Abstract

With the rise of the number of immigrant children in schools across the U.S., education research has directed its attention to understanding these newcomers' social experiences at school. Though Brazilian immigrant populations are growing, research on their unique social experiences remains limited. Grounded in critical sociocultural theory, this interpretive phenomenological study shares the social experiences of four Brazilian newcomers in elementary school. Participants were adolescents who had immigrated to the U.S. as children and attended English-only and/or Dual Language Bilingual Education (DLBE) programs. As adolescents, participants were able to look back on their experiences as a newcomer in elementary school with greater perspective. Analysis of interview data reveal three main themes in Brazilian newcomers' experiences: (a) positive interactions with other Brazilian immigrant students; (b) microaggressions from non-Brazilian immigrant students; and (c) isolation due to the dominance of English at school. Findings underscore the importance of Portuguese-English DLBE programs as a place for Brazilian newcomers to support one another. Additionally, findings reveal the prevalence of microaggressions across English-only and DLBE settings, underscoring the need for schools and teacher preparation programs to equip teachers with tools to support these students' sociocultural competence in order to address microaggressions.

Degree

MA

College and Department

David O. McKay School of Education; Teacher Education

Rights

https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

Date Submitted

2022-08-04

Document Type

Thesis

Handle

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd12962

Keywords

Brazilian newcomers, social interactions, microaggressions, isolation, dual language bilingual education

Language

english

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