Multilingualism and Identity: Articulating "African-ness" in an American High School

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 19
  In Roundtable Session: Multilingualism Across Contexts and Countries

Abstract

This presentation will draw on qualitative research that examines the language practices and learning experiences of ten adolescent multilingual immigrant and refugee English Learners (ELs) from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Specific questions addressed include: How do these students capitalize on home languages as they engage in linguistic practices in English? How do these students take up their raciolinguistic identities (Flores and Rosa 2015) within the context of a U.S. high school? The project emphasizes supporting complex language and content learning fluidly across languages and content areas in ways that affirm students’ identities and new learning. Implications for theory and practice will be discussed.

Author

• Liv T. Davila, University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign