Supporting Parent Engagement in Linguistically Diverse Families to Promote Young Children’s Life Success

This paper examines research that can inform policies aimed at building the capacity of early care and education programs to promote parent engagement in linguistically diverse families. The key questions addressed include:1 )What factors affect linguistically diverse families’ access to early care and education programs?; 2)What do we know about linguistically diverse families and how parents in these families support their young children’s learning and development?; 3) What features of early care and education programs appear to contribute to high levels of parent engagement in linguistically diverse families?; and 4) What policies can help increase the capacity of early care and education programs to support parent engagement in linguistically diverse families

Civic Engagement and Recent Immigrant Communities

Provides a step-by-step guide to developing strategies and planning efforts to strengthen immigrants' civic engagement , including suggested agendas, background materials, and discussion guides. Outlines considerations for planning and successful formats

The translation challenges of international NGOs: professional and non-professional translation at Amnesty International

In the current climate where the legitimacy of Western-based international Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) is increasingly put under pressure, some NGOs have started to change their approach to translation, often as a consequence of structural changes within the organisation. This article focuses on the translation challenges of one such organisation, namely Amnesty International, and how it has aimed to deal with these. Drawing on ethnographic data, it describes the mission of Amnesty’s Language Resource Centre, which aims to support translation at Amnesty into a variety of languages. The article reveals some of the tensions between the use of professional translators, particularly for languages such as French, Spanish and Arabic, and the continued reliance of smaller Amnesty offices on volunteer translators. It demonstrates that despite the trend towards professionalisation, volunteer translation continues to represent a significant portion of Amnesty’s translation work

Unlocking Latino Civic Potential 2016 and Beyond

In August 2015, the Aspen Institute Latinos and Society Program and the Aspen Institute Citizenship and American Identity Program convened a diverse group of distinguished scholars, organizers, and other experts and leaders to discuss the challenges and causes of low Latino civic participation and to develop recommendations for unlocking Latino civic potential in the United States.This is a vital topic, as the U.S. Latino population is growing rapidly, is overwhelmingly young, and thus will see growing power and influence in American society and politics, if Latinos are able to more fully realize their civic potential. Increasing Latino civic and political participation rates today will pay dividends for generations to come; likewise, missing the opportunity to do so will have consequences to the health of our democracy for generations to come.This report identifies four priority areas and tactics for unleashing the civic potential of Latinos in the United States. Focusing on immigrant integration and naturalization, voter engagement, civic education, and leadership development; the report offers a comprehensive vision for how to engage the nation's fastest growing demographic, beyond election cycles, to participate more fully in our democracy

A SURVEY OF TEACHERS’ AND PRINCIPALS’ PRACTICES AND CHALLENGES IN FOSTERING NEW IMMIGRANT PARENT INVOLVEMENT

This research, using questionnaire and interview data, examined practices and challenges of educators in areas of southern Ontario in fostering immigrant parents’ support for their children’s literacy. Results showed that teachers learn about the language and culture of their students, modify homework assigned to their ESL students, and encourage parents to read to their children in their mother tongue. Teachers need to increase their awareness of parents’ perceptions of authority and the role of their first language for success in their children’s English literacy. Teachers also need to understand parents’ role as co‐teachers at home. Key words: home‐school relationships, ESL parents, parents as co‐teachers, homework support Cette recherche faisant appel à un questionnaire et à des données tirées d’entrevues porte sur les pratiques et les défis d’enseignants du sud de l’Ontario qui veulent inciter des parents immigrants à favoriser la littératie chez leurs enfants. Les résultats indiquent que les enseignants apprennent à connaître la langue et la culture de leurs élèves, modifient les devoirs qu’ils demandent à leurs élèves en anglais langue seconde (ALS), de faire à la maison et encouragent les parents à faire la lecture à leurs enfants dans leur langue maternelle. Les enseignants ont besoin de se familiariser davantage avec les perceptions qu’ont les parents de l’autorité et du rôle de la langue maternelle dans le succès des enfants en littératie en anglais. Les enseignants doivent aussi comprendre le rôle des parents comme co‐enseignants à la maison. Mots clés : liens maison‐école, parents et ALS, parents comme co‐éducateurs, soutien pour les devoirs faits à la maison

