Artifactual Literacies and TESOL: Narratives of a Syrian Refugee-Background Family

Theoretically framed in artifactual literacies, this study examined a refugee-background family's visit to a group of university students enrolled in a teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) methods class. One of the authors requested they give this presentation and collaborated with them in writing it. Participants included Maria and Omar, Syrian parents of three children who self-identify as Muslim. Primary data included transcripts of the families' collaborative composing with the first author and of the presentation itself, in addition to a multimodal PowerPoint. Secondary data included interviews with the family before and after the presentation. A narrative analysis of this data revealed that through stories (evoked by artifacts), the family presented themselves to the students as legitimate and sociable newcomers. They also presented themselves as appreciative yet ambivalent about U.S. customs and defiant of stereotypical representations of Islam. The authors argue that artifacts, imbued with border-crossing memories and experiences, can empower refugee-background students to construct counternarratives and negotiate identities that challenge xenophobic discourses and positionings. Further, because TESOL professionals are at the front lines of supporting refugee-background students, it is important for TESOLers to be cognizant of the potential of artifacts in making migrant narratives visible.