Changing the Deficit Discourse Regarding Language Diversity in U.S. Schools: The Power of Spoken Language in Reading Acquisition and Development

• In Event: AERA Early Career Award (2019) Lecture: Changing the Deficit Discourse Regarding Language Diversity in U.S. Schools: The Power of Spoken Language in Reading Acquisition and Development

Abstract

English proficiency is too often synonymous with academic achievement in the U.S. and, indeed, the most common instructional context is English-only language instruction for all students. Students who are not from English-only homes are formally referred to by schools as having a non-English language background, highlighting the deficit framing that has been ubiquitous in characterizing this heterogenous population of learners. My research attends to the central role of spoken language in reading acquisition and development, as well as in special education representation, raising questions about assessment and instructional approaches that remain commonplace in classrooms despite the potential of alternative practices that optimize learning opportunities and outcomes for the increasingly diverse population of multilingual learners in classrooms across the nation.

Author

• Jeannette Mancilla-Martinez, Vanderbilt Peabody College