Centering Black Linguistic Freedom: Black Language as a Liberatory Practice in Elementary Multilingual Spaces

• In Event: (Re)Centering Criticality in Language Education: Exploring Translanguaging as Consequential Praxis

Abstract

Objectives
This paper draws upon liberation literacies as a theoretical orientation to demonstrate how multilingual Black American children use their language repertoires to center their voices, identities, and experiences. We highlight how Black children utilize their voices to push supposed linguistic boundaries and amplify Black Language within multilingual spaces, such as dual-language bilingual education (DLBE) classrooms and community contexts. At the end of this session, we offer three justice-oriented practical applications for teachers on how they can best support Black Language as a liberatory practice in their theoretical stances and pedagogical practices.

Theoretical Framework
Understanding multilingual Black American children’s engagement with translanguaging requires one to critically see the fullness of their linguistic repertoires and language practices (Author, 2021). Utilizing translanguaging and Lysicott’s (2017) liberation literacies as theoretical constructs, we show how Black children draw from their cultural and linguistic identities to elevate and amplify the rich linguistic literacies the Black children bring to multilingual spaces. By framing the linguistic resources of multilingual Black children from a translanguaging perspective, we assert how (re)centering criticality provides leeway for seeing the linguistic brilliance of Black children.

Methods and Data Sources
We utilized data from two qualitative case studies to co-construct vignettes that show the rich language and literacy practices of two multilingual Black American children. Both participants were enrolled at a Spanish/English DLBE program at Parks Elementary located in a Midwestern suburban school district. The constructed vignettes are juxtaposed with observations, artifacts, field notes, as well as our own recollection of childhood memories as multilingual children. We interlace all of these elements to build counternarratives (Martinez, 2020) to theorize how Black language serves as various forms of linguistic liberation for Black children in multilingual contexts.

Findings
The three co-constructed counterstories demonstrate how young Black children intentionally utilize features of their repertoires as multiple forms of linguistic liberation. For example, in one vignette, kindergarten students employed features of Black language and Spanish in imaginative play to slip in and out of various characters who employed varied language practices that mirrored their own multiple identities. In another example, kindergarten students were positioned as linguistic experts during a professional learning session to demonstrate how their liberation literacies served as political acts in and beyond the DLBE classroom. Other findings highlighted how Black language contributes other forms of liberation such as vernacular resistance and survival literacies in multilingual contexts.

Significance
This paper has several implications for educators practicing critical approaches in multilingual spaces. Those with a vested interest in bilingual education often wonder about the application of criticality in DLBE education. This paper not only addresses that call by providing examples of linguistic liberation through Black Language, but also offers generative implications for how Black Language can be employed as a pedagogical resource for learning. Finally, this paper extends the notion of criticality in the teaching of multilingual Black children, disrupting assumptions regarding who participates in DLBE programs.

Authors

• Brittany Frieson, University of North Texas
  Presenting Author

• Vivian Elizabeth Presiado, Illinois State University
  Presenting Author