Educators' Understandings of Linguistic Diversity and Its Role in Teaching and Learning

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 24
  In Roundtable Session: Research on the Preparation of Teachers for New Language Learners

Abstract

Students’ language use shapes school performance, and teachers’ awareness of language variation can, in turn, shape educational practice. This paper considers links between teachers’ attitudes about linguistic diversity articulated across multiple forms of data, including their teaching experience and social positionality as analyzed from the second year of an ongoing project. As beliefs influence what we think about learning, teachers’ beliefs about students’ language use are influenced by understandings of linguistic practices, attitudes about cultural, and how their own experiences and positionality mediate those attitudes. Our analyses draw on qualitative data sources in which teachers reflect on sociolinguistic topics in light of their own experiences and positionality as well as quantitative survey responses based on measures of linguistic tolerance.

Authors

• Eric Ambroso, Arizona State University

• Kate T. Anderson, Arizona State University