This paper explores the experiences of two high school newcomers who chose to participate in an internship program, assisting elementary school students, some of whom were also emergent bilinguals. This study used ethnographic and visual methodologies to explore young people's evolving understanding of teaching, learning, and languaging as members…

In this article the authors present a new concept, activeness, as a dynamic psychological and cognitive state of effective engaged language learning. It is defined in terms of "investment," "integration" and "performance," and empowers vulnerable students to exercise control of their learning and progress based on…

The most effective way to address the critical social and political issues confronting students today is to promote intercultural competence with empathy at the core of language instruction. Language has the ability to shape our thoughts and to alter our consciousness. As students view the world through the prism of cultural openness, they are…

Teachers in a Nevada district office have been reading and discussing Sandra Cisneros' book, "Hairs/Pelitos," and are collaborating on a poster that uses figurative language to describe 38 a character from the text. The participating teachers are preparing to lead this same activity with their elementary students who are newcomers to the…

The Digital Humanities (DH) has been for many years, even decades, in constant development and self-definition and has been able to gather a diverse and international community that goes beyond the traditional framework of academia. Modern Languages (ML) also finds itself in the process of establishing the terms in which it intersects with the…

This paper builds on a collaborative pilot project on "Critical Multilingual Language Awareness" (CMLA) in a linguistically diverse Preparatory Class with migrant adolescents in Sweden. Importantly, the approach involved Multilingual Study Mentors (MSMs), whose role normally is to provide scaffolding in the strongest language of recently…

This study used a video prompting intervention to overcome language barriers between English-speaking trainers and Spanish-speaking immigrant parents of children with autism. Parents were taught instructional skills targeting independent dressing. A multiple baseline design across three families and a replication using an alternating treatments…

This article discusses how art can contribute to the creation of a translanguaging space and how a community program can be a significant site for this collective and creative endeavor. Drawing on translanguaging theories, I founded the "Entretejer/Interweave Community School" program in collaboration with the Immigrant Resource Center,…

A growing number of scholars invested in Iberian Studies are asking how peninsular literary and cultural studies might be reimagined, and reinvigorated, by placing the Spanish and Portuguese canons into critical dialogue with each other, and with Galician, Catalan, Basque/Euskadi, and Latin American and North African immigrant writers, cultural…

Every year, there are between 150,000 and 200,000 immigrant students in California who have been in U.S. schools for less than 3 years. These newcomers generally require specialized academic instruction and social services to succeed in school. Despite great efforts, many districts are struggling to create these conditions for success. Many…

Bilingual social workers need specialized training to provide effective mental health services to Spanish-speaking Latinos. Ideally, this training should use the language in which the social workers plan to practice. This article describes an innovative two-semester course offered "in Spanish" that prepared advanced undergraduate and…

Utilizing Utah state data, the aim of this study is to examine the association between language program types programs (dual language programs [DLI], sheltered instruction [SEI], and English as a second language [ESL]) since first grade and third-grade basic literacy skills of Spanish-speaking English learners (ELs) in the United States. We employ…

Native Spanish speakers from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, who are also English language learners, are a growing population of students in the K-12 classrooms throughout the United States. This particular group of students is oftentimes placed in Spanish-as-a-foreign-language classes that fail to meet their linguistic development…

In a present-day global world, immigrant communities manage multiple cultural and linguistic contexts. To better understand these cross-cultural connections, and bridge the fields of linguistics and transnationalism, the present study analyzes the interconnection between language use and symbolic transnationalism among heritage speakers of…

In this article, we explore digital storytelling as a community-engaged pedagogy to create students' immigration stories in Maryland as part of the project "Intercultural Tales: Learning with Maryland's Immigrant Communities." Stories highlight students' lived experiences of immigration, language, and identity. By envisioning themselves…