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Four waves of Cuban immigrants have arrived to the United States from the early 1960s with the fourth wave still in progress. The changing reasons these immigrants fled Cuba have resulted in diverse characteristics for each wave of immigration. This qualitative study investigated Cuban American students' perceptions of their cultural background and Spanish proficiencies. The results of this study indicate that all participants possessed limited Spanish proficiencies and a strong desire to maintain their heritage. Implications are discussed in light of the current political climate in the United States.

Many Hispanics living in the United States have limited Spanish language abilities particularly in relation to literacy skills. This study investigated 25 Hispanic heritage language learners' (HLLs) perceptions of their Spanish language writing abilities. During interview sessions, participants described the aspects of writing that were the easiest and most difficult for them to acquire. Findings revealed that HLLs experienced difficulties with accent rules, correct spelling, and conjugations. Additional findings, limitations, and further research are discussed.

The structure and instruction of foreign language classrooms have changed to meet the needs of the growing number of Hispanic heritage language learners (HLLs) entering university settings. To understand the impact of these reforms, interviews were conducted with 11 HLLs about their experiences in Spanish classrooms designed for their unique learning needs. Although participants were divided in their beliefs of heritage coursework offered, all the students valued being within a community of shared life experiences.

The authors explored the influence of family background and students' perceived socioeconomic status with minoritized students' acculturation and transition experiences during their first-year, first-time enrollment at a predominantly White institution in the southeastern United States. Narrative interviews and a priori codes from the Model of Hispanic Identity Development (MHID, Torres, 2003) were implemented to construct case studies of first-year Latina students. Although Latina students' positive and negative acculturation experiences aligned with the MHID, each participant had a unique profile and distinctly different transition experience. The authors discuss expansion of the MHID, engagement and retention implications of early extracurricular involvement, belongingness uncertainty, and student advisement for minoritized first-year students at predominantly White higher education institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]