Running Head: As American As Anyone Else Lipson 1

As American As Anyone Else

The 2016 Presidential Election brought immigration to the forefront of many Americans

minds. Discussions became extremely emotionally charged and the media would leave anyone

believing every Hispanic is questioning their future in this country, especially students. To better

understand how much these issues actually permeate throughout the Hispanic community,

particularly in Nebraska, two former ESL students were interviewed about their experiences

from childhood to their present experiences with work and college. Questions focused on the

participants overall life experience and the impact their culture and language experience has had

on their path thus far (See Appendix A). The questions followed a method called the

conversation stack.

Participants

The first individual interviewed was a 23 year old female college student enrolled at

Southeast Community College. She is currently pursuing a Nursing degree at Southeast

Community College while working full time as a dispatcher for the Nebraska State Patrol. The

interview was conducted over the course of two weeks during overlapping shifts with the

interviewer at Nebraska State Patrol and through email for follow up and clarification.

The second individual interviewed was a 23 year old male college student also enrolled at

Kaplan University. He is currently pursuing an associates degree in Business while working full

time at the State Corrections facility nearby. The interview was conducted via email.

Language Experience

The first interviewee was born in the United States to parents from Mexico. The second

was born in Mexico and came to the United States around age three. Both of their fathers came

to the United States first and obtained citizenship while working. The first interviewee talked
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about how her father has always been thankful for President Ronald Reagan and the Immigration

Reform and Control Act he signed into law in 1986 (A Reagan Legacy). Their fathers were

followed by their mothers and any other family members. Both of their mothers are legal

residents of the United States, meaning they must reapply to stay in the United States every ten

years. Their fathers both speak English relatively well, but their mothers have never become

fluent. This is a big part of why they have not applied for citizenship.

Both interviewees spoke Spanish at home and continue to use mostly Spanish in their

homes today as independent adults. The first interviewee stated that her ESL courses helped her

English get stronger as well as [her] confidence in being around other students and not being

intimidated by the fact that [she] was bilingual. She loved being around other students who

were in the same situation as [herself]. It allowed her to get the extra help [she] needed and

prepared [her] with the tools to continue [her] education. From her point of view, ESL resources

have increased immensely from when she started school to today. When she was first put in an

ESL course, her friends and family living in the same city did not know what ESL courses were.

Today, she feels as if these courses are expected and well known throughout her community as

well as others.

Even today, the first interviewee claims that her English is not the greatest. It is

interesting to me that she feels her English is not up to par; had I not known her previously and

discussed second language acquisition with her, I would never have questioned her fluency.

The second interviewee stated that while he came to the United States at the age of three,

his family comes from Oaxaca, Mexico, which speaks a different dialect of Spanish than the

majority of the country. This difference made it hard even in his ESL courses to find those with

which he could compare experiences. His older sister actually attended elementary school in
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Mexico, which he acknowledged made it harder for her to adjust to school here in the United

States than for him.

Assimilation and Acceptance

When it came to home life the second interviewee acknowledged that since his family

was from a part of Mexico with a unique heritage, his cultural experiences have been like his

experiences with language. There are so me different holidays celebrated as well as some similar

but on different days, such as Christmas, which his family celebrates on December 24th.

While the two interviewees came from slightly different backgrounds, they both joined

the United States Marine Corps upon graduating from high school. Prior to joining the Marines,

the first interviewee acknowledged that she experienced some racism but never anything

extreme, or in [her] face. When it came to the Marines, however, none of that mattered. The

first interviewee met and worked with people from so many different backgrounds. If you

were a Marine, you were a Marine. It was this place where both felt the most at home and

welcome as Americans.

The second interviewee works in a county corrections facility where he frequently comes

in contact with inmates that share his heritage. These inmates tend to see him as a traitor, taking

THEIR (white people) side. He said beyond this, he does not feel the current political situation

in the United States has affected him.

Currently, the first interviewee works as a dispatcher with the Nebraska State Patrol.

Especially while working on the overnight shift, there isnt a great deal of interaction with

others, so she has not noticed any issues related to her minority status. Outside of work, she does

see the results of the high tensions between different cultures, stating to be honest, I never

thought it was as bad as it is now, I was used to occasionally hearing comments about speaking
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Spanish, but now I see it everywhere (more than I used to) in public, social media, etc. and again

some of it could be because compared to where I live the Hispanic community is not as large

here, but I also think that recent changes have sparked a match on this. She also discussed that

while most of the current tension does not affect her personally, it does affect her friends and

family, especially those who are using DACA.

