The reading and writing abilities in different reading and writing cultures
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2019-06-06
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en
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The aim of this study was to investigate the possible relationship between the presence or absence of a reading and writing culture in pre-education in the country of origin of a refugee and the connection with the Dutch educational system. This question was answered by examining the reading and writing abilities and the use of reading and writing strategies among 51 high educated Syrian, German, and Dutch participants who learned Dutch as a second language at the time of testing at A2/B1 level by conducting interviews, thinking-out-loud experiments, and Frog Story Tests in Dutch. Qualitive and quantitative analysis reveals that the Syrians use the least reading strategies in the thinking-out-loud experiments and that least writing strategies in the Frog Story Tests. They also produced the shortest narratives in the Frog Story Tests. Thereafter, the Germans follow up the Syrians and the Dutch use all the reading and writing elements the most. The use of all the reading and writing elements and strategies can be related to the absence or presence of reading comprehension and writing papers classes in primary and secondary school including learning how to use learning reading and writing strategies. The interviews showed that the Syrian participants did not learn these elements and strategies at all, the German participants learned them to some extent, and the Dutch participants discussed the reading and writing elements and strategies extensively during primary schools, high schools, and even higher education. To sum up, there is a relationship between the absence or presence of a reading and writing culture in pre-education in the country of origin of a refugee and the connection with the Dutch educational system.
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