ABSTRACT
Over the past two decades the number of English language learners (ELLs) in the United States over the age of 5 has grown from 23 million to 47 million, or by 103% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2003). This means that in the United States, about one out of every five students (20%) resides in a home in which a language other than English is spoken. By the year 2030, this number is expected to double to roughly 40% of all students. U.S. Congress’s recent passage of a bill making English the national language reflects American dominant society’s anxiety or fear of this rapidly growing and ever diverse population and of the possibility that English’s dominant status will be overtaken by a minority language such as Spanish. However, whether English becomes the national language or not, children who immigrate to the United States and those born to recent immigrants from nonEnglish speaking countries continue to live in the “borderlands” (Anzaldua, 1987) where two languages and two cultures come together. Such settings offer numerous opportunities to transition between languages and cultures, for immigrants find that they need to be able to move fluidly from one group or situation to another without significant misunderstanding or loss of identity.