While I was unable to get directly in touch with a DACA recipient here in Nebraska, the

Nebraska State Education Association published a story about a resident of Crete, Nebraska that

is currently the local high schools counselor and a DACA recipient facing deportation if a

DREAM Act is not passed before the Presidents executive order goes into effect (A Dream

Denied). As an undocumented immigrant, Joel Lemus-Leon has spent many years of his life

planning for the unknown. His undergraduate education at the University of Lincoln-Kearny was

actually paid for by an anonymous DACA supporter through a DACA scholarship program.

Upon completion of his undergraduate teaching degree, Lemus-Leon did not have a social

security number, meaning he could not get his teaching degree. Hoping changes would come

soon, he went back to school for a masters degree in education. Fortunately, in 2012, President

Barack Obama signed an executive order, creating DACA. DACA meant Lemus-Leon could get

a social security number, he could finally teach.

Lemus-Leon, despite his uncertain future, is an integral member of the Crete community:

he coaches, translates, counsels, and fills in any other roll needed. Due to deadlines and cut offs,

he is unable to renew as a DACA recipient and currently has no path to citizenship. Lemus-Leon

has one true desire, to prove that I am just as American as anybody else. In my opinion, what

that means is the core values, and being an honest, good person, paying your taxes, following the

law, contributing to society, helping the community become better (A Dream Denied).
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Discussion

The three individuals discussed each began second language acquisition at a young age.

The two interviewees expressed a great deal of gratitude when it came to their ESL courses,

explaining that without this extra help, they would feel less confident about education as a

whole. I think the most telling aspect of these interviews and the piece written about Lemus-

Leon was in his final statement, in which Lemus-Leon expressed that he simply desires to be

seen as an American. During the video taped interview, Lemus-Leon gets emotional over the

idea of having to leave, not because of his uncertain future, but because of the students and

community he will be leaving behind. Lemus-Leons own experiences with education led him to

a career of returning the blessings he received, only to continue to question what it will take to be

acceptednot only by the law but by his fellow humans. Along the same lines, both interviewees

saw joining the military as their best opportunity to succeed and to serve the country that had

given their families so much. As discussed, the first interviewee still sees English as a language

she struggles with, rather than a language she owns just as much as Spanish.

As educators, it is our job to provide the confidence students need to embrace both their

first language and culture as much as their second. This recalls the importance of integrating

funds of knowledge into our classrooms. Especially in classrooms where English learners and

native speakers are learning together, bringing aspects of ESL students and their families

expertise to the forefront can change the mindset from immigrants must become as American

as possible in the public eye in order to be accepted to one that sees every culture and

immigrant as not only welcome, but also American. This change in mindset, as Batemen states

in Promoting openness toward culture learning, is not an easy one to bring about. Batemen

explains, culture learning that occurs at only one or two levels, such as in the learning of only
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cultural facts (cognitive level) or appropriate cultural behaviors (behavioral level), may be

insufficient to affect learners attitudes toward the target culture (320). Educators must involve

learners on all three levels: affectively, cognitively, and behaviorally, in order to create a true

attitude change.

The first step in this process is to make sure English learners are interacting with native

English speakers and visa versa, as direct contact between members of different cultural groups

[is] likely to reduce prejudice, provided that the contact [produces] new acquaintances with

members of the other group and knowledge about them (320). Fostering a classroom

atmosphere full of respect and understanding, one that encourages students to try because they

know they will be accepted even if they fail, is key. Amanti said it best: you can know the

academic standards inside and out, and write the most creative lesson plans, but if positive,

affirming, and mutually respectful relationships are not the norm in our classrooms, no learning

will take place (140). While some of these relationships may grow on their own, students will

always need our support and encouragement to step outside their comfort zones and realize our

differences are never as plentiful as our similarities.

