Latinx community college students have lower persistence and completion rates than White and Asian students (Causey et al., 2022). Results of a systematic literature review found the following root causes for these low retention rates: financial barriers, lack of institutional support, educational preparation, psychosocial considerations, and…

The purpose of this study was to investigate Spanish-speaking multilingual learner (MLL) students' long-term academic outcomes after participation in an early childhood education (ECE) program with English instruction. The study included 359 Spanish-speaking MLLs who qualified for Free and Reduced Lunch from Grade 1 to Grade 6. Participants…

Teaching and learning for emergent bilinguals is often based on monolingual instructional assumptions which ignore how emergent bilinguals use their entire linguistic repertoire to communicate and make meaning. Bilingual pedagogies such as Preview-View-Review have the potential to support the development of biliteracy and meaning-making of…

The purpose of this study is to explore the statistical nature of the linguistic interdependence hypothesis (Cummins, 1976, 2017) in the spring of 2nd grade of students in foreign language immersion programs. Specifically, the interdependent relationship between L2 language proficiency levels and L1 reading academic performance in an environment…

Heritage language speakers, those who have or claim a connection with the language of their ancestors, have become a group of interest in the United States, especially since programs to serve this population were initiated four decades ago thanks to the advocacy of grassroots organizations. Still, the reach of those programs is minimal and the…

The present dissertation brings together research on heritage language acquisition and bilingual education and makes inroads into the limited research on heritage language development in school-aged bilingual children. This study explores how bilingual education, patterns of exposure, and lexical frequency shape adolescent Spanish heritage…

The Latino English Language Learner population continues to rise each year in our schools, currently accounting for over 10% of all K-12 students in the United States (Cheung, 2019). Even with this growth in population, Latinos continue to lag behind other races in academic attainment and advancement in postsecondary success (NCES, 2019). This…

Emergent bilinguals (EBs) with disabilities are in an intersectional gap; that means that on the one hand, they are learning a second language and on the other hand, they have learning challenges resulting from their disability. The implication is that the interaction between their disability and second language learning may impact how they learn…

Hispanic college enrollment in the U.S. will surpass 4.4 million students by 2025, far exceeding the growth rate of any other racial or ethnic group. Hence, the number of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) identified by the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) increased to nearly 570 in 2020 and is likely to accelerate…

This dissertation investigates shifts in the languages ideologies of four Latina English-Spanish dual language teacher candidates (DLTCs) over four quarters in a Teacher Education Program (TEP) and bilingual endorsement. The goal was to determine whether any ideological shifts aligned with the goals of Dual Language Bilingual Education (DLBE) or…

For high school science teachers working with students who are in the beginning stages of English learning, it can be difficult to engage English learner (EL) students in using language that is accessible to understand complex scientific concepts. Improving EL students' access to science education is an important component of diversifying…

Needs analysis (NA) has been a core component of language for specific purposes (LSP) research and curriculum development for the past half-century, and within the past decade has seen significant methodological advancement. Specifically, certain LSP NA research has adopted task as a unit of analysis (e.g., Youn, 2018; Malicka et al., 2019), and…

The promotion of language ideologies, policies and pedagogies that treat languages as separate and hierarchical has become a central concern for critical education scholars. In this case study, I explore how school actors at Colegio Colombiano (CC), an international school in Colombia, engaged with critical approaches to bi/multilingual education…

This study examines ideologies of language and orientations to bilingual education in California. Specifically, this study examines how three bilingually authorized first- and second-year teachers in one bilingual Oakland elementary school experienced professional development, and how that professional development connected, in multiple…

This manuscript-based dissertation is comprised of three interrelated longitudinal studies on Spanish language growth and deceleration and its impact on English language growth and English reading skills in bilingual children. Chapter 1 introduces the manuscript-based dissertation and provides the background on existing, longitudinal work of dual…