Linguistic Justice Through Storytelling: Multilingual Voices in Academic Spaces

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 9:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Linguistic Justice and Heritage Education

Abstract

Language is an often-overlooked aspect of diversity in higher education, where “Standard” English is privileged and multilingual speakers are marginalized. In 2022, the second author launched a campus-wide interview project to document the experiences of multilingual students and advocate for linguistic justice. Over 230 interviews have been conducted, revealing themes such as “perceptions of perceptions”—i.e., how individuals internalize others’ judgments of their language use, often leading to anxiety or shame. This paper outlines the program’s development, along with some preliminary findings, and presents an autoethnographic reflection by both authors on how the project reshaped their understanding of language, identity, and power. The work calls for higher education to engage actively in dismantling linguistic hierarchies through sustained listening, reflection, and institutional change.

Authors

• Maria Elizabeth Garza, Stony Brook University - SUNY

• Joy Janzen, Stony Brook University - SUNY