Abstract
Statement of Problem
According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES, 2020) the number of English Learners enrolled in public schools was 10% or more in 2020 than in 2010, and according to the U.S. Department of Education, the number of English Learners continues to grow (US Department of Education, 2017). The Afghan/Pakistani student population is one of the fastest-growing ethnicities among these English Learners. The purpose of this study is to explore to what extent factors in the Afghan/Pakistani culture such as gender dynamics, family support, customs, traditions, and parents’ education levels, could affect the acquisition of English of these students. The main focus of this research study is to find out if the acquisition of English for this group of population is similar for male students as it is for female students. The researcher’s observations made her wonder if male students from Afghanistan or Pakistan are more at ease interacting with English-speaking students than female students. The ELPAC results were extracted from the California Department of Education (n.d.) showing that female students from Afghanistan and Pakistan are academically reclassifying faster than male students, however, they might not be acquiring the social English necessary for their acculturation which is a concern for the proficiency-based system of our public schools and the future outcome of the American society.
Sources of Data
The research study consisted of a mixed method gathering qualitative and quantitative data from a survey, personal observations, and interviews. There were a total of 17 students who took the survey, eight students who were interviewed; three teachers, and two young adult females from Afghanistan interviewed as well. The student interviews and the teacher interviews were in person and took place at Valley High School on campus. The interviews with the two young adult females took place on Zoom. Primary sources testimonies were collected from YouTube.
Conclusions Reached
The data collected from this study implied that there are two principal points that surfaced. The first point is that the acquisition of English depends more on the number of years the student has been in the US than on the gender of the student. The second point is that the cultural values within the family cell and the family dynamics are the major factors that will favor access to higher education, the process of acculturation, and the acquisition of social English for female students.