{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/132488"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/132488","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"English learners or multilingual learners: To what extent does terminology even matter?","abstract":"The field of language education in the United States is currently undergoing a transition from the term English learner to multilingual learner to refer to students whose home language is not English and qualify for language support services. While this change represents a broader sociopolitical effort to reframe linguistic diversity as an asset, little is known about how such shifts influence teacher beliefs, instructional practices, or enactment of educational policy. This qualitative case study draws on semi-structured interviews with eight veteran teachers, along with district policy documents and teacher-created materials, to explore how educators interpret this terminological shift and its impact on their attitudes and beliefs toward multilingual learners. Framed through interpretive policy analysis and an ecological lens, this study finds that the change in terminology had a limited effect on teacher beliefs and practices. Participants largely remained situated within the English-dominant, monolingual norms. At the same time, the shift sparked valuable reflection among educators and highlighted opportunities for deeper conversations about language, identity, and inclusion. These findings suggest that while a terminological shift alone may not drive immediate change, it can serve as a meaningful starting point for broader professional and institutional growth.","abstract_html":"The field of language education in the United States is currently undergoing a transition from the term English learner to multilingual learner to refer to students whose home language is not English and qualify for language support services. While this change represents a broader sociopolitical effort to reframe linguistic diversity as an asset, little is known about how such shifts influence teacher beliefs, instructional practices, or enactment of educational policy. This qualitative case study draws on semi-structured interviews with eight veteran teachers, along with district policy documents and teacher-created materials, to explore how educators interpret this terminological shift and its impact on their attitudes and beliefs toward multilingual learners. Framed through interpretive policy analysis and an ecological lens, this study finds that the change in terminology had a limited effect on teacher beliefs and practices. Participants largely remained situated within the English-dominant, monolingual norms. At the same time, the shift sparked valuable reflection among educators and highlighted opportunities for deeper conversations about language, identity, and inclusion. These findings suggest that while a terminological shift alone may not drive immediate change, it can serve as a meaningful starting point for broader professional and institutional growth.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Moldenhauer, Nathan David"],"institution":"University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ed.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Hood, Denice W","Davila, Liv","Lee, Sharon","Velazquez, Mirelsie"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-12","date_published":"2025-12","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:07Z","subjects":["teacher beliefs","terminology","English learner"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2025 Nathan Moldenhauer"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132488","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Hood, Denice W","Davila, Liv","Lee, Sharon","Velazquez, Mirelsie"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Moldenhauer, Nathan David"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2025-12","2025-11-26"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text","Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ed.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["teacher beliefs","terminology","English learner"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2025 Nathan Moldenhauer"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132488"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["The field of language education in the United States is currently undergoing a transition from the term English learner to multilingual learner to refer to students whose home language is not English and qualify for language support services. While this change represents a broader sociopolitical effort to reframe linguistic diversity as an asset, little is known about how such shifts influence teacher beliefs, instructional practices, or enactment of educational policy. This qualitative case study draws on semi-structured interviews with eight veteran teachers, along with district policy documents and teacher-created materials, to explore how educators interpret this terminological shift and its impact on their attitudes and beliefs toward multilingual learners. Framed through interpretive policy analysis and an ecological lens, this study finds that the change in terminology had a limited effect on teacher beliefs and practices. Participants largely remained situated within the English-dominant, monolingual norms. At the same time, the shift sparked valuable reflection among educators and highlighted opportunities for deeper conversations about language, identity, and inclusion. These findings suggest that while a terminological shift alone may not drive immediate change, it can serve as a meaningful starting point for broader professional and institutional growth.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2026-02-19 without embargo terms","The student, Nathan Moldenhauer, accepted the attached license on 2025-11-20 at 18:19.","The student, Nathan Moldenhauer, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-11-26 at 10:17.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-11-26 at 11:27.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #22863 on 2026-02-19 at 18:24:38"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["English learners or multilingual learners: To what extent does terminology even matter?"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Hood, Denice W","Davila, Liv","Lee, Sharon","Velazquez, Mirelsie"],"dc:creator":["Moldenhauer, Nathan David"],"dc:date":["2025-12","2025-11-26"],"dc:description":["The field of language education in the United States is currently undergoing a transition from the term English learner to multilingual learner to refer to students whose home language is not English and qualify for language support services. While this change represents a broader sociopolitical effort to reframe linguistic diversity as an asset, little is known about how such shifts influence teacher beliefs, instructional practices, or enactment of educational policy. This qualitative case study draws on semi-structured interviews with eight veteran teachers, along with district policy documents and teacher-created materials, to explore how educators interpret this terminological shift and its impact on their attitudes and beliefs toward multilingual learners. Framed through interpretive policy analysis and an ecological lens, this study finds that the change in terminology had a limited effect on teacher beliefs and practices. Participants largely remained situated within the English-dominant, monolingual norms. At the same time, the shift sparked valuable reflection among educators and highlighted opportunities for deeper conversations about language, identity, and inclusion. These findings suggest that while a terminological shift alone may not drive immediate change, it can serve as a meaningful starting point for broader professional and institutional growth.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2026-02-19 without embargo terms","The student, Nathan Moldenhauer, accepted the attached license on 2025-11-20 at 18:19.","The student, Nathan Moldenhauer, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-11-26 at 10:17.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-11-26 at 11:27.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #22863 on 2026-02-19 at 18:24:38"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132488"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2025 Nathan Moldenhauer"],"dc:subject":["teacher beliefs","terminology","English learner"],"dc:title":["English learners or multilingual learners: To what extent does terminology even matter?"],"dc:type":["text","Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ed.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:07Z"}