Exploring the Aspirations of Latinx Youth Designated as Long-Term English Learners

• In Event: Dismantling Oppressive Practices and Envisioning Tailored Practices to Foster Multilingual Learners’ College and Career Readiness

Abstract

While most research focusing on the Long-term English Learner (LTEL) designation has examined the K-12 educational experiences of this subgroup, there is tremendous need for research that explores the post-secondary trajectories of former students designated as LTEL. Brooks (2022) finds that in the absence of mandated communication, students and parents do not receive clear and appropriate information regarding their English proficiency status. Even less is known about the aspirations and career and employment opportunities this subgroup explores post-secondary education.
Scholars have argued that the LTEL classification is ineffective at accurately describing an academic or linguistic profile for the students it purports to represent (Brooks, 2020; Flores et al., 2015). They maintain that institutionalization of efforts perceived as progressive including projects of equity intended to promote linguistic competence, such as the LTEL designation which was implemented with the intention of bringing attention to the underachievement of Latinx students, can instead reproduce “colonial-racial hierarchies under the guise of affirmation” (Flores and Rosa, 2022, p. 17). This is of particular interest as research has noted that racialized minorities, despite compliance to the linguistic norm, often are not recognized as legitimate users of language (Flores and Rosa, 2015). As such, language policies that profoundly shape students’ educational experiences and their future life opportunities must be examined.
To examine the issues presented, my theoretical framework employs ideologies of languagelessness (Rosa, 2016), curricularization of language (Valdes, 2018), and language materiality (Shankar and Cavanaugh, 2012). This theoretical framework provides the lens to examine the educational experiences and future aspirations of students who have been designated as LTEL across their schooling trajectory. To study the experiences of students currently designated as LTEL in a California high school and young adults who recently graduated high school designated as such, I employed an ethnographic multimethod approach consisting of interviews and observations. Specifically, I observed an honors classroom that enrolls students designated as LTEL across an academic year. I selected 8 students as focal participants to interview. Finally, I interviewed 8-12 young adults who recently graduated high school designated as LTEL. The primary focus of all interviews was to explore educational and employment pathways and aspirations. Interviews and fieldnotes were transcribed and examined using thematic analysis.
Preliminary findings for the high school students designated as LTEL enrolled in rigorous honors courses suggest that students struggle to see themselves as belonging to their classroom despite experiencing academic success. However, participants did not perceive their EL designation as being an accurate measure of their English proficiency. Furthermore, interviews with recent high school graduates who were designated as LTEL for most of their schooling trajectory showcase complex pathways within community college and towards careers and employment.
This research aims to study and learn from the experiences of Latinx students and young adults in California who have navigated an English learner designation across most of their academic trajectories and into their young adult lives. Thus, this work attempts to connect K-12 research on students designated as EL with life, career, and employment possibilities.

Author

• Victoria Melgarejo, Stanford University