Centering and Amplifying Asian American Histories and Voices in Dual Language Bilingual Education

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 3:45 pm - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Literacies of Care, Culture, and Community

Abstract

Drawing from AsianCrit and translanguaging, this study employs a participatory method to explore how Asian American students’ develop critical consciousness and multiracial solidarity in a 5th grade Dual Language Bilingual Chinese/English program through a researcher-teacher co-designed Asian American anti-racist biliteracy lesson incorporating historical children’s literature. The findings reveal that students demonstrated (1) an enhanced ability to confront Asian American oppressions and white supremacy, (2) increased recognition of racism beyond Black/white binary and (3) the emergent awareness of multiracial solidarity. These findings suggest that intentional integration of Asian American racially conscious content in dual language programs can serve as an effective means of promoting critical consciousness of race and fostering interracial understanding among emerging bilinguals.

Authors

• Wenyu Guo, University of South Florida

• Zhongfeng Tian, Rutgers University - Newark