"Without Hmoob/Hmong...": Race, Empire, and Worth(iness) in Less Commonly Taught Language Bilingual Education

• In Event: Expanding the Terrain of Bilingual Education Research

Abstract

Hmoob (Hmong) communities’ struggles for additive bilingual education (AdBE) are regularly converted to English-transitional models. Drawing from key informant interviews, we explore why the growth of AdBE for less commonly taught languages (LCTL) with large local communities (e.g. Hmoob) remains elusive. Insights from Hmoob administrators and teachers reveal raciolinguistic discourses that confine programmatic decision-making to transitional English models. Additionally, racializing politics of ethnic erasure articulate through state-level teacher licensure policies that restrict preparation, recruitment, and retention of Hmoob AdBE educators. Because protections and resources are still dictated by state (not community) interests, they are unavailable to low-state-interest LCTLs (e.g., Hmoob) and can be understood as shaping and being shaped by the impacts of national (dis)interest.

Authors

• Jenna Cushing-Leubner, University of Wisconsin - Whitewater

• Miranda Schornack, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay