Keywords

multilingual learners, postsecondary education, interpretive phenomenological analysis

Subject Categories

Educational Leadership | Higher Education | Language and Literacy Education

Abstract

Multilingual learners (MLs) are the fastest growing population in the United States public school system (Biondi et al., 2024; Kanno & Cromley, 2013; Perez & Morrison, 2016; Varghese & Fuentes, 2020). Within this population of students, there is a subset of students that arrive in the United States during secondary school. These “late age-on-arrival” students face significant linguistic, cultural and social challenges in their pursuit of postsecondary success after high school (Kanno, 2021; Kanno & Cromley, 2013; Perez & Morrison, 2016). This interpretative phenomenological analysis sought to answer the research question: what are the lived experiences of late age-on-arrival MLs during one semester of postsecondary education? The study’s two sub-questions were 1) What factors shape their postsecondary experience, both academic and social? 2) What barriers do late age-on-arrival MLs face in postsecondary education? The study’s population was five postsecondary students who immigrated to the United States in high school and are now enrolled in postsecondary education. Data collection consisted of two semi-structured interviews per participant, document analysis of the English proficiency requirements for the community college the students attend and participant reflection questionnaires. Smith et al.’s (2022) interpretive phenomenological data analysis method was utilized to analyze the data. This study adds to the body of research on MLs in higher education with a qualitative focus allowing the study results to give voice to the participants’ experiences.

Completion Date

2026

Semester

Summer

Committee Chair

Donita Grissom

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

College

College of Community Innovation and Education

Department

Curriculum and Instruction EdD

Format

PDF

Document Type

Dissertation

Language

English

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