Upholding a Balanced Pro-Multilingual Stance Within Linguistically Diverse ESL Classrooms

• In Event: 45.068 - Supporting Refugee Students in the "Post-Truth" Era: The Role of Teachers in Resettlement Contexts

Abstract

Objectives

This presentation will address English as a Second Language teachers’ language ideologies in relation to their work with multilingual refugee youth from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In particular this research asks, How do politicized discourses around refugee-origin youth shape teachers’ language ideologies? In what ways do such discourses influence the development of classroom activities and materials?

Perspectives

I draw on Andrews and Svalberg’s (2017) definition of teacher language awareness as teachers’ knowledge and beliefs about language in the general sense, and the language(s) they teach. Tsui (2003) argues that there is an overlap between knowledge and beliefs which influences pedagogical practice, and that teachers’ ideologies about language derive from their own experiences as learners, users and teachers of language. I use an ecology of language framework to examine how languages the teachers and students use within ESL classrooms function in relation to other languages, and in relation to sociopolitical, demographic, and educational contexts (Creese, Martin & Hornberger, 2008; van Lier, 2004). Van Lier (2004) writes, “An ecological perspective is not neutral since it explicitly includes a non-passive relationship between the language user/learner and the environment, in all the spheres of physical, social and symbolic functioning” (p. 97).

Data Sources and Methods

Data are drawn from a two-year high school-based qualitative study using ethnographic methods. This presentation will showcase data from interviews with three high school ESL teachers (all of whom where fluent in English and Spanish) and one American Sign Language paraeducator who worked closely with a deaf ESL student, as well as sample teaching materials and classroom observational data collected in each of the teachers’ classrooms.

Results

Findings reveal that teachers upheld open or flexible language ideologies that promoted all students’ multilingualism and multilingual identities. They revealed what García (2017) calls a critical multilingual awareness as they recognized and legitimized students’ varied linguistic repertoires. They were motivated by their goal of establishing trust, wanting students to feel welcome in their classes, and a desire to treat all students equally regardless of language background. While upholding strong pro-multilingual stances, teachers also confronted several practical challenges related to their inability to speak several of their students’ languages, such as finding materials in those languages and adequate resources to assist in translating work, as well as classroom management and communicating with parents. The teachers also felt challenged in their ability balance refugee students’ academic and emotional needs and the needs of immigrant students from Mexico and Central America, many of whom were unaccompanied minors and/or feared deportation during a time of increased immigration raids in their communities. In summary, affect, teaching experience and surrounding political discourses played significant roles in teachers’ language ideologies.

Scholarly Significance

This research addresses the need for scholarship on ESL teacher identity and affect as they relate to their language ideologies and pedagogical practices. Implications for language teacher education, teaching and learning will be discussed.

Author

• Liv T. Davila, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign