Dual-Language Engagement: Concerted Cultivation of Spanish Use Among Students, Teachers, and Parents

• In Event: Expanding the Terrain of Bilingual Education Research

Abstract

Research has shown that bilinguals typically privilege majority-labeled over heritage language. However, it is not clear why privileging continues to occur in environments deemed supportive of dual-language cultivation. In this case study, we explore this question and present findings from the first year of our research practice partnership’s pilot work exploring the moves students, parents, and teachers make in their concerted cultivation of Spanish at a dual-language immersion school. Initial findings indicate that language choice constantly shifts across linguistically and culturally specified spaces; parents and teachers concurrently used multiple strategies, including incorporation of Spanish-only full immersion opportunities, to cultivate Spanish use; and students’ language attitudes are influenced by perceived level of comfort, support, and convenience associated with speaking Spanish.

Authors

• Yenda Prado, University of California - Irvine

• Jenny Zavala, El Sol Academy

• Elizabeth Pena, University of California - Irvine