My Journey as an Emergent Bilingual

Authors

Cynthia Villarreal Cantu, University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyFollow

Abstract

This autoethnography was conducted at an elementary school not far from the South Texas border. I documented how my journey as a kindergarten, first-grade, and second-grade student has impacted me to become a better educator. Through this qualitative study, I planned to determine if my childhood experiences as an emergent bilingual learner have made an impact in my teaching and the connections I have formed with my students. I analyzed observations of my current teaching practices and my elementary report cards and test scores. After observing my students’ interactions among their peers and my reaction towards their conversations, I found that emergent bilinguals can reach academic achievement, and their learning can be enhanced. Embracing more than one language can be a powerful resource that binds students to a variety of cultures.

Keywords

academic achievement, emergent bilinguals, reading, kindergarten, student progress, education, culture, literacy, autoethnography

Author Bio(s)

I am currently a reading interventionist and have also taught kindergarten and 2nd grade. I have been teaching for over 19 years and have loved every minute of it. I graduated with a Master’s in Education with a specialization in Reading from the University of Texas Pan-American (UTPA/ UTRGV). My goal is to earn my doctoral degree in curriculum and instruction with a specialization in literacy. I also love reading and keeping up to date with current reading and literacy strategies. Please direct correspondence to cindycantu9@hotmail.com.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my wonderful husband, Mike, my two beautiful daughters, Emma and Ava, and my delightful poodle, Snowy.

Publication Date

1-18-2021

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2021.4277

Recommended APA Citation

Cantu, C. V. (2021). My Journey as an Emergent Bilingual. The Qualitative Report, 26(1), 231-245. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2021.4277