Sarah Barron

Linguistically diverse learners (LDLs), or students whose first language is not English, make up the fastest growing student group in U.S. public schools (de Kleine & Lawton, 2015). However, teachers often express uncertainty and feelings of ill-preparedness towards teaching LDLs, especially with students who are not yet proficient in English (Gomez & Diarrassouba, 2014). Consequently, LDLs can face adverse academic experiences and generally do not perform as well as their Anglo-Saxon peers on standardized assessments (Gomez & Diarrassouba, 2014). With these problems in mind, this study aims to bring to attention the experiences and voices of LDLs regarding their linguistic and cultural heritage and how it impacted their schooling. While many studies have analyzed teacher practices, and teacher and parents’ sentiments, few studies have turned directly towards the students for direct evidence of how linguistic diversity affects learning and schooling. This study aims to fill in this gap in the literature by sharing the experiences of four LDLs as expressed through one-on-one interviews focused on their linguistic heritage and school experiences. Interviews have been analyzed and coded using the Constant Comparative Model, popularized by Glaser and Strauss (1967), to bring forth the various experiences and sentiments expressed by the participants.