Multicultural Elementary School Research Articles

다문화 초등학생 대상 보이스트레이닝 수업의 설계 원리 연구

The purpose of this study is to present the design principles of specialized voice training classes for multicultural elementary school students to help them learn pronunciation and intonation. This was achieved by reviewing current studies and literature related to voice training, pronunciation, and intonation. Subsequently, a preliminary draft of 20 principles for specialized voice training classes for elementary school students was designed. These principles were then validated and refined through Focus Group Interviews(FGIs) with voice training experts. Through experimentation, a total of 28 principles were developed, the cause was explained step by step. Although this study could not provide quantitative verification of the tested principles, this study is meaningful for providing data that can be used to form guidelines for voice training classes for multicultural elementary school students.

Digital Phonics Literacy Media to Support the Initial Reading Skills of First-Grade Students in Multicultural Bilingual Schools

Literacy in Indonesia still needs to be improved, and the scope of literacy of students in Indonesia still needs to be narrower, including reading activities not understanding. This research aims to create Indonesian digital phonics literacy media for the beginning reading ability of first-grade students in multicultural elementary schools. The research was developed with the ADDIE model. The research subjects were experts, grade I elementary school teachers, and bilingual learners in multicultural schools. Data collection methods were observation, interview, test, and questionnaire. Data analysis was done with qualitative and quantitative descriptions. The analysis shows that Indonesian digital phonics literacy media consists of digital storybooks, posters, and phonic songs packaged in websites with Google site applications. Media, material, and language validity in Indonesian digital phonics literacy media is very high. Digital phonics literacy media shows a very practical category with a practicality level of 80%-100%, a teacher response score of 89.38%, and a response to the collaboration of parents and students of 88.75%. The effectiveness of the media shows a large category with a significant contribution to students' beginning reading skills. The effect size coefficient of the test shown is 1.53 and 1.86 on the results of the observation analysis of the beginning reading ability of bilingual learners in multicultural schools.

다문화 초등학생의 진로장벽 척도 개발 및 타당화

The purposes of this study were to develop and validate the Career Barriers Scale (CBS). Based on the review of previous studies, the concept of the career barriers was operationally defined to the experiences in the external, and items suitable for multicultural elementary school students were extracted. In addition, preliminary items were developed through content validity verification among experts in career education, multicultural education, and measurement tool development and research. The preliminary scale was administered to a sample of 10 multicultural elementary school students and item-score correlation and factor extraction were implemented. The revised scale consisting of 34 items was administered to a sample of another 200 multicultural elementary school students. And then, the CBS was finally developed, which consists of 4 factors and 28 items, including such factors as negative feedback from significant others, lack of career support, economic and cultural restrictions, discrimination (gender/race/culture). The CFA were performed in order to assess the construct validity. The 4 factor model was proved good fit to the data and all items had a significant effect to each construct from which it can be concluded that convergent validity is supported for all of the items. The construct reliability index and average variance extracted index indicated good reliability of this scale. Based on the results, some recommendations for further study and practices were suggested.

Early English Literacy Acquisition and Learners’ Perspectives in Rural Multicultural Families: A Case Study

This study explores the learning experiences of five Grade 3 multicultural elementary school students living in a rural area of Korea, as they received instruction in English decoding. Having identified a gap in research regarding the students’ own perceptions of their learning experiences, the author conducted a two-month exploratory intervention at a Multicultural Family Support Center (MFSC) in an agricultural town in Gyeongsangbuk-do Province. Data were collected from the students, parents, and the MFSC staff through a demographic questionnaire, tests, individual child interviews, in-class work and homework, self-evaluation sheets, online Zoom lesson recordings, teaching and learning materials, informal talks, and a researcher journal. The content analysis findings indicate acquisition challenges related to a lack of spoken vocabulary, low Hangeul reading proficiency, and homework incompletion. Academic progress evidenced by the participants was found to be driven by friendship, learner commitment and confidence-building, highlighting the positive effect of affect in their language learning. Suggestions for effective English decoding instruction for these particular learners are discussed.

The Contribution of Drama in Education to the Development of Skills Improving the Interpersonal Relations of Multicultural Classroom Students

The aim of this study is to demonstrate the contribution of a drama in education programme, implemented among students of a multicultural elementary school, to advance skills promoting personal empowerment, develop empathy and collaboration, and to improve their interpersonal relationships. The research is a case study, the tools of which are interviews, observation, researcher’s log, as well as the assessments and self-assessments of students who participated in the processes. The participants are 21 children with various cultural origins, from the lowest financial strata of Greece. The results of this study highlight drama in education as a valuable pedagogical tool that develops a series of qualitative skills necessary in many aspects of everyday life.

The Influence of Multicultural Elementary School Students' Participation in School Sports Club on Communication Capacity and Peer Relations

The Influence of Multicultural Elementary School Students' Participation in School Sports Club on Communication Capacity and Peer Relations

Factors Affecting the Internet Game Addiction Risk of Elementary School Students in Multicultural Families

Objectives: This study aims to determine that the general characteristics, self-esteem, parent-child relationships, and school life adjustment differ between the Internet game addiction risk group and the non-addiction group, and identify the factors affecting the risk of Internet game addiction. Methods: Data were collected from 24 January to 17 April 2013. A total of 209 subjects were analyzed in the 4th, 5th, 6th grade of elementary school students of multicultural families in Gwangju and Jeollanam-do Province, South Korea. Results: There was a statistically significant difference in self-esteem, parent-child relationship, and school life adjustment between the Internet game addiction risk group and the non-addiction group. The factors affecting Internet game addiction risk to elementary school students in multicultural families were gender, foreign mother’s country, school life adjust ment in order. Conclusions: It is necessary to consider cultural sensitivity in developing Internet game addiction risk prevention program, and to grasp the Internet game addiction targeting multicultural elementary school students.

Analysis about Multicultural Elementary School Student’s Help Networks : Effect of Help Networks on Multicultural Sensibility

Analysis about Multicultural Elementary School Student’s Help Networks : Effect of Help Networks on Multicultural Sensibility

A Study in Improvement Strategies in Rural Multicultural Elementary Schools in Korea

Objectives: To investigate possible improvements of rural multicultural elem1entary schools in Korea. Methods/ Statistical analysis: A survey of a total of 27 teachers at 3 multicultural elementary schools was conducted using a freeresponse questionnaire to collect their full opinions about improvement strategies in rural multicultural elementary schools; the survey responses were analyzed to identify the central concepts of their responses. Findings: The improvement plan for rural multicultural schools can be condensed to four main concepts: interactive experience, participation, diversity, and multicultural competence. For the experience, teachers themselves should receive multicultural education field experience. To promote multicultural sensitivity, the teachers mainly suggested multicultural learning by doing. In addition, the teachers suggested encouraging philanthropic and caring personalities and respect for diversity of students. Application/Improvements: Therefore, the study suggested that the proposed activation plans for these schools be implemented by considering central concepts such as experience orientation, participation orientation, diversity and multicultural competence.

Grappling with Culturally Responsive Pedagogy: A Study of Elementary-Level Teacher Candidates’ Learning across Practicum and Diversity Coursework Experiences

This investigation of teacher candidates’ (TCs) learning in their pre-service elementary education program demonstrates how TCs grappled with enacting culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) in their practicum sites. Interviews with TCs, analyzed with Lucas and Villegas’s (2002) tenets of CRP, reveal how TCs thought about equitable instruction in elementary schools. TCs and the teacher educator of the diversity course report on how such coursework supports TCs as they strive to educate multilingual, multicultural elementary school students. This examination, which focuses on TCs’ learning rather than teacher education program design, provides implications for how teacher educators can support TCs in ways that are responsive to their personalized questions, experiences, strengths, and overall development as teacher learners. Implications for foundational diversity-oriented coursework that connects more directly with TCs’ practicum experiences are discussed.

Identity as a site of difference: toward a complex understanding of identity in multilingual, multicultural classrooms

Cummins suggested that within a social context of unequal power relations, classroom interactions are never neutral, but located on a continuum ranging between the reinforcement of coercive relations of power and the promotion of collaborative relations of power. Drawing on this understanding, the purpose of this paper is to examine instructional practices and interactional dynamics in elementary English as a Second Language (ESL) classes to explore the impact of the English-dominant instructional context on emergent bilingual students’ access to and investment in literacy learning. The paper is based upon a selection of data from a collaborative research project conducted in a multilingual, multicultural elementary school in a large Canadian city. The paper describes students’ creation of multimodal, multilingual stories about their migration experiences and explores how making these stories opened opportunities for negotiating understandings of students’ identifications. The paper concludes that, though relations of power tend to endure in English language teaching, pedagogical pivot points exist, offering the possibility to transform these understandings through an affective practice and relation.

Lives in Transition: Stories of Three Foreign Elementary Students from India

This qualitative study tells the stories of three Asian Indian children dealing with the initial phases of adjustment and acculturation at a multicultural elementary school in USA. Constructed using data collected through classroom observations and in-depth interviews with children, parents, and school personnel, these stories reveal important linkages between families and schools, and their respective roles in foreign-born children’s acculturation into the host culture. The pressures to maintain Indian identity, language, food habits, and traditions are all important aspects of these children’s experiences. The school context shapes their educational experiences and adjustment. This study also touches upon some important policy issues for schools in relation to multicultural programs, ESL instruction, native language instruction, and support services for their increasingly diverse student and parent communities. One such issue pertains to the recognition of student’s ethnic and cultural identity in a public school.

Improving Implementation of Mental Health Services for Trauma in Multicultural Elementary Schools: Stakeholder Perspectives on Parent and Educator Engagement

Although more schools are offering mental health programs, few studies have involved the school community in research to improve their successful implementation. In this community-partnered study, focus groups were conducted with school staff and parents to explore issues related to community engagement and feasibility of a mental health intervention for elementary school students exposed to trauma. Four educator focus groups, including 23 participants, and 2 parent focus groups, consisting of 9 Spanish-speaking and 7 English-speaking parents were conducted. Participants discussed facilitators and barriers to successful implementation of the program. Participants identified the importance of pre-implementation parent education, raising awareness of the impact of student mental health among educators, maintaining ongoing communication during the intervention, and addressing logistical concerns. Participants described clear considerations for parent and educator engagement, both at the pre-implementation phase and during implementation of the program. Implications for next steps of this community-partnered approach are described.

The Comprehension of Metaphors and Similesby Multicultural Elementary School Students

The Comprehension of Metaphors and Similesby Multicultural Elementary School Students

Racialization/ethnicization of school emotional spaces: the politics of resentment

The present article explores how emotional spaces are racialized and ethnicized in a multicultural elementary school in Cyprus through the majoritized group’s feelings of resentment. The data for this article are drawn from a two‐month ethnographic study at this school in which the students enrolled come from the two historically conflicting groups on the island, that is, Greek Cypriots (the majoritized group) and Turkish‐speaking students (the minoritized group). In light of the political problem in Cyprus and the ongoing conflict between these groups, the study investigates the emotions that Greek‐Cypriot students and teachers express about Turkish‐speaking children and the material implications of school policies and teachers’ practices on minoritized children’s lives. The study shows the ways in which the racialization/ethnicization of school emotional spaces contributes to the constitution of an affective economy of resentment towards Turkish‐speaking students and discusses how the emotional culture of resentment feeds school discourses, policies, and practices.

Rewriting “Goldilocks” in the Urban, Multicultural Elementary School

At a multicultural elementary school in Toronto, Canada, students in grades 1 and 2 digitally rewrote the traditional children's story “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” The traditional tale was transformed into individualized narratives, with new characters, setting, and plot twists, and the students moved from reading the original story on paper to writing a revised version on screens. This process enabled them to engage with narrative structure, not only as emergent readers external to the text but also as authors of their own text versions. The project aimed to teach narratives, to experiment with the creation of digital literacies, and to test a process by which traditional children's literature can be made more socially and culturally inclusive for contemporary readers. The article describes the sociopolitical context of the study and places it within an evolving theory of multiliteracies, focusing on the pedagogical process used to create a digital narratives in a primary classroom. Examples from the children's rewritten stories are provided.

‘It's more than knowing the science’: A case study in elementary science curriculum review

Abstract: This research exercise, based on the initial stage of a school‐wide science curriculum improvement project, explores the factors influencing science program delivery in a multicultural elementary school in northwestern Canada. Using a validated science program delivery evaluation tool, the Science Curriculum Implementation Questionnaire (SCIQ), as a foundation for data collection, staff discussion, and collaborative decision making, a school embarks on a self‐review process to, first of all, identify factors influencing science program delivery and, second, identify strategies for improvement of science delivery. Implications of this self‐review process on science program delivery improvement are discussed, especially within the context of the adequacy of teacher pedagogical‐content knowledge within a multicultural context. As well, recognizing the limitations of the SCIQ within the context of study, modifications to the SCIQ are also presented.

PEACE Through Dance/Movement: Evaluating a Violence Prevention Program

This pilot research evaluated the use of a 12-week dance/movement therapy-based violence prevention program with 54 multicultural elementary school children, and found that it was effective in reducing aggressive behaviors. The program used a dance/movement therapy group process that focused on socialization and engagement of children in creative, problem solving experiences. Pro-social behaviors and methods of self-control were introduced using movement, children’s stories and discussion. Statistical results showed that teachers noticed a significant decrease of these behaviors in their students instigating fights, failing to calm down, frustration intolerance, and throwing articles. The children reported significant decreases of these behaviors both seen and experienced:“someone doing something wrong,” and “someone throwing something.” Significant changes in the students’ perceptions and feelings about experiencing or seeing aggression were noted in their “not feeling happy” when seeing such incidents, and their observations of handling themselves and responding in such situations showed a decrease of “feeling happy,” and a decrease in “feeling scared.” Classroom observations showed a significant decrease in the frequency of negative behaviors. However, there was not significant increase in pro-social behaviors noted. Comparative data of aggressive incidents reported to the office for classrooms participating in the program (first, second, and third grades) before and after the program were compared to data from non-participating classrooms (fourth, fifth, and sixth grades). While data showed a decrease in the number of aggressive incidents reported to the principal for the entire school, the decrease in number of incidents for participating classrooms was greater than that for those that did not participate (p < .001). Limits for the study and suggestions for future research are presented.