Beyond Nation-State Status: Exploring Language and Identity in a Church-Based U.S. Citizenship Preparation Class

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 13
  In Roundtable Session: Constructing and Negotiating Identities Across Learning Contexts

Abstract

This 17-month ethnographic study examines the complex interplay of ideologies of citizenship, language, and identities in a church-based citizenship preparation class in a U.S. Northwestern city. This study indicates the disconnections of ideologies of citizenship between refugees and their instructor. It also illustrates that ideologies of citizenship are not just about citizenship acquisition alone. Rather, they index and enact ties of language and culture to being, to doing, to valuing, and to knowing. Given the complex interplay of ideologies of citizenship, identities, practices, and contexts, this article ends with a call for future research on citizenship and language pedagogy that focuses on refugees’ ideological becoming, identity politics, and full and equitable social integration.

Author

• Xia Chao, Duquesne University