ABSTRACT
Learning to communicate effectively in a new language is a common challenge faced by those living in a foreign country, whether they are immigrants, families of resident employees, or students. Without effective communicative skills, they have limited access to the necessary material and symbolic resources needed to succeed in their new environments. To gain access to such resources, they need to learn the new language and to participate in sociocultural practices using the new language. Unfortunately, however, it is often diffi cult for linguistic/cultural minority students to gain access to opportunities to participate in such practices.
