Language, Space, and Demographic Change: Examining the White Space of Dual Language Education in the U.S. Midwest (Poster 13)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Saturday 11:45 am
  In Invited Poster Session: Excellence in