Bow Ties, Medals, and Uniform Jackets: The Visual Representation of Dual Language Students

• In Event: 15.032 - Democratizing Evidence by Documenting the Gentrification of Dual-Language Education: Language Allocation, Metaphors, Images, and Teachers' Perspectives

Abstract

Deborah Palmer (2010) warned that without attention to the dynamics of race and power, dual language (DL) programs will be seen merely as “enrichment foreign-language immersion to middle- and upper-class white children” and hence be a “lost opportunity for transformation” (p. 11). Recent studies have shown this fear to be valid, exposing how official discourses target primarily White, world language constituencies, privileging neoliberal discourses while erasing equity and language concerns associated with maintenance and non-White heritage constituencies (Delavan, Valdez, & Freire, 2017, p. 86). Other studies have shown how teachers often perceive of DL programs as being only for certain children (e.g., not Black) (Chávez-Moreno, 2017) and often promote the idea that these programs are only for the best and brightest, working together with discourses of elitism which construct the broader DL narrative (Henderson, 2018).
Despite recent work that has examined power imbalances in DL programs, most have concentrated on verbal discourse. To fill this gap, this multimodal critical discourse analysis (MCDA) aims to uncover the way in which DL students and programs are represented to the public visually. Utilizing a framework embedded in social semiotics and critical discourse studies (e.g., Machin & Mayr, 2012; van Leeuwen, 2008), the author analyzes images from 32 local news stories published in 2018 across the U.S. in order to understand how the meaning potential of image defines what DL students look like and do, as well as who DL programs are for.
Findings show an overall vague representation of what DL is, and what students and teachers actually do in DL. In addition, programs that featured mostly minoritized language speakers were represented often as large groups, whereas students in foreign-language immersion were more often individualized in close-up and individual shots and shown taking active roles in their learning. In addition, DL students were often shown wearing icons of privilege and esteem, such as bow-ties, medals, and uniform jackets. Languages such as French and Chinese were over-represented in image and verbal discourse as opposed to Spanish, which has the majority of DL programs in the U.S. Furthermore, more adults were featured than children, particularly those in positions of power such as representatives from the French Consulate, superintendents, and principals. Overall, the visual narrative often matched the verbal narrative of “enrichment” and neoliberal discourses, communicating a message that DL students are elite, as evidenced by who they are pictured with, camera angles that communicated symbolic power, and whether they are seen as individuals vs. groups, what they wear, and what they can do. In conclusion, in order to avoid DL becoming “yet another form of enrichment education accessible only to those who need the enrichment least” (Valdez, Freire, & Delavan, 2016, p. 623), this presentation proposes that scholars continue to raise awareness of this issue through continued research in this area, all the while never forgetting the way in which these narratives are communicated subtly via visual modes.

Author

• Theresa Catalano, University of Nebraska - Lincoln