For English/Multilingual Learners
Watch new documentary footage that follows a Spanish-speaking family that is learning how to read English all together. The Discussion Guide below is intended for audiences who seek to understand the unique challenges English Learners face in multilingual households.
These clips were not included in the original film, but were preserved because they provide a unique and powerful window into the ways that the US literacy crisis intersects with and impacts the experiences of immigrant and English/Multilingual Learner families.
We aspire to use the clips of Guillermina’s Story to raise awareness of the US literacy crisis specifically in Spanish-speaking communities, and to foster dialogue about the urgency and unique impacts this crisis has on English/Multilingual Learner students and their families.
“Mina and Her Children” (4:15 Minutes)—This clip focuses on Mina’s family background and her aspirations to provide an education for her children that she was unable to complete as a young person in her home country. We see how they read and learn the alphabet all together as a family.
“Mina's Learning Journey” (5:12 Minutes)—This clip shows us how Mina’s own skills in speaking and reading English improve, but how she struggles to pass her written driving test in English. We see how her son, Jaiden speaks both English and Spanish fluently and translates for his mother in conversation.
Discussion Guide for English/Multilingual Learners
The accompanying Discussion Guide was developed in partnership with the Center for Equity for English Learners (CEEL) at Loyola Marymount University whose mission is to conduct research and advance literacy instruction and pedagogy for English/Multilingual Learners. This Discussion Guide is intended for audiences who seek to understand the unique challenges English Learners face in multilingual households.
For CEEL’s comprehensive list of resources for educators and families supporting English/Multilingual Learners, see here.