Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons^™

Chandra's Story: An Adult Education Student Journeys From Fear To Gratitude, Robin L. Danzak

Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

This article presents the story of Chandra (her real name), a middle-aged, Guyanese-American woman attending an adult education center in the Northeast United States. Chandra grew up in extreme poverty in Guyana, and was taken out of school at age eight to help meet the family’s basic needs. At age 22, she immigrated to the United States in hopes of better opportunities. Through narrative methods, Chandra’s story is constructed from 34 narrative and expository written texts that she composed for a literacy tutoring program, as well as three in-depth oral interviews. The result is a moving account of Chandra’s childhood …