Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how migration-related trauma influences English language acquisition among Latino/a immigrant students in San Bernardino County. Guided by Krashen’s Affective Filter Hypothesis, the study examined how trauma, stress, and affective factors such as motivation, anxiety, and belonging shaped students’ ability to engage in classroom discourse and acquire English.
Methodology: This study employed a phenomenological design within a constructivist–interpretivist paradigm. Seven Latino/a immigrant students who arrived in the United States as children or adolescents participated in semi-structured interviews about their schooling experiences. Data analysis involved inductive thematic coding, constant comparison, and iterative clustering into axial categories. Codes were synthesized into themes and sub-themes, with member checking used to corroborate interpretations. Pseudonyms were assigned to all participants to ensure confidentiality.
Findings: Four major themes emerged. First, migration was emotionally and psychologically destabilizing, with participants recalling fear, anxiety, separation, and deprivation that constrained attention and language learning. Second, school and teacher responses either exacerbated or alleviated barriers: punitive or neglectful practices deepened exclusion, while affirming, culturally responsive approaches facilitated risk-taking in English. Third, students developed resilience and agency, often reframing academic achievement, bilingualism, or peer connections as coping strategies and sources of belonging. Fourth, affective factors such as confidence, motivation, and peer dynamics mediated the relationship between trauma and language acquisition, illustrating that belonging was as central as instruction in shaping outcomes.
Conclusions: The findings extend Krashen’s Affective Filter Hypothesis by demonstrating how trauma elevates affective barriers but also showing that these barriers are malleable. Safe, predictable, and culturally affirming school contexts lowered filters and enabled linguistic growth, while systemic inequities reinforced silence and disengagement. The study underscores that second-language development cannot be disentangled from the socio-emotional realities of immigrant students.
Implications: Actionable implications include embedding trauma-informed and culturally responsive practices at the classroom and school levels; ensuring bilingual staffing, predictable routines, and accessible school-based mental health supports; and adopting district and state policies that stabilize conditions for newcomer students.
Recommendations: Future research should investigate the effectiveness of trauma-responsive teaching routines, bilingual program models, and school-based mental health services across diverse educational contexts. Longitudinal and intersectional studies are also needed to examine
how gender, legal status, and socio-economic conditions interact with trauma and belonging to impact English language acquisition.