Date of Award

5-31-2026

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

First Advisor

Dr. Corinne Etienne

Second Advisor

Dr. Panayota Gounari

Third Advisor

Dr. Rosalyn Negron

Abstract

Although 1.5-generation students complete most of their K-12 schooling in the United States, at the university level they are often placed in ESL courses due to deficit views of multilingualism that assess their writing as grammatically inaccurate. Research shows ESL courses often fail to foster 1.5-generation students’ academic development, resulting in low educational achievement and high drop-out rates (Barsony, 2016; di Gennaro, 2016; Marchese, 2021; Uman, 2018). The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate academic identity construction among 1.5-generation students enrolled in two de facto ESL Business Communication courses at a large urban university in Fall 2022. Drawing on Lippi-Green (2012), Bourdieu (1986, 1991), Norton (2010, 2014), and poststructuralist identity theory, this study addresses the following questions: (1) What are the institutional policies concerning BC-ESL placement for 1.5-generation students? (2) What are the BC-ESL instructors’ discourses in the classroom and their beliefs about language? (3) What is each student’s experience in the BC-ESL classroom and how do they feel about it? (4) How do three layers of context (institutional policies, instructors’ classroom discourses and beliefs about language, and students’ classroom experiences) impact the academic identities of 1.5-generation university students?

In order to examine these questions, this study employed a multiple-case study methodology and collected data from case studies of six 1.5-generation students in university ESL Business Communication classes over the Fall 2022 semester. Data were triangulated through classroom observations, multiple semi-structured interviews with students and faculty in the College of Management (including two instructors and one program administrator), and a review of policy documents, instructional materials, and student writing samples containing instructor feedback.

Findings revealed a significant academic identity shift where students, who initially viewed themselves as capable learners based on their perceived English proficiency, reconstructed their identities as “not good” writers due to the pedagogical focus on grammatical errors. This shift was mediated by the BC-ESL instructors, who navigated a tension between their asset-based beliefs about multilingualism and the institutional demand to enforce standardized language, resulting in contradictory messages that reinforced linguistic hierarchies. However, the students demonstrated high levels of agency and investment, persisting in their studies to align their current learning with their imagined academic and professional identities. The results highlight a contradiction between the students’ sense of social belonging as English speakers and their academic marginalization as second language learners.

The study concludes that institutions should adopt self-guided placement to honor student agency and reduce institutional and psychological barriers. Furthermore, ESL grammar pedagogy should transition from a focus on decontextualized forms to functional grammar and critical language awareness to empower students to navigate academic and professional expectations.

Comments

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