We are thrilled to let you know that our latest research entitled “Predictors of Literacy and Attitudes Toward Reading Among Syrian Refugee Children in Jordan” is now published. This research focuses on addressing Refugee children’s literacy levels and attitudes toward reading in low- or middle-income countries.
In-home literacy assessments were conducted using the Holistic Assessment of Learning and Development Outcomes with 322 Syrian refugee mother–child dyads who lived in Jordan. This research was done in collaboration with the Queen Mary University of London, Trinity College Dublin, York University, University of Jordan, and Hashemite University.
Overall, the children had quite low levels of literacy, although they indicated a strong enthusiasm for reading. Child age, maternal education, and maternal ability to read all predicted child literacy, although maternal literacy predicted it only among children enrolled in school. Among those enrolled in school (64.9% of the total sample, 88.7% of those aged ≥ 6), students attending hybrid classes had better literacy than those attending either solely in-person or solely online, although the frequency of school attendance did not predict literacy. A less consistent pattern emerged for predicting children’s attitudes toward reading. The results suggest an urgent need to improve literacy skills among refugee children in Jordan, as well as a need for validated measures of attitudes toward reading for use with Arabic-speaking youth.
In a related context, Lina Qtaisht the Research Project Manager at We Love Reading said: “The most important feature of this research project is its focus on social responsibility towards scientific research, by involving the local community, individuals, and institutions, in order to make them a real partner for success.”