The Grammar and Vocabulary Challenges of Generation 1.5 Hmong College Women in Academia

Higher education institutions in the United States are seeing steadily increasing numbers of Generation 1.5 students from long-term immigrant populations. As part of this trend, more andmore Hmong young people are successfully completing graduate and undergraduate degrees; however, by their own admission, many continue to struggle with English and are often frustrated in their college experiences by ongoing language challenges. A narrative researchstudy of 13 Hmong women at a small private liberal arts college in northern California revealed specific types of grammatical and vocabulary limitations experienced by these students. Theselimitations are demonstrated through samples taken from oral and written stories told by the women. The article concludes with a discussion of the possible reasons for these limitations andthen suggestions for ways that teachers and students may be able to enhance the language and literacy development process for Generation 1.5 populations including the Hmong.