MICHIGAN authors Myra M. Goldschmidt and Debbie Lamb Ousey describe developmental immigrant students (DI students), their challenges in college, and what led them to write Teaching Developmental Immigrant Students in Undergraduate Programs while teaching at Penn State, Brandywine.
Part I of II.
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Who are developmental immigrant students (DI students)? Describe them and why other labels aren?t sufficient.
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We use the term ?developmental immigrant students? to describe a population of students whose numbers have been rapidly increasing on our campus and campuses throughout the United States.? We see these students as a distinct subset of the population of students generally referred to as Generation 1.5 (and more recently as U.S.-educated multilingual students), sharing many of the same characteristics, yet facing greater academic, social, and emotional challenges in their pursuit of higher education.? Because this particular group has not been specifically described in the literature (just as part of the larger group), we wanted to shed greater light on the developmental and foundational needs of this group of students to better serve them and to fill a gaping hole in the on-going discussion on U.S.-educated multilingual students, and to include this group in the dialogue.? We use the term developmental immigrant students because these students are 1st or 2nd generation immigrant students who need (extensive) developmental course work.
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When developmental immigrant students (?DI? students) enter post-secondary education, they are usually placed into one of two (usually non-credit) English classes: an ESL class, where many of the students can read and write English but have trouble speaking English, or into a mainstream developmental class, which is mostly comprised of traditional students (who also lack foundational skills) and which is taught by an instructor who does not have an ESL background.? DI students? needs fall somewhere in between: They have weak reading and writing English skills but strong oral skills, and they need developmental and foundational skills (taught by a teacher with an ESL background) to be able to compete at the college level.? In other words, within the broad spectrum of Generation 1.5, developmental immigrant students tend to have the greatest number of challenges and the least amount of self-sufficiency.? In addition to literacy issues, these students often have to support themselves and/or finance their own education, sometimes have few family members to turn to in the United States, and usually have no frame of reference for the system of higher education.
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Developmental immigrant students are not just in need of academic support, they are also in need of emotional and social support.? For example, we had a student who was admitted to Penn State because of her high school GPA: 3.8, yet her combined SAT score for Verbal and Math was 400.? She could not understand why she was placed into developmental courses when her grades in high school were mostly A?s, and even more frustrating was that she seemed stuck in a cycle of developmental courses in college because of her extremely weak academic skills. We talked to her, worked with her, (as did tutors in the Learning Center), and got her back on track, so she was able to continue her studies.? Students like her, despite their being admitted into an undergraduate program, will likely not complete the program without extensive and intrusive support.
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What are some of the primary challenges that DI students encounter in college?
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Perhaps the greatest challenge that immigrant students face is that there is a disconnect between their expectations and their reality.
a.? Many of these students enter college thinking it?s the 13th grade ? just an extension of high school.? If they work hard, they will be successful (this was the reality for many of them in high school), but at this level and for this population, hard work may not be enough.
b.? Many of these students have not acquired or fully acquired academic native language literacy, thus they have little or no native language literacy upon which to rely.? When they first arrive in the United States, they are either beginning the process or are somewhere in the process of learning English, but not necessarily academic English (which takes much longer to acquire than conversational skills).? Their strong verbal skills often belie their less than strong academic skills, not only causing them problems in classes, but also causing them problems in terms of their self-confidence.
c.? Many of these students enter college with high expectations in terms of their major ? medicine, engineering, etc.? However, their weak academic skills (and ultimately, grades) will keep them from pursuing these majors.? Frustration sets in when academic reality takes over and they have to scramble to find a major that they can pass.
d.? Many of these students are unfamiliar with the ?culture of the academy.?? They have little or no frame of reference for what college is about other than it is a means to an end for them (a job).
e. Many of these students grapple with identity issues: they just aren?t sure who they are.? They live their native culture at home and their ?American? culture at school.? They move back and forth along a continuum, depending on where they are and whom they are with.
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What happened at your Penn State Brandywine campus that led you to write Teaching Developmental Immigrant Students in Undergraduate Programs?
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We began to form the program at our campus because of one student:? he came into the office and gave one of us? a hand-drawn picture of a gate with the following words beneath it:
?When I came to the country, I always thought that this country was ?the land of opportunity? or ?the promised land.? In order for me to be free, I have to cross over the gate, which I have not yet crossed over.?? Though the ?gate? can represent any barrier or obstacle that impedes movement towards a goal, for this student, the gate represented higher education, which, he believed, would ultimately allow him freedom in the United States.
This student?s words, in some ways, made it very clear to us that we needed to create a support system on our campus that would allow this student and others like him to succeed: we wanted to enable any student who wanted to ?cross over the gate? to be able to do so.?? Over a dozen years, the program (which began with a single section of developmental writing) has grown to include a first-semester cluster of integrated courses and a second-semester offering of two writing- and reading-intensive courses that continue to build student skills and a strong, supportive community.? The program includes approximately 20 students per year and has a near 100% retention rate.
As we began to attend and present at more and more conferences at the national (and international) levels, it became clear that campuses were struggling with how to address the needs of these students, yet few had practical resources to do so.? We have derived so much pleasure teaching these students and watching them grow as bilingual and bi-cultural citizens that we wanted to share our lessons ? both literally and figuratively ? with current and future teachers.
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Check back for Part II, to be published next week, where Goldschmidt and Ousey discuss their book?s audience, how ESL programs can better serve their DI students, and how the authors share their knowledge via workshops and presentations.
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