Hmong literacy among Hmong adolescents and the use of Hmong literacy during resettlement
Author(s):
Mcginn, Finian John
Format:
Thesis
Degree granted:
Ed.D.
Publisher:
Ann Arbor : University of San Francisco, 1989.
Pages:
177
Language:
English
Abstract:
Both quantitative and qualitative methodologies were employed to study the phenomenon of Hmong literacy during the resettlement. A random sample of 455 Hmong high school students were tested with a Hmong reading and writing instrument, designed and piloted by the researcher. The assessment results revealed that 217 Hmong adolescents, or 47.5 percent of the Hmong high school students had acquired the basic skills of reading and writing in Hmong. The qualitative aspect of the study involved participatory research which consisted of extensive, open-ended interviews conducted with eleven bilingual Hmong community leaders who discussed the use of the Hmong reading and writing system during the period of the resettlement in the United States. The eleven participants were each interviewed twice. Three of the phenomenological reductions suggested in the writings of A. Giorgi were performed on the transcribed interviews. The reductions yielded formulated meanings, initial categories, themes, and the fundamental structure of the phenomenon of Hmong literacy in Fresno, California. The qualitative study discovered a desire to retain the reading and writing system in order to communicate with other Hmong overseas and to collect and document their rich oral culture before the reading and writing system disappears. The study further revealed that the Hmong community of Fresno was in actual transition from an oral society to a written one; the community leaders, furthermore, saw a link between their written language and their culture, one's ability to read and write and one's self-esteem, and a definite urgency for Hmong reading and writing to be taught to the youth during the resettlement. The study presented implications for parents, schools, churches, and social agencies. These various groups have a key role to play in the process of written language maintenance and the maintenance of the Hmong culture during the period of resettlement in Fresno, California.