Why am I here, in college? The voices of Hispanic undergraduates in a bilingual transition program

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2390570
AutoresM P Smith (0000-0002-3468-4733, Kean University, autor correspondente)
Ano2025
Data de publicação2025-08-07
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoCulture & Psychology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1354-067X • E-ISSN: 1461-7056
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1354067x251366692
OpenAlexW4413121519
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas37

This study examined the perspectives of 27 Spanish-speaking undergraduate students on their reasons for attending college. The students were enrolled in a transitional bilingual program at a state university in the New York City metropolitan area. Using Dialogical Self Theory, the work of Latour, and Bakhtinian concepts of dialogic events and responsibility, this research analyzes students' discourses on their reasons for college attendance. The study found that while students predominantly express social mobility as their primary motivation, this discourse is often a ready-made narrative that remains unproblematized. By examining how students articulate their reasons for college attendance through the duality of I-positions and it-positions , the research reveals the sometimes complex decision-making processes, uncertainties, and ontological investments that may be obscured in mainstream accounts of students' success and persistence in college. Analyzing this duality has significant implications for student support in higher education, particularly for first-generation, historically underrepresented student populations

Mathematics education · Medical education · Chemistry · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Medicine · Multilingual Education and Policy · Psychology · Second Language Learning and Teaching