“I Speak Regular English”: A Sociocultural Linguistic Perspective on LTEL (Long-Term English Learner) Students’ English Proficiency

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Exploring the Discursive Intersections of Pedagogy, Policy, and Power (Table 39)

Abstract

This paper explores the perspectives of high school students who are officially designated as “Long-Term English Learners” (LTEL). Drawing on data from interviews with 11 LTEL students at a northern California high school, we examine what these students think and believe about their English proficiency and their LTEL designation, and we attend closely to their language use during the interviews themselves. Our analysis highlights (1) how students explicitly reject their official LTEL designation and (2) that their use of English in response to interview questions demonstrates a degree of proficiency that is at odds with their LTEL status. Our objective is to elucidate the contradictions and attendant injustices that characterize schooling for students who are stuck under the LTEL label.

Authors

• Victoria Melgarejo, Stanford University

• Ramon Antonio Martinez, Stanford University