Becoming through tests: long-term English learners’ (re)positioning of self and other as acts of resistance

Long-Term English Learners (LTELs) remain classified as ELs for five or more years, often due to standardized testing and restrictive reclassification procedures. This prolonged status has high stakes, as it delays access to rigorous coursework, curtails graduation opportunities, and sustains deficit-oriented narratives about multilingual youth. This multiple-case study draws on interviews and classroom observations with three Latino LTELs in a rural U.S. high school. Using Positioning Theory, we examine how LTELs self-position and resist the deficit narratives imposed by assessments like ACCESS for ELLs and BSA ELA. Findings reveal that participants strategically asserted their English fluency, differentiated themselves from newcomer ELs, and challenged the gatekeeping role of tests. They employed agentive acts such as study routines, school transfers, and leveraging family support to resist institutional misrecognition. Their stories underscore how language testing functioned not only as a institutional measure but also as a powerful site of identity negotiation. By centering student perspectives, this study advances research on consequential validity, highlights the social dimensions of language assessments, and calls for more equitable, responsive reclassification practices that recognize LTELs as capable and agentic rather than deficient.