This study examines the perceptions of employers, university authorities, English teachers and students concerning needs to promote English achievement in a Mexican university. By drawing on data collected from focus groups and questionnaires, the evidence suggests that there are several needs which hinder the attainment of English objectives in…

Introduction: Discrimination is detrimental for the development of ethnic minority adolescents' academic competence. To combat the negative effects of discrimination and promote academic success, it is important to understand the mechanisms underlying the association between discrimination and academic competence. Guided by the integrative model…

We advance a tripartite framework of language use to encompass language skills, the practice of language skills, and the subjective experiences associated with language use among Mexican-origin adolescents who function as language brokers by translating and interpreting for their English-limited parents. Using data collected over 2 waves from a…

Although English language competence is directly linked to better job opportunities and an improved quality of life in Mexico, relatively few Mexicans (5-14%) can communicate effectively in English. Research of the Mexican educational system has suggested that outdated teaching methods contribute to a lack of student motivation, which negatively…

Although Latino enrollment has increased at postsecondary institutions, this minority population is not graduating at the same rate as others. The current study looks at the intersection of educational success stories and writing practices of two upper division Latino students, Martin and Raquel, at a large public U.S. university. Using Bourdieu's…

The strength of English learners' second language reading is closely associated with academic success. Using qualitative research methods and verbal protocols, this study examines four elementary-level English learners' uses of reading strategies and describes how each English learner employs these strategies while reading both culturally relevant…

Taking a sociocultural perspective, this qualitative case study aims to contribute, investigate, and understand how young Mexican American emergent bilingual learners engage in early science experiences. Furthermore, the study focuses on how the students manifested their knowledge, understanding, and perceptions about science and its…

The current study examines Mexican-heritage immigrant parents' financial stress, English language fluency, and depressive symptoms as risk factors for parental academic involvement and child academic outcomes. Participants were 68 Latino immigrant (from Mexico) third and fourth graders and their parents. Results from a structural equation model…

This chapter proposes a conceptual framework that merges intersectionality and policy analysis as an analytical tool to understand the nuanced, multilayered, compounded educational inequality encountered specifically by low-income, Latino Spanish-speaking students in Arizona K-12 public schools as a function of intersecting educational policies.…

This dissertation project represents a 2.5-year ethnographic study in a second-grade bilingual classroom and the homes of seven emergent bilingual children of Mexican-origin. This study examines how educational assessment policies shape the ways in which emergent bilingual children are socialized to express social and academic identities during…

This mixed methods study examines factors associated with student learning outcomes for Mexican American students in the public elementary schools. The problem of disproportionate identification of cultural and linguistically diverse students in special education is addressed. This study looks at 23 third and fourth grade students by means of a…

Latino students' educational success is central to America's prosperity--in traditional immigrant destinations and in New Latino Diaspora locations, previously unfamiliar with Latinos. Implicated in this success is the reception young immigrants receive, especially the ways in which they are identified in schools. We describe findings from 6 years…

This phenomenological study examines Mexican immigrant parents' experiences of helping their children navigate and succeed in school and their perceptions regarding differences between the U.S. and Mexican educational systems. Findings highlight parents' challenges in helping their children succeed in a new and unfamiliar school system and the…

In this study 18 Mexican teachers of English as a foreign language in Guanajuato, Mexico were asked for their professional opinion about the teaching of English to Mexican immigrant students in the U.S. Teachers responded to a questionnaire that asked about attitudes toward the U.S. educational system, ways to support Mexican immigrant students,…

In this article, we show how two transnational youth, with the instructional support of their teacher, recruited their languages and lifeworlds, particularly their border-crossing experiences, as tools for engaging with school-based literacy practices. We analyze literary texts that the students composed, showing how the students' uses of their…