The Meaning of Roots: How A Migrant Farmworker Student Developed a Bilingual-Bicultural Identity through Change

Autor/in	Danzak, Robin L.
Titel	The Meaning of Roots: How A Migrant Farmworker Student Developed a Bilingual-Bicultural Identity through Change
Quelle	In: Global Education Review, 2 (2015) 2, S.24-42 (19 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2325-663X
Schlagwörter	Migrant Workers; Agricultural Laborers; Immigrants; Poverty; Disadvantaged; Qualitative Research; Interviews; Barriers; Bilingualism; Biculturalism; Self Concept; Spanish; American Indian Languages; English (Second Language); Second Language Learning; Case Studies; Adolescents; High School Graduates; Acculturation; Parent Attitudes; Academic Aspiration; Language Attitudes; Florida + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Wanderarbeiter; Agricultural labourers; Landarbeiter; Immigrant; Immigrantin; Immigranten; Armut; Qualitative Forschung; Interviewing; Interviewtechnik; Bilingualismus; Bikulturalität; Selbstkonzept; Spanisch; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Case study; Fallstudie; Case Study; Adolescent; Adolescence; Adoleszenz; Jugend; Jugendalter; Jugendlicher; High school; High schools; Graduate; Graduates; Oberschule; Absolvent; Absolventin; Akkulturation; Elternverhalten; Sprachverhalten
Abstract	Thousands of children and teens labor as migrant farmworkers across the United States. These youngsters, many who are immigrants, face challenges in completing their education and breaking the cycle of agricultural work. Such barriers are influenced by geographic instability, poverty, and sociocultural marginalization. Beyond these factors, and the focus of this article, is the challenge of bilingual-bicultural identity negotiation experienced by young farmworkers in and out of the educational context. This question is explored through the case study of Manuel (a pseudonym), a teen farmworker in Florida. Manuel emigrated from Mexico at the age of 12, and is a speaker of Spanish, Otomi (an indigenous language), and English. Although he recently completed high school, he struggled to adjust to life in the U.S. and acquire English. Manuel provided interviews and autobiographical writing in 2008, when he was age 14 (grade 8), and again in 2012, when he was 18 (grade 11). His parents, also migrant farmworkers, contributed an interview in 2012. A qualitative, thematic analysis was applied to the data. Themes that emerged included: resistance and acceptance of personal and cultural-linguistic change, the need to "acostumbrarse" (get used to it) with respect to these changes, the desire to "salir adelante" (get ahead) and the pathways to do so (e.g., finish school, learn English), and Manuel's developing bilingualism and his shifting attitudes towards it. Overall, Manuel's story offers deep insights into the realities in which the bilingual-bicultural social identity of a migrant farmworker student develops and interacts in and out of school settings. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Mercy College New York. 555 Broadway, Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522. Tel: 914-674-7350; Fax: 914-674-7351; Web site: http://ger.mercy.edu
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01