Spotlight on “Long-Term English Language Learners”: Characteristics and Prior Schooling Experiences of an Invisible Population

Abstract

This article presents qualitative research findings about the characteristics and prior schooling experiences of “long-term English language learners” (LTELLs), who have attended U.S. schools for 7 years or more, and about whom there is little empirical research, despite their significant numbers. Findings indicate that these students are orally bilingual for social purposes, yet have limited academic literacy skills in English and their native languages as a result of subtractive prior schooling experiences. Two main groups of LTELLs are identified: (a) students with inconsistent U.S. schooling, who have shifted between bilingual education, English as a second language, and mainstream classrooms with no language support programming, and (b) transnational students, who have moved back and forth between the United States and their family's country of origin. It is argued that programming for LTELLs in high school must be distinctive, and recommendations for policy and practice are outlined.