The Language to Labor: Latina Immigrant Women’s Narratives on English as a Second Language Learning (Poster 21): Division G - Section 3: Languages, Literacies, and Representations, 4:25 PM

• In Event: e-Lightening Ed-Talk Session 5

Abstract

How do adult basic education curricula in the US impact the education of low-income female immigrants? How do personal accounts of Latina immigrants reveal agentive development while learning English as a Second Language (ESL) through critical pedagogy? Utilizing a narrative inquiry approach, this study centered nine self-identified Latina/Hispanic participants who learn English through critical pedagogy in the US Southwest. The goal of this narrative inquiry was to explore the women’s sense of agency and language ownership, their experiences of systemic oppression in their new social contexts, and parental engagement. This study contributes to the field of ESL and critical pedagogy-based ESL curricula models in formal/informal learning settings with further implications for adult literacy policies at the state and national levels.

Author

• Magdalena Vazquez Dathe, University of New Mexico