I can say you’re Latina:” Discourses of Identity in Use Among Multiethnic Youth at a Dual Language School

• In Event: 31.091 - Roundtable Session 10
  In Roundtable Session: 31.091-23 - Exploring Identities of Adolescent Bilingual Students in U.S. Schools

Abstract

This project explores the contemporary process of developing cross-cultural competence in two-way bilingual schools. As part of a larger ethnography, a group of six ethno-linguistically diverse sixth-grade students were interviewed and participated in group discussions. Critical discourse analysis (Gee, 2004; Rogers, 2004) reveals how Anglo and Latino/a students make sense together of ethnic identities. Awareness of pan-ethnic identity labels Latino/a and Hispanic varied. Despite strong bonds across ethic divides and the high status of being Latino/a, peers sometimes truncated opportunities to explore multiple identities. Implications include a need to consider the social group context for developing cross-cultural competence, and the need for caution when integrating ethno-linguistically diverse students.

Author

• Jenny Eva Jacobs, Harvard University