The term first generation immigrants refers to those who have migrated to the United States as adults. Second generation immigrants are those who are considered U.S. citizens by birth. There is a new group of students who are populating today's schools, who have been termed Generation 1.5.
These students were born in their native land and then raised in the United States. They speak their native language and live traditional cultures at home, while speaking English and conforming to American culture while in school. This poses a new set of issues for teachers of ELLs who are caught between two cultures and two languages. Take some time to read the articles, Will The Real Generation 1.5 Please Stand Up? and Generation 1.5: Recognizing an overlooked population. Next, respond to the discussion prompt below.
During your progression through this program, you've had the opportunity to explore the demographics of your local school district. If this is your first class, now is a great time to begin familiarizing yourself with this information which you can find through a brief Internet search. For example, San Diego Unified School District publishes their information here: About San Diego Unified School District.
Use the demographic information from your school district or feel free to use San Diego Unified School District's, along with Chapter 1 in your textbook and the information you learned from this week's reading to discuss specific challenges teachers in your district face when teaching Generation 1.5 students. How will their written and oral language assessment differ from those who are new to American schools?
How will their level of readiness be evaluated in terms of planning effective lessons? How can you leverage their knowledge when creating lessons for L1 learners?
Guided Response: Respond to at least two peers whose minority population is different from the population you researched. What are the similarities?
You may also consider responding to a peer who has the same demographic population as the one you've identified. Continue the conversation by sharing more resources with one another.
How does this group's assessments and level of academic and social readiness differ from yours? In addition, address the challenges that these populations face in their community?
Make at least one additional suggestion for each peer response on evaluating students' readiness from Generation 1.5 specific to the stated demographics.