An English Learner or Just a Student? Identities, Choices, and Access to Academic Success

• In Event: 42.083 - Roundtable Session 17
  In Roundtable Session: 42.083-4 - Literacy, Language, and Learning: Increasing Educational Equity for All Students

Abstract

In this paper, the author argues that Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) learners do not have equal access to educational opportunities and academic success because educational resources and choices are inequitably structured for them. Specifically, while CLD learners may be motivated to succeed academically, their access to educational choices and academic success could also be constantly negotiated by the “English Learner Identity” imposed on and taken by them. To maintain their motivation and gain access to academic success, they need to actively negotiate their identities and curricula that marginalize them as the English Learners (EL). Possible educational strategies and accommodations are suggested to help CLD learners establish and maintain identities that enhance academic success.

Author

• Chung-Pei Tsai, Fu Jen Catholic University