Latino ELLs about cognates through the Américas Award picture books, as they educate their students about their rich Latino cultures.

‘다문화’ 표제 및 소개어가 담긴 어린이 도서 분석

This study analyzed multicultural books for children to identify the types of multicultural books for children are published and the characteristics they have in common. The samples analyzed are 325 multicultural books for children in Children's Public Library of Seoul and National Library for Children and Young Adults. The findings showed that there were many different types of multicultural books published for children audiences including information books, folk tales, social issues books, study books and so on. Yet, over 70 percent of the books did not discuss the problems and difficulties that today's immigrant workers and international marriage couples face everyday. Even books that discuss issues related to multiculturalism or multicultural education focused only on general issues such as tolerance and harmony between immigrants and native South Koreans rather than problematizing sensitive issues such as illegal immigrants. Many also showed possibilities of creating and perpetuating prejudice and stereotypes about immigrants as less smart, less desirable, and less able.

Research Roundup: Diversity through International Youth Literature

What Is International Youth Literature? Why Does It Matter?International youth literature—translated books and English-language imports first published outside of the United States—can be the missing link in diversifying collections. Our diversity discussions tend to focus on multicultural literature that is originally published in the United States. At first glance diverse books from here and abroad can seem indistinguishable since they may have a similar focus or setting—that is, by race, ethnicity, ability, socioeconomic status, etc.—so it is not surprising that international books are often mistaken for multicultural books. Sometimes only a close look will reveal that a book has been translated or was first published in English abroad. Reading international youth literature moves us to the margins for a change and is an opportunity to see what the rest of the world thinks. By paying attention to this literature, we broaden our perspectives and validate international voices.

La interculturalitat a la literatura infantil i juvenil catalana

Abstract: This paper analyses the multiculturalism in children’s and young people’s literature written in Catalan between 2002 and 2006, a period when there was a marked increase in immigration and the debate about intercultural education became more intense. The study focuses on a corpus of 95 books selected according to different factors (namely, literary awards, positive reviews and recommendation lists). This enables a broad approach to be taken on the issue of cultural diversity. It must be pointed out, however, that the Catalan children’s and young people’s literature analysed does not reflect this period of cultural diversity. Including both the diversity already and that resulting of the new conditions created by changes taking place at the beginning of the century. Finally, a list of multicultural books and a list of books that can be used as teaching tools for intercultural education is suggested. Key words: Catalan Children’s and Young People’s Literature, interculturality, multiculturality, literary education, cultural diversity, Minorities Literature, literary canon, globalisation.

Opening up spaces for early Critical Literacy: Korean kindergarteners exploring diversity through multicultural picture books

Despite the increasing emphasis in literacy education on critical pedagogies, there is minimal scholarship focusing on the implications of critical literacy in preschool (Pre-K) and kindergarten classrooms. The purpose of this article is to understand the possibility of early critical literacy as a space where young children examine books and articulate their voices on subjects related to cultural/racial diversity and equality. Adopting a qualitative case study approach, this study focuses on the creation of 'alternative texts' by 12 five-year-old children, after they read multicultural picture books in a kindergarten classroom in South Korea. As part of a larger longitudinal study, the data were collected for six months through video/audio recordings, participant observation, dialogical interviews, observational field notes, and children's written materials. The study found that writing alternative texts followed by reading multicultural books enabled children to pose questions, share opinions, and develop critical perspectives on issues related to racial/cultural diversity and equality. Findings suggest that early literacy teachers should foster a supportive literacy environment in which young children are encouraged to read literature for its subtext as a way to prompt responses of vocal multiplicity rather than limiting children by presenting a pre-determined and single answer.

Imaginary Indians: Representations of Native Americans in Scholastic Reading Club

Scholastic Reading Clubs are a popular and inexpensive way for teachers to build classroom libraries and for parents to purchase books for their children. The books made accessible to children through the order forms are assumed to be suitable for young readers in terms of their content, popularity, currency, and curricular relevance. Multicultural books occupy a small fraction of the selections, and books about Native Americans are essentially absent. This study examines Scholastic Reading Club order forms available over the course of a year. The quantitative and qualitative findings show that stereotypical misrepresentations of Native Americans persist and literature by Native authors and illustrators is completely lacking.

Integrating Multicultural Literacy into Curriculum of Tourism Industry

Integrating Multicultural Literacy into Curriculum of Tourism Industry Brenda Hui-Lin Hsieh, Ching-Jung Hsieh Abstract Globalization is the main stream of 21st century (Bruthiaux, 2002; Kim, 1998; Pieterse, 2003; Hsieh, 2010). People have to move to other countries in need of education, work, and business. As tourism is commonly associated with trans-national travel, global tourism market becomes prosperous and diversified. According to World Trade Organization, “International tourist arrivals reached 1.035 billion in 2012, up from over 983 million in 2011, and 940 million in 2010”(WTO, 2013). The tourism industry has become one of the prior boosters for global economy. Owing to employees of tourism industry need to communicate with customers from different countries all over the world, they are required to cultivate better language skills and to develop flexible communication skills. In order to train the employees to provide best services to multicultural tourists, multicultural literacy turns to be a crucial subject in developing cultural understanding of employees in tourism industry. Integrating multicultural literacy into curriculum is significant for universities to discipline potential workers (the students major in tourism) of tourism industry in facing multicultural tourists. In this case, this study intends to figure out the strategies of integrating multicultural literacy into curriculum of tourism industry. This study conducted the method of content analysis to explore the strategies of integrating multicultural literacy into curriculum of tourism industry to develop students’ multicultural literacy. After reviewing and analyzing relevant documents and related literatures, this study elucidates five elements of multicultural literacy and tries to propose strategies to integrate these elements into curriculum to elevate students’ multicultural literacy. The strategies contributing to reinforce students’ multicultural literacy encompasses reading multicultural books and stories, watching multicultural movies and TV programs, providing authentic cultural environment and situational episodes for students to experience the vivid situations in facing multicultural tourists, enhancing tips and customs of different cultures and strengthen cultural understanding of the students, redesign teaching materials inclusive multicultural literacy, and creating thematic activities for students to understand the difference of different cultures. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/jthm.v3n2a5

Bilingual education searching for promising didactic proposals.

Bilingual education searching for promising didactic proposals.