Sojourners in Mexico with U.S. School Experience: A New Taxonomy for Transnational Students

Imaginative geographies: identity, difference, and English as the language of instruction in a Mexican university program

“…Because of the family networks created by Mexican immigration, many of these students had spent relatively long periods of time with their extended family in the US. In keeping with a common pattern for young northern Mexicans (see Zúñiga and Hamann 2009), some of the students I interviewed also had attended high school in the United States, even if they already held a Mexican high school diploma. Additionally, LI-NSU has also had students of Mennonite heritage who keep close ties with relatives in Canada.…”

“…For instance, immigration and transnational family networks can present opportunities for the informal acquisition of English (Zúñiga and Hamann 2009). Such a position is espoused by scholars who believe that current discussions of the global spread of English are ''paralyzed by dichotomizing perspectives that…[argue] for and against English; for and against the vernacular'' (Norton and Kamal 2003, p. 310).…”

Study of the Migratory Return: Analysis to the Condition of the Returned Migrant in the Educational and Labor Reintegration and the Entrepreneurship as an Area of Opportunity

“…They found that between two and three percent of the students surveyed were transnational, that is, they had lived at some time in the US; most of them -about two thirds-were born in Mexico (Zúñiga and Hamann, 2009), although these returned migrants continued to identify with their American affiliation (Hamann and Zúñiga, 2011). Returned students said they felt out of place in Mexican schools (Zúñiga, Hamman and Sánchez, 2008), and had to struggle with the formation of their identity in a new environment (Zúñiga and Hamann, 2009). They reported difficulties in speaking Spanish and uncertainty about their future in relation to work and place of residence (Hamann, Zúñiga and Sánchez, 2010).…”

Overseas-born youth in Tongan high schools: Learning the hard life

“…They were placed in a 'vastly different milieu living with people they could hardly recognise as family' (Menjivar 2002: 545). The impact on such young people's education is also of concern; for example, in Mexico some 'returned' students benefit from exposure to the language and culture of their parents' homeland while others remain 'between cultures' and their education suffers (Zúñiga and Hamann 2009). Research with Central American, Mexican and Yemeni migrants (Orellana et al 2001) shows children sent to the parents' home country had difficulties with schooling after being used to all-English classes in the US.…”