My Journey as a Migrant Bilingual Learner From Student to Teacher: Lessons Learned

Author

• Sylvia Lopez, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Date of Award

5-1-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Education (MEd)

Department

Bilingual Education

First Advisor

Miryam Espinosa-Dulanto

Second Advisor

Sandra I. Musanti

Third Advisor

David Martinez Prieto

Abstract

These reflections in this thesis are an analysis of narratives based on my lived experiences as an immigrant, migrant student who is now a certified Bilingual & Special Education teacher servicing students, many of whom are bilingual, in public school classrooms. My goal is to connect my life experiences to teaching practices and thus embrace and celebrate my linguistic identity. Bilingual educators have a language learning journey that drives their classroom practices. When bilingual teachers reflect on their bilingual trajectory and connect their life experiences to research, they may provide spaces for stronger positive impacts on bilingual students, and their families in public schools. I write my reflections in this thesis embracing English and Spanish fluidly. The importance of this study is for bilingual teachers to use their wealth of knowledge of their own language as a resource (Doanne, 2025) learning journey to empower students in their language learning journey. This is crucial given that as of March 1, 2025, The White House (2025) designated English as the official language of the United States.

Comments

Copyright 2026 Sylvia Lopez. All Rights Reserved. https://proquest.com/docview/3371134093

Recommended Citation

Lopez, S.(2026). My Journey as a Migrant Bilingual Learner From Student to Teacher: Lessons Learned [Master's thesis, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley]. ScholarWorks @ UTRGV. https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/etd/1909