Scholars who study Southeast Asian American (SEAA) communities are in consensus that this group's realities diverge from their Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) counterparts. In fact, nearly four decades after large-scale immigration as political refugees from Southeast Asia (SEA), this population composed of Cambodians, Hmong, Laotians,…

This research identifies how anti-immigrant sentiment and racism, which have historically been reflected and transmitted through nativist language policies and school curriculum, affect second-linguistic-generation Hmong Americans--not via overtly xenophobic and discriminatory acts but via subtle yet hurtful racial microaggressions. Interviews…

This narrative research study involving 13 Hmong college women reveals some of the challenges that multilingual students may face in the American educational system. Using stories told by the participants about their language- and literacy-development experiences, the author identifies commonalities in those experiences. The similarities in their…

This ethnographic case study of a male Hmong refugee, Vue Lang, is situated against a backdrop that is characterized by a burgeoning immigrant population in the United States and a growing need to provide them with English language instruction. The Bourdieusian concepts of "capital", "habitus", and "field" (Bourdieu, 1991) are used to explicate…

At least 5.1 million U.S. students in kindergarten through 12th grade are English Language Learners today--10.5 percent of the entire student population. That amount is expected to grow to 25% by the year 2025. Numbers on the educational levels of these students' parents vary, though it appears that at least one-third of the heads-of-household…

U.S. higher education institutions are enrolling increasing numbers of long-term immigrant students, who belong to Generation 1.5. Essentially beginning college while still in the process of learning English, these students often struggle in higher education, and they present new challenges to college writing instructors. This study explored the…

The early 1980s saw an influx of Southeast Asian refugees from various demographic groups and backgrounds to Minnesota. As teachers, the author and her colleagues regularly added children from these groups to their classrooms, receiving little explanation of a student's history or language proficiency. To counteract increasing teacher resentment…

Discusses the the experiences of teachers gathered in the Bay Area Writing Project's Summer Invitational Institute to write, reflect on the process, and give workshops. Describes the presentation of one Hmong student, and highlights the importance of recognizing the home school connection for immigrant students. (Author/VWL)

Investigated the cultural identity of the second generation of a group of recent Hmong immigrants to the United States to determine the relationships among acculturation, ethnic identity, second-language acquisition, native language maintenance, self-esteem, and academic success. (JL)

This study documented English acquisition by a group of Hmong adult immigrants over a period of one year, and explored the factors that appeared to be affecting their progress. Based on three measures (a test of listening comprehension, communication, fluency, reading, and writing; a pictured English vocabulary recognition test; and a written…

This paper describes the development and application of an instrument to measure the relationships between acculturation, ethnicity, second language learning, self-esteem, and academic success among the Hmong student population in United States postsecondary schools. The instrument assessed seven dimensions of acculturation (behavioral, social,…

Articles include the following: "The Flowering of America: Linguistic Diversity in the United States" (R. Macias); "The American Linguistic Mosaic: Understanding Language Shift in the United States" (C. Veltman); "Bilingualism and Language Use Among Mexican Americans" (G. Valdes); "Puerto Ricans in the United…

A study investigated the studying and reading processes of limited-English-speaking Hmong university students, using think-aloud protocols, reading journals, and study skills portfolios. Think-alouds were conducted in four areas: reading a content-area textbook chapter; taking lecture notes; test studying strategies; and test-taking strategies.…