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Language & Learning

This cluster focuses on the role of language of origin of refugee children and youth on their cognitive and literacy skills in the destination country as well as the social contexts that further their educational achievement, literacy levels and language skills. To open a project’s page, click on the research title in the table below.
Jump to: Publications & Reports

Research Projects

Project TitleLead Researcher(s)Research Partner(s)PublicationProject Status
Refugee Youth and Interrupted Schooling: Economic and Social ImplicationsSusan BrighamImmigrant Service Association of Nova Scotia (ISANS)N/AComplete
A Culturally Sensitive Intervention for Syrian Refugee Children with Interrupted Schooling: Targeting Math Vocabulary and Associated Number Sense Skills
Esther GevaN/A AvailableComplete
Language and Literacy Development of Syrian Refugee Children and Arabic-Speaking Immigrant Children: A ComparisonXi (Becky) ChenN/AAvailableComplete
Family Contexts of Migrant Children: Language and Other
Socioeconomic Inequalities
Monica BoydN/AN/AComplete
The Effect of a Dual-language Stimulation Program for Refugee ChildrenAndrea MacLeodN/AAvailableComplete
Manual for Refugee Parents and Children on Their Rights and Responsibilities Related to Education in the Canadian School SystemShauna LabmanImmigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba Inc., Newcomer Education Coalition, and Manitoba Education and TrainingAvailableComplete
Supported Transitions: Effective Educational Approaches for Older Refugee Youth with Interrupted SchoolingRay Silvius Newcomer Education Coalition (NEC), Immigration Partnership Winnipeg (IPW), Manitoba Association of Newcomer Serving Organizations (MANSO), and Community Engaged Research on Immigration NetworkAvailableComplete
Specific Needs in Literacy and Language Learning of Syrian Refugee Children in Germany and CanadaXi (Becky) ChenN/AAvailableComplete
Exploring the Interdependence Between Morphological and Syntactic Development in Heritage Contexts: The Case of Syrian Refugee Children in CanadaEvangelia DaskalakiN/AN/AComplete

Successes and Challenges of Children who are Syrian Refugees: Language, Literacy, and Well-being

Johanne Paradis, Xi (Becky) Chen, Alexandra GottardoNorQuest College and H.appiAvailableOngoing
Refugee Youth and Interrupted Schooling in Small Centres Ray SilviusImmigration Partnership Winnipeg (IPW) and Newcomer Education Coalition (NEC)N/AOngoing
Case Analysis of the Language for Young Adults Program: An Investigation into the Language, Social and Emotional Learning Needs of Refugee Youth Christine Doe
Learn English Nova Scotia (LENS), Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia (ISANS)N/AOngoing

Promoting Home Languages to Foster Preschoolers’ Sense of Identity and Wellbeing

Andrea MacLeod
Multicultural Health BrokersN/AOngoing

Mobilizing Innovative Models in Early Childhood Education and Care for Newcomer Families and Children

Jessie-Lee McIsaac
Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia (ISANS)AvailableComplete

Publications & Reports

>Publication:
Brigham, S.M., Abidi, C.B., Zhang, Z. (2018) What participatory photography can tell us about immigrant and refugee women’s learning in Atlantic Canada. International Journal of Lifelong Education.
MacLeod, A., Meziane, R., Pesco, D. (2020) Supporting dual language learning: A program for preschoolers from refugee backgrounds
Paradis, J. (2011). Individual differences in child English second language acquisition: Comparing child-internal and child-external factors. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 1(3), 213-237.
Paradis, J. (2007). Second language acquisition in childhood. In E. Hoff & M. Shatz (Eds.), Handbook of language development. (pp. 387-406). Oxford: Blackwell.
Pierce, L., Genesee, F., & Paradis, J. (2012). Acquisition of English grammatical morphology by internationally-adopted children from China. Journal of Child Language 40(5), 1076-1090. doi:10.1017/S0305000912000402
Al Janaideh, R., Gottardo, A., Tibi, S., Paradis, J., & Chen, X. (2020). The role of word reading and oral language skills in reading comprehension in Syrian refugee children. Applied Psycholinguistics, 41(6), 1283-1304. doi:10.1017/S0142716420000284
Fakhari, N., Pimentel, M., & McIsaac, J. L., (2023). Mobilizing Innovative Models in Early Childhood Education and Care for Newcomer Families and Children. Mount Saint Vincent University, Early Childhood Collaborative Research Centre.
Jowett, N., Silvius, R., Ahmed, A., & DePape, N. (2020, February) Supported Transitions: Effective Educational Approaches for Older Refugee Youth with Interrupted Schooling. Child and Youth Refugee Research Coalition.
Geva, E., & Benhamu, D. (2020). A Culturally Sensitive Intervention for Syrian Refugee Children with Interrupted Schooling: Targeting Math Vocabulary and Associated Number Sense Skill. Child and Youth Refugee Research Coalition.
Shamim, A., Lindner, K., Hipfner-Boucher, K., & Chen, X. 2020. The Experiences of Syrian Refugee Children at School in Canada and Germany: Interviews with Children, Parents & Educators. Canadian Diversity, 17(2), 28-31.
Labman, S. 2020. Refugee Protection in Canada: Resettlement’s Role. Canadian Diversity, 17(2), 7-11.
MacLeod, A. A., Meziane, R. S., & Pesco, D. (2020). Language abilities of children with refugee backgrounds: Insights from case studies. Applied Psycholinguistics, 1-21. doi.org/10.1017/S0142716420000405
Asli-Badarneh, A., Hipfner-Boucher, K., Bumgardner, X. C., AlJanaideh, R., & Saiegh Haddad, E. (2023). Narrative microstructure and macrostructure skills in Arabic diglossia: The case of Arab immigrant children in Canada. International Journal of Bilingualism, 27(3), 349–373. https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069221077306
Lindner, K., Hipfner-Boucher, K., Yamashita, A., Riehl, C., Ramdan, M., & Chen, X. (2020). Acculturation through the lens of language: Syrian refugees in Canada and Germany. Applied Psycholinguistics, 41(6), 1351-1374
Al-Janaideh, R., Tibi, S., Gottardo, A., Paradis, J., & Chen, X., (2023). Morphology and reading skills in Arabic-speaking Syrian refugee children. Reading Research Quarterly, 58, 391-405.