This timely study is an investigation of the English language learning experiences and related empowerment capabilities and deprivations of female rural migrant TVET students in two locales in Western China at macro, mezzo, and micro levels during the years of the great expansion of the TVET school system. This study involves basic interpretive research using semi-structured interviews and field observations. The capability approach provided the conceptual framework for designing interview questions and analysis. The macro level entailed the history of English language learning in China, English instructional policies, and access to language learning and resources. The mezzo level involved sociological influences relevant to rural migrant youth's study of English: peer environment, family capital, English teachers, and teaching methods. The micro level encompassed individuals' voices and experiences learning English and their formulation of related constitutive and instrumental capabilities. Multilevel analysis revealed that for rural migrant youth, learning English presented a hurdle to further education and created a consistent educational attainment gap. It also reflected unequal access to opportunities and resources as well as the unequal distribution of power, privilege, and capital shaped by the residence control (hukou) system. English exams had become not only the bottleneck for migrant students' educational advancement but also delimited employment opportunities. The underfunded, under-resourced rural school was a key creator of social inequality and rural deprivation. Recommendations include reformulating the national English education policy, allocating more resources to English learning, improving English teacher training in rural schools, and adapting the TVET English curriculum to economic imperatives. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]