Along with fostering healthy relationships between students in the classroom, it is

important to maintain an active relationship with our students to uncover details like the second

interviewees differences in culture from most Mexicans. As Amanti stated in Beyond a Beads

and Feathers Approach, it is important to stop giving our students the idea that culture comes

in a neat package (132). Even two families from the same area in Mexico may have completely

different funds of knowledge, completely different cultures. This could be due to different

religions, different classes, different educational background, etc. To discover these differences

and embrace them, educators must make time to truly get to know the students they are working
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with, whether this be through a survey at the beginning of the school year or home visits. Home

visits, as Amanti discusses, allow educators and students to become real people to each other

rather than shadow figures occupying our different niches (139). In other words, we begin to

exist in each others minds as more than an educator and a student our students parents

become builders, doctors, artists, etc. We learn to see past stereotypes, especially those

encouraged by language barriers. The second intervieweees family owns a cleaning company

from which his father was able to bring the rest of his family to the United States and put his

oldest child through college. We do ourselves, our students, their families, and society as a whole

a disservice when we do not tap into our students and their families funds of knowledge. The

second interviewees father, for example, could be a great guest lecturer on entrepreneurship, on

the experience of opening a business by oneself.

Conclusion

Overall, both interviewees feel they have not only made a lot of progress and had a good

deal of success in their lives so far, they feel they have made their parents proud. Although it is

not always the case, both sets of parents have been very supportive of the hard work their

children have put in and the success that has come from it. They feel this effort is something they

owe their parents, who came to the United States so that their children would have better

opportunities.

I believe the media creates an image in the general publics mind that the situation is dire

for any and every member of the Hispanic community, when often, most are simply going about

their daily lives without many issues at all. Like both of the interviewees, there are occasional

situations in which they face racism, whether overt or less obvious. There are also situations like
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Joel Lemus-Leons, which is very uncertain. These situations deserve to be focused on,

especially those currently in school, uncertain if they will even be allowed to finish their degrees.

The common thread between the two interviewees and Lemus-Leon is the desire to be

accepted as American whether it be due to military service or giving back to the community in

the way it originally served them, through education. It is on educators to create an environment

that fosters not only growth in language acquisition, but confidence in it as well. Like the first

interviewee, students deserve ESL courses which help them build confidence and gain

comfortability with their bilingual capabilities. Bilingualism should be seen as an advantage, not

something of which they should be scared.

It is also up to educators to embrace all of their students funds of knowledge and ensure

students have pride in their heritage as well as their ability to function in what some would see as

two different worlds. Taking the time to get to know each student and being prepared to adjust

instruction based on their needs and their previous experiences is vital to a successful ESL

experience. Educators must make the time to understand the background of each student they are

working with in order to best serve them.

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Works Cited

Amanti, C. (2005). Beyond a Birds and Feathers Approach. In Funds of Knowledge: Theorizing

Practices in Households, Communities, and Classrooms (pp. 131-141). New York, NY:

Routledge.

A Dream Denied. (2017, October 3). Retrieved November 29, 2017, from

https://www.nsea.org/dream-denied

Bateman, B. E. (2002). Promoting openness toward culture learning: Ethnographic Interviews

for students of Spanish. The Modern Language Journal, 318-331.

Staff. (2010, July 04). A Reagan Legacy: Amnesty For Illegal Immigrants. Retrieved December

02, 2017, from https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128303672

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Appendix A: Interview Format

1. Introductory information
a. Age:
b. Gender:
c. Country of origin (immigrant/native-born):
i. If not U.S. what age did you come to the U.S.?
d. Native/First language:
2. Main Interview:
a. Nameplate Is there a story behind your name (passed down from prior
generations, etc.)?
b. Political/economic situation from which you emigrated/reasons behind
emigration?
i. Compared to the political/economic situation in the U.S.? Has the political
environment affected your education? Other aspects of your life?
ii. Is it hard to maintain your culture? Does it conflict with friends that do not
share your heritage?
c. People
i. Family: What kind of language experience have your parents and siblings
(if applicable) had? What are their educational levels?
ii. Have you faced any racial/ethnic prejudice from others they have
encountered?
d. Glove What are you up to now still in school? Working? Did your ESL
experiences have an effect (positive or negative) on their career path?
e. Airplane
i. Do you still have ties to your home country?
ii. Have you lived in any other countries prior to moving to the U.S.?
iii. Any other travel experiences?
f. Racquet
i. What are some activities you enjoy/dislike, perhaps activities that reflect
your heritage vs those they participate you because they are in the United
States
g. Lightbulb ideas
i. How much education had you had and what was the quality of it
Amount/quality of L1 education prior to coming to the U.S.
ii. Do you feel that you benefited from your ESL courses? What changes
would you have made?
h. Goalpost
i. How do your expectations connect to your parents? Do they conflict?
i. Trophy
i. I just want to know what you feel youve succeeded at so far anything
and everything!
3. Closing anything you feel I have missed?