Nuestro Español Mocho Tiene Valor: Paradoxical Messaging in Multilingualism

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 7:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Narrating Language Resistance and Agency

Abstract

This study examines the paradoxical nature of bilingual teachers' language ideologies as they navigate professional development on translanguaging practices. Drawing on raciolinguistic ideology theory (Flores & Rosa, 2015; Rosa, 2019), we analyzed 12 bilingual teacher assignments from an online professional development sequence. Using reflexive thematic analysis, we identified two patterns: physical manifestations of linguistic tension and contradictory personal and pedagogical stances toward translanguaging. A focal participant exemplifies these paradoxes—while declaring “nuestro español mocho tiene valor”, they simultaneously enforce “correctness” standards in their classroom. Results suggest ideological transformation is complex and contradictory, with teachers affirming linguistic diversity while perpetuating its marginalization. This paradoxical messaging offers new insights into how raciolinguistic ideologies operate in multilingual educational settings and the challenges in shifting ideologies.

Authors

• Silvia Tovar, University of California - Davis

• Claudia Rodriguez-Mojica, University of California - Davis

• Allison Briceno, San José State University

• Sara Rutherford-Quach, SRI Education