Children on the Battlefield: Language and Nationalistic Identities in Arizona

• In Event: Poster Session 2
  In Poster Session: Division G Section 3 Poster Session: Social Context of Multiple Languages and Literacies

Abstract

Minority language children are frequently used as leverage within the ideological “battles” over language. This study seeks to understand how children (babies through adolescent age) are depicted within mainstream media coverage of recent anti-pluralist legislation in Arizona and how this discourse maintains or transforms the ideology of the monoglot standard in the United States. A two-pronged approach is taken in this investigation: First, the theoretical construct "myth of assimilation" is developed through an analysis of empirical and theoretical literature on the role of language in national identity. And second, a discourse analysis of media reports shows how children are used to perpetuate this myth and appeal to public fears of fissure to a “unified” and "homogenous" American society.

Author

• Sarah Jean Johnson, University of California - Los Angeles