For international studies week on immigrant experiences

1. IMMIGRANT STUDENT VOICES:
PERCEPTIONS OF RACE, LANGUAGE, AND CULTURE
ELISABETH L. CHAN
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, ESL
ECHAN@NVCC.EDU

2. AGENDA
 Background
 2015 Research
 Implications
 Relevant literature
 Campus culture
 Pedagogy

3. INSPIRATION
“My customer yelled at me that I should learn
English or go back to where I came from. Then my
manager told me the customer is always right.”
(Ethiopian female)
“I’m unlucky because I was born speaking
Chinese and not English.” (Chinese female)

4. TRUE OR FALSE?
 There is an official body
in the U.S. which
regulates the rules of
English.

5. TRUE OR FALSE?
 Standard English is a
distinct dialect of
English, required to
succeed in school and
business.

6. TRUE OR FALSE?
 “People who invoke the term
Standard English rarely make clear
what they have in mind by it…”
 “is highly elastic and variable,
since what counts as Standard
English will depend on both the
locality and the particular varieties
that Standard English is being
contrasted with.”

7. TRUE OR FALSE?
 English is the official
language of the United
States.

8. WHAT IS “ENGLISH”?
 What is “English”?
 What is “good” English?
 What is “bad” English?
 What is “correct” English?

9. ENGLISH AS SOMETHING MORE THAN LANGUAGE
English
Culture
Power
Economy
Ownership
Politics
Othering

10. ENGLISH AS SOMETHING MORE THAN LANGUAGE
English
Culture
Power
Economy
Ownership
Politics
Othering

11. ENGLISH AS SOMETHING MORE THAN LANGUAGE
English
Culture
Power
Economy
Ownership
Politics
Othering

12. ENGLISH AS SOMETHING MORE THAN LANGUAGE
English
Culture
Power
Economy
Ownership
Politics
Othering

13. KEN ASKED TOM FOR HELP WITH HIS ENGLISH HOMEWORK.
 What color is
Tom’s shirt?
(Romney 2010)
(Kang & Rubin 2009)
(Rubin 1992;
Roberts et al 1992)

14. HOW MANY PEOPLE SPEAK ENGLISH?
25%
75%
2.5 billion people
Native English Speaker
"Non-native" English
speaker

15. ESL TEACHER / ESL STUDENT

16. ENGLISH SPEAKER

17. LANGUAGE CHANGES OVER TIME
 Why is English “sacred”?

18. LANGUAGE CHANGES OVER TIME
 Why are some changes more
acceptable?
 Furnitures or Informations versus
Coffees or Accomodations

19. LINGUISTIC
DISCRIMINATION
 “ideologies, structures and
practices which are used to
legitimate, effectuate, and
reproduce an unequal division
of power and resources (both
material and immaterial)
between groups which are
defined on the basis of
language”
(Phillipson, 1992) (Han, 2014)

20. particular
language
varieties and
accents,
speech
dysfluency,
and
nonstandard
grammar
LINGUICISM
(Clement & Gardner,
2001; Lippi-
Green, 2012)
indicators of low
intelligence
relational
disharmony
and social
unacceptability

21. CULTURAL DISCRIMINATION
“Rationalizes the subordination of people of
color on the basis of culture, which is of
course acquired through acculturation
within an ethnic group, while traditional
racism rationalizes it fundamentally in terms
of biology. Neo-racism is still racism in that
it functions to maintain racial hierarchies of
oppression.”
(Spears, 1999)

22. EFFECTS ON SUCCESS
(Grant & Zwier, 2011)(such as gender, race, ability)

23. ACCULTURATIVE STRESS
 English language difficulties,
 academic struggles,
 cultural adaptation,
 problematic perfectionism,
 lack of social supports,
 homesickness,
 and perceived discrimination.”
(Tung, 2011)
“Perceived discrimination
is a unique source of
stress that is different
from general stress”
(Harrell, 2000; Meyer, 2003)

24. DISCRIMINATION? A MATTER OF PERCEPTION?
“Also, some people have been impolite when
I have reached their office with an
appointment: I was not invited to have a sit,
but I had to talk from the door.” (Chilean
male)
“Experiencing the whole issue of racism was
surprising, I had never in my life even given
thought to racism. And never before had I
tick a box for my race when filling out
documents.” (Estonian female)

25. COMPARING STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCES
2013 Study
 52 of 56 (93%) reported differential
treatment on the basis of race, language, and/or
culture
 Of those who reported NO differential treatment
based on race:
 78%DID report differential treatment based on
language and/or culture
2015 Study
 30 of 40 (75%) reported differential
treatment on the basis of race, language, and/or
culture
 Of those who reported NO differential treatment
based on race:
 52%DID report differential treatment based on
language and/or culture

26. EXAMINING IMMIGRANT STUDENTS IN DETAIL: 2015

27. IMMIGRANT VOICES FROM 2015
 13 participants
 8 female; 5 male
 Average age = 28
 Average years in the U.S. = 10
 4 non-ESL; 6 co-enrolled; 2 College ESL

28. IMMIGRANT VOICES FROM 2015
 Latino/a, Arab, White, Asian, Black, N/A
 Spanish, Arabic, Farsi, Estonian, Lithuanian, Nepali, Berber
 Russian, Hindi, French, Tigry, English
 Only 7 listed English

29. PRIMARY QUESTIONS
BEFORE COMING TO THE U.S.
 What perceptions of America and racism did students have?
AFTER COMING TO THE U.S.
 How did those perceptions change once they had immigrated?
 What types of differential treatment (positive and/or negative) do
students perceive due to racial, linguistic, and/or cultural
differences?

