FROM THE SCHOOL HOUSE TO THE CHAT ROOM
Yu Qing and Tsu Ying are cousins who emigrated to the US with their families in 1998 from southern
China. They had been in the US for close to 3 years at the time of this study and lived in separate
apartments that were within a few blocks of each other in the Chinatown district of the city. Both girls
arrived in this country with very minimal knowledge of English, but after 3 years, they were in
transitional English classes, which was a step before mainstreaming into regular English classes. Yu Qing
and Tsu Ying, an 18-year-old senior and 17-year-old junior, respectively, were doing quite well in school,
getting approximately a B grade point average.