Community Service-Learning Translations in a Legal Spanish Course

There is growing interest in including service-learning courses in higher education, and abundant literature exists on this subject. Less researched is binomial service learning, specifically related to civic learning and legal translation. Studies on the goals of combining foreign language instruction with civic participation in the Hispanic community through translation have revealed very positive outcomes. This paper presents two different community-related translation activities in a Spanish course for specific purposes (specifically, Legal Spanish), and the corresponding students’ reflections. One is related to El Salvador and to asylum and refugee claims in the US, while the other is linked to a Health Center in Trenton, NJ. The conclusion summarizes the results and evaluates their significance in the context of community-learning service and their success in bringing students closer to a reality that is far beyond their context, while critically thinking about justice-related issues

Building Culturally and Linguistically Competent Services to Support Young Children, Their Families, and School Readiness

Provides guidance, tools, and resources that promote cultural and linguistic competence in young children and families. Outlines a holistic approach to service delivery for preschool skills development

Working in law’s borderlands: translation and the work of an advice office

Increasing ly people in the UK are turning to voluntary sector advice organisations for help and support in dealing with everyday problems . Here w e argue that advice organisations, who work in the borderlands of law , are nevertheless key players in legal arenas , focusin g on local Citizens Advice offices supporting clients with employment problems. We look at the making of advisers as border- workers through programmes which turn volunteers into employment advisers; and the paid advisers who inhabit spaces on the edges of the profession. We examine the social practices of these advisers, the ways in which law -work becomes translation and advice -work becomes a process of co -production between adviser and client. In concluding, we consider how far into the legal arena it is p ossible to go with limited resources ; and what happens when translating the technicalities of law no longer works. Translation comes to mean advisers turning to their activist -selves and adopting political tactics

More than a Game? Exploring Sport's Role in Refugee and Asylum-Seeker Settlement in Glasgow, Scotland

Up until recently, refugees and asylum-seekers, and even more so, the relationship between sport and settlement, has generally been written out of discussions surrounding sport for development (SFD). This study seeks to fill some of this lacuna through a critical analysis of a grassroots, community football club for male refugees and asylum-seekers - United Glasgow FC (UGFC). Drawing on fieldwork carried out in Glasgow, Scotland from May August 2017, this thesis aims to explore the notion that sport can facilitate refugee and asylum-seeker well-being throughout the settlement process. Through a qualitative analysis of the experiences of both volunteers and players involved with the club, this research suggest that sport can hold great potential for the facilitation of refugees and asylum-seeker well-being; however, the extent to which well-being is facilitated relies heavily on the conditions of the sport program itself and the local context

Creating a Successful Educational Environment for the Latino/a Community: Building Home- School Communication

California has a large population of Latino/a students, and for most of them Spanish is their native language. The problem is the miscommunication between Latino/a families and educators in the school setting. Teachers often do not understand Spanish and are unable to communicate with parents or students. Latino/a families are not aware of the ways to support their children, given this lack of ability to communicate. A review of the literature reveals the cultural and language barriers that teachers face. Teachers also lack support within their school in providing appropriate instruction for Latino/a students and in communicating with Latino/a families. This study follows qualitative design using classroom observations in a field placement and school setting as well as interviews with teachers who have a majority of students in their classrooms who are Latino/a. Purposively elected teachers with experience in working with English language learners were recruited for interviews. Parents of Latino/a students were interviewed about the quality of the communication between school and home that is provided by the school. They were interviewed for an hour responding to a series of open-ended questions. Interviewees were purposefully selected because they are part of the Latina/o community who try to create home-school communication. Results indicated that having home-school communication with Latino/a students increased their academic performance. Students felt they had support from their parents. Parents were also more inclined to be a part of their child’s education if they could communicate with the teacher. Implications from the results include the need for teachers to make home-school communication a priority for Latino/a students and their families