“Border” and “Southside” Bilingualisms: Latinx Teacher Candidates Imagining Raciolinguistic Utopias in Bilingual Teacher Education

• In Event: On Healing Linguistic Wounds: Bilingual Latinx Maestres Expanding Biliteracies Through Critical Pedagogies and Humanizing Methodologies

Abstract

Objectives
For U.S. Latinxs, maintaining their bilingualism is not a straightforward task (Zentella, 2014). As they journey through K-12, many confront ideologies that marginalize their bilingual-bicultural practices and identities (Chaparro, 2019; Chávez-Moreno, 2021; Rosa & Flores, 2017). Despite the soft linguistic terrorism Latinx bilinguals face (Mena, 2023), some opt to become bilingual educators hoping to contribute to racial justice for Latinx children (Author et al., 2013). And thus, bilingual teacher education (BTE) programs are tasked with preparing Latinx bilingual teacher candidates (BTCs) to accomplish the racial equity they dream of. However, most recent research has focused on students’ and in-service teachers’ negotiation of raciolinguistic ideologies (e.g., Hernández, 2017; Flores et al., 2020; García-Mateus, 2020), leaving Latinx BTCs’ experiences underexplored. To address this gap, our paper showcases BTCs’ negotiation of raciolinguistic marginalization.

Theoretical Framework
The study combined the raciolinguistic perspective (Rosa & Flores, 2017) and the construct of linguistic citizenship (Stroud & Kerfoot, 2021). While the former helped identify experiences of raciolinguistic marginalization, the latter directed attention to BTCs’ contestation of such experiences. This collaborative paper centers on BTCs’ ideas of raciolinguistic contestation, particularly those suggesting reconfigurations in BTE.

Methodology
Data for this paper come from a critical ethnography Author 1 conducted with 17 BTCs completing a BTE program at a Hispanic-serving institution in South Texas (Author, 2022). Data included participant-observation field notes, interviews, and artifacts that were analyzed using open and focused coding. Authors 2 and 3 contributed to the framing of this paper and its analysis.

Findings
The study showed that participants re-imagined BTE at the structural and pedagogical levels. BTCs suggestions pointed to: (a) a stronger presence of Spanish in all modalities (listening, speaking, reading, and writing), (b) the encouragement and modeling of bilingual languaging (i.e., translanguaging) as a professional skill, and (c) the adoption of pluralist stances toward bilingual languaging. In addition, participants imagined a BTE program that reflected the working-class community’s bilingualisms they experienced growing up in the borderlands or on the “Southside” of town.

Scholarly Significance
The paper includes recommendations for re-configuring BTE programs to better serve Latinx BTCs and their communities—which can conflict with national/state curricula and local or state-mandated language policies/practices. Unlike other studies on Latinx BTCs, this study examines BTCs’ input on how to re-imagine their current BTE program; which makes a significant contribution to the literature on BTE—and moves us closer toward paths of liberation and caminos de convivencia. Finally, we discuss implications for further research in BTE and theory building of critical race language lenses.

Authors

• Cristhian Fallas Escobar, University of Texas - San Antonio

• Lucila D. Ek, University of Texas - San Antonio

• Patricia Sanchez, University of Texas - San Antonio