The State of Hawai`i ranks fourth in the US in its percentage of foreign-born
population, with 25.3% in Honolulu alone (US Census Bureau, 2000). In
addition to the native Hawaiian people, Hawai`i has become home to large
numbers of immigrants from the Philippines, China, Japan, Samoa, Tonga,
the Marshall Islands, Southeast Asia and other places across the globe.
Considering the economic and social impact of immigration on both the
public and private sector, it has become imperative that we direct more
attention towards understanding the lives and social conditions of immigrant
residents and citizens.
Initiated in fall 2005, the CSLR adult immigrant
literacy project (yet to be named) is being developed to investigate
and address the particular needs of adult and older immigrants living
in the local Honolulu community. Working with local immigrant communities,
our overall goals are to assess the literacy practices and needs of local
adult immigrants, examine how those needs are or are not currently being
met, and develop a community-based program which addresses their specific,
situated needs.
Project Goals
Create a database and collection of research literature
relating to adult immigrant language learners.
Collect demographic information
on the individual communities of interest.
Locate and contact various
local organizations and service providers to learn what they are, where
they are located, what they do, and which populations they serve.
Cultivate
community and professional ties among CSLR, the Second Language Studies
(SLS) department at UH, and other local immigrant and adult ESL-related
organizations.
Assess and document the literacy practices, needs, and
challenges of local immigrant communities.
Propose, create, and fund an
independent or collaborative community-based project through CSLR that
answers a currently unmet literacy-related need or gap in the local
immigrant community.
Tentaive Findings
Thus far, six specific patterns of
adult immigrant literacy needs are beginning to emerge from the initial
states of this project:
- Literacy for daily needs (e.g., shopping)
- Literacy for the workplace
- Literacy for access to healthcare
- Literacy for access to legal protection and legal services
- Literacy for motor/driver’s license
- Literacy for naturalization and citizenship
- Literacy for social empowerment and visibility
- 8 Literacy for socialization/reduction of isolation