Troubling Normal in World Language Education

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 28
  In Roundtable Session: Instructional Approaches for Adolescent and Adult Emergent Bilinguals

Abstract

Queer theory problematizes societal norms related to sex, gender, and sexuality (Jagose, 1996) This paper utilizes a queer theoretical approach in analysis of participant observation in adult Spanish and Mandarin classes as well as interviews with world language teachers. We analyze this data to see how educators and adult language learners experience gender/sexuality norms in conventional classroom and school contexts. We also observe how these norms may be "troubled" or upheld in contexts using a progressive new approach called Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling (TPRS). Findings suggest that the improvisational nature of TPRS raises complex questions about heteronormativity in language learning and the creative work in which educators and students can engage in dialogic classrooms.

Authors

• James Coda, University of Georgia - Athens

• Melisa Misha Cahnmann-Taylor, University of Georgia