This dissertation draws on both qualitative and quantitative approaches to investigate the linguistic practices of teachers and children who are learning Mandarin Chinese as a Heritage Language (CHL) in two dual immersion preschools in California. CHL children have been interpreted as novice members in local speech communities who actively explore…

Appropriateness-based models of language learning and teaching are rooted in a pervasive neocolonial agenda informed by Eurocentric epistemologies of "standard" or "academic" language (Flores & Rosa, 2015). In examining the normalized limitations of a language program through a raciolinguistic lens, we can better comprehend…

This dissertation examines individual, constricted agency in a multilingual environment within the context of a language discussion group and the form of social capital possessed by their Mexican Indigenous diasporic community living on the California Central Coast. The research is based on participant-observation ethnographic work with a language…

This article offers a critical interpretation of the current trends in instructional models for English language learners in California. We review key instructional models and analyze them from traditional (teacher-centered), progressive (student-centered), and critical orientations (society- and power-centered). These instructional models share…

This quantitative study focuses on the relationship between foreign language learners' aptitude and proficiency test scores. Four groups of 136 beginning students received six months of Initial Acquisition Training (IAT) in four different language categories, according to the level of complexity for an English speaker: French (Category I),…

Punjabi heritage language maintenance and development are rooted in community, identity, and, for many, faith. Various opportunities are available for maintaining linguistic ties to Punjabi (also spelled Panjabi) and for developing proficiency in the Punjabi language. They range from community-based to federally funded programs, available in…

With a background in the teaching of Spanish in the US and the teaching of English abroad, the authors had spent a great deal of time contemplating both linguistic diversity and the internationalization of college campuses. Considering that we found ourselves studying TESOL and had an opportunity to design our own English language course for…

This article discusses the language and identity challenges I faced as a critical border ethnographer from Spain doing fieldwork in Southern California. I focus on the multiple positionings that I negotiated doing fieldwork in La Clase Magica (The Magic Class), a computer-based, after-school bilingual program for Mexican/Mexican American/Chicano-a…