"En este clase, hablamos espanol": African American Students' Language Choices in a Kindergarten Dual-Language Classroom

• In Event: Raciolinguistic Perspectives on Bilingual Education

Abstract

The mission of many bilingual programs in the United States claim to value linguistic knowledge of all forms, celebrate various cultural backgrounds, and cultivate multilingual students. Many bilingual programs, including dual-language programs, continue to ignore English language variations, excluding African American English (AAE) in the language development process of multilinguals (Lippi-Green, 2012). Most dual-language programs operate under a dual-language binary, utilizing one language or the other as the target language for instructional practices. For example some programs have designated Spanish and English as the languages to be used within the program, which negates language varieties that some students, particularly African-Americans, use in the language learning process. Excluding AAE in the language development process continues to ignore African-American students who use AAE, which could further the notion of delegitimizing AAE in academic spaces which continues to be normalized in the mainstream society (Alim & Smitherman, 2012).

In response to the inequities among language policies in dual-language programs, this paper reports results from a qualitative study that explored language choices among African-American students in a dual-language kindergarten classroom located in a mid-sized city in the Midwest. Using a critical lens approach, I sought out to document the language practices of African-American students in dual-language programs and how language policies can operate to discourage students from exercising their entire linguistic repertoire, including using AAE in academic spaces. Data were collected, including classroom observations, teacher interviews, and field notes from non-academic spaces such as the school cafeteria, hallway, and playground.

Results demonstrated that the monoglossic language policies of the dual-language program contributed to the exclusion of AAE in academic spaces. Teacher identity and teaching philosophies can be of great influence surrounding the language policy and structure of a classroom, however the issue of language appropriateness was rooted in the structure of the dual-language program at this school. The target language for each subject was predetermined by the academic schedule, leaving minimal space for utilization of a full linguistic repertoire. These notions of separating languages and appropriating how and when students should use what language reinforced the existing power relations that the dual-language model intended to overcome (Flores, 2013).

Despite the language policy of the program the students in this case study demonstrated an organized resistance against the monoglossic ideas, using their full repertoire to teach others about AAE and how to style-shift among various languages. Instead of allowing the language policy dictate their choice of languages, other students’ fluency in AAE increased which ensured that AAE continued to play an integral part in shaping the linguistic landscape of the dual-language classroom.

This study contributes to the knowledge surrounding the use of AAE in bilingual programs and how language policies can work to reinforce ideologies about AAE that are inherently embedded within dual-language programs. These findings also seek to continue the conversation on how the implementation of language policies in dual-language classrooms can be damaging to the rich linguistic processes of AAE speakers and other speakers of language varieties.

Author

• Brittany Frieson, University of North Texas