We Survive, We Work, We Live, We Belong An Autobiographical Study of One Refugeeâ•Žs Victory

252 Pages·2017·1.26 MB·English

by  Sambath Ouk

Hamline University
WE THE PEOPLE: WE SURVIVED, WE WORK, WE LIVE, WE BELONG
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL STUDY OF ONE REFUGEE’S VICTORY OVER POVERTY
AND RACISM TO LEAD AN ENGLISH LEARNER PROGRAM

By
Sambath Ouk

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements
for the degree of Masters of Arts in English as a Second Language

Hamline University
Saint Paul, Minnesota
August 12, 2016

Primary Advisor: Jill Watson
Secondary Advisor: Judy Auger
Peer Reviewer: Dianna Seng
Copyright by
SAMBATH OUK, 2016
All Rights Reserved

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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the members of my committee, Dr. Jill Watson, Judy Auger
and Dr. Dianna Seng. Dr. Watson, thank you so much for taking a risk to work with me
on this life story research. You always knew how to motivate me and keep me going
through the many times when I wanted to quit. Judy, thank you so much for supporting
me through the years. Your work as EL Coordinator has helped so many students like
me. You are my role model and my inspiration. Dr. Seng, thank you for your continued
support and patience. Both of us know that I had many failed attempts at completing this
project. Yet you continued to believe in me.
I would also like to thank my grandpa and mother along with my three friends
who were willing to share their stories and experiences with me. Life as a refugee is
tough. Yet remembering the stories and sharing them out loud is even tougher sometimes
because of the many bad memories that we don’t want to relive. Yet the five of you were
willing to fight through the pain of bad memories to help enlighten educators of your
plight in hopes of making the lives of many refugees better.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE: Introduction ............................................................................................1
Refugees - Children Without A Nation ...................................................................4
Resettlement - Trying To Live Again: My Family ..................................................8
Resettlement - Trying To Live Again: My Friends ...............................................15
Guiding Questions - What Helped Me Persevere? ................................................20
Summary ................................................................................................................21
Looking Ahead to Chapter Two ............................................................................22
CHAPTER TWO: Literature Review ................................................................................24
Format of Literature Review ..................................................................................25
Introduction of Interpretive Themes ......................................................................25
Theme 1 - Finding a Place to Belong.....................................................................29
America - Not Home Yet .......................................................................................36
Theme 2 - Identity ..................................................................................................40
Theme 3 - Cultural Dissonance..............................................................................50
Theme 4 - Poverty ..................................................................................................65
Themes of Support - How To Overcome the Refugee Struggle ............................71
Where was the Will to Fight? ................................................................................80
Conclusion .............................................................................................................85
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The Gap ..................................................................................................................86
Research Questions ................................................................................................88
CHAPTER THREE: Methodology, Autobiographical Self-Study Research ....................91
Overview ................................................................................................................91
Research Paradigm.................................................................................................94
My Specific Method ..............................................................................................97
Analysis................................................................................................................102
Ethics....................................................................................................................105
Conclusion ...........................................................................................................106
CHAPTER FOUR: Results, Lessons From My Own Life Story ....................................108
How History Defined The Cambodian Refugees ................................................110
Under French Colonial Occupation .....................................................................114
Independence .......................................................................................................118
The Killing Fields ................................................................................................121
Theme 1 - The Refugee Journey to Rediscover Home………………………...131
Newspaper Articles and the Voices of People Who Survived .............................131
Theme 2 - Identity ................................................................................................134
Theme 3 - Cultural Dissonance............................................................................149
Theme 4 - Poverty ................................................................................................157
Themes 1, 2, 3, and 4 - They All Connect ...........................................................163
Themes of Support - How I Made It ....................................................................170
Analysis................................................................................................................188
Summary ..............................................................................................................194
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Looking Ahead.....................................................................................................195
CHAPTER FIVE: Conclusion .........................................................................................196
Major Findings .....................................................................................................199
Implications..........................................................................................................212
Limitations ...........................................................................................................220
Further Research ..................................................................................................221
Conclusion ...........................................................................................................222
APPENDIX A: Interview Question Bank ........................................................................226
APPEMDIX B: Human Subject Consent Letter (English) ..............................................229
APPENDIX C: Human Subject Consent Form (Khmer) .................................................232
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................234

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LIST OF TABLES OR FIGURES

Figure One: Visual Diagram of Autobiographical Research in this Study ......................102
Table One: Four Adaptive Patterns of Assimilation ........................................................191

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1

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

A Refugee’s Experience
The things I see, the things I hear
The things that came that brought me tears

The bomb that dropped, the lives it took
The baby who was overlooked

The camp has grown to bring in fear
The bloody people everywhere

America, my dreams still end, my nightmares last
All because the killing past

The killing fields where bodies lay
Please come to an end may this I pray

Nature is quiet, the temples gone
Walking through the red glazed lawn

Changing people rich and poor
Never to dream again wishing never more

Love is filled still in my heart
But this experience won’t ever part

Written by Sambath Ouk – 1997

I want to walk backwards into my life and relive the events that created me in
hopes of learning about what matters to a person when overcoming the odds. I want to
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relook at all the major events that passed through the lives of myself and my family and
also all the little encounters that seemed meaningless at the time but now overshadow
many important things in retrospect. Despite this being a personal reflection, it will not be
an individual journey and is intended to benefit all who work with at-risk students,
especially students in the category of the refugee and immigrant experience.
My life was blessed by many who have walked through it. And my story would
not need to be told if it was only a story of individual struggle before obtaining
enlightenment and achieving one’s dreams. No, it’s not this. It’s a refugee story and a
reflection on collective struggles, collective risks and collective investments. My story is
not unique. Any refugee and immigrant story is filled with struggle and a will to
overcome. However, my hope in telling it is that it will help develop a path for others
who were born into a life filled with obstacles, a way to tell their stories and the events
that happened that led them to make the right choices, bringing them out of the circle of
death, poverty, and despair. Furthermore, as refugees and students with limited or
interrupted formal education (SLIFE) range in the hundreds of thousands across the U.S.,
examining my own story and others’ in this research may provide us with some themes as
to what needs to occur in order to help our students achieve the success they strive for
and meet the high expectations that teachers push them to meet.
My particular interest in the topic arose from personal reflections of my life. I was
a refugee student unable to speak because I didn’t know the English words. Without these
words, I was destined to have no voice. Without a voice, I believed that I would never
understand what it means to be free in this country of freedom. And without freedom, I