Co-Optation, Not Coexistence: Language Ideologies and Educational Practices Among Spanish Missionaries in Alta California

• In Event: Framing the Past, Present, and Future: Historical Narratives and Language Ideologies

Abstract

This study examines two major language ideologies, Castilian monolingualism and subtractive bi/multilingualism, which dominated Spanish missionary discourse in Alta California. Utilizing a perspective of linguistic co-optation, this study counters recent interpretations of linguistic coexistence in Spanish colonized territories. Applying raciolinguistic genealogy (Flores, 2021), this study analyzes missionary correspondence to draw connections between assimilatory language ideologies, education of racialized Indigenous communities, and the broader political and historical forces of colonialism and imperialism. Findings suggest that these ideologies were regarded by missionaries as collectively contributing to Spain’s agenda of cultural and linguistic assimilation of Indigenous peoples in Alta California via “Christianization”. This case study also offers implications for contemporary educators of bilingual students who may portray similar tendencies.

Author

• Cory Alan Buckband, Arizona State University