"We learn, but we struggle": English learning experiences of students from African multilingual backgrounds in Syracuse, New York

Chimaobi Onwukwe

African Educational Research Journal
Published: September 7 2026
Volume 14, Issue 3
Pages 662-676
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22641690

Abstract

Despite growing scholarly attention to the English language learning experiences of immigrant and refugee populations in the United States, the voices of students from African multilingual backgrounds remain significantly underrepresented in applied linguistics and education research. This qualitative study investigates the English learning experiences of students from select African multilingual communities in Syracuse, New York — a city that serves as a major U.S. refugee resettlement hub and is home to a linguistically and ethnically diverse African diaspora population. Drawing on focus group discussions with participants from Nigerian, Somali, Congolese, Sudanese, and other African linguistic backgrounds, this study explores the intersecting linguistic, sociocultural, institutional, and psychological factors that shape these students’ English language acquisition trajectories. Guided by a culturally sustaining and trauma-informed theoretical framework, focus group discussions were conducted with purposively selected students enrolled in English as a Second Language (ESL) programs and community-based learning centers. Data were analyzed thematically to illuminate recurring patterns across participants’ narratives. Findings reveal a constellation of challenges, including significant linguistic distance between participants’ home languages and English; complex cross-linguistic transfer arising from pre-existing multilingual repertoires; limited prior schooling among refugee arrivals (Students with Interrupted Formal Education, SIFE); and pervasive language anxiety linked to accent stigmatization and fear of public error. Participants also reported tensions between cultural identity maintenance and assimilation pressures, acculturative stress, and the compounding effects of trauma associated with displacement. Importantly, the study also surfaced key assets: students’ multilingualism, communal resilience, and familial ties were identified as underutilized resources in formal educational settings.

Keywords: English language learning, African multilingual students, second language acquisition, ESL, multilingualism.

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