Lecture
Relationships that Count: Social Networks and Language Learning
- Date
- Tuesday 8 October 2024
- Time
- Location
- TBA
Abstract
How do adolescent immigrant students learn English in American schools? Rather than focus on teaching methods or individual language learning trajectories, this talk explores research that conceptualizes relationships and their importance in language learning as the key to understanding the unique and shared experiences and outcomes of multilingual immigrant students. Evidence from three multiyear mixed-methods studies spanning pre-and during-COVID schooling will be presented to demonstrate how multilingual immigrant students understand, develop, and access relationships in support of learning language and academic content. The talk links the social resources adolescent immigrant students to education structures and language policy at the school, district, and national levels.