by Anitra Budd

In the 1990s, many Somali citizens fled their war-torn country and eventually took refuge in large urban communities across the United States—with the largest concentration settling in the Twin Cities. Like immigrant communities before them, they brought unique cultural perspectives, which directly influenced their second language acquisition (SLA). Formal education for many adolescent Somalis had been disrupted by war and displacement. Many of these individuals had little or no print literacy in their native language. This pointed to a gap in SLA research, as associate professor Martha Bigelow (curriculum and instruction) discovered.

Interrupted schooling resulted in limited print literacy.

Bigelow began working with the Somali community as a volunteer in 2002. Since then she has developed several distinct, yet interrelated, strands of research regarding Somali adolescents. She has compared oral second-language acquisition by individuals with print literacy and those without. More recently she published a paper on the role of social and cultural capital in school. Bigelow also engages in community outreach work and research on Somali teens’ experiences of racism and religious intolerance in the United States.

What the research shows

Native language literacy assists oral second language acquisition.

Bigelow's contributions to the growing body of research on Somali adolescents include:

Second language oral skills: Bigelow has researched how print literacy levels in their native language affected the ability to process a second language orally among eight Somali adolescents. She found that people who had some print literacy skills performed significantly better on certain types of oral language tasks than those without any print literacy. This research is particularly important because most SLA research has focused on learners who are educated and/or highly literate in their first language. Little is known about the impact of limited formal schooling on spoken language acquisition.

Social capital helps immigrant youth meet educational goals.

Social and cultural capital in school: Bigelow discovered that while immigrant Somali teens may have a wealth of social capital (intangible resources from their social networks), their lack of cultural capital (knowledge and means to navigate the dominant cultural system) often poses obstacles to achieving their educational goals. She published a study focusing on interviews with one of four girls from a weekend tutoring group, whose story exemplified the use of social capital—via a supportive family—for achieving academic success.

Racial and religious identities: Through an extensive review of Somali experiences with racial and religious bias, Bigelow has developed a number of suggestions for educators interested in engaging Muslim students and building supportive classroom environments. Her suggestions include addressing non-Muslim students’ questions about practices such as wearing a hijab and developing curriculum that addresses Islamophobia or examines Muslim history and culture.

One of Bigelow’s primary goals is to develop practical applications for her research that educators can use in schools and in community settings. She is involved in advocacy, outreach, and engagement work with the Somali community, including as a mentor to teens and college students. She frequently speaks with educators about accommodating Muslim youth in public schools and the particular needs of teaching adolescents with limited formal schooling.

Bigelow’s previous experience as a second language educator continues to inform her research. “If schools could serve our most needy populations in the ways they need to be served, and if my research could somehow support that, I would be happy with my life’s work,” she says.

What others say about this research

“With a growing U.S. population of immigrant adolescents with limited first-language and limited English proficiency, Martha Bigelow’s research with Somali adolescents is critically important,” says Joann Crandall, director of language, literacy, and culture at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. “As a former ESL/EFL [English as a foreign language] teacher, she is focused not only on helping Somalis to navigate in their new communities, but also on helping teachers to better meet the needs of these students.”

Engaging Muslim students requires a supportive classroom.

Ladan Bashir Yusuf has worked closely with Bigelow as executive director of CrossingBarriers, a nonprofit that works with immigrant youth to develop leadership skills and improve the quality of their education. “Martha’s research is helping mainstream teachers understand new ways of teaching children in English language learning, and she advocates for them to keep up and learn about best ways and tools to teach second-language classes,” says Yusuf. “As an advocate and community organizer for improving the equality of education among immigrant students, we are happy to have Martha as our friend and supporter,” she adds.

Why this research matters

A 2007 study estimated that 750,000 adult immigrants in the United States were not literate in English or their native language. Appropriate research-based interventions could prove invaluable to this population. Bigelow’s research with Somali English language learners could also enhance research on other groups who have limited or interrupted formal education. According to a recent United Nations report, there are 72 million children worldwide who are not attending school. Helping educators support these learners as they acquire new languages and adjust to new communities will be increasingly important as world migration continues.

Additional resources

Bigelow, M. Educating Muslim students in Minnesota: The skill and the will. MinnPost.

Bigelow, M. Effective instruction for English Language Learners in the K–12 setting.

Tarone, E., Bigelow, M., & Hansen, Kit. Literacy and Second Language Oracy

Low educated second language and literacy acquisition for adults.

Bridging refugee youth and children’s services.

For more information

Martha Bigelow
612-624-7087
mbigelow@umn.edu

December 2008