Adult immigrant students’ identity positioning and english-only ideologies in the US: a quantCrit case study

Abstract

This QuantCrit case study examines how adult emergent multilingual language learners (EMLLs) attending English language skills classes at a public school district in the US construct their linguistic identities in response to English-only ideologies. The small sample size was limited to adults enrolled in the program (n = 19), as this study is intended to be duplicated in different spaces to account for multilingual and cultural diversity. The study asks the question, how do adult EMLLs attending an English class position themselves and their perceived English fluency? To answer this question, participants completed a mixed-methods survey that addresses demographics, languages, perception of one’s own language ability, and perception of what others think about one’s language abilities. The findings were analyzed through the lens of Darvin and Norton’s (2015) Model of Identity Investment that considers identity, ideology, and capital and the raciolinguistics perspective (Flores and Rosa 2015). The results indicate that there is a significant relationship between English-only ideologies and participants’ constructed linguistic identities and reveal a troubled relationship between the way participants position themselves against the deficit-oriented perceptions of English-only speaking Americans. Overall, the results emphasize the importance of centering adult EMLLs’ linguistic and cultural transnational assets in designing curricula, policy, and research.