Challenging Raciolinguistic Ideologies Through Writing Research: The Case of a Long-Term English Learner

• In Event: Raciolinguistic Perspectives on Language and Schooling

Abstract

Flores and Rosa (2015, p. 150) argue that raciolinguistic ideologies “conflate certain racialized bodies with linguistic deficiency unrelated to any objective linguistic practices.” This conceptualization is exemplified in the writing research on high school students who remain classified as ELs for seven or more years, or long-term English learners (LTELs). Although publications (e.g., Olsen, 2010) freely describe this group of students as having as having exceedingly “limited” English writing abilities, there have been no systematic attempt to examine their English writing practices in detail. This paper interrogates what an analysis of the English writing practices of an LTEL that resists raciolinguistic ideologies would reveal.

This paper focuses on two essays written by a student for her sophomore English course. The focal student is a simultaneous English-Spanish bilingual who spends most of her day speaking English. In recognizing the significance of English in multiple contexts of her life, I did not envision her linguistic background as a “long-term” EL. Instead, I situated this analysis in a conception of holistic bilingualism (Grosjean, 2008). I embarked on a multi-level analysis that examined her ideas, organization, and form. I began by creating categories that were based on the specific content requirements of the prompts, which asked her to make an argument in response to a text excerpt. Then, I read through each line of her written work and used descriptive codes (Saldana, 2011) to identify her ideas. In order to better understand the relationship between her ideas and the prompt, I mapped the descriptive codes from her written work on to the prompt categories. Next, I mapped out how she organized these previously identified descriptive codes in her essays. Finally, I examined the linguistic forms that she used to articulate her ideas.

As a result of this analysis, I found that in both essays the focal student presented an argument in which she marshals evidence to address the prompt. She does this through a conversational writing style, which provides the forum to articulate her argument. On the level of form, her writing frequently diverges from the standard monolingual norm as she uses codemeshing (Michael-Luna & Canagarajah, 2008). These findings are important because they speak to the significance of the lens with which the writing of minoritized students is interpreted. Through a raciolinguistic lens, her codemeshing and conversational organizational style would be interpreted as evidence of “learner English.” In contrast, this study illustrates how resisting a raciolinguistic lens illustrates the depth of her linguistic knowledge. These findings illuminate the predominant role of raciolinguistic ideologies in LTEL research.

Grosjean, F. (2008). Studying bilinguals. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.

Michael-Luna, S., & Canagarajah, S. (2008). Multilingual academic literacies: Pedagogical foundations for code meshing in primary and higher education.Journal of Applied Linguistics, 4(1), 55-77.

Olsen, L. (2010). Reparable harm: Fulfilling the unkept promise of educational opportunity for California’s long term English learners. Retrieved from Californians Together website: californianstogether.org/docs/ download.aspx?fileId=227

Saldaña, J. (2011). Fundamentals of qualitative research: Understanding qualitative research. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.

Author

• Maneka Deanna Brooks, Texas State University