Pen Pal Letter Exchanges: Taking First Steps toward Developing Cultural Understandings

Autor/inn/en	Barksdale, Mary Alice; Watson, Carol; Park, Eun Soo
Titel	Pen Pal Letter Exchanges: Taking First Steps toward Developing Cultural Understandings
Quelle	In: Reading Teacher, 61 (2007) 1, S.58-68 (11 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0034-0561
DOI	10.1598/RT.61.1.6
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Language Patterns; Qualitative Research; Longitudinal Studies; Letters (Correspondence); Communication (Thought Transfer); Cultural Context; Cultural Pluralism; Malawi; Virginia + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Sprachmodell; Sprachstruktur; Qualitative Forschung; Longitudinal study; Longitudinal method; Longitudinal methods; Längsschnittuntersuchung; Brief; Communication; thought; Kommunikation; Gedanke; Kulturpluralismus
Abstract	This article describes a qualitative research project that examined pen pal letters exchanged between children in Virginia, USA, and Malawi in Sub-Saharan Africa. The goal was to study the nature of communication between students living in these two very different cultural contexts. The results of this study indicated that there were three primary themes within the pen pal letters between the primary and elementary students: daily life and culture, language, and connections. The students enjoyed sharing information about all aspects of their daily life and culture with their pen pals, and they were able to communicate meaningfully with one another on these topics. The students followed the language patterns established by one another in their letters, and they made attempts to use terminology that would be readily understandable to one another. Each theme found in the study is explored, and the value of using pen pal exchanges to support the development of literacy and cultural understandings is discussed. Recommendations are made for establishing pen pal exchanges in international contexts. (Author).
Anmerkungen	International Reading Association. 800 Barksdale Road, P.O. Box 8139, Newark, DE 19714-8139. Tel: 800-336-7323; Fax: 302-731-1057; e-mail: customerservice@reading.org; Web site: http://www.reading.org/publications/index.html
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10