Hispanic Immigrant Restaurant Workers' Changing Investment in the Learning of English

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 16
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Perspectives in Second Language Research

Abstract

Drawing on Darvin and Norton’s (2015) updated model of investment and Motha and Lin’s (2014) theorization of desire, we study Hispanic immigrants’ investment in English as it relates to their changing desires for particular identities and futures. Through observations of and interviews with a cross-sectional sample of Hispanic restaurant workers, many undocumented, we identify three distinct identities: temporary worker, aspirational English learner, and bilingual and bicultural advocate. We find that over time participants developed strong desires for advancement and normalcy, which they viewed as unattainable without English. Through strategic English study and in the midst of setbacks due to their immigration status, they became advocates, promoting the study of English and obtaining higher-level positions for themselves and others.

Authors

• Brooke Y. Hoffman, Temple University

• Yasuko Kanno, Boston University

• Mark Emerick, Muhlenberg College