30. BEFORE: HOW WELL DID YOU THINK AMERICANS KNEW YOUR
NATIVE COUNTRY?
77%
15%
8%
Knew little
to nothing
Knew some
Knew well
Based on this
assumption, how did
you feel about
immigrating?
8  4  1 

31. 15% BELIEVED AMERICANS WOULD BE KNOWLEDGEABLE
77% BELIEVED AMERICANS WOULD KNOW LITTLE OR NOTHING
“I thought that they know my country very
well… I knew very much about America
before to immigrant to USA.” (Iranian
male)
“I think Americans don’t know very much
about my country and my culture, but
they do very well about my Arabic
language.” (Sudanese male)

32. AFTER: HOW DID AMERICANS VIEW YOUR NATIVE COUNTRY?
42%
33%
17%
8%
Column1
Positive view
Positive &
Negative
Negative
 El Salvador, Bolivia, Iran, Nepal
 /  Sudan, Lithuania, Colombia, Eritrea
 Bolivia, Mexico
? Algeria

33. RANGE OF PERCEPTIONS
“makes an attempt to connect to me and find similarities
between our cultures. He likes to try native recipes…very
respectful and tolerant of my culture (El Salvadorean
female)
“shock that mexico has cars and television and that I dress ‘normal’ …some
people don’t think of there being cities, but instead ‘pueblos’.” (Mexican female)
“They don’t know anything.” (Algerian
female)

34. BEFORE: WHAT DID YOU KNOW ABOUT RACE RELATIONS IN
AMERICA?
46%
23%
31%
Knew about
racism
Thought
racism didn't
exist

35. PERCEPTIONS OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
“One time a teacher told me to go back to my
country because I was late to class. She said really
bad things to me outside the classroom. I remember
that I have that bad experience at Nova last
semester.” (Colombian female)
“people strongly disliked me for being Mexican.
Even teachers…it was horrible. I thought teachers
were supposed to be caring.”(Mexican female)

36. WHO WAS MORE LIKELY TO PERCEIVE DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT
DUE TO RACE?
0
2
4
6
8
Experienced differential
treatment
Did not experience
differential treatment
Knew prior
to
immigrating

37. WHY MIGHT THAT BE THE CASE?
“Lake of new immigrants ability [should be
addressed.] Because many newcomer because
don’t know language and culture they feels
discrimination only because of lake of their
knowledge.” (Iranian male)
“I didn't have any positive or negative experience. The
main reason because I am white girl and most at time
people think that I am American.” (Ukrainian female)

38. CORRELATION BETWEEN PERCEIVING DISCRIMINATION
BASED ON RACE, LANGUAGE, AND CULTURE
Language Culture
Positive Negative + / - NO Positive Negative + / - NO
YES 1 3 2 3 2 1
NO 1 1 5 1 1 5

39. CORRELATION BETWEEN PERCEIVING DISCRIMINATION
BASED ON RACE, LANGUAGE, AND CULTURE
Language Culture
Positive Negative + / - NO Positive Negative + / - NO
YES 1 3 2 3 2 1
NO 1 1 5 1 1 5
(2013) Of those who reported NO differential
treatment based on race:
78% DID report differential treatment
based on language and/or culture
(2015) Of those who reported NO differential
treatment based on race:
52% DID report differential treatment
based on language and/or culture

40. PERCEPTIONS OF LINGUISTIC DISCRIMINATION
“At first I did get treated differently, in fourth grade I
attempted to read but people would just laugh.
After I learned how to speak English I haven’t felt
any different treatment since I know how to speak
English well.” (El Salvadorian female)
“most [Americans] were very patient, kept trying
to understand me. I have negative experience
with people who were not English native speaker,
their would be more judgmental. (Lithuanian
female)

41. PERCEPTIONS OF CULTURAL DISCRIMINATION
“No [I have not experienced cultural discrimination] I
think part of it is because might be due to the fact
that people from my generation is not as attached
to the culture and beliefs as before. (Bolivian female)
“I never been to my religious place (Temple) and
I don’t celebrate my own festivals. It is impossible
and will be, because of big fish always eat small
fish. (Nepalese male)

42. FINAL THOUGHTS

43. DANGEROUS CYCLE
Silence Race Talk
Future Talk
Silenced
Systemic Change
Reduced
Gaps, Inequities
Patterned Privilege
& Oppression
(Castagno 2008)

44. INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
(Lee, 2007;
Charles-Toussaint & Crowson, 2010;
Hung & Hyun, 2010;
Nilsson, Butler, Shouse & Chetan, 2008;
Alfred, 2009)
Faculty
StudentsStaff

45. INCORPORATE DIVERSITY & INTERCULTURAL ISSUES IN
CURRICULUM
Materials on Race & Ethnicity Counter Narratives
Anti-Racist Pedagogy Socially Responsible Teaching
Change School
Environment
(Glass, 2012;
Curran, 2003;
Briscoe, 2003 as cited in
Grant & Zwier, 2011)

46. GLOBAL ISSUES & PEACE CONTENT
(Swenson & Cline, 1993; Yoshimura, 1993
as cited in Kruger, 2012)

47. EXAMPLES
 http://gameslearningsociety.org/
 http://www.gamesforchange.org/play/
 (Using Games to Bridge Social Responsibility
& Language Learning, Fri 3:00-3:45 802A)

48. REFERENCES
 Lee, J. J. (2010). International students' experiences and attitudes at a us host institution: Self-reports and
future recommendations. Journal of Research in International Education, 9(1), 66-84. doi:
10.1177/1475240909356382
 Lee, J. J., & Rice, C. (2007). Welcome to America? international student perceptions of discrimination. Higher
Education, 53, 381-409. doi: 10.1007/s10734-005-4508-3
 Ly, P. (2008). Caught between two cultures. Diverse Issues in Higher Education, 25(14), 24-25.
 Mahboob, A., & Szenes, E. (2007). Linguicism And Racism In Assessment Practices In Higher Education.
Linguistics and the Human Sciences, 3(3), 325-354.
 Nilsson, J., Butler, J., Shouse, S., & Joshi, C. (2008). The Relationships Among Perfectionism, Acculturation, and
Stress in Asian International Students. Journal of College Counseling, 11, 147-158.
 Niu, J., & Rosenthal, S. (2009). Trust discrimination toward socially dominant and subordinate social groups.
North American Journal of Psychology, 11(3), 501-501.
 Ng, S. H. (2007). Language-based discrimination. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 26(2), 106-122.
Retrieved from http://jls.sagepub.com
 Pac, T. (2012). The English-Only Movement in the US and the World in the Twenty-First Century. Perspectives
on Global Development and Technology, 11, 192-210.
 Poyrazli, S., & Lopez, M. D. (2007). An exploratory study of perceived discrimination and homesickness: A
comparison of international students and American students. The Journal of Psychology, 141(3), 263-280.
 Ramburuth, P., & Tani, M. (2009). The impact of culture on learning: Exploring student perceptions.
Multicultural Education & Technology Journal, 3(3), 182-195. doi: 10.1108/17504970910984862
 Saperstein, A. (2006). Double-Checking the Race Box: Examining Inconsistency between Survey Measures of
Observed and Self-Reported Race. Social Forces, 85(1), 57-74.
 Smith, R. A., & Khawaja, N. G. (2011). A review of the acculturation experiences of international students.
International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 35, 699-713. doi: 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.08.004
 Talmy, S. (2010). Becoming “Local” in ESL: Racism as Resource in a Hawai‘i Public High School. Journal of
Language, Identity & Education, 9, 36-57.
 Tung, W. (2011). Acculturative stress and help-seeking behaviors among international students. Home Health
Care Management & Practice, 23(5), 383-385. doi: 10.1177/1084822311405454

49. Contact Info: References & Handout available at:
echan@nvcc.edu http://www.slideshare.net/ElisabethChan
Assistant Professor, ESL
Co-chair, TESOL Social Responsibility Interest Section
That not all states
are equally
progressive when it
comes to matters of
race. I would have
liked to know this
before applying to
schools
US is good, US is
fun, but US can
also be very
lonely. And I
mean very, very
lonely.
I should have known
that all the opportunities
on campus are given to
Americans and there is
no equal opportunity in
real. If I want some
hands on experience by
working on campus it is
very difficult.
I tried to read books
about US culture before
coming here, but to be
honest, I couldn't
understand it until I
experienced it. I wish I
just didn't take a lot of
things too personal.
It is important not to
judge the whole nation
by one unpleasant
person. I am for the
transparent media, but I
think sometimes in a
pursuit of sensation it
polarizes the country and
created disagreements
inside of the nation.
1+1=2 in math,
but white+ black
=1 at all
"Human". Thank
you.
Immigrant students are an
important because they
come from different parts
of the world and have
different knowledge which
we can learn from each
other. there should be
more opportunities to
make us succeed equally
not leaving us behind.
Either [Americans] have to
adapt to it or I have to
adapt to their likings, after
all, this is not my country. I
understand a lot of
international students have
trouble of surviving in
America because they are
reluctant to change.
But the experiences made
me grow up, hardened my
heart a little, and gave me
more confidence in myself
and to be proud of my
country. I do not regret
coming here. It was a hard
and lonely road for 8 years.
It was hard to be
such an outsider
and disliked for
being born where I
was, something I
had no control
over.
Thank you for
this chance to
share my own
thoughts!!!!