Abstract

Emergent bilinguals (EBs) represent the fastest-growing population in U.S. public schools (Tarasawa & Waggoner, 2015). Many EB parents face linguistic or cultural barriers when engaging with teachers and are often excluded from their children's classrooms because of their English learner status. This qualitative study analyzes EB or English learner parents' perspectives of their child's teachers and school. Critical Sociocultural Theory (C-SCT) was used to view EB parent engagement practices (Moje & Lewis, 2007). The research processes were based on Creswell and Creswell's (2018) methodology using a focus group and interview design to understand these participants' educational interactions. Data was collected and analyzed using intercultural discourse analysis (Scollon & Scollon, 2001). Interviews included open-ended questions allowing participants to share their experiences and expectations concerning engagement with their child's teacher. Findings revealed practices that were unfamiliar to these EB parents and that the school system did not teach them or provide insightful information on how they could interact and engage with their child's education in U.S. systems. Implications promote teacher engagement with EB parents and show the need for educators to build relationships with them and support new spaces for their voices.

Degree

MA

College and Department

David O. McKay School of Education; Teacher Education

Rights

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

Date Submitted

2024-08-07

Document Type

Thesis

Keywords

parent engagement, emergent bilingual, inclusion, exclusion

Language

english

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