English Teachers' Inclusion of Race in Teaching About Language Variation

• In Event: Different Approaches to a Shared Dilemma: Challenging Racism Through Anti-Oppressive Literacy Education

Abstract

Purpose
Teaching about language is a cornerstone of English classes. Although the connection between language and race has been documented by sociolinguists for more than 60 years (Alim, 2016; Labov, 1968; Rickford, 1999; Smitherman, 1977; Wolfram & Schilling, 2015), few English teachers discuss race as they teach about grammar. Increasingly, English teachers are called to explicitly interrogate the social implications of linguistic choices, including the racialization of language, as they teach about varied English grammars (Kinloch, 2011; Kirkland, 2010; Perryman-Clark, Kirkland, & Jackson, 2014). To date, little research explores how teachers, across contexts, think about this new challenge.

Perspectives
This study brings together recent research on teachers’ language ideologies (Banes, Martínez, Athanases, & Wong, 2016; Haddix, 2008; Metz, 2019) with research on race talk in teacher education (Mica Pollock, 2004; Mica Pollock, Deckman, Mira, & Shalaby, 2010). As English teachers come to understand that all varieties of English are valid, patterned, and systematic, they must contend with the social prejudices that place these language varieties in a hierarchy. Racial prejudice is a primary driver of attitudes toward language (Alim, Rickford, & Ball, 2016; Rosa, 2019; Rosa & Flores, 2017). Thus, when teachers grapple with changes in their teaching practice implicated in contemporary understandings of language, they must also grapple with issues of race.

Methods
This study uses discourse analysis of racialized talk to examine two sources of data; 1) interviews with 30 English teachers throughout a midwestern state talking about their approach to teaching about English language variation, and 2) reflective coursework from 25 teachers from across the nation taking an online M.Ed course focused on teaching about English Language variation. Transcripts and written discourse are examined using techniques of discourse analysis to explore teacher’s race talk (Pollock, 2004). In each case, the teachers’ talk is examined for when and how race was, or was not, included in discussions of language teaching.

Results
Teachers describe their teaching about language through grammar, literature, writing, and speaking and listening. In preliminary findings, teachers in predominantly white contexts tended to talk about language variation in terms of students’ levels of education or social class, while teachers in more racially diverse settings spoke about race explicitly. In all cases, there was a focus on the production of language (speaking and writing) as opposed to the reception of language (hearing and reading).

Scholarly Significance
This focus on language production over language reception underscores the relationship between the student demographics and teachers’ discussion of race. One implication of this study is the need to educate teachers about the role of hearing language in the perpetuation of misconceptions and prejudices (Flores & Rosa, 2015). Students in all settings, including predominantly white, middle-class settings should be educated about the racialization of language. As English curricula begin to catch up to contemporary linguistic understandings, English teachers will need to gain comfort with discussing the validity of diverse Englishes, and with talking about race as integral to discussions of grammar.

Author

• Mike Metz, Univeristy of Missouri