Fifth Graders' Interpretations of Stories from Two Asian Cultures

Although each Asian culture is unique, many
Americans tend to generalize and see Asian as one
vaguely defined culture. This case study assessed
whether nineteen fifth graders in a public
elementary school in the Southeast raised their
awareness of similarities and differences between
two Asian cultures after reading Yoshiko Uchida s
Journey to Topaz (1985) and Laurence Yep s Dragon s
Gate (1993). Children read two stories from
different Asian cultures with their reading
teachers. Multiple data were collected in the form
of open-ended questionnaires, response journals, and
observation field notes. I conducted individual
interviews with nine of the participants who either
volunteered or were selected by me. Based on the
quality of their responses, I chose five out of the
nine interviewees, within-analyzed their interview
data, and then reported the findings based on the
five emergent themes. Finally, the findings from
these interviewees were further cross-analyzed.

Autorentext

Tadayuki Suzuki, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Literacy at
Western Kentucky University. Studied Literacy Studies and
Multicultural Education at the University of New Orleans.

Klappentext

Although each Asian culture is unique, many
Americans tend to generalize and see "Asian" as one
vaguely defined culture. This case study assessed
whether nineteen fifth graders in a public
elementary school in the Southeast raised their
awareness of similarities and differences between
two Asian cultures after reading Yoshiko Uchida's
Journey to Topaz (1985) and Laurence Yep's Dragon's
Gate (1993). Children read two stories from
different Asian cultures with their reading
teachers. Multiple data were collected in the form
of open-ended questionnaires, response journals, and
observation field notes. I conducted individual
interviews with nine of the participants who either
volunteered or were selected by me. Based on the
quality of their responses, I chose five out of the
nine interviewees, within-analyzed their interview
data, and then reported the findings based on the
five emergent themes. Finally, the findings from
these interviewees were further cross-analyzed.