Identifying Language Needs in Community-Based Adult ELLs: Findings from an Ethnography of Four Salvadoran Immigrants in the Western United States

Keywords

English as a second language, ESL, Latinx, Salvadoran women, Immigration, Refugee, Community-based learners, Latinx enclaves, Ethnography

Abstract

This chapter employs findings from 6 months of ethnographic observations with four Salvadoran first-generation immigrant women living in a suburban neighborhood in the western United States. We document these women’s authentic experiences with navigating everyday linguistic interactions in Spanish and English, showing how the women’s participation in Salvadoran and other Latinx communities curtails much of their need for daily English but that their desires to fulfill economic and other long-term goals motivate them to improve their English, even with few opportunities to do so. We document the assets, strategies, and skills the women use when the need for English does arise (usually in a small set of routine contexts), often with success despite their limited English proficiency, then close by proposing general recommendations to ESL programs based on these observations.

Original Publication Citation

Watkins, K., Thompson, G., Rosborough, A.,Eckstein,G.,& Eggington, W. (2021). Identifying Language Needs in Community-Based Adult ELLs: Findings from an Ethnography of Four Salvadoran Immigrants in the Western United States. In Warriner, D.S. (Eds.),Refugee Education across the Lifespan (251-269). Springer, Cham.

Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2021

Publisher

Springer Publishing

Language

English

College

Humanities

Department

Linguistics

University Standing at Time of Publication

Assistant Professor

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