Navigating Internal and External Borderlands: The Experience of Emergent Bilingual Cape Verdean Middle School Students

The purpose of this grounded theory research study was to better understand the experiences of emergent bilingual Cape Verdean Middle School students as they navigate internal and external borderlands. This study was conducted in an urban middle school in New England. Nine female, emergent bilingual Cape Verdean middle school students, participated in this study. This study was also completed with the assistance of the school district’s middle school language acquisition coach. The participants contributed to student surveys, focus group discussions, participant observations and member checking. All data was analyzed using coding and grounded theory, which lead to the development of theoretical constructs. This study documents some EB(emergent bilingual) students’ experiences and feelings pertaining to language, as well as their cultural, social, and linguistic identities while they navigate different linguistic and social worlds. In addition, this study documents how ideologies of linguistic superiority in different worlds or spaces can affect EB students’ sense of identity and connections to others. The evidence provided in this study is useful to help teachers, administrators, and anyone else involved in education to better understand some realities and challenges many EB students face, as well as how facing these challenges and differences can affect student’s sense of self, linguistic, and cultural identities. This study concludes that it is necessary for schools to work to form and create linguistic democracies.


ITINERARY
My origins: teacher, PhD candidate, and always as a student.
For as long as I can remember, I have been a lover of language. I love stories and learning about characters -what makes them who they are and seeing how their stories play out. Given this love of language, it is perhaps ironic that as young student, I struggled with reading, due in part to my family's frequent moves. I changed schools every few years and often felt behind my new peers. I am not sure if my struggle was strictly academic or if the source of my achievement gap was also social-emotional.
What I do know is that as a new and shy student in an unfamiliar environment, I was unable to focus and learn, thereby creating gaps in my own education in comparison to many of my peers.
Even though I struggled with reading, my parents filled my life with stories, reading aloud to my siblings and to me. When I was in the third grade, my father "tricked" me into reading on my own. We had received a new (or new to us) book series from my favorite aunt and uncle. The first book was Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling. My father read the first half of the book aloud to me. I loved hearing the beautiful and unique names of people, places and things in the magical world the author created. The vivid descriptions, mystery and suspense had me hooked from page one. We got half way through the book, and then my father announced, "That's it! I'm done reading. If you want to know what happens, you read it yourself." Reluctantly, I did. I needed to know what would happen to the characters I had come to love. Many of the unique and beautiful names and words I felt confident about already knowing from hearing them in my mother and father's voices, and so I was not as worried about getting stuck on them or reading them wrong. New magic names and terms I knew were made up and, therefore, I felt good about pronouncing them however I wanted: They were made-up so I didn't have to worry about saying them wrong… Right? My parents and J. K. Rowling gave me a gift that I want to pass on to my emergent bilingual students. I want them to see language, both written and oral, as living, not something static that they have to master. I started to feel comfortable and confident reading to myself in this magical and wonderful world the author had created. I finished the first book, immediately began the second, and continued all the way through the rest of the series. After years of fighting to even try reading to myself or aloud, I was finally excited and motivated to do it on my own. While spelling has and will likely always remain a challenge for Beginning the Journey I work in Clarkson, a mid-sized urban school district in New England. It was once a booming manufacturing town populated with mills and warehouses full of goods manufactured there, predominantly shoes and textiles. It was home to many blue-collar, working and middle-class families who played various roles in the manufacturing and industry there. Once production began to be outsourced to other countries, many factories and manufacturers had to close, leaving empty mills and warehouses, and the middle and working-class families had to move in search for work and new housing. Over the years, as these shifts have occurred, property values have gone down, lowering the property tax and revenues that were once much higher during the time of the booming industry and manufacturing. The remnants of these prosperous times are clear in many corners of the older city and in the municipal buildings, such as the beautiful City Hall, with its ornate tile and wood craftsmanship.
There are a number of old homes in the area that are of the same era, of beautiful and solid craftsmanship, which have been maintained and often represent a long-standing family tradition in this community.
Unfortunately, there are also large areas where homes have not been well maintained, due likely to frequent owner turnover and lack of resources for such maintenance. Many homes, buildings, and businesses are vacant. Many of the groups of people who have gravitated toward this area are of lower socioeconomic status; many such families are living at or below the poverty line. Over the years, the city has also become a large hub for many immigrant populations, resulting in large communities of various cultures and languages. One of the largest cultural groups currently in the city is from Cape Verde. In fact, this city is home to largest community of Cape Verdeans in all of the US. Having such large populations of language and culture groups have allowed for strong communities to develop within the city. Both official and informal programs and connections have developed to help support families and individuals upon their arrival to US within these language and culture groups.
Having such large language and cultural communities has also allowed the school district to create unique approaches to ESL and multilingual education. With such large immigrants and non-native English-speaking groups, there have been entire school-based ESL programs created for native speakers of certain languages. By that I mean there are so many native Haitian speaking students, for example, that there is a whole elementary and subsequent middle school ESL programs housed within one school for predominantly native Haitian speaking students. Similarly, there is a program strand for native Spanish speakers, as well as a third and fourth for strand for native speakers of Cape Verdean Creole and Portuguese. This allows classes to be designed for students who share a common native or first language. Students are able to be in classes with peers who often share their native language, or another common language other than English. This also means that many ESL (English and a Second Language) as well and SEI (Sheltered English Instruction) content classes, are taught by multilingual teachers, who share a second or third common language with the students.
Most ESL programs are made up of classes with students of various mixed first and native languages. Clarkston's structure, however, allows teachers to learn more indepth about a particular language and culture group with which they can connect their practice, rather than trying to learn bits and pieces about multiple languages and cultures that their students may represent. The advantages that Clarkston's English learners experience, however, are dwarfed by the challenges faced by many emergent bilingual students. These challenges frame the study and are introduces in the next section.

The Problem
Students who are not native English speakers face many oppositional forces and ideologies, and stereotypes. They face shifting realities in the various communities of which they are a part, as well as pervasive messages on the television, news and Internet media. These students are in a constant state of transition; they move through and are repeatedly positioned between different (and sometimes competing) cultures and languages (Freire, 2000). This happens throughout a student's typical day within schools, as well as after school out in their communities, among their friends and at home with their families.
These students are experiencing a voyage, travel through a series of borderlands over the course of a single day. Anzaldúa explains, "A border is a diving line, a narrow strip along a steep edge. A borderland is a vague and undetermined place created by the emotional residue of an unnatural boundary. It is in a constant state of transition" (1987, p. 25). She explains the concept of borderlands first in terms of the border between her home country of Mexico and the United States. Where these two countries meet, yet remain divided, is the sharp edge. The borderland to which she refers is the conscious state of being in a separate psychological space, not completely feeling they belong singularly in either country. When one crosses this border from one country to the next they are not made whole by either, no longer wholly Mexican, and not wholly American either (Anzaldúa, 1987). For many non-immigrant students, there is a border between their home and the school, a change in the expectations of behavior and types of participation. Students who are coming to American schools from homes in which culture and language is different, however, face a much bigger boundary, a sharper edge. These students are experiencing an additional difference in language and culture, which other white American students are not. In this case, the emergent bilingual (EB) students are experiencing a very different borderland, not just the home and school boundary, but also the language and culture boundaries as well.
Much of the dominant English language and culture values the English over all other languages, regarding those in this country who do not yet speak the language fluently as deficient in their language abilities simply. Meanwhile, the non-native English speaker is already fluent in one or more languages, and is in the process of developing another, a skill most members of the dominant English-speaking culture do not typically possess themselves. Still, rather than seeing these developing Multilanguage abilities as skills and assets, many people view these non-native speakers through a deficit lens, as ELLs (English Language Learners). Deficit model thinking often leads to viewing an English language deficit as a manifestation of limited intellectual abilities, linguistic shortcomings, lack of motivation to learn (Valencia, 1997). This deficit view is highly problematic for both those being labeled as ELL, being labeled as deficient in English skills, and also by those doing the labeling. I prefer instead to use the term Emergent Bilingual, which frames students developing English and multilingualism as an asset (García, 2009). Such EB students whose first language is not English necessarily move between linguistic and cultural worlds. This study seeks to understand the essence of that experience.

Research Questions:
The research questions for this study are as follows: 1. How do EB Cape Verdean middle school students name and describe their different social worlds and their experiences moving between and among them?
2. How does EB Cape Verdean middle school students' constructed knowledge impact their ability to navigate among their social worlds?
3. In what ways do social and political systems impact how EB Cape Verdean middle school students name, understand, and navigate within and among their different social worlds or borderlands?

Orientation to the Project
To begin getting some answers to my questions I designed a qualitative research study, aimed at understanding the essence of some of my students' experiences as they navigate language use and their feelings as they apply to their multilingualism. My theoretical framework for this study is critical constructivism.
Critical constructivism is a unified theory where all dimensions of theoretical work in education, epistemology, cognition and ontology fit together and are systematic in their relationships (Kincheloe, 2008). My theoretical framework is explained in greater detail in chapter two.
Originally, I chose to do the study using the transcendental phenomenology paradigm. I believed, as I still do, that it is important to address that what I am studying and trying to understand is a phenomenon, which I myself as a native speaker of English in the US have not experienced. I believe it is important as an ESL teacher to try to understand my students' experiences and realities as best I can. However, because this is not an experience I have had, I am interested in trying to understand and describe the essence of these experiences both for myself and to share with others. I chose to invite my current and former ESL students to participate in focus groups, after school. Prior to the group meetings, I asked the student participants to individually fill out study surveys I had designed asking them about their language use, language experiences, and experiences both inside and out of school. Over the course of the month in which I conducted the focus groups after school, I was also doing participant observations in some of the shared spaces the students had within the school. These are spaces in which they were in class or spending time with other students some of which are also multilingual, and other monolingual English-speaking peers.
Through my data analysis, I realized the coding and analysis I was naturally doing was really grounded theory (Urquhart, 2013). I was finding important ideas that were emerging from the data through my analysis. I found these ideas were emergent themes that were repeating and leading me towards valuable key constructs. Thus, while transcendental phenomenology shaped my thinking in the early stages of my research, I conducted my study as grounded theory.

Rationale
Teachers such as myself who do not share the same race, class, or ethnicity and who have not shared the experiences of their EB students who daily navigate these different and complex linguistic and cultural worlds, are unlikely to fully comprehend the difficulty and challenges facing these students. As their teachers, we need to understand our students and the realities they are facing in order to best help them to grow and be successful. This study, therefore, is aimed at helping teachers, administrators, and anyone else involved in education to better understand some realities and challenges many EB students face. This study also aims to better understand how facing these challenges and differences can affect a student's sense of self, linguistic, and cultural identities.
In addition to the insight this study provides to teachers, it fills a gap in the literature: The majority of (limited) research in this area has been done with Hispanic and Spanish speaking students, a very different language minority. This language distinction makes for differences on multiple levels -one being that Spanish is a language with a written form. While the dialect may vary depending on its speakers' location of origin, there is still an agreed upon written language system. This is different from many Creole languages, which do not necessarily have an agreed upon written system. Such is the case with Cape Verdean Creole. Some people in the country of Cape Verde are working on creating a finalizing a written system, but there is not yet one taught in schools. This means that many Cape Verdean immigrant students are either developing literacy skills for the first time in English, or they may have begun to develop literacy in Portuguese, a second language which was also not their native language, and they are now continuing to develop these literacy skills in a third language as they are simultaneously learning that language at the same time. This adds a level of complexity to language development not necessarily represented in much of the previous research done with Spanish speaking EB students.
To my knowledge, there is not much research of this kind done with Cape Verdean EB students. This research is aimed at adding to the literature on Cape Verdean Middle school students.

Limitations and Delimitations
The population to which this study pertains is very specific: Cape Verdean students in this particular middle school. The results of this study may not be generalized to other language minority groups, because individuals vary greatly based on their language and linguistic histories and experiences.
While some may see the relationship of the researcher as the participant's teacher as a limitation, arguing the students may want to appease the researcher by providing "the correct answers," it is my understanding this is neither the case nor a concern. In order to make participants feel comfortable enough to have the necessary discussions, which could make them feel vulnerable, it is important that the researcher is someone they know and feel comfortable with. Being the participants current or former teacher means we know each other well enough that the students have a certain level of trust in me to feel confident in speaking about their emotions and possible vulnerabilities these topics may bring up.

Project Blueprint
The following study was an adventure with twists and turns; some I was able to anticipate and even embrace while others took me by surprise. My conversations with middle school emergent bilingual students about complex feelings and relationships centered around language use in specific spaces and worlds, inside and outside school, lent themselves to detours.
In Chapter 2, I explore important literature that has informed my research and this study. I start by describing and orienting my theoretical framework for this project in the relevant literature. I then review literature pertaining to the theories of borderlands, navigating worlds, constructed identities and oppression, and translanguaging.
In Chapter 3, I describe the choices I made that led me to design my research study. This includes my rationale for choosing qualitative research, as well as the design of the survey, participant observations and focus groups. I provide a description of the site and context for the research study, as well as a description of the participants. I also explain the processes of participant selection and procedures for gaining participant consent, as well as the procedures of data collections, coding and analysis.
In Chapter 4, I describe my analysis, using grounded theory and the findings and constructs as they emerged. I begin with an introduction and chart explaining the structure and scaffolds of the three constructs. I then build the analysis from the concrete data to the repeating ideas, emerging themes, and the more abstract constructs as they developed. I also provide additional literature to support each of the constructs.
In Chapter 5, I summarize my findings, providing a theoretical narrative that describes how the research and analysis addressed each of the research questions. I then discuss the implications for this study on future program development and integration in schools, as well as encouraging the development of linguistic democracies. I then discuss conclusion for this study, within a quasi-comparison of two school sites. I conclude the study by suggesting opportunities for further research and discussion around developing linguistic democracies in schools.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Migration has always been part of humanities' experience (Sjaastad, 1962).
Some migrations are more dramatic and consequential than others, but they all have something in common: they come with issues of transition. Whether one is moving from one city to another, one job to another, or from one country to another, all these changes will require transition from an old setting and context to a new one. Typically, people still feel a connection and identify with the old as they are transitioning into their new reality. Many feel those connections to both; the new and the old become aspects of their constructed identities. Students go through periods of time when they feel they lack a sense of belonging to certain groups. Often with time the lack of belonging may change; students may become an accepted member or decide they do not need or want membership.
As EB and language minority students in the United States move through their day, they consciously or unconsciously attend to at least three processes: thinking, speaking, and communicating. Thinking is internal and in that sense individual; it can happen in multiple languages and through connections to all kinds of personal histories, experiences, and knowledge. Thinking is not something that can be quantified, seen or heard by others. Speaking is when one chooses languages and language structures with which to vocalize their ideas, needs, questions, and utterances for others to hear. This can happen in multiple languages. Lastly, communication is how one expresses ideas, concerns, questions, thoughts, ideas and messages for others to comprehend. This can be done through speaking, but also through multimodalitites (such as gestures, symbols, visual cues, touch, sound, actions and so on) often communication requires a combination of both (García, 2014). It is important to understand that all three of these processes are valid means of meaning making anyone can use to share knowledge. Even if two people do not share a common language, or if their shared language is limited, there are always means to share what one knows with the other through various means of communication besides simply speaking. Use of multimodalitites and changes in communication styles are tools many EB students use when navigating different linguistic, social and cultural worlds.
The transitions many EB students go through include navigating spaces with different dominant languages and ideologies attached to those languages. Such spaces include their ESL classrooms, mainstream English-only content classes, lunch, and specialist classes (Music, Art, Physical Education, Technology Education). These spaces can leave students feeling that their cultural, family and peer connections or identities are in contrast with how they themselves identify at various times. Students may feel their identity is under construction, changing throughout the course of a day as they interact with different groups of people, some of which they may feel they share commonalities with, and others they may feel distant from. While they may feel their identity is in line with a certain group in one context, then find it is in conflict or contrast with others at different times or spaces. This study aims to better understand the experiences of EB and language minority students as they navigate these transitions.

Theoretical Framework
This study is viewed through the critical constructivist framework as it aims to better understand the transitional realities EB students face and exist within on a daily basis. In the discussion that follows, I first examine constructivism; then I consider the strand of critical constructivism.
Constructivism is a theory about learning and knowledge, which describes both what "knowing" is and how one "comes to know" (Fosnot, 2005). This theory encompasses not only academic knowledge, but also social perceptions. Students often create their own ideas or knowledge of the groups or communities they choose to join (or not join). The students' constructed ideas about groups are based on the individual's perception of those groups, their thoughts about the members within those groups, and the individuals' own self-perception. Ultimately one's self-perception in relation to one's perception of the essence of the social group will help in the decision making as to whether or not to seek membership in particular communities. The potential communities include school, home, cultural communities, classes, social groups and the American popular cultural at large.
The constructivist theory describes knowledge not as truths to be transmitted or discovered, but as emergent, developmental, nonobjective, and viable explanations by humans engaged in meaning making in cultural and sociocultural communities of discourse (Fosnot, 2005). EB students make meaning of new spaces and contexts, as well as language used within that space by looking for connections that can be made to their prior knowledge. On one hand, EB students often feel strong connection to those in their households, their neighborhoods, from their home countries, all who share their native language and culture. Many EB students value words, phrases, religious and cultural ideas, and images that hold a shared meaning to those in the communities that also share their native language and culture. On the other hand, there is much antiimmigrant sentiment, and anti-language minority use perpetuated in the media at large which can influence the way students feel about their home culture and language.
These messages can also ultimately affect ways in which these students choose to use their language, and even effect the way they associate with certain groups.
According to the constructivist paradigm, knowledge is collectively constructed from experience and interactions of individuals with others and with their environments (Lincoln, Lynham & Guba, 2011). These outside perspectives can influence these ideas, but ultimately students form their own opinions often based on popular ideas about groups as well as cultural, family and individual values, as to whether or not they want to seek membership. Lincoln, Lynham & Guba (2011) state, "We believe that a goodly portion of social phenomena consists of the meaning-making activities of groups and individuals around those phenomena" (p. 116). In this study, the phenomena are the ways students name and navigate their social worlds and borderlands. Lincoln, Lynham & Guba go onto explain "The meaning-making activities themselves are of central interest to social constructivists and constructivists simply because it is the meaning making, sense-making, attributional activities that shape action (or inaction)" (p. 116). EB students make decisions about which groups to join at specific times intentionally and with reason. These decisions are made consciously by the students because of their beliefs about the worlds and groups around them. Also, the decision may be based on the groups or communities' members with whom they share relationships and commonalities. These decisions to align with one group or another are not made without implications or repercussions. This study explores how EB students understand the dynamics of these situations and how they decide to proceed. This study aims to understand their navigation, and the decisions and actions they choose to take as result of their meaning making.
Learning from the constructivist perspective is a self-regulatory process of struggling with conflicts between what one already knows of the world and discrepant new insights (Fosnot, 2005). Constructing new representations of reality, as well as meaning-making, occurs with culturally developed tools and symbols, and further negotiating such meaning through cooperative social activity, discourse, and debate in familiar communities (Fosnot, 2005). These beliefs and ideas are constructed based on students' knowledge of those worlds and the implications of memberships in and among them. The more their English language and social fluency develops the more they are learning about these mainstream and Americanized communities and groups around them. Often the beliefs and ideas of the dominant Americanized communities can be in contrast to those beliefs EBs have constructed with influence of their familial and cultural community.
According to critical constructivist theory, the world is not only socially and historically constructed, but so are people and the knowledge people possess (Kincheloe, 2005). This is a reciprocal process in which individuals are shaped by their experiences; they, in turn, shape the experiences of others. Ideas can be perpetuated about certain groups of people based on one person's experience or interpretation of an experience, which is then shared with others, in turn shaping their experience. This could happen in a positive way in which individuals may open their thinking and ideas about different groups, or negative assumptions and generalities are may be made about people or groups of people who are in some way different than oneself.
As previously stated, individuals learn about the world around them and their relationship with it through their interactions and connections to it. Connections may be easier or feel safer to make with individuals whose reality, culture, language, and experiences are similar to one's own. We operate and construct our worlds and our lives on a particular social, cultural and historical playing field (Kincheloe, 2005). It may be difficult and take more time to develop connections to others whose reality and experiences seem very different. My study explores the process through which EBs make connections and meaning in the different contexts in which they find themselves, and how they navigate these spaces and interactions with others.
Critical constructivists are particularly interested in the ways roles of power construct and validate certain processes to help privilege some people and marginalize others (Kincheloe, 2005). All knowledge and ability arise in the context of social activity and all learning is co-constructed (Walqui, 2006). Thus, group interactions are necessary for all learning processes. Thus, when non-Native English speakers, language minorities and EBs are excluded from membership in certain social groups, they lose out on learning opportunities.
Language and home culture are two factors that can exclude EB and language minority students. There are additional sociocultural and political factors playing key roles when it comes to exclusion of certain communities and groups of people. Three of these important factors Bourdieu (1986) describes as forms of capital, accumulated sources of agency, which also account for part of membership into certain groups and exclusion from others. The first is economic capital, which, according to Bourdieu (1986), is immediately convertible to money and can be turned into property rights.
This form of capital directly affects where many immigrants, EBs, and minorities of low economic status live (Kao & Rutherford, L. T., 2007). Typically, these are poor urban cities and neighborhoods, which in turn mean the students will likely be attending poorly funded public schools. This determination of location and school attendance connects to the next form of capital.
The second form of capital according to Bourdieu (1986) is cultural capital, which he says is convertible under certain conditions into economic capital, which may be institutionalized for educational qualifications. Cultural capital refers first to the existence and membership of different social classes. Bourdieu argues that cultural capital also explains the unequal scholarship achievement of children from different social classes by connecting academic success to specific profits children can obtain in the academic market, given their social class standing (1986). The higher an individual's class standing, the more profitable the academic opportunities will be available to them, which in turn can maintain or increase their economic capital. If one does not have a certain level of cultural capital, or economic capital, it may be very hard for them to access the same academic opportunities, e.g., college and other postsecondary training.
The third form of capital is social capital, which Bourdieu (1986) describes as being made up of social obligations and connections that can be converted under certain conditions into economic capital. As Alejandro Portes states "Bourdieu's treatment of the concept, in particular, was instrumental, going as far as noting that people intentionally built their relations for benefits that they would bring later" (2000, p. 2). Members of the dominant White American community are at an advantage, having the dominant language and culture as their birthright, which they may be able to use in order to more easily make connections and relationships. As Portes (2000) goes on to explain, most recently arrived foreign groups depend heavily on their networks, community and bonds of solidarity to adapt and move in American society.
This can make it very difficult to accumulate enough capital to move from one social class or level of economic or cultural capital to the next because their community and networks typically consist of other individuals from the same culture, which, while helpful in maintaining their cultural identities, will not likely assist them in making quick connections outside of this community with members of the dominant groups.
This kind of social capital will take much longer to acquire. First one must acquire the language, then a knowledge and understanding of the cultural norms and values, followed by the economic capital to get them close to making connections with individuals in the dominant social communities. This process can not only take years and possibly generations, but also requires an individual to give up more of their own native or heritage culture in order to identify more closely with the American culture.
Bourdieu's work also focuses on the relationship between identity and symbolic power (as cited in Norton, 1997).
Bourdieu argues that the value ascribed to speech cannot be understood apart from the person who speaks, and the person who speaks cannot be understood apart from larger networks of social relationships-many of which may be unequally structured. His position is that the linguist (and I, would argue, many applied linguists) take for granted the conditions for the establishment of communication: that those who speak regard those who listen as worthy to listen and that those who speak as worthy to speak. (p. 410-411) Mastery and use of language represent power --both for those who speak the language and for those who listen. Norton's (1997) idea is that for one to use a language to converse, they are also communicating that the person to whom they speak is worthy and worth communicating to. If not, they would not make the effort to do so. It also means that the person who is doing the listening must find the person who is speaking to be worth listening to, otherwise they do not, and the communication does not have value. This is where much power comes from: the listener must find the person speaking to have important and valuable enough information, and respect the way in which they are communicating it (the language) enough to want to hear and consider what the other has to say. Without the language, in this case English, to communicate with those of the dominant group, and individual does not possess much power within that group. Bourdieu explains that if learners of English cannot claim ownership of a language, they might not consider themselves legitimate speakers of that language (as cited in Norton, 1997). If they do not feel confident in their English language abilities, and do not feel a level of ownership and mastery of the language, they likely cannot use the language in a powerful way for themselves. These exclusions can happen because of a limitation of common language with which to communicate, or by silencing one who could communicate but may choose not to because they feel deterred or excluded by the assumptions and associations they feel are being made about them because of their membership to a group or community viewed as other by those who are part of the dominant discourse or conversation.
These forces used for exclusion are often based also on sociocultural and political forces; language is often just used as an additional exclusionary factor. As cited in Norton (2006) Bourdieu suggests that language cannot be understood separate from larger networks of social relationships. These relationships can be forces to either include or exclude certain communities or minorities. Views of different languages and assumptions about the speakers of those other languages are often learned within schools. Schools themselves often function as conduits of the dominant society's views and ideas. As Walter D. Mignolo points out, "As a sociologist interested in education, Bourdieu understands the paradox implied in the process itself: 'if we are not educated, we cannot think much at all, yet if we are educated we risk being dominated by ready-made thoughts" (2000, p.261). Education itself is political, it comes with rules and ideas about power, who has it, who doesn't and why.
Critical constructivism takes the understanding of social construction and adds critical theory to the mix (Kincheloe, 2005). Critical theorists are concerned with exaggerated roles that power play in construction and validation processes, and particularly how these processes help privilege some people and marginalize others (Kincheloe, 2005). Power is always present in all contexts; it is just a matter of which context we are in that determines who has the most power at a given time. In the home it is typically the adults there, whether those adults at predominantly English speaking, or speakers of another language. In schools those with the most power are the adults, who are typically English speakers, followed by the students who are dominant English speakers. EB students need to navigate through different social and linguistic contexts in which the dynamics of power shift depending on the dominant language, and speakers of the dominant language in each context. The language dependent power dynamics differ for example from EB student's homes and their English language dominant school. These dynamics change again within their ESL class verses their mainstream math classes. The language and power dynamics vary also when in mixed company of speakers of different languages, but within the context of say the school cafeteria, which may have a more flexible language space. Changing linguistic contexts multiple times over the course of a day requires careful navigation by the EB students.
According to Kincheloe (2005), individuals are often unable to discern the ways in which their environments shape their perception. This is because one's constructed understanding of our surroundings is our initial conscious awareness of the context. The development of modes of analysis that expose this complex process is very important in critical constructivist efforts (Kincheloe, 2005). This is where the terms "critical" and "constructivist" merge to form the theory of how individuals make sense of their realities in relation to the power structures at play in different settings and spaces. As Joe L. Kincheloe (2005) states "Critical theory is concerned with extending a human's consciousness of himself or herself as a social being in light of the way dominant power operates to manage knowledge" (p. 10). Language, language use, and communication are vehicles for power in all societies, including the dominant English speaking, mainstream American culture. According to Mikhail Bakhtin (as cited in García & Wei, 2014), language is inextricably bound to the context in which it exists and is incapable of neutrality because it emerges from actions of speakers with certain perspectives and ideological positioning.
Another important part of the theoretical frame for this study is Gloria Anzaldúa's Borderlands theory. According to Anzaldúa, emergent bilingual students exist in constantly shifting borderlands. In her semi-autobiography, Borderlands/ La Frontera, Anzaldúa (1987) establishes the border between Mexico and South Texas as a metaphor for all types of crossings: geographical boundaries, sexual transgressions, social dislocations, and the crossing necessary to exist in multiple linguistic and cultural contexts (p. 6). According to Walter D. Mignolo The interrelated phenomena of globalization and migration have served to highlight the borders in relation to the territory, not just the territorial borders of the nation-state but the existential conditions of migrants who are always dwelling in the borders, where they reside…" (2000, p. XV).
Thus, borderlands exist not only as a physical space represented by geographical boundaries but also as psychological spaces in the mind where one both copes with and makes sense of the differences which geographic boundaries represent. Anzaldúa explains it this way: It is as if the brain in split into two functions and so is the reality; thus, people who inhabit both realities are forced to live in the interface between the two, forced to become adept at switching modes (1987). This interface between two realities and minds is what Anzaldúa refers to as la mestiza, a third element of new consciousness, which constantly has to shift out of habitual formations for different purposes of thinking, analyzing and rationalizing, "The new mestiza copes by developing a tolerance for contradictions, a tolerance for ambiguity" (1987, p.101).
Anzaldúa argues that living in the borderlands between two groups creates an additional space between cultures and social systems in which elements from both mix, neither consuming the individual but rather combining in unique and unexpected ways (p. 6). The individual is making connections both to their native or home culture and language, while also making connections to their additional or second language and culture. Anzaldúa (1987) explains that the borderlands can be scary and painful, but also exciting, full of new opportunity and growth. She explains that many EB students feel caught in this psychic borderland space between their home culture, language and community identity and that of the institution of public schools in America. This psychic space can be painful because they are often sent negative messages about their home language and culture. These negative messages come from the media as well as individuals (both student and faculty) within the school institutions themselves.
Yet this borderland crossing can also be exciting, generative, and full of opportunity for them to grow, as they are educated in social and academic English. While learning the language, EBs are also gaining insight into aspects of dominant American culture.
This can provide them with more educational and career opportunities here in the United States. EB students must use such mestiza consciousness as they are navigating multiple borderlands not only between their home and the school but within schools as well.

Review of Literature
Despite the reality that EBs vary tremendously in age and country of origin as well as linguistic, cultural, and educational background, many inclusion efforts have resulted in a one-size-fits-all approach to instruction (Harper & de Jong, 2009).
Among the various gaps in program design and implications, these programs often do not address specific social or emotional needs of EBs. This is particularly important as they establish an academic and social identity as they move between linguistic and cultural worlds.

Navigating worlds
Most immigrant populations are oppressed by the dominant American culture and its ideologies due, at least in part, to their non-native English-speaking status.
When individuals begin to learn the language and culture of America, they often feel divided, like they must give up parts of their home culture and language to become Americanized. According to Freire (2000), these oppressed groups suffer from duality, which has established itself in their innermost being (p. 48). The duality stretches between their home language and identities and the new Americanized version.
The transitioning process from ESL and bilingual education into mainstream regular education often leaves students in an additional borderland. As Anzaldúa (1987) describes, "A borderland is a vague and undetermined place created by the emotional residue of an unnatural boundary. It is a constant state of transition. The prohibited and forbidden are its inhabitants" (p. 25). These students are legally entitled to be educated but they are also prohibited and forbidden because they are not of the American culture: they are not native speakers of the dominant language and so cannot be true members of its community. As Anzaldúa states, "In childhood we are told that our language is wrong. Repeated attacks on our native tongue diminish our sense of self. The attacks continue throughout our lives" (p. 80). Non-native English speakers are sent such negative messages from the media, members of the dominant American culture, and members of the school community itself.
Another potential force many EB students face when trying to successfully navigate and negotiate within borderlands is what  refers to as secondary cultural differences. These are differences that arose as results of two populations coming into contact, or after members of a given population began to participate in institutions such as schools, which are controlled by the dominant group . Minority and EB students will still remain members of the "other/outside" group, not that of the dominant English-speaking group. Acquiring and using the English language in schools presents a large obstacle that can undermine EB student's ability to navigate and negotiate their borderlands. The use of this dominant English language puts them closer (but not as an equal member) to the dominant group, while also pulling them from their home and first cultural identity. Many EB students must choose which group to align themselves with in school, which is dominated by the English-speaking majority. This reality creates a space, which is typically different and is often in conflict with their home, community and cultural identities. In his book Local Histories/ Global Designs: Coloniality, Subaltern Knowledges, and Border Thinking, Mignolo (2000) states; Lives on the border (De Vos 1994) are conceived and experienced in and from different perspectives: either as the authenticity of the native cultures being harassed by globalization or as the authenticity of the North Atlantic (or Western) culture either in danger or still in its triumphal planetary march. The celebration of bi and pluri languageing is precisely the celebration of the crack in the global process between local histories and global designs, between "mundializacion" and globalization, from languages to special movements, and a critique of the idea that civilization is linked to the "purity" of colonial and national monolanguageing. (p. 250) English language as a priority is obvious in schools in the United States; unfortunately, it often comes with the messages and implications of its superiority over other languages and cultures. This sentiment often also follows students outside of school while surrounded by the dominant Americanized culture. Reprieve can be found in their homes, social circles, and cultural comminutes. Safe spaces and times for integrating, encouraging and sharing EB student's multilingualism must be purposefully created within schools or other dominantly Americanized spaces (Valenzuela, 1999).

Constructed identities and oppression
Constructed identities refer to the sense of identity or kinship individuals create through connections and associations. The connections and kinship one may feel are to their own understanding and knowledge of their reality or world they are surrounded by. This includes knowledge they have about the culture of a certain community and context; whether that context is a classroom, a school, a country or a home. One's constructed identity may shift and bring to the surface or highlight certain facets of our identity that match most closely to context within which we find ourselves at any given time. At other times, these aspects of identity may once again move and shift (but are not eliminated) so that other aspects may be highlighted or brought to the surface in order to reflect the shared values or ideas within a different context. According to Norton (2006), a sociocultural conception of identity conceives of identity as dynamic and constantly changing across time, places and space; a recurring idea throughout much of the research on identity and language learning is the theme of "transition." As EBs move between spaces and places such as those dominated by the monolingual English and Americanized ideas, certain elements of their constructed identities may be most beneficial to highlight. In other contexts, however, such as in their multilingual dominated communities or homes, they will likely transition to shift and highlight other assets of their constructed identities. As Norton states "Most researchers note that identity construction must be understood with respect to larger social processes, marked by relations of power that can be either coercive or collaborative" (2006, p. 3). While navigating different contexts and spaces, one must recognize and understand which is the culture of power in that space, and how this reality will affect them and their identity as they transition or navigate through.
As Yuval-Davis (2006) describes, "Social divisions also exist in the ways people experience subjectively their daily lives in terms of inclusion and exclusion, discrimination and disadvantage, specific aspirations and specific identities" (p. 198).
Such students negotiate constructed identities and their corresponding borderlands throughout the course of a single day. They may feel they belong within one group, while facing the consequence that belonging to that group excludes them from another. For example, socializing with students who share their native language likely excludes EBs from the dominant language group. Likewise, their identification with the dominant language group makes them a minority, positioning them at a disadvantage in many ways within the context of both schools and the dominant American culture and ideology.

Cultural-historical perspective versus cultural traits model
It is important also to remember that identity is not tied strictly to one culture or language. Often EB students may feel they identify partially, or at different times differently culturally, linguistically based on their context or the space in which they find themselves at that particular moment or based on their own history. One way to do that is to use what Kris D. Gutierrez and Barbara Rogoff (2003) refer to as a cultural-historical approach.
We believe that a cultural-historical approach offers a way to get beyond a widespread assumption that characteristics of cultural groups are located within individuals as "carriers" of culture-an assumption that creates problems, especially as research on cultural styles of ethnic (or racial) groups is applied in schools. (p. 19) This approach aims to understand commonalities of experiences for people who share cultural backgrounds, without assuming that everyone of that culture has had that exact same experience. According to Guitierrez and Rogoff (2003), these experiences are often misconceived to be "traits" of a particular culture and assumed that everyone in that culture therefore shares that particular "trait." The intent of the culturalhistorical approach is to understand what commonalities many cultures share, in order to have ideas about the cultures as a whole, and to understand that certain EB students from a given cultural background may share some of these commonalities. It is important, though, not to assume members of a cultural group share all practices and beliefs simply because they share a cultural the background.
As individuals grow and develop, they interact with different groups and cultures, learning about and from one another. EB students are themselves individuals and experience the same types of growth and interactions with and between groups and cultures. These changes and developments enable them to make new relationships with other communities, as well (Guitierrez & Rogoff, 2003). Thus, the cultural approach is to looks for patterns in people's practices or responses to given situations, without making claims about individual's reactions because of their cultural or minority status (Guitierrez & Rogoff, 2003).
Making assumptions about EBs and other individuals based solely on their membership, background or association with a certain culture, language or group can lead to many false assumptions and deficit thinking. One could be missing the many assets an individual is bringing with them simply because they are dismissed due to false and misleading deficit model assumptions. The cultural traits model can also perpetuate stereotypes and negative falsehoods within the classroom, school itself, and the dominant culture and media. To gain sociocultural consciousness and in doing so, prevent perpetuation of negative stereotypes, teachers need to understand their own sociocultural identities and recognize the intricate connection between schools and society (Villegas & Lucas, 2002).

Internalized oppression
When switching from one environment and context to another, students must often choose certain layers or aspects of their identities to highlight in order to fit themselves best within that context. These aspects include social norms and identity, gender norms, and language use. From the moment they walk out their door, most EB students leave their familiar home culture and must move through a psychic borderland space in attempts to fit in to the Americanized culture, no longer belonging completely to either context. They will likely never be fully assimilated or considered Americanized by the actual dominant culture. Freire (2000) describes this experience in this way: They are at one and the same time themselves and the oppressor whose consciousness they have internalized. The conflict lies in the choice between being wholly themselves or being divided; between ejecting the oppressor within or not ejecting them; between human solidarity or alienation; between following prescriptions or having choices; between being spectators or actors; between acting or having the illusion of acting through the action of the oppressors; between speaking out or being silent… (p. 48) EB students often must choose which group or identity to relate with or project at various times, depending on the context and situation. They must gauge which pieces of their constructed identities are most beneficial to bring to the forefront for that given situation, and then choose it, even temporarily for their own benefit, while still knowing that this choice requires a sacrifice of another identity; they no longer truly fit in. The duality stretches between the past, their home language and identities and the new Americanized version of themselves. They might feel disoriented -not feeling whole as a member strictly of their original culture, and not fully a member of the new Americanized culture either.
Becoming a member of this dominant American culture also brings its own struggles to which Freire referred. To join, one must also accept and in doing so internalize many of the values and beliefs this groups holds, which often include beliefs of its superiority in both language and ideology over other minority cultures and languages. This presents an internal struggle in the psyche of many EBs who want to learn the language and culture of the dominant group in order to gain social and financial success and wellbeing for themselves and their families. Part of that reality, however, is that the dominant culture also typically de-values much of the linguistic and cultural importance and values of their own native cultures (Valenzuela, 1999).

Translanguaging
The term translanguaging refers to one's ability to combine and utilize multiple language aspects from seemingly different languages, in meaningful ways.
For this project, I am using Ofelia García and Li Wei's definition of translanguaging: As we will see, for us translanguaging is an approach to the use of language, bilingualism and the education of bilinguals that considers the language practices of bilinguals not as two autonomous language systems as has been traditionally the case, but as one linguistic repertoire with features that have been socially constructed as belonging to two separate languages. (2014, p. 2) Following this framework, one does not view two languages such as English and Cape Verdean Creole as being completely different or separate; instead they are languages with systems which can be used interchangeably by an individual who is fluent in both languages. This interchange or selection of certain language aspects is done by the speaker in order to be assembled or put together in ways that are more meaningful to them, or they deem most fitting for the particular context or audience they are interacting with at that time.
Language and its systems and aspects (such as words and vocabulary) are all heavily laden with meaning. Much of the meaning assigned to certain languages or aspects of language are tied to the histories of the speakers and culture of that language. This relates back to Mignolo's (2000) ideas about histories and global designs. García and Wei (2014) built on Mignolo's work by stating the following: Translanguaging refers to new language practices that make visible the complexity of language exchange among people with different histories, and releases histories and understandings that had been buried within fixed language identities constrained by nation-states (see Mignolo, 2000).
The action of using language cannot be neutral; language carries with it the historical context and associations of its speakers and their past. Choosing to use one language can align the speaker with the identities and understandings associated with that language. Translanguaging, on the other hand, allows the speaker to choose the words, elements, and aspects of language they want to use in a specific way for meaning making that does not box them into a singular cultural frame associates with a particular language.
Translanguaging is the action of using language features that previously moved separately while constrained by different histories but is now experienced together in speaker's interactions as a new whole linguistic repertoire (García &Wei, 2014).
According to García and Wei, "A translanguaging lens posits that 'bilinguals have one linguistic repertoire from which they select features strategically to communicate effectively" (2014, p. 22). In addition to multiple language systems and elements, translanguaging also allows speakers to use multimodalities such as gestures, objects, visual cues, sounds and other modes of communication to make and further communicate meaning.
These themes and theorists have informed my study as I seek to better understand ways in which many EB students recognize themselves within, and move through, multiple borderlands in the course of a single day within many public schools. Relevant literature will be further explored in chapter four as the data analysis and the constructs developed through my research process. I hope that my study will add to this body of literature.

METHODS AND PROCEDURES
Deciding where one wants to go is only the first in many steps of a journey: There is deciding how you'll get there, factoring in traffic, logistics, detours and alternate routes, sided journeys, lessons learned and of course recalculating… all before finding out where you were really meant to end up. The same is true with any research study and, in my case, the choice of method. I began my PhD journey believing that the change I could effect on a larger scale would lie in working with teachers: helping regular education (mainstream) teachers to gain a better understanding and perspective of how to help and support EB students in their classes.
Throughout the years of both teaching and completing my PhD classes, however, I kept feeling this inner pull back to the students and their voices. Thus, in the early stages of my journey, I kept hearing my GPS intoning "recalculating." The detours and side journeys helped me to realize that what I really wanted was to hear from the students themselves, about how they felt about their language and their experiences with language and culture, both in and out of school on a day-to-day basis. I wanted to better understand what those experiences were like so that I could improve my own teaching and classroom culture, as well as ultimately sharing what I was learning to help others gain a deeper understanding and knowledge. I hoped that sharing what I learned about our students' experiences could help make our school a more welcoming, inclusive and language friendly environment for all our students. So, my goal and intended destination had changed; I was happy with these realizations, but also anxious about the route, which I would need to plan and navigate to get there.
The goal of this study is to understand and describe the experiences of EB Cape Verdean Middle School students as they both name and navigate through and between different linguistic and cultural worlds. As stated earlier (p. 9), the research questions for this study are as follows: 1. How do EB Cape Verdean middle school students name and describe their different social worlds and their experiences moving between and among them?
2. How does EB Cape Verdean middle school students' constructed knowledge impact their ability to navigate among their social worlds?
3. In what ways do social and political systems impact how EB Cape Verdean middle school students name, understand, and navigate within and among their different social worlds or borderlands?
For this study I chose to use qualitative methodology, which according to Bogdan & Biklen (2016), embodies the interpretive paradigm, the need to grasp the meaning of social action and interaction in the context of the world from individual perspectives. I wanted to hear about the participant's experiences in different linguistic and cultural spaces throughout the course of their day, from the point of view of the participants themselves. Qualitative research is primarily interested in the way the world is understood and produced by people's lives, behavior, interactions and narratives; it also focuses on social context and the individual's own account of their world (Bogdan & Biklen, 2016). Quantitative methodology with its focus on testing objective theories by examining relationships among measurable variables did not seem like a meaningful fit for this study (Creswell, 2014). According to Maxwell (2013), while quantitative research sees the world in terms of statistical relationships between variables, qualitative research tends to see the world in terms of people, situations, events, and the processes that connect these; explanations are based on analysis of how some situations and events influence others. The descriptions and explanations of these experiences, connections and influences by people, contexts, and situations are the data and information I am truly interested in gathering.
In addition, the qualitative methodology locates the researcher in the study and is explicit about her role (Creswell, 2014). According to Bogdan & Biklen, "Qualitative researchers try to interact with their subjects in a natural, unobtrusive, and nonthreatening manner" (2016, p. 37). As the researcher, I chose student participants whom I have known for one to three years and with whom I have established a level of trust, and an environment in which to conduct the study that I knew they would be used to. I chose my own classroom, where we have spent many hours in classes, as well as time together before and after school, and during lunches together. This is important because the researcher is the main instrument for data collection, which is key for my particular study. Students were asked to share personal stories; I designed the study to draw on our pre-existing relationship that engendered trust and, at least in theory, could make them more comfortable speaking with me. The following specific methods were used (discussed in more detail below): student survey, focus groups, participant observations and, lastly, member checking.
Originally, phenomenology was chosen for this study because it is used to inquire and describe the essence of participants' shared experience through rich, detailed description of this central phenomenon (Creswell, 2014). Given that the purpose of this study to better understand the way EB students understand, recognize, identify with, and move among multiple social and cultural worlds constantly throughout the course of the typical day, phenomenology seemed an appropriate research frame.
Phenomenology aims to understand a phenomenon that the researcher has not experienced personally. Being a native speaker of English, I have not experienced being a language minority in the United States and all that that entails. As Quinn Patton (2002) explains, "The only way for us to really know what another person experiences is to experience the phenomenon as directly as possible for ourselves.
This leads to the importance of participant observation and in-depth interviewing" (p.106).
Phenomenology attempts to eliminate everything that represents a prejudgment, setting aside presuppositions, and reaching a transcendental state of freshness and openness, a readiness to see in an unfettered way, not threatened by customs, beliefs, and prejudices of normal science, habits of the natural world or by knowledge based on everyday experience (Moustakas, 1994). The phenomenon to be analyzed in this study is how EB students experience, navigate and negotiate what Anzaldúa describes as the borderlands and multiple social and linguistic contexts within the course of their daily and academic lives.
For all of these reasons I still believe that phenomenology both applies, and has influenced this study, especially because the experiences I am studying are ones I have not experienced myself. Throughout the data collection, my continued reading, and analysis processes however, I came to realize that my data analysis was aligned with grounded theory. According to Kathy Charmaz (2006), Stated simply, grounded theory methods consist of systematic, yet flexible guidelines for collecting and analyzing qualitative data to construct theories 'grounded' in the data themselves… data from the foundation of our theory and our analysis of these data generates the concepts we construct. Grounded theorists collect data to develop theoretical analyses from the beginning of a project (p. 2).
I found as my data collection progressed that my ideas and questions began to shift and change slightly as I was collecting various rounds of data. Luckily, I had created the focus group questions with the explicit intention that they be open-ended discussion questions, with emerging follow-ups, and had allowed myself in the proposal stages of this project to include them as such. Upon receiving back and reviewing the student surveys I found that many of the answers, and patterns I was seeing in the responses lead me to additional thoughts and ideas for the discussions.
Additionally, following each discussion I took some time to think and generate some memo ideas, which often turned into additional follow up questions or prompts in the following sessions. There will be more to follow on grounded theory in the Data Analysis section.

Context for Research
This research study was conducted in an urban public middle school in New England. Much of the city is of low socioeconomic status. As of the year prior to the study, every student in the district received free breakfast and lunch. This city is unique in that it has the largest population of Cape Verdean immigrants in the United States. There are also immigrants from Brazil, Portugal, some Asian countries, Haiti, and many Central and South American countries. The largest group of immigrant students, however, is those from Cape Verde.
Even in the regular education classes at this particular middle school, the majority of the students are third or fourth generation Cape Verdean, and many are bilingual and speak Cape Verdean Creole at home. According to the Massachusetts Department of Education School Report Card, at the time of the study the middle school had 564 students. Of these, 57.3% were native speakers of a language other than English, and 33.5% were currently enrolled in bilingual services, meaning they receive ESL (English as a Second Language) instruction and support (Massachusetts Department of Education School Report Card). There were also currently about 170 students in the mainstream classes who were classified as FLEP (Former Limited English Proficient), meaning they at one time received ESL support and services, but currently were no longer classified as requiring those services.
While in school, many EB students occupy or move within a borderland between their growing English language and linguistic context and those of their peers. Even as their English is developing many will stick with their limited Englishspeaking peers because they feel most comfortable and relate to them closely based on their shared home language and culture. At the same time, however, they are being viewed as different by those same peers and community members because of their developing English. These students will never truly be members of the dominant Americanized English-speaking group.

The School Climate
My first year teaching at Clarkston was also the school's first year having a brand new ESL (English as a Second Language) program. The new program was created to accommodate an overflow of students from one of the other middle school's ESL programs. Clarkston had never had ESL students before, nor did the administrators have experience working with multilingual students or families. There were a lot of transitional issues for both students and faculty in the school fallowing the arrival of the program and all of the new students. Most of the faculty in the school did not have prior experience working with ESL students and were not aware of many of the needs associated with this new student population. The administration and staff were not well prepared or familiarized with what the teachers or students would need.
Most of the ESL and ESL content (Math and Science) teachers were former regular education content teachers from the school, who had been told they had to both take and pass the ESL licensure test to remain at the school, or they would be moved to positions in other schools within the district.
This choice-less-choice forced most of the other SEI (Sheltered English Instruction) teachers to take on a role working with a population of students, with whom they were unfamiliar to them. Many teachers felt unprepared and ill-equipped to meet these students' needs, and not know how to successfully teach students with whom they did not share much common language. The administration of the school was also not well prepared to support the teachers or the new ESL students, nor did the administrative team have prior experience working with ESL or bilingual programs or students. There was no training or professional development offered to the administration or the teachers in the new ESL program, or the rest of the school.
Unfortunately, there were a lot of misconceptions about the new program, and about the "new bilingual kids" (as they were called). The school climate was not inclusive of the new students, rather the teachers and students seemed to perceive the transition as an invasion of the "bilingual kids" and their ESL teachers. Some teachers who had been in the building for years prior felt displaced because they were moved from their classrooms and made to share rooms or travel between multiple rooms so that the three ESL teachers could have rooms for their classes. ESL teachers were given rooms because of the amount of space required for visuals, word walls and storage for books and other supplies necessary for teaching emergent bilingual students. Understandably, these teachers who were forced out of their rooms often felt frustrated.
Many teachers were also concerned that the new bilingual kids were going to bring down the school's scores on standardized test, and therefore negatively affect the school's rank. Others also complained about the volume of the students, as culturally many Cape Verdean students sometimes speak loudly and with much enthusiasm, much like my own Italian family, as well as many other Spanish-speaking cultures.
Teachers and other school personnel would often refer to the students in the ESL program as "those kids," "the Cape Verdeans" or "your kids." Interestingly, the vast majority of the school's student population as a whole is second, third or fourth generation Cape Verdean as well, and most speak and/or understand Creole themselves (or at least have family members who do). Yet, many of these same mainstream, regular education students were not happy to have the more recently arrived Cape Verdean students within their school.
Many students could be heard muttering and mumbling that the EB students should go back to Cape Verde or to the other middle school in the district from which they had come. It was also relatively common to hear teachers and administrators in the halls, classes, the cafeteria telling students to "Just speak English," and that the school was "English-Only," even occasionally things such as, "If you don't speak English you should not be here," "Go learn English and then come back." It was difficult to hear students spoken to and about, in this manner, by both students and adults in the building. There were, however, some faculty members who seemed sympathetic to the ESL students; some learned phrases of welcome in Creole and seemed to take a genuine interest in students' stories and experiences.
Over time, some teachers would comment to me about how kind and motivated their former ESL students were, how they worked hard and often tried harder than some of their American born mainstream students. Other teachers, however, would complain to me that they felt some of their former ESL students didn't try hard enough when writing, or the teachers believed they should still be in ESL classes. Many of these issues became more prominent when the state's Department of Education came out with the RETELL initiative: The RETELL initiative (Rethinking Equity in the Teaching of English Language Learners) represents a commitment to address the persistent gap in academic proficiency experienced by ELL students. At the heart of this initiative are training and licensure requirements for the Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) Endorsement, which core academic teachers of ELLs and principals/assistant principals and supervisors/directors who supervise or evaluate such teachers must obtain. (http://www.doe.mass.edu/retell/, 2018).
This endorsement required teachers to take training courses to learn to best support the ELL (English Language Learner) students in their classes. Many of these students are those who had formerly received ESL service in the bilingual program, but were reclassified as needing fewer services, and were, therefore, put in the mainstream content classes. These teachers were then expected to provide additional strategies and differentiation to support ELLs language development within their content classes, which they were trained to do in the RETELL courses. Many teachers were resentful about having to take additional courses and training or increasing differentiation in their already overcrowded classrooms. Many of these teachers were teaching classes ranging from 25 to more often 30+ and even 40+ students. It is understandable that additional differentiation and an increased preparation load could seem quite daunting.
Some teachers came away from the RETELL courses with a broader perspective, appreciation, and understating of the cognitive, cultural and linguistic demands on multilingual students. Others were frustrated by the additional tasks they felt were being placed upon them, for students they did not seem to believe they had or should not have. Several teachers would try to vent to me, saying that they did not have "those kids." In reality however, over 80% of the student population in our building were multilingual, so they most certainly did.

Data Collection
Data for this study were collected through surveys from each participant followed by focus group meetings with all participants, participant observations, and final follow up member checking sessions. Member checking was done with participants in small groups before or after school, as needed throughout the data collection process, as well as during the initial stages of analysis. Member checking included asking participants if my interpretations of certain comments they made were indeed what they had meant, as well as to occasionally clarify or elaborate on a specific comment or idea. I designed the survey to gain background information about students' different language knowledge, abilities and use, as well as initial ideas about how they identify in relation to their languages, ethnicity and culture, and friends, peers and social groups. The survey questions were a mix of short answer, lists, checking all that apply, and multiple-choice answers. (See Appendix A for sample student survey.) I passed them out to the participants after they turned in their signed permission documents and asked them to complete the surveys individually on their own. I collected the surveys days prior to our first focus group meeting.
The focus groups were scheduled after school based on participants' availability. Some participants work as babysitters and caregivers after school; thus I scheduled the meetings over two different weeks to accommodate their family obligations. I also chose to hold the focus group meetings in my classroom, a familiar environment, where I felt the participants would feel comfortable sharing personal stories. The focus group discussions were audio recorded, so that data could be written in transcription form. Creswell (2002) explains that in a focus group, participants get to hear each other's responses and to make additional comments beyond their own original responses as they hear what other people have to say. I led the focus groups, and the school's ESL/ bilingual coach (whom is also Cape Verdean, and very familiar with the students) was also present to help facilitate and translate when necessary.
The object of focus group discussions was to get high-quality data in a social context where people can consider their own views in the context of the views of others (Creswell, 2002). I also took field notes during focus groups. The district's middle school ESL/ Bilingual coach, Nory Harris, assisted me in communicating with students' parents and families to explain the study and gain consent for the student's participation. Mrs. Harris works with bilingual, SEI, and ESL teachers to help support our work with our EB students. She has also been an important mentor and friend to me. Mrs. Harris is Cape Verdean and was herself an ESL teacher in the district for many years prior to becoming our middle school coach. She was also present to help clarify (translate) during the two focus groups when necessary. The questions for the focus groups asked participants to describe situations in which they have experienced negotiating internal and external borderlands. Asking for the specific situation was vital, since the discovery of the meaning had to be connected to a specific context in which the phenomenon has been experienced (Englander, 2012).
Observations were also included in this study. Qualitative observations require the researcher to take field notes on the behavior and activities of individuals at the research site. I used a semi-structured observational protocol, also included in Appendix C, to capture the activities (Creswell, 2014). Observing students in the environments that are "shared ground" would give the researcher a better vision of what was actually happening when students face the realities of the "mixed company".
These are times when the students are not grouped by class, level, or language level status. Within these spaces the EB students were also with native English-speaking peers. These spaces include the cafeteria at lunchtime, physical education classes, and outside the school building before and after school. During these times students from all classes and backgrounds are together.
The observations for this study were participant observations, meaning the researcher spoke with, and interacted with the participants during the observation time.
Participant observation is almost always meant to offer some degree of unobtrusiveneness; the researcher is highly visible rather than far removed or hidden (Spradley, 1980). Participation is important because it allows the researcher to experience directly, get a feeling of what events are like, and to record our own perceptions (Spradley, 1980). Shared ground observations were conducted before school, during lunch (both in the cafeteria and occasionally in my classroom during "lunch-bunches"), and after school, and during physical education classes. These are all times when the participants are in spaces along with both multilingual and monolingual peers. This facet of the study was important because I wanted to see their language use in action in these mixed spaces.
Three before-school observations were conducted from 7:15 to 7:55. During this time, I started by standing outside with the participants and their friends as they waited to enter the building. We then transitioned to the cafeteria where the students were allowed ate breakfast. The two after-school observations took place outside of the building from 2:40 to 3:00, often drifting toward the basketball court where students like to gather while some played basketball. A total of four lunch observations were conducted: two in the crowded cafeteria where the participants were among many other students, and two in classroom during small "lunch-bunches," at which times some of the participants were present along with a few of their friends.
Lastly, two observations were done during the participants' physical education classes. This is a class which they share with other multilingual as well as monolingual peers.

Participants
There were nine participants in this study. All of whom are EBs, native speakers of Cape Verdean Creole, and current or former ESL students in the middle school's program. All participants are in the eighth grade and have attended seventh grade at the middle school as well. This is the last level of the ESL program before students are reclassified as former ESL students (FLEP, Former Limited English Proficient) and placed in mainstream content classes. While students change grade groups from one year to the next, they may remain in the same ESL level from 1-3 years depending on their language development, background, and specific needs. All study participants were my current or former students. One position I as the researcher had to be aware of myself is what Sherryl Kleinman and Martha A. Copp (1993) refer to as feeling proud of feeling different, which refers to the researcher choosing a group they think of as "other" and feel confident as long as they do not share these participants viewpoints.
In the case of this study, the "other" participants may be those who feel they do not need to identify as "Cape Verdean" anymore when they are in school, and instead want to assimilate as much as possible with being "American." As much as I wanted my participants and students to hold on to their individual, cultural and linguistic identities, I realized that they have reasons for changing and altering their senses of identity when they feel necessary, and that these experiences are not ones I share or can wholly identify with. Therefore, it is not my place The participants are all non-native speakers of English, and individuals of color -most identify as black or African American, all identify as Cape Verdean. All the participants are immigrants. These variations in our identities shape out experiences as we move through the institutional and social systems that shape public life in the U.S. she also identifies as a black, Cape Verdean, woman, much like the participants. Like myself, she is also an academic, and a caring professional with whom the participants are very familiar from her work with me and in my classroom. She also attends parent conferences, helps me to make home phone calls, and is often present for lunch with me on days when the participants were also there for lunch bunch. It is my belief that the participants' level of comfort with her -as well as their connections to her race, ethnicity, and culture -helped them to feel comfortable and confident in our discussions.
While some may see the relationship between the researcher as the participants teacher as a limitation, arguing the students may want to appease the researcher by providing "the correct answers," I believe my extended relationships with the participants mitigated any such tendency. In order to make participants feel comfortable enough to have the necessary discussions, which may make them feel vulnerable, it is important that the researcher is someone they know and feel comfortable with. Being the participants current or former teacher means we know each other well enough that the students had a certain level of trust in me to feel confident in speaking about their emotions and possible vulnerabilities these topics may have brought up.

Procedure
My students were very familiar with the idea that I was "still in college" myself, while also being their teacher. We had shared many discussions about college, homework, work and school life balance, and they knew there were certain days I was unavailable after school because I had to leave go to attended classes or meeting with my professors. I often shared stories with them about things I was working on, goals I had, and progress I was making -both as a way to share, and also to model college and post college possibilities and to stress the importance of continuing education and learning in whatever field or career they found themselves in some day. We had talked about how making change of any kind; personal, social, political, economic, would all require a lot of hard work and continued education. week the forms went home, and all but one were returned signed. I then asked each student again to confirm that they wanted to participate by signing their own student consent forms. I then gave participants their student survey, which I asked them to complete on their own. I received all surveys back within a week. I then looked at each individual survey, and then the surveys together and began looking for initial codes and themes. I was looking for common and similar answers to questions, repeated words and ideas, as well as any surprising differences. Some of this initial data influenced the design of some focus group prompts.
We then discussed and settled on dates for our focus groups meetings. We divided the participants into two groups (group A and group B), based on their schedule and availability to attend the meetings afterschool. Each group was scheduled to meet for two focus discussions. Mrs. Harris then called the parents and guardians again to confirm the dates each participant would be staying after school for their focus group discussion. Group A met on the Monday and Wednesday of one week in mid-June, and group B met on the following Monday and Wednesday. Each meeting was scheduled for 2:45-3:45, in my classroom. I chose this location because I knew the students would feel comfortable meeting and discussing there.

Data Analysis
Participants were asked to fill out a self-reflective survey in which they responded to questions and prompts. Survey responses were then coded, a method and procedure for organizing the text, and discovering patterns within that organizational structure (Auerbach & Silverstein, 2003, pg. 31). I looked for common themes and ideas first with each participant, then within the surveys together. Many themes took the form of similar or same responses to questions. For example, participants answering that they use the same languages in certain spaces, and then seeing that multiple participants' responses overlapped represented to me a possible theme. Once themes begin to emerge, I looked for representation for many of those ideas and themes while editing and adding to prompts and questions for the focus groups. When I began to see in the surveys a common idea, such as that of reference to Google Translate, I added a note to my focus group prompts, to remind myself to look to see if that idea arose again. While conducting the focus groups I also took field notes about participants non-verbal cues and interactions to support those themes and ideas developing from the coding process.
I then had transcripts made from the audio recordings of focus groups.
Reading the transcriptions helped to begin developing a-priori codes and themes as I prepared to begin data analysis. I read the transcripts multiple times, with pencil in hand, and would underline anything I thought looked interesting and important. I did this many times. Each time I read I began to see more connections with ideas and topics across the discussions. According to Auerbach & Silverstein (2003), these ideas occurring both within and across the groups and surveys is important because if the ideas were only expressed within the same group, it would be possible the group process influenced people to say things they didn't really mean. When these ideas happen across the groups however, it argues against the possibility of singular occurrences (Auerbach & Silverstein, 2003).
After reading through of all surveys and transcripts many times, I began to develop a codebook. A codebook development is a discrete analysis step in which the observed meaning in the text is systematically sorted by the researcher into categories, types, and relationships of meaning (Guest, MacQueen & Namey, 2012). (See appendix D for code descriptions chart.) I began to see commonalities in the recurring ideas I was underlining and collecting. I organized these common ideas into what Auerbach & Silverstein (2003) describe as themes "A theme is an implicit topic that organizes a group of repeating ideas" (p.38). I began grouping these ideas by similarity then assigned each emerging theme a color and a name, also known as a code.
After codes were chosen and entered into the codebook, I added a chart in which I developed columns containing code definitions, examples of when to use a code, data (quotes), description, and analysis. Code definitions are short explanations of what the code is meant to signify, the essence of the theme or theme components (Guest, MacQueen & Namey, 2012). I went through the transcripts, surveys and my observation notes and color-coded the data fitting each theme and code.
Next, I began the process of abstract grouping of the themes into ideas for theoretical constructs. According to Auerbach & Silverstein (2003), theoretical constructs are created much in the same way the repeating ideas were organized into themes; these theoretical constructs are larger more abstract ideas. This process took multiple attempts; I had already determined all the themes were important; I needed to find a meaningful way to organize all the themes into constructs (Auerbach & Silverstein, 2003). I settled on two drafts of construct ideas, with the organization of themes and the repeating ideas to support them and shared both with critical peers to help me decide which to use. According to Auerbach & Silverstein (2003) it is recommended that the researcher share the analysis with a consultant who is a member of the subculture being studied. Therefore, I asked Mrs. Harris to review the constructs and analysis with me. As mentioned earlier, Mrs. Harris is multilingual, and Cape Verdean herself. She came to this country as an adult not as a child, but her extensive experience with middle school EB students rendered her insight and experience extremely valuable. I then shared my constructs and analysis with my major professor; we discussed and chose the one that I used for this study. The first draft of construct ideas I had created included three constructs, each with two corresponding themes, and between two and four repeating idea for each theme. The second draft of constructs I had created totaled four construct ideas, but one construct had only one corresponding repeating theme, while all the others had two or more. We decided to choose the first draft, with the total of three constructs we felt were more substantially supported with multiple themes and abundant repeating ideas and data to support each.
Lastly, member checking was conducted, which is when a researcher returns to their participants to discuss emerging themes (Galletta, 2013, p. 127 which were in the data, as well as to help illuminate things I thought I was seeing or more likely conjuring in my own mind limited to my own account (Wolcott, 1994).
Trustworthiness issues are addresses through credibility, confirmability, dependability, and transferability (Shenton, 2004). Credibility was insured through analysis of focus group data, looking for common themes and ideas, as well as through member checking. Confirmability was addressed through coding of transcripts, and by proving access when needed to raw data in the form of transcripts. Dependability is assured through "overlapping methods" in the forms of survey results, focus group data and member checking (Shenton,2004). While the results of this study may not be generalized to other groups because of linguistic differences, transferability may be possible through rich descriptions of contexts and phenomenon in this study. Readers and researchers a like may find descriptions of phenomenon that could be similar to other groups or contexts.

ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
In this chapter I describe each of the three key constructs that emerged from the analysis of my data: Separate spaces: A time and a place, Navigating, and Language as Identity. A mini theoretical frame populates each construct. I explain how the constructs were created, provide supporting literature that informs their creation, and describe the constructs' supporting themes and codes derived from my data. As previously stated in Chapter 3 (data analysis), a theme is an implicit topic that organizes a group of repeating ideas by similarities they share. I then grouped these themes into the larger theoretical constructs that follow. Each theoretical construct has two supporting themes, and each theme is supported by two or more repeating ideas.
What follows is a chart representing the theoretical constructs, followed by their supporting themes, and their respective repeating ideas: While the diagram above is organized to illustrate the composition of the construct, my analysis moves from the concrete to the abstract, beginning with repeating ideas, then the corresponding larger themes, and ending with a description of the overall organizing principle, namely the theoretical construct.

Repeating Idea: English Only
In many schools, bicultural students are not only discouraged but also actively prevented from speaking their native languages. Educators justify these concerns with claims that children's native language use will interfere with student's intellectual and emotional development (Darder, 2012). In this school, like many others, students are often faced with less than kind reminders of the dominant American culture's view of language, which is that English is the only language suitable for school. The other participants in the group also nodded their heads seemingly in agreement and also mostly cast their eyes down. These particular participants are both former ESL students, meaning that the English class to which they were referring was a regular English Language Arts class, not an ESL (English as a Second Language) class. I found it interesting that even though Maira named her emotion as anger ("I get mad"), her affect seemed more sad than angry.
I then asked the student participants why they think adults in the school tell them to speak English, or not to speak Creole or Portuguese. Both Maira and Vanessa seem to believe the teachers are "upset" and "frustrated" because they do not understand what the participants are saying when they speak Creole. They seem to believe, as did many others based on comments made throughout the discussions, that when teachers do not understand the conversations due to their language barrier, they become frustrated or upset. The participants see this frustration as one of the reasons the participants believe teachers want them to just speak English instead.
I then asked the participants if teachers hearing them speaking Creole ask what they are saying before telling them to speak English. The group responded as one: No.
Vanessa, Niria and Maira elaborated: Vanessa: They just either yell at us or just say, "Stop saying-" Niria: Stop talking that language.
Maira: Like I don't like when I'm in class and then she goes-she just-out of nowhere she comes-like and she comes in your face and she's like, "It's America, honey." And I was like-I was like, "I'm trying to explain something." Because she was like-she asked me-my friend asked me how to say something in Creole. And like math symbols-the plus and stuff? And I was-I started telling her. And then I told her that and then the ABC stuff, and then I started saying it and then she came to my face and she was like, "It's America, honey." And I was like-I was like "Huh?" and she was like, "No, speak English or go to the office." And I was like, "Okay." Again, as Maira was telling this particular story, she looked down at the table, while other group members were nodding and shaking their heads seemingly in disappointment and agreement. Maira is upset by the teacher's comment "It's America," which clearly conveys the dominant ideology: In America the only acceptable language is English. Maira is frustrated not only because she is being told not to use a language that she feels is hers, but also because she is being prevented from helping another student in a language they both share and understand. The choice between speaking English or going to the office makes clear this teacher's language ideology and expectations in their classroom, which is that only English is acceptable.
Vanessa voiced a similar sentiment: Vanessa: I think for me what gets me like mad is when you're like trying to help like a newcomer-like not a newcomer… but they don't know, like for example an assignment and we're like explaining it to them in their language.
And then the teacher is like, "No, explain it to them in English." And the person that you're talking to doesn't understand it. And then they're like, "Oh, just tell me it in this language." And then when you say it again, the teacher yells at you because she's like, "Oh, I already told you to speak it in English." Because they say, "Because this is an LCL-" however you say that.
Abbey: ESL? (English as a Second Language class) Vanessa: Yeah, so they be like, "It's an ESL class. Like don't-you're not supposed to speak another language. It's supposed to be in English." I'm like, "But she doesn't understand it." And they be like, "Just-you have to try to say it in English." And then you just have to, even if they don't understand it.
Vanessa, a reliable student who was called upon often to help translate for new students, welcomed and showed new students around, helping familiarize them with the building and their schedules (all in Creole). The class to which she is referring is an ESL content class, meaning the teacher has an ESL license, but they are teaching a science content class using ESL strategies for EB students. It is not, however, the students' responsibility to be teaching the other students the content in English. That the teacher deferred that task to the student was a breach of responsibility. Vanessa had been trying to clarify just the content and concepts for her fellow student in their native language. The teacher's job is to scaffold instruction so that they student may come to transfer the knowledge to English, and eventually use academic English to discuss, read and write about that content. This is not a task that should be put solely on the other students to fulfill for one another.

Repeating Idea: Creole Only
The restriction of Creole in school settings is not the only language limitation the participants described. This parallel repeating idea refers to when participants were explicitly told or given the impression they needed to speak Creole rather than English. In the surveys, all the participants answered that they spoke mostly Creole with the adults in their home. Many participants also expressed feeling frustrated when they are at home or with their families and they are told to just speak Creole instead of English. For them, it is the reverse from their school language demands. Many participants explained they typically speak English or a mix of English and Creole when they are talking to friends from school, siblings, or cousins. When these conversations occur in their home or community in English, or in a mix of both languages, and the adults who are often not fluent speakers of English, often insist that the kids speak Creole instead, so that they can understand as well. Andrea's response below represents one thread of this repeating idea: Andrea: And then after we would talk in English, and then my parents, they would give us that look. And when they give us that look, we know what that means. So then we-then we would talk Creole.
When Andrea says, "when they give us that look, we know what that means…" she has a little smirk and a giggle in her voice. The other participants in this group discussion also giggled and smiled; two others nodded in agreement. She was communicating that her parents are afraid they were being fresh, saying things in English that they would never say in Creole in front of their parents.
Other participants in the same group answered my question about pressure to speak Creole rather than English in a slightly different way: Daniela: I do that with my grandma, because she doesn't understand English.
And like when she gets the phone call from the hospital she'll be like, "Explain this to me." I go, "English," and she'll be like, " Talk  These participants are expressing the pressure they feel from family members who believe they should still know and retain their Creole language. This pressure is twofold, one being from schools and communities, which share the dominant American ideology which prioritizes English language use over all other languages.
The other pressure comes from their family, home and cultural communities, which share a different ideology which values Creole use and retention as a connection to their culture, past, and identity.
This Creole-centered perspective cannot be reconciled with the English Only perspective that the participants are often held to in school. Too often it seems they are hearing "This is America" from teachers and school personnel, which conveys to students that their home language is discredited not only in school but also in the country as a whole. A fundamental question underlies their confusion: When they are back home or out in their community, and free to speak another language with their families and friends, are they are no longer in or part of America?
Theme 1: Speak MY language. Explicit direction or messages to use one specific over another at a time, within a certain context, or with a particular individual or group (described above) led to the identification of a theme I called Speak my language. In these discussions, participants described situations in which they felt pressure or the necessity to speak one language exclusively. First, we talked about speaking English -when and where it was beneficial or required to speak only English. Next, we discussed when and where participants found it beneficial, or even necessary, to speak Creole or Portuguese rather than English. Both these restrictions led to different types of conflict: internally, with authority figures (i.e., teachers or caregivers), or with peers. My analysis led me question whether these emergent bilingual students ever feel that they are in control of the language they choose to speak. After all, are they not always speaking their language?
The theme of Speak MY language is the first of two themes that build the construct entitled Separate spaces: A time and a place. The next theme Negative perceptions capture the essence of the following two repeating ideas: Talkin' bad and Annoyed. I describe these repeating ideas next. While related to the repeating ideas that undergird Speak MY language, they capture two specific interpretations that the participants expressed regarding the vacillating pressure to speak English (not Creole) or Creole (not English).

Repeating Idea: Talkin' Bad
The repeating idea of Talkin' bad refers to when someone who does not speak or understand Creole assumes that what they hear someone saying in Cape Verdean Creole is bad, inappropriate, or rude. This is different from the repeating idea English only, which referred to messages explicitly about language use, using only English in certain spaces and at certain times. Talkin' bad refers to the reactions of both teachers and other students when hearing EBs speaking Creole, ranging from inquiry or offense to disciplinary action. This repeating idea arose in part when I asked the groups what they would do if they were speaking Creole with their friends and a monolingual English-speaking teacher approached or entered their conversation: Would they switch to English or continue speaking Creole? Participants largely responded that they would switch to English, because the teacher may think or assume that if they continue using Creole they may be carrying on an inappropriate discussion or conversation.
Patricia: Some of them might think we were saying something bad.
Daniela: When like we talk in another language, they think we're talking something bad about them.
Patricia: The teacher will ask you to speak, um, like English because like they're going to think that (laughs)-that you're saying something bad.
Luiza: Or think that we're talking bad.
Andrea: I kind of agree with Patricia, because sometimes if we say something that sounds like something else and they just think it's something different that you're saying.
Vanessa: Maybe like in class if a little Creole slips, like in when you're talking to one of your friends, some teachers be saying, "Oh, like you're saying something bad." Luiza: So the teacher might think she's being rude, but like that's our way to play around.
Carmina: … some teachers might think we're saying something bad and stuff like that. Or like if they yell at us and we start speaking in Creole, they might think that like we're mouthing off with like talking about them in Creole and stuff.
Here, the participants are expressing their experiences with at least two assumptions of non-Creole speaking teachers and students: First, that they are using language in a negative way and, second, that they are using their home language to mask or hide their inappropriate comments. In other words, they are both rude and subversive.
Assumptions about their use of language, in this case assuming they're using language in a negative way. They are believed to be speaking only to a select audience because they do not want to be understood by others, often the "target" or their conversation or discussion. Participants expressed frustration at the unfairness of these assumptions. I wondered about the long-term implications of having teachers and peers assume that one's home language is offensive and subversive. So, I then asked how the participants think the other adults in the building, such as the principals and other adults in the office may feel about their multilingualism. Again, the participants express their frustration at the negative assumptions associated their home language and the unfair treatment that results from these negative assumptions.
These assumptions are not limited to faculty members or school authority figures. I also asked the groups what they would do if they were speaking Creole in a group, and another monolingual-English speaking student were to join the group.
Would they switch to English or continue speaking Creole and why? A related question was how they think other monolingual English-speaking students feel about their multilingualism. They had many similar responses about switching to English, and about individuals thinking they were talkin' bad in Creole.
Patricia: Like some of them do like-whenever we're speaking our own language, like some of them go talk with their friends and then they be talking about us and stuff like that. When we speak Creole. we're talking about him or like talking about bad stuff and stuff." So I be trying to tell them like to talk in the same language as him. Even if it's hard, but like just try a lot like to talk in the same language.
Here Daniela says she feels bad for the student who does not understand Creole; she expresses "feeling bad for him because he doesn't understand" possibly because she is making her own connections to times when she did not yet understand those around her. She is sensitive about not wanting to leave him out of the group, and also to the possibility that he may feel they are "talkin' bad." Here she shows her consideration of other students, along with her understanding of their situations.
The participants also gave examples of times when they self-monitored and "switched their language," to English, or even translated because they were concerned a peer would assume they were talkin' bad. Maira: and when they like talk, they just do body language and then they just look everywhere, like-like if you're whispering to somebody in Creole and then like that person is just looking at that person and then um-and then that person thinks that you're talking about them, it's going to become into a fight.
Here the participants are expressing their experiences as they have dealt with peers who assumed their use of Creole or Portuguese was to hide an antagonistic speech act.
Temporarily, because they describe how body language and volume may be misperceived as building tension as if gathering for confrontation. In Tamina's experience, she even tried to translate for the girl whose shoes she had been admiring, Patricia: I feel like they think that we're being fresh because we know how to speak English and they don't.
Tamina: (Creole) Nory: (translation) So she has an aunt who she's short, but every time they say that in English she says, 'I'm going to Google it and find out what you're saying about me.' (Laughs)" Tamina says her mother reacts just like the teachers; it is just flipped --instead of English only, it is Creole only at home. Andrea has similar experiences when she speaks English and her father, like the teachers at school, sometimes assumes she is talking back, or talkin' bad because it is in a language he does not understand. The parents here both seem to assume this use of English is intentional, much like how the teachers assume the use of Creole is intentional. As Patricia says, "they think we're being fresh" because as she says, the girls know how to speak a language that they (parents or teachers) do not.
The participants also described their experiences hearing others speak in languages they did not understand, and some shared insight into feelings outsiders might have. First, one participant shared a story about going to a nail salon with her mother. The women in the salon spoke a different language from her and her mother: Luiza: When you go to the nail salon or whatever, like most of like the Chinese or Japanese ladies-I think-they be doing your nails and they be talking in their own language. Most people be saying that they be talking about people and stuff. Vanessa shows sympathy for the teachers and staff, because she has seen and heard this happen before by students, and also because she may be making a connection like Carmina earlier to a time when she remembers feeling uneasy about what is being said around her. Niria also expresses an understanding of the teacher's role as a monitor of student behavior; she understands that teachers watch the way students speak to and treat one another. She recognizes that a teacher wants to be aware and able to understand if there is a problem with the way one student is speaking to or about another.
The repeating idea talkin' bad refers to the participants' interpretation of other people's assumptions about their speech or speech acts as being rude, inappropriate, or unkind. In these scenarios, typically the other person is assuming that the participant is using another language such a Creole to mask or hide what it is they want to say from certain listeners. The participants feel that the observing listener is profiling their language use as language misuse with malicious intent. In the experiences shared by the participants, they were typically scolded, addressed or confronted by the observing listener. This is different from the next repeating idea, in which the participants describe instances when they sensed other listeners were annoyed, irritated, or bothered, by the participants use of another language; however, the listener did not necessarily believe themselves to be a target of language misuse, or malicious intent, as was the case with the recurring idea talkin' bad.

Repeating Idea: Annoyed
The repeating idea Annoyed refers to the participants' perceptions of others as being annoyed, frustrated or irritated with their multilingualism or use of another language. I asked the groups how they think monolingual speakers feel about their speaking a different language.
Carmina: I feel like sometimes they get like annoyed with us like speaking a different language. Like they don't understand us. So then they will say, 'Oh, can you guys speak like a different language so we understand what you guys are saying?" Daniela: Some of them might be like surprised that we can speak another language. But sometimes they get mad at us for speaking another language that they can't understand. (Announcement) Like I was saying, some of them actually gets mad at us because they cannot understand what we're saying.
And they're like-they get mad.
Carmina and Daniela both seem to feel other students are annoyed or irritated because they cannot understand when the girls speak Creole with their peers. Daniela says that the students sometimes are surprised, which seems a good thing, but that the students also seem to get mad when they feel they may be missing out on what they are saying.
Patricia: Like whenever we come in in the morning, if we're speaking Creole, like the teacher-like I feel like sometimes she gets mad because she doesn't like us speaking Creole, because she's going to think we're saying something bad or something like that.
This annoyed or "mad" feeling about being left out is not limited to just other students.
Here, Patricia is explaining that teachers often feel the same way. In this anecdote, the teacher does not tell her to speak English; in fact, the teacher does not say anything at all. Patricia is observing and assuming on her own that the teacher is annoyed or "mad" that she does not understand. Likely because of the look the teacher may be giving, or related comments she may have heard the teacher make either in the moment or in the past. This perception leads to Patricia's assumption that the teacher is irritated, bothered or annoyed because she feels they students are likely, as Patricia states, "saying something bad or something like that".
Theme 2: -Negative Perceptions. Through the coding and analysis of my data I found this second theme: that of negative language perceptions. These are negative views of student's language and language use imposed upon the students by those around them. The two recurring ideas that support this theme were Talkin' Bad and Annoyed. Both of these recurring ideas involve how the participants feel that others who do not share that language view them while they are speaking with friends, peers, and family or community members in a shared language. These others mainly being, teachers, adults, administrators and also other students who do not in this case speak Cape Verdean Creole or Portuguese. Or reversely, speaking English around family, friends, and community members who may not speak English also.
The way participants feel they are being viewed or judged based on their language use affects how they choose to use their language, and also which language they may choose to use in certain spaces, or when surrounded by other people. This may mean using a language they know others will not understand as a means to keep privacy in their conversation, or instead to use English, a language they know others are likely to hear and understand around them as not to have others assume or misjudge their conversations.

Construct 1 -Separate Spaces: "A time and a place."
The construct of Separate spaces: "A time and a place" refers to spaces, both physical and psychological, that EB students encounter throughout the course of their typical school day. Physical spaces include home, school as a whole, and sub-spaces within the school: classrooms, cafeteria, gymnasium, ESL classes, mainstream classes, hallways, or the main office. These physical spaces often contain visible representations of language and language expectations, such as signs, lists of rules, directions, books, class texts, pamphlets and handouts. These visual representations of language convey meaning --both through the words themselves, and through their existence -about the expectations of which language to use in that particular environment. EB students also experience existence in different psychological spaces within and between these physical ones. In these psychological spaces, EBs must consider, evaluate, sometimes translate and plan their language use. This negotiation also involves constructing meaning in and between languages and contexts. linguicism. In schools, linguicism takes the form of not allowing students access to their native language, keeping them from speaking or using their language within the school, these acts send messages to students that their language is not welcome and not legitimate in these particular institutional and academic spaces. Phillipson, as cited in Macedo, Dendrinos, and Gounari (2003) defines linguicism this way:

Ideological construct [that] essentially involves the dominant group/ language
presenting an idealized image of itself, stigmatizing the dominant group/language, and rationalizing the relationship between the two, always the advantage of the dominant group/ language (p. 90) It is widely understood that a goal for students attending school in the US is to read, write and speak using academic English for the purposes of advancing their academic education here in the US. This ideology sets the dominant English language as the ideal and predominant over others within the school context. This ideal is perpetuated, however, in ways that can be belittling and damaging to perceived value of other language when other languages are discouraged or even forbidden in schools and school spaces. These messages make clear the idea of the English language as being the ideal and the advantageous over any other languages within the school spaces.

Navigating
Student participants clearly expressed that they experienced a separation of their home and school spaces, both physical and psychological. In this next construct, I tell their stories of how the participants navigate between these spaces. I follow the same analytical trajectory here, moving from repeating ideas to themes and then to the theoretical construct. What is different is the tone of this construct. Where the first construct defined the demands of straddling separate worlds, this second construct describes the personal and social mechanisms participants employ to do so.
Repeating Idea: Self-Affirming Luiza: I feel proud too.
Here again, a source of pride for Vanessa is her ability to help others by translating or communicating in multiple languages. She says it makes her feel "blessed and proud." The participants shared a common feeling of being proud of their multilingualism, which was an encouraging sign for me. It seems they have multiple people in their lives encouraging their multilingual development and reinforcing the ideas that they can use their multiple languages to travel, broaden their career potential, and to help others.

Repeating Idea: Wanting to Learn
Throughout the course of our group discussions, the participants also expressed multiple times their desire to continue to learn multiple languages: English, Cape Vanessa also likes to practice her English in school where she knows she can get support because, as she later explains, she is trying to in turn provide support to her own mother and brother at home as they are struggling to learn English (p. 79-81).

Repeating Idea: Positive Messages
The repeating idea of positive messages refers to messages passed along to participants from other people in their lives and in these different spaces: school, classes, and home communities. These people may include teachers, school personnel, family members, and friends. These are positive reinforcements and messages about the value and importance of the participant's multilingualism and multiculturalism. Tamina: Some of the teachers are actually-they like-they act nice and they support you with it.
Participants express feelings of encouragement from teachers who they feel "support" their multilingualism. Daniela's response is a very explicit message about some teachers' admiration for her ability to speak another language and to use that ability to help others. Andrea and Tamina express that kindness shown by teachers, and their willingness to allow the participants to speak Creole around them without reprimand, is encouraging to them. According to Daniela this shows a level of trust in the participants, the teacher does not assume they are using the language to mask or hide something they are saying (as in Talkin' bad.) Niria: I hear from like students and teachers that it's like a good thing to speak more than one language and that they like want to learn to speak more than one.
Maira: Yeah, it gets you a better job.
Niria: Some people will say, "Oh, you guys should be lucky. You guys speak more than one language." These positive messages reaffirm that the participants multilingualism is a good thing, others in this case believe they are "lucky" and, as Niria states, "they want to learn to speak more than one [language]," which suggests their envy and admiration of her multilingual abilities. Maira: I feel like they're most proud like for the future-for like our future.
They're like, "Oh, you're going to get a better education and you're going to get a better job, like since you speak more than one language." Here, Maira again affirms that some teachers and other students are proud of her abilities and, believe that her multilingualism means she will get a better education, which will lead to a better job. Thus, Maira's comments add to the others participants' emphasis on the future dividends of multilinguism. I also asked how the participants think their parents and families feel about their multilingualism.
Daniela: Orgulhoso (Creole translation of "proud") Patricia: They say, "One day you're going to help me." Tamina: But my dad is actually proud that I know like another language and I know how to say like better than him. Carmina here references positive messages that her mother sends about her multilingual abilities, and her possibilities both for travel and pursuing higher education in the future. In that message, however, is an undercurrent of a story. She is being validated in her multilingual abilities, as well as encouraged to continue to develop those skills in order to broaden her horizons for academic, career and travel possibilities. At the same time however, it is also clear she is called upon to help those same family members with their English, which could potentially hold her back from going farther in her own language development or she could be unable to still help and support them.
Vanessa: But my dad is actually proud that I know like another language and I know how to say like better than him. Because he came here like 14 years ago and like he knows, but he doesn't know like a lot of language, so sometimes I have to help him.
Carmina: And they're like-they feel like, "Oh, like you're lucky that you speak two languages, because someone can go up to you in Creole or in English and you can still help them." So I feel like they would feel like, "Oh, you're really lucky for that. And I feel like it's going to get you a better life." Vanessa's response has two interesting components. The first is that her father is proud of her ability to speak English. Like Tamina, who mentioned her father was also proud that she now knows more English than he does. The second however, is the corollary of her ability to help him navigate the English dominated spaces that he encounters. This responsibility is double-edged, developing agency in the child but also sometimes causing frustration. For an example of this, see Daniela's previous description (p. 8) of helping her grandmother navigate the health system, Carmina also explains that her family encourages her to use her language to help others, and that these abilities will also help her to live a better life in the future.
I also asked the participants how they would know if someone was proud of their multilingualism.
Vanessa: She was like, "Oh thank you." I like-she was like, "Oh, I wish I could tell her." And like she said, "Oh, I wish I could speak that language too, so I could explain to people too." These messages came from a school administrator for whom Vanessa had served as a translator between her and another student. The administrator was thanking Vanessa, expressing her desire to be able to communicate with the other students in another language, as well. This message from an administrator in the building validated the importance and value of Vanessa's multilingualism. EB students such as Vanessa latch onto such messages of validation; they stand in stark contrast to, the negative messages so often encountered in school.

Repeating Idea: Helping.
Vanessa's encounter with the school administrator serves as a bridge to the next set of repeating ideas: that of using their emerging translanguaging abilities to help others.
The participants discussed how they could help to translate for individuals both within school contexts and spaces, as well as their homes and communities.
Andrea: Because like sometimes in school there's more people that you can help with, but sometimes outside of school there's even more people that you can help with. So it depends.
Tamina: Sometimes I use it in school too. Like the other day, Miss Ryans was telling a girl that she couldn't wear the ripped jeans up to here-she was new.
So I was trying to-I explained it to her. Sometimes I use it both, like outside school and inside school." Here, Tamina is talking about a time she helped to translate school rules about dress code and ripped jeans for a school administrator to a student. To Tamina, this seems important because she is able to help a more recent newcomer to the US through a possibly embarrassing and potentially confrontational encounter with the administrator in the building. Violation of dress code typically results in disciplinary action, something that Tamina is helping the student to avoid both on this particular day, and in the future by helping her to understand the schools rule, and to communicate to the administrator that the girl did not understand. She seems to enjoy helping because she connects with experience and challenges she had in the past a new student navigating a new language in a new school with its own rules. She is also helping the administrator to understand the challenge and misunderstanding of the other student.
Other participants also expressed how their ability to help was meaningful and self-affirming to them. Here Maira describes an experience with teachers that helped to affirm her self-value as a multilingual speaker, as well as the affirming that her multilingual abilities were valid and worth sharing --so much so, that her teachers wanted to share and learn from her. This seems to have also strengthened her relationship with these teachers, as well as increasing her comfort and enjoyment in those classroom environments.

Theme 1 -Encouragement and Validation. This theme of encouragement and
validation emerged from the repeating ideas that showed the participants understood the importance and value of their multilingualism as they navigate multiple spaces throughout the course of their daily lives, and in their futures. This was evident in a few different ways. The participants expressed their own beliefs about their multilingualism, as well as their desire to learn multiple languages, positive messages they had internalized from interactions, and their desire to use their language abilities to help others.
It is important to note that participants cited examples from both school and home communities. Thus, they have begun to develop a sense of efficacy and selfworth even in the face of the challenges described in Separate spaces. The theme that follows describes some tools these participants use to develop the skills they have come to value.

Repeating Idea: Tools and Strategies
Throughout the course of the discussion, an emergent, recurring idea was that of tools This idea of forgetting one's language is another important repeating theme, which is discussed and developed, in the next construct.

Repeating Idea: Facial and Physical Cues
Another recurring idea that emerged through our group discussions was the idea of using facial and physical cues to help the participants navigate their language use. The participants discussed times when facial and other physical cues helped them to know if a certain context was a comfortable or safe enough one for them to use a certain language. By this I mean using facial and physical cues to gauge whether they could speak freely in a certain language, or to translanguage without fear of being judged. Carmina: Oh like if a new student comes in class, like she usually asks, "Oh, can you translate this for me?" And when we do, she just says, "Thank you," and like kind of in her face you can see that she's like proud.
Here, Andrea talked again about helping a parent and the front office to translate for one another, to help find a student within the building after school.
Andrea: And after she asked me if I could tell them. And after when I did, she said, 'Thank you,' and after she was smiling and I could see that she was happy that I could translate for her.
The Participants also described how they could tell from facial cues that they should not be using a certain language. In this case, Andrea describes how her parents' facial cues tell her to speak in Creole, not English: Andrea: And then after we would talk in English, and then my parents, they would give us that look. And when they give us that look, we know what that means.
Participants also talked about when they could tell from individual's facial expressions and reactions in school that they should speak English and not Creole.
Vanessa: I feel like looking at their face description. Because like I feel like the look that they just-that they give like each other or like the way that they're looking at me is like the look I would give to someone if I felt like they were like talking about me… I feel like most, like I said, face expression. So they just look at you and they're like-then they're like, "Just stop."

Theme 2 -Resourcefulness and Strategies.
As the foregoing repeating ideas indicate, many EB students, such as these participants, are extremely resourceful when navigating their language use in different contexts and spaces. Once they begin to understand the contexts, and the values places on specific languages and cultures, they are able to use their own language and identity tool kits to navigate their actions and speech acts according to their intended audience and for the best outcomes. They use their own confidence and values in their languages, cultures and identities, which are The theme of resourcefulness and strategies for navigating multiple spaces and borderlands came from the repeating ideas around how the participants make their decisions about which aspects of their multilingualism, multiculturalism and constructed identities to highlight or bring to the forefront at certain times or within certain contexts and spaces.
Construct 2 -Navigating. Navigating refers to all processes and knowledge used and involved in participant's choices around which language, values, and ideologies to bring to the forefront of their constructed identity for different spaces and context. Language seems strongly related to one's sense of culture, which is further discussed and explored in the third construct, Language as Identity. In this case one who is bilingual is likely also to identify as bicultural, identifying each language with sub or separate cultures, although as discussed earlier in chapter two, these cultures often overlap and form borderlands. It seems based on the discussions and observations with participants, that there are times when it is most beneficial to be bicultural. Darder describes these processes as biculturalism: Biculturalism speaks to the process wherein individuals learn to function in two distinct sociocultural environments: their primary culture, and that of the dominant mainstream culture of the society in which they live. It represents the process by which bicultural human beings mediate between the dominant discourse of educational institutions and the realities that they must face as member of subordinate cultures (2003, p. 45) The ways in which such individuals choose to represent themselves or their identity within an educational institution that places such high value on English-Only may be very different from how they choose to construct their identity within their familiar home or community where their biculturalism is more well respected and honored. For example, during the lunch time observations I noticed a significant difference in the flow of conversations, and particularly the language used when the participants were eating lunch in the school cafeteria versus the few days a week many of the participants and their friends would eat together as a small group in my classroom. We called these small groups lunch bunch. During lunch bunch days the participants who were joining were allowed to invite a friend. The lunch conversations would flow fluidly through English and Creole, as the participants spoke freely and translanguaged in my classroom, which they knew, was a safe environment to do so.
Other days, I did lunch observations in the cafeteria while the participants were eating.
Even though they typically sat with the same friends, the conversations they had were mostly in English. Very few words or phrases were spoken in Creole, and when they were they were typically in lower and quieter tones.
According to Macedo, Dendrinos, and Gounari (2003), schools are often sites of struggle and contest which reproduce the dominant culture and ideology, as well as what is perceived to be legitimate language and knowledge, making use of their institutional power to confirm or deny a learner's language, and in doing so his or her experiences and culture as well. Specifically, the process of biculturalism includes the ways in which bicultural individuals respond to cultural conflicts and daily struggles with racism, oppositional ideologies, and other forms of cultural invasion (Darder, 2003). Navigating these complex spaces and struggles requires an understanding of one's context and a process for determining how to construct one's identities to bring particular aspects to the forefront, for certain times and purposes.

Language as Identity
This third construct, Language as Identity, focuses on the connections between the participant's languages and their sense of self and cultural identity. The first repeating idea humor is about the participant's specific language use when implementing humor in their speech. The next repeating idea, My Own Words explores participants feelings about being made to choose or use certain language or words at certain times, rather than being free to speak and use the words they feel best fit the situation or context; not just the language requirements for a given situation, but also the freedom to translanguage. These two repeating ideas together make up the first theme of the construct, More than a "Habit," which pertains to the participants rights to choose the language most befitting for certain contexts and conversation. Not forcing themselves to choose one form of conversation because of a relative audience, at the expense of losing their real intended meaning because another language does not have a befitting equivalent to translate.
The next repeating idea, Forgetting, explores participants discussions of their fear of forgetting their first language. The following repeating idea, Loss for Words, refers to the discussions participants had about difficulty remembering and identifying words in both languages to translate, or switch from one language to another. The last repeating idea, Translation Stress, is about the pressure many of the participants expressed feeling when they are asked to translate for others. These three repeating ideas together form the second theme, Language as Cultural Identity, which is where discussions focused on connections between the participant's languages and language use, and their cultural identity. Together these repeating ideas and themes inform the final construct Language as Identity, which draws connections between language and language use, and EB students' sense of individual and cultural selves.

Repeating Idea: Humor
Participants made many references to using Cape Verdean Creole when it came to adding humor to their speech. This idea recurred multiple times across both discussions as a natural transition from an English utterance to a punch line, or hint of humor, which was typically said in Creole. For the participants, humor seemed to be more natural and comfortable in Creole.
Abbey: You lose it-Nory: Yeah, you lose it.
Patricia: Sometimes it feels weird speaking in English.
Tamina: Yeah, yeah. Like when you say something in Creole, like a joke, and then somebody asks what you said in English because they don't understand, they're like, 'Huh?' Abbey: It's not as funny anymore?
Patricia: Yeah, it doesn't make sense.
Abbey: Huh. Interesting. Does the reverse ever happen? Like if you're at home and you make a joke and your mom says, "What?" All: Yeah.
Abbey: And you have to say it? Yeah?
Daniela: I try to explain it, but then she goes, 'That's not funny.' I'm like, 'You didn't get it." Participants explained that often the humor in Creole is just not translatable into English, if one simply translates word-for-word into English, the result does not have the same effect or funniness. The participants continue on in the following examples to explain that often the humor they are using in Creole takes the form of teasing, but play teasing in a way that is not seen or meant to be hurtful in a bullying way: Carmina: Like she's probably going to say something-not mean, but like playful in Creole, that she probably doesn't want the teacher to know. So the teacher might think she's being rude, but like that's our way to play around.
Abbey: Being silly. That was--Carmina: Yeah. But like silly mean.
I then told this second group (B), that this topic of humor in Creole had also come up in the other group. That the first group had also mentioned that they usually used Creole when they were being silly, and asked what they thought about translating the jokes or humor into English.
Niria: It wouldn't be funny anymore.
Carmina: It wouldn't make sense at all.
Vanessa: They're probably going to be like, "How is that even funny?" Maira: I know. I tried that-I tried doing it to my mom and that did not go well.
Abbey: It didn't work well, right? This is another word the girls like to use amongst each other, which does not have an English equivalent.
Simply sharing a common first language does not guarantee the translation of humor, however, as is illustrated by Vanessa in this next comment: Vanessa: Except for like Jenni. She doesn't like-she wasn't born in Cape Verde so she doesn't like know the-like what most of the words are. And she doesn't really try to talk it because she doesn't like know how to. So it's like oh, we-sometimes she gets our jokes but sometimes it's like, "What are you guys talking about?" And then we say it for her in English sometimes.
Carmina: But sometimes it's funny like if we're like talking about a certain topic and she tries to like talk in like the same language as us. And if she doesn't say something right, sometimes we laugh instead of like correcting her.
But it's like that like 30-minute-I mean 30-seconds laugh.
Jenni is one of the participant's classmates, one who did not participate in this study.
She was born in the US, but her first language is also Creole. At this point, however, Jenni speaks primarily English and does not remember much Creole. For these participants, then, the translation of humor seems to depend on one's active participation in the language. By virtue of her abandonment of her first language, Jenni seems to have been stripped of her ability to participate in these humorous exchanges. Given the emphasis that the participants place on shared humor, Jenni has suffered a significant loss.

Repeating Idea: My Own Words
Throughout the discussions, participants made multiple references to using language to say things in my own words, of their choosing, rather than having to use a particular language. They valued their multilanguage and translanguaging abilities that enabled them to speak more freely, without having to stick to the confines of one language system, in order to express themselves in what they felt was a most natural way. It seems to me that to have to choose to stick with one particular language, felt for them to limit their freedom and creativity in their expression. If they wanted to express something and there was a word they felt just right in one language or another that is the word they would want to choose. Not to settle for a word simply because it is in the same language.
I started by asking the participants which language they find they speak the most at home. Participants also explained how they often switch between languages, or use words from different languages when speaking a phrase or utterance predominantly in a different language. This process seems to happen without them else specifically meaning or intending to do so. A fluid switch or translanguage instance can be intentional or unintentional.
Vanessa: So like sometimes it's difficult because sometimes you just want to tell them in your own words. And like maybe if you tell other people to tell them, they might not like understand what you want to tell them. It's kind of like hard to not know how to say something in your own language.
In the following excerpt, Vanessa talks about a casual social conversation she was having with Jenni, her classmate who speaks mostly English, and very limited Creole.
In this case Vanessa was just speaking naturally, starting in English knowing she was communicating with Jenni, and naturally without necessarily intending to, began using Creole words. She did not even recognize that she had been using Creole until Jenni pointed it out.
Vanessa: like I started in English and then like I put in a Creole word and she was like, "What?" And I was like, "What did I say?" I was just lost. I was like-I didn't even remember I said it in Creole and then Jenni was like, "You just said another word that's in your language." And I was like, "Oops." Participants also talked about their frustration when they want to be able to use words or phrases from either language but are being restricted or told to only use one language within certain contexts, such as the school's English-only environments. Maira and Luiza seem to share the feelings of being upset and offended when someone tells them not to speak a certain language. Maira again references being proud of her ability to speak another language, and so being told not to offends her.
She knows that her multilingualism is an asset that monolingual speakers do not have, and she resents not being able to use it. Luiza is also offended when someone interrupts her to insist that she speaks in a language they can understand, even when they are not the intended audience to whom she is speaking. Next, Carmina talks about an experience she had in a class when a classmate was sent to the office for speaking Creole instead on English: Carmina: Like you don't even know what she's feeling when you sent her out for speaking her own language.
Carmina seems frustrated that the person speaking Creole was doing so because of how they felt at the time, leading me to believe the student was expressing frustration or anger in Creole: the language that most naturally conveyed her emotions. Maira picks up on this sentiment: Maira: That's like my number one language that like I like to speak wherever I go. And I don't like when I'm speaking my language for somebody to tell me, "It's America," this and that. No, it's my-I can speak whatever I want.
Maira's "number one language" is Creole, her heritage language and, according to her survey, the language she speaks predominantly at home. By citing Creole as her number one language, Maira has expressed an important aspect of her identity. selfidentifier. This is also supported in her survey as she identified solely as Cape Verdean in the race/ ethnicity section. Here, as well as in the following samples, participants are making powerful connections between their languages of choice and their identities. They are expressing how the attacks on their language, being limited in their freedom to speak their language, negatively affects their identity as a speaker of that language and a member of that language's culture. They are expressing their desire to have the freedom to use their language, and maintain their connections to their multiple languages and cultures.
Maira: I was going to say that it's not easy. And like the things that they say, they should know that like it kind of like affects the other person. Because like they might not know-like I understand that like they might not know more than one languages, but we do and like we like to use it.
Luiza: I don't know, it's just like a habit that we're just used to, and it's hard to get over it. And we shouldn't get over it.
Maira and Luiza both seem to feel strongly that their language use is a right, as Maira states, "I understand that like they might not know more than one language, but we do and like to use it" and Luiza echoes that their language is habit they are used to, "And we shouldn't get over it." Luiza: Like if you have something personal, like you would like to say to your teacher, like you would say-like if they're Cape Verdean or-or other languages that you know, that you both know, you would feel comfortable in your language to speak to them. Like I would be happy too.
Luiza seems to equate language preference with levels of comfort. She seems to feel most comfortable speaking the language, which to her is most natural, her first language. She would like to be able to speak about personal matters in her preferred, first language of Creole. This again confirms that her language is very closely tied to her sense of self and identity.
Theme 1 -More than a "habit." This theme, more than a "habit," emerged from the repeating ideas pertaining to various reasons participants used a particular language at a certain time, for a specific purpose, or a natural reason: reasons that pertained to their right to choose the language, word, or phrase, as it is part of who they are and part of their personal language repertoire. This is their unique ability to translanguage, which they felt they should not have to censor or refrain from using. It is said that if language is not used it can be lost, if the participants are not allowed to use and the practice their languages, as they are expected to use and practice English in schools, then pieces of their language may be lost, and even forgotten. Which brings about the next repeating idea.

Repeating Idea: Forgetting
Another recurring idea across the discussions was that of forgetting words and pieces of language. Participants explained some instances of not remembering Creole or Portuguese words for things they knew in English. They also discussed the frequency with which their family and Cape Verdean community members would ask them about whether they were losing their Creole and remind them of the importance of maintaining that language and connection. Participants also express their frustration and sadness about how they feel they are forgetting and losing their Cape Verdean language, as they are continuing to develop and further their English language abilities.
Vanessa: Um I think I use more English. Like I feel like I could talk more in Again a message from her mother, "Oh, since you came here you're forgetting your own language' and stuff." There is this repeating idea that forgetting one's language is like forgetting or losing that connection to a piece of one's identity, in this case where they come from.
Maira: Um when I was young, when I was coming to here-when I was coming here-I like-I asked my dad like-I was scared to travel, because like you might forget your language that you were speaking. So I started crying.
Maira: And when we were coming here, I was like, "I don't want to come because what if I lose my language and like I don't know-and like nothing else, like not even a single word?" And he was like, "You're not going to lose it." When Maira refers to "coming here" she means coming to America from Cape Verde.
She is explaining that even before leaving Cape Verde, she already had a concern that upon her arrival, that while being in this other country she may forget her Cape Here Carmina and Vanessa are discussing their loss of Creole, which they seem to believe is due largely to their more regular use of English. This was a common idea that repeated throughout the discussions, that learning English takes priority, and as that language develops they are likely to lose others. Vanessa begins to discuss why she wants to try to practice and maintain both languages. She describes an app she tries to use on her phone, and also how she tried to use Creole regularly with members of her family to help maintain her multilingual ability. These extra efforts show that maintaining her home language is important to her.
Vanessa: Like I feel like you just practice more about speaking both, so you don't forget one and you speak more than the other. Luiza: I would say, "No, I don't remember. I don't remember nothing from Cape Verde." And they was like, "But you came when you was three." Exactly. I came when I was three, so I don't remember anything.
It is easy enough to imagine that the participants may not remember everyone and everything in and about Cape Verde considering how young they were when they left.
Many of us would not necessarily recognize or remember people whom we had not seen since early childhood. For the participants, however, it seems that forgetting these people or relationships is more poignant because those people and relationships represent a broader connection: one with a home country and language. Many of us lose touch with, even forget, people whom we have not seen since childhood; these participants, however, fear losing the language they shared with those people, making these connections seem even more remote. Forgetting the language makes the connection to both the people and the places of their past in Cape Verde seems that much farther away. As Maira says "I would just walk around, like I feel like I'm somewhere else" as if she does not herself fit or belong there.
Before the end of the last group discussion, I asked the participants if there was anything they really wished their teachers knew or understood about them. Their responses related to their fear of and sadness about forgetting their home language: Luiza: Yeah, I would like them to understand that it's like-it's like a habit.
Like you can't get rid of it and you can't only speak one language, because if you do then you might forget the other language where you originally came from.
Maira: Like the saddest thing is like when you like travel from your country that you were born in to like-to America, and then you start like very young age, you learn English from around-like around everywhere you go. And then if you forget and then your family goes back, like it's just hard, like very sad.
Like you just stand there and start crying.
The participants want teachers to think about what language means to the EB students themselves, and how denying them the use of their language, which is so closely tied to their identity, makes them feel sad, hurt and disrespected. They hope teachers can try to understand and even put themselves in EB student's shoes, to consider how negative messages about their language use and even stopping them from speaking their language hurts, and the larger impact that their home language has on their lives.

Repeating Idea: Loss for Words
Loss for Words captures a series of responses related to Forgetting; participants Participants made many references to not remembering specific words or phrases in Creole to match ideas or words they knew in English. This is the idea that as they are not using one language as often, they begin to lose some of the vocabulary or the ability to quickly and easily recall the words with which they were at one point much more familiar. This loss for words also represents loss or missing words for concepts, which the participants are developing and learning in English, for which they may not have or may no longer remember the corresponding words or names for in Creole. In this case, Patricia did not have and exact translation for this study to help explain to her mother.
This is a concept she has not encountered before in either language, much like new academic concepts she may not have yet learned in Creole or Portuguese. These situations can be challenging for her and other participants as they try to understand and explain in another language. Thankfully, in this particular case, Patricia was able to give her mother the forms in Portuguese, which she was able to make sense of. During member checking, I asked Andrea about that reference to "Are you awake?" he meant she was taking too long to answer. Her mother was asking if she had fallen asleep because she was taking time to process the information given to her in English, and then figure out how to translate it back to her mother. She said this is often stressful because she wants to be careful not to make a mistake that would worry her mother, and she does not want to misrepresent something that is medically significant.
Daniela and Patricia's experiences are very similar.
Next, Daniela explains why she feels better when there are interpreters available at the hospitals or doctors office to help; these professionals take a lot of pressure off the participants. To clarify, I asked the participants about why they did not want to translate. I wanted to determine whether their reluctance represented an unwillingness to help or stress and concern over the responsibility being placed on them as translators.
Carmina: It's mostly if I do it and I put my mom in a bad situation, then she'll probably-I'm not going to say not trust me, but she'll probably not take me somewhere. Like if she like needs to go somewhere like really, really bad and she needs someone to like translate for her, and what if like someone older is not there? Then she'll probably miss that appointment or like miss the opportunity to go to wherever she needs to.
Carmina is concerned that she might make a mistake or let her mother down. She is also worried that if she does not help, there may not be someone else there that is able to assist her mother, leaving her to miss an opportunity or put her in a bad situation. Often the student participants are the first on their families to learn English because they are being taught and immersed in the language during most of the day at school (Orellana, 2009). Upon arriving home, these students and participants are then asked by well-meaning family members to help them learn English as well.
The students who are still in the process of learning the language themselves are not typically equipped with the language acquisition strategies or knowledge to help or support others English language development. In the next excerpt, Vanessa explains her struggle to teach English to her brother and his misunderstanding her struggle as Vanessa feels the pressure from her brother to continue trying to teach and help him, even though she is still learning the language herself. She does not have the tools and strategies for teaching language, nor does she have a clear understanding of language acquisition. Teachers acquire this knowledge in order to teach English as a second language; Vanessa is being asked to do the teaching without any of the background knowledge or skills, just using her own language learning experience. It is unsurprising, therefore, that these attempts at teaching sometimes leave her feeling frustrated.
Vanessa: My brother gets mad that like when-he says, "Oh, read this for me." And then like I read it and I'll be like, "I don't know how to explain it to you." One's history-in-person is the sediment from past experiences upon which one improvises, using the cultural resources available, in response to the subject positions afforded one in the present. The constraints are overpowering, yet not hermetically sealed. Improvisation can become the basis for a reformed subjectivity (p. 18).
The improvisation that is germane here is that of language. When one's native language is not the same as that of the dominant majority, the individual must navigate their language use in ways that are most beneficial to them within certain contexts.
Language is an important piece of one's identity and navigating language means navigating an aspect of identity. Verdean (Saucier, 2015). Some of my interest for this particular study lies in the connections between languages and individuals' identities. Particularly, what happens when one language is given power and preference over another in particular contexts?
I want to understand how it affects the participant's feelings and sense of identity.
As educators, it is our job and position to best educate and support the students in front of us. In order to do that, we need to have certain levels of understanding English, which included school and more specifically certain classes and settings within school, as well as other times and spaces in which they spoke more Creole.
This construct really addressed my first research question: "How do EB Cape Verdean middle school students name and describe their different social worlds and their experiences moving between and among them?" The participants discussed the spaces (or worlds) within and between their school and homes, as well as the languages they typically used in each space and why.
The participants discussed how they felt about speaking a certain language in different spaces, largely because of how people around them reacted to their language use. They described teachers, administrators, and other students assuming they were "Talkin' Bad" or being "Annoyed" when they used Creole in school. They talked about how non-Creole speaking teachers and students often assumed they were being fresh or starting trouble if they use Creole in school settings. On the other hand, the participants also discussed the parallel reaction they experienced at home, with family, and friends and Cape Verdean community members. In these spaces, participants felt pressure to speak Creole. In their home community, non-English speakers often assumed that if they were speaking English with their friends they are being fresh, or "Talkin' bad." Thus, throughout the course of a single day, the participants are continually encountering spaces, both in school and in their homes and communities, where they are being told to use one language and discouraged from using the other.
Repeatedly they are given what one participant called "that look," one that serves as a warning: Someone is watching and judging their language use. Whether "that look" comes from someone at school, or parents and family at home, it sends a message of disapproval and the assumption of misbehavior. Verdean middle school students name, understand, and navigate within and among their different social worlds or borderlands?" The participants described their different social spaces and worlds, the language expectations of each, and their navigation of these spaces. This third construct looks at how the social and political systems affect and impact them -both as they navigate these spaces, as well as how they are impacted and affected as individuals throughout these processes.
This third construct included the repeating theme; More Than a "Habit" which refers to participants' multilingualism, their ability to translanguage and critiques the assumption that translanguageing is negative and accidental. The participants' ability to both think and speak in translanguaging ways is a part of who they are, a representation of their ability to think, process and produce language in a multitude of ways. This construct also included the repeating theme Language as a Cultural Identity, which encompasses their personal and cultural ties to their language as part of their identity. The participants discussed their fear or losing their Creole language abilities and feeling that in doing so they lose their connection to their home country, memories there, and their ability to communicate and connect with family and friends who share that language.
The participants also discussed how their ability to translate for their family, friends and community members is both something they are proud and happy to be able to do, while also being a source of pressure and stress when the content to be translate is too beyond their years to really understanding or speak about. This stress can also be caused by fear that they may not be able to protect those for whom they are speaking, insecurity that cannot prevent their family from being taken advantage of, or anxiety that they may be misrepresenting important information -information that, for the young student translating, is just beyond their experience or maturity (i.e., dealing with bills, doctors, and automobile mechanics).
As stated in the theoretical framework for this study (p. 15) and according to the critical constructivist frame, the world, the people in it, and the knowledge people possess are all socially and historically constructed (Kincheloe, 2005). The findings of this study show that the participants' different social worlds and separate spaces are constructed in social and historical ways as they make connections. In schools, most spaces are English language dominant: Participants knew this because they received messages about the superiority of the English language in those spaces. These messages shaped their social and academic experiences. Likewise, their shared home and cultural spaces are more Cape Verdean Creole dominant, and they knew this because of the messages they receive as well as the connections they make in these spaces, which are primarily to their dominant Cape Verdean culture and language.
Likewise, people's knowledge about how they navigate these spaces and their language use within them is also socially and historically constructed. The participants described how messages of encouragement about their multilingualism, as well as their own pride and validation of their multilingualism helped them to know when, where, and with whom they were safe to use certain language or to translanguage.
These messages and feelings of encouragement or censure also helped them to draw on tools and resources (i.e., facial and physical cues) which participants used to navigate their langue choices in and between different spaces and groups of people.
Individuals' identities and sense of connections to social, cultural, and linguistic groups are also socially and historically constructed through connections one feels to others. The findings of this study also showed that sense of identity is closely connected to language, which participants described as "more than a habit" and even as being "my own words." Language for the participants is a way to connect with their family and culture, and, if lost, can also represent a loss of connection with that culture and even members of their own family and community with whom they may no longer be able to communicate. This separation from cultural, familial, and linguistic groups also connects with Anzaldúa's theory of borderlands. The participants feel that they are being separated from their Cape Verdean culture, heritage and language at the cost of gaining English and the more "American" dominant culture. They are being separated from their Cape Verdean identity because they are learning English. At the same time however, they feel they are not truly seen as American because they will never be fully accepted by or connected to that dominant cultural and linguistic group.
Instead they occupy this borderland, the psychological space between their home and native language culture and the American language and culture, not feeling they are made whole. They are not a full member of either culture or space.

Implications
My research elicited the perspectives of nine middle school EB students, which lead me to deeper understanding of their experience as they navigate competing expectations in school and home settings. These perspectives shed light on not only individual experiences but also unveiled the large effect school programs, from the top down (administration to teachers to students) have on the EB students. It has become very clear through both my data collection, and the analysis of the data, that the program and language policies of the building were having a significant trickle-down effect on the students and their language use. We cannot control the outside world (i.e., the messages our students are bombarded with on a daily basis from the media, news, social media, community members). We are, however, able to have some say in our own schools and classrooms. We as educators, both teachers and administrators have a responsibility to provide all of our students a safe and effective learning environment in which to attend class, learn, and grow both academically and socially in supportive spaces. This responsibility includes educating students with various and diverse abilities while also supporting their individual identities and always respecting everyone's backgrounds and culture. Specifically, this study stresses the importance of respecting and embracing students' multilingual and multicultural backgrounds and creating a school culture that resists the dominant Americanized "English only" ideology. Rather than perpetuating language domination, school leaders need to intentionally secure school curriculum and encourage teachers to support the multilingual abilities of EB students, making sure they are given appropriate spaces and freedoms to practice their multilingualism.
These beliefs are not absorbed over night, however. They are not internalized simply because one is told to do so. Just as students need encouragement and support to foster growth mindsets, so do teachers and administrators (Dweck, 2006). These ideas about valuing and fostering EB students' multilingualism need to be adopted and embraced first by department heads and administrators. Time and strategic efforts needs to be invested into integrating these inclusive and supportive multilingual policies into curriculum and educational praxis. Let me be clear: The issues uncovered by this study will not be solved by tacking up a multicultural or multilingual poster in the office. Embracing multilingualism within a school requires careful thought and planning, asking oneself what parents and community members see upon arrival at school that conveys welcome to those not able to read the English signage. How will speakers of languages other than English be received at the school's office, who will greet them and how? If there is no-one in the immediate office to assist parents and guardians with translation, how can we welcome and assist them, what steps will be taken? These are only the very initial and minor steps one must immediately consider to begin to feel some sense of what parents, community members and most importantly students feel upon arrival at a U.S. school. After the initial arrival, things only get more complicated, as many families navigate an unfamiliar complex system.
The ideological shift from an "English Only" language policy to a more inclusive and supportive multilingual and Emergent Bilingual language policy within a school needs to begin with the full support of district and school administrators. As administrators need to be are trained and educated on these language policies and more supportive language philosophies, the teachers need also need similar training and professional development. The professional development needs to go beyond the ESL (English as a Second Language) and SEI (Sheltered English Instruction, content teachers working with EB students) teachers, these being the faculty who work with EB students the most. Professional development needs to extend to all teachers and staff; everyone needs to explicitly be trained and taught these multilingual strategies they should use as they interact with EB and multilingual students.
In short, the creation of a multilingual culture requires participant buy in; it does not happen simply by osmosis and will not be acted upon unless the pedagogical and social priorities are truly understood, embraced and most importantly, followed up on. By this I mean administrators need to not only set examples and expectations for teacher participation in these democratic practices, but also be eyes and ears throughout the building -encouraging successful implementation of strategies and activities, as well as noting and addressing linguistic discrimination. The creation of a linguistic democracy might also include the pairing of staff to help support one another through implementation of lessons and strategies, which may be less familiar to others. This can be done through observations, common planning, and, again, additional training.
Creating clear language expectations for both staff and students is another important way to help ensure that students are working toward reaching their goals of English language acquisition, while also fostering their multilingual abilities and identities. This can be done by creating expectations for both staff and students about when it is appropriate for students to speak different languages freely, such as lunch, the halls in passing time, before and after school, and specified class times; as well as when the target language use should be English, such as in their academic content classes. This does not mean that it is acceptable to call these classes or spaces "English Only"; rather, the expectation needs to be that the students target languages in these spaces is English, along with clear and explicit rationales for this expectation.
Teachers will benefit from support and training as they plan to communicate these expectations in ways that are not misconstrued as "This is America; speak English." Instead, teachers can discuss with students why the target language in these spaces is English -largely because their academic successes in these classes, and in their future schooling in the US will be measured by their successful understanding and use of academic English (Delpit, 1995).
Taking the creation of a linguistic democracy in schools a step further, encouraging multilingual students to maintain and continue to develop their other language abilities is crucial. When in classrooms where the target language is English, teachers and administrators alike need to leverage positive reminders for students to use their English, and to remind students as to the rationale. This would be in start contrast to the damaging messages the participants reported. Preparing them with phrases like "Okay, lets remember this is our space to practice our English; lets try do that." Or "Remember, we want to practice out English here; can I help you with that?" or "Sounds interesting, can we try it in English please? We want to practice here, can I help you?" These are just a very few small ways of reminding students that the expectation to speak English is about their English language practice and development, not that the teacher is belittling or devaluing their multilingual abilities.
These and many other tips and strategies can help to lessen the burden, discomfort, and the conflict many teachers and students feel when they may otherwise be confronted with "English Only" notions. It is a very initial step towards beginning to develop a language democracy within a school. These simple phrases can put both the teachers and EB students more at ease when redirecting student's language use, rather than creating confrontation or conflict by belittling student's linguistic abilities.
From there, much more training and work must be done to develop a linguistically democratic school environment.

A Tale of Two Schools: Future Research
As this study progressed, I realized that much of the negative sentiment students were hearing and feeling in school pertaining to their language use most likely stems from the faculty's (and other student's) lack of knowledge and understanding, combined with insecurity and discomfort. This began to make sense as I further considered the lack of preparation, training and support for both the administrators and teachers when the ESL program began at Clarkston in September of 2011. This was also my first year at the school, as a first year ESL teacher in a school that had never previously had an ESL program.
The principal at the time was told by the school administration that Clarkston would be starting a new ESL program to accommodate an overflow of the current Cape Verdean and Portuguese ESL program, which had previously only been one program at Eagleton Middle School, a neighboring middle school in the district. Two of the would-be ESL teachers, along with the other SEI content teachers, were current Clarkston teachers who were given two choices at the end of the previous school year: either take and pass the ESL test so that they could stay and teach in the ESL and SEI program or be moved to another school elsewhere in the district to make room for other teachers in this new program. None of those teachers had prior experience or training working with EB students, but they all took and successfully passed the ESL test and were able to stay at Clarkston.
In addition, two math teachers were hired who would complete their SEI endorsement later. I was the only ESL teacher hired new to the school, and the only one who had experience working with EB students, as well as a graduate degree in Applied Linguistics and ESL. The principal of Clarkston was given some sets of ESL textbooks, a curriculum, and the new EB students: No training, no additional support or resources for the administration, no training for teachers or support staff, or preparation for the preexisting students. The only additional support provided to the building was one parent liaison who was split between two schools, meaning he was in the school building typically 2-3 times a week, when he was not performing the same job and duties in the other neighboring Eagleton Middle School. We also had the help and support of Mrs. Nory Harris, an extremely accomplished former ESL teacher and current language acquisition coach, who was also divided among the district's seven different middle schools. She to provided support in numerous and various capacities to all middle school ESL, SEI and bilingual teachers and staff.
There was no intervention for Clarkston, considering it was embarking on their very first year of a brand-new ESL program, in a building and with a staff and administration with next to no experience with an EB population. Thus, lack of knowledge, understanding and resources lead to overwhelming feelings of fear, frustration, and even resentment. As years progressed, so did many of these feelings, often trickling down and among the teachers and students. Some teachers and administrators tried to welcome students and show kindness; some went out of their way to try to learn about the students and their backgrounds and cultures. Such is the nature of great teachers, to try to problem solve and learn when and where they can.
Since the data collection for this study was finished, a new school year has started, at which time I was assigned to teach ESL in the neighboring Eagleton Middle School. This school had the original ESL program for the district's Cape Verdean and Portuguese speaking EB students. The culture and climate of this school is very different with regards to the ESL and EB students. Eagleton has had the program for many years, and the principal explained to me that the school was designed around including this program from day one. The current principal also makes inclusion of all students, (including all populations such as special education students, students with different abilities, students from all various communities, including the multicultural and multilingual students) a top priority. The language itself used to discuss students is specifically different; she is sure to refer to "our kids," "all our students," and the "Eagleton family." Never does she say "those kids" or "your kids." As this language would suggest, this principal is very supportive of EB students and of their developing multilingualism and multiculturalism.
Her messages are heard loud and clear and resonate with the majority of the staff. You can regularly hear students speaking different languages in the halls, cafeteria, and outside before and after school, as well as in certain classes. You can also hear teachers and students saying "Bom dia" (i.e., Good morning) and other phrases in different languages. You do not hear teachers telling students to "Speak English" or "This is America." I am confident that if you did, the principal would not hesitate to have a professional and constructive conversation with those individuals about language use and expectations. AS a result, I would describe my newly assigned school as inclusive and affirming -there is a broader buy-in of democratic practices and acknowledgement of the value of students from diverse backgrounds and with diverse abilities.
I feel that if I had completed the same study in this school, much of the dialogue from the data would be different. This supposition is due not only to kinder words used with regards to EB students and language use, but also due to the time and attention the administration in this school gives to creating and fostering positive inclusive environments for both their staff and students. There is ongoing support and outreach -not only teachers, but also for students and families of multilingual students.
There is even a partnership between this middle school and a neighboring university, which helps to provide positive opportunities for all students within the school. Some opportunities are specifically geared toward supporting the EB students.
For example, the University has helped to sent some of their multilingual undergraduate students as well as multilingual professors, to speak with our EB students about college, careers, and how their multilingualism has played an important role in their lives and the opportunities available to them.
Having the experience of working in both these schools I see the marked difference the emphasis on inclusion and supports makes for everyone at the school; students and staff alike.
Clarkston was not equipped or prepared adequately for the addition on the ESL program and all that it entailed. The principal had told me that as far as having an ESL program: he had no idea how much he did not know, with regards to what was needed for a successful program. He was not trained, educated or prepared, none of the administrative team was. The administrators were not prepared or educated about the needs of EB students and families, nor were the teachers prepared or educated about EB students, or the contributions they can make to the classroom and the school.
Likewise, the students themselves were not prepared for this incoming group of students, many of whom they viewed as being different. Instead of a transition, the addition of the program as well as the teachers and students were seen more as an invasion than an expansion of the school community by both the faculty and the staff, and preexisting Clarkston students.
I hope, therefore, that this study will lead to future research into integration of ESL and other programs, as well as development of linguistic democracies in schools.
A future comparative study exploring attitudes of monolingual English students towards emergent bilingual students within two separate school settings such as Clarkston and Eagleton could shed more light on successfully integrating ESL and bilingual programs. Also, an action research study with professional development teams for teachers and administrators would shed more light on developing linguistic democracies in schools. Hopefully some of the perspectives provided by the participants of this study will help to inform some future decisions made regarding programing and policy pertaining to EB students and programs.
6. Did you attend any other schools in this district (town) before this middle school? . Are most of these friends you are speaking with also multilingual also? Circle: Yes -or-No -If yes, which languages do they also speak? ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 12. When you are in classes with both multilingual and monolingual students such as Gym, Art, Tech ed. and Music, do you find yourself speaking with mostly multilingual or monolingual students? _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ *Remember* -Monolingual = (Non-bilingual) means someone who only speaks one language. -Bilingual = means someone who speaks two languages. (ex. English and Creole). -Multilingual = means someone who speaks multiple languages, more than one or two. For example someone who speaks English, Creole, and Portuguese.
13. In these classes, if you are talking with other multilingual students who speak the same languages as you, which languages do you find you are usually using to speak with them? At these times do you feel pressure to speak (

Personal introductions
A. Thank you all for agreeing to participate in this focus group. The purpose of this group discussion is to talk about some of your experiences as Emergent Bilingual students. The goal of this research is for teachers like me, along with other school personnel, and researchers to better understand the experiences of multilingual students like you.
B. As we begin, and through out our discussion feel free to ask me any questions you have about the topics, to explain, or to clarify.
C. If you feel more comfortable or confident at any point speaking in Creole or Portuguese feel free to do so. Mrs. Harris is here to help translate or clarify through translation if necessary. You are welcome to ask her questions as well.
D. Discussion Ground Rules: (Accountable talk moves, with which students are familiar) -There are no right or wrong answers. All thoughts and ideas are important.
-Feel free to give opinions, and respect everyone else's.
-Please speak up, and clearly so that we may all hear.
-Please take turns and speak one at a time.
-I am audio recording the group discussions so that I may remember and reflect upon everyone's comments.
-These conversations are confidential. Your names will not be identified with any comments you make within these discussions.
-Are there any questions?