Following several calls in recent scholarship for increased attention to the study of the Central American diaspora in the United States, this article offers readings of Honduran-born author Roberto Quesada's novels "Big Banana" (1999) and "Nunca entres por Miami" (2003). Written in New York City, where he has resided since…

With the lack of ethnolinguistic-specific resources for U.S. teachers, this essay is written for teachers working with ethnolinguistic students at schools and in the communities. In what follows, I will focus on two expanded theoretical underpinnings of becoming multicultural educators: (1) cultural brokering as a way to cross personal and…

This article reviews hegemonic impositions of language and culture over the history of the Southwest North American Region, beginning with Spanish imperial attempts to erase the existing linguistic and cultural practices of Indigenous communities. It goes on to consider the educational processes by which English language and American culture were…

With increasing changes in our demographic populations and new immigrants settling in the US, there is an increasing need for visual communications that address the diversity of our populations. This paper draws from the results of the researcher's several past research and teaching projects that worked with different cultural populations. These…

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 article discusses the perilous legitimacy and professional vulnerability of the foreign-born Spanish instructor in the U.S. First, it examines the academic goals of language and in particular Spanish departments regarding the development of language proficiency, the study of cultural values of the Spanish-speaking world, and the place of…

Researchers in second language socialization (SLS) often examine those interactions relating to a learner's integration within a target community. Kramsch and Whiteside (2008) noted the importance of "symbolic competence" in this integration. Symbolic competence, defined as the ability to access contextually relevant social and political…

Puerto Rican children's literature reflects the complex history of Puerto Rico, an island that has been perpetually under colonial rule. Island and US Puerto Ricans represent a cultural identity with indefinite geographical, national and linguistic borders. Although both groups have created distinct communities, both remain loyal to Spanish as a…

This reflective article is based on an ethnographic case study of five transnational teachers of English in Mexico. These teachers had acquired English as children of Mexican immigrants to the U.S. At the time of the study, they were living and teaching in their parents' place of origin in rural Mexico. The intent of the article is to examine how…

Achievement motivation is something that all members of the school community want to support in students, however few may recognize that it is influenced by culture. The very meaning of "achievement" is culturally variable, and the motives that students have for achieving may be quite different, depending upon their cultural background.…

Studies of Mexican and Puerto Rican communities living in the same United States cities suggest that a combination of historical factors and local conditions strongly influence to what extent these two groups interact and form a shared sense of pan-ethnic Latino unity. However, few studies have examined "MexiRican" individuals, those who…

This study investigated the effect of the cultural background of immigrant children on affective variables in learning three different languages. Participants were students in secondary multicultural classrooms in Spain. A total of 114 students, aged 12 to 16, answered a questionnaire based on Gardner's Attitude = Motivation Test Battery assessing…

Project Esperanza supplemented the basic special education program for handicapped students with limited English proficiency (LEP) by providing (1) staff training and consultation, (2) materials development, identification, and evaluation, (3) assistance in the diagnosis of educational needs and the prescription of instructional strategies, (4)…

Argues that public schools often ignore the strategic and cultural resources, termed funds of knowledge, that Mexican-American households contain. These funds are a key to understanding the cultural systems of Mexican-American children and can be useful assets in the classroom. (SLD)

This paper addresses beginning level Spanish heritage language (SHL) learners' attitudes towards their language and culture. Heritage language (HL) programs and research have often overlooked beginning level learners, especially within university settings. The current study involved 20 participants from a beginning level SHL class in the…