Sociocultural and Linguistic Assets of a High School Student Named Maria

Abstract

This chapter tells the story of the language learning aspirations and educational experiences of Maria, a high school student from an immigrant family living in a large metropolitan area of the southeastern United States. Her story documents her quest to acquire literacy in a heritage language, Spanish, and to learn other foreign languages, French and Japanese. Her experiences have been shaped by the languages spoken in her home, the respective educational levels of family members and friends who provide academic support to her, the larger multilingual community in which she lives, interpersonal interactions with teachers, and popular culture. Vygotsky's sociocultural theory and other theories derived from this theory were used to analyze her experiences. Stories like hers can serve as a powerful resource for scholars and practitioners of language teaching and learning who seek to inform their practice through greater understanding of many sociocultural factors and linguistic assets that influence the success of language learners at the individual level.