Representing Biliteracy as Property: A Visual and Policy Analysis of the Seal of Biliteracy

• In Event: Uncovering Ideologies Behind Discourse of Educational Narrative, Policy, and Curriculum Across Time

Abstract

This presentation explores the representational power dynamics of increasingly popular of “seal of biliteracy” (SoBL) programming in the U.S. We draw on the framework of whiteness as property (Harris, 1993, 2015) to examine racialized privilege within such programming and to explore the notion of biliteracy as property. Drawing on critical and visual discourse analysis, this study analyzes SoBL policies and the visual seals themselves across 39 states. While the popularity of the seal represents a positive step toward recognizing multilingualism, we demonstrate how ceding authority to the state to delimit and award the seal reifies biliteracy as a form of property. We discuss how the SoBL can reinforce pre-existing inequities and power hierarchies of representation in language and literacy.

Authors

• Chris K. Chang-Bacon, University of Virginia

• Soria Elizabeth Colomer, Oregon State University