"Downplay That Spanish Side": The White Listening Subject in an Ethnically Homogeneous Bilingual Program Cohort

• In Event: Countering Deficit Ideologies Surrounding English Language Learners in K–12 Settings

Abstract

Critiques of dual language (DL) programs foreground concerns about bringing students and parents of different backgrounds together (e.g.: Cervantes-Soon, Et. Al., 2017). Less attention has been paid to implementation among more homogenous populations. This work investigates how raciolinguistic ideologies (Flores & Rosa, 2015) shaped activity around learning and school governance among predominantly Latinx working-class students and families.

Data was collected through ethnography (Heath & Street, 2008) and semi-structured interviews with students, teachers, and parents. Emergent coding of transcripts and field notes highlighted raciolinguistic ideologies (Flores & Rosa, 2015) in curriculum and school governance as notions of English primacy and language purity weighed heavily in decisions around student classification, language instruction, program design, and community-building efforts among the Latinx population.

Author

• Luis Ernesto Poza, San José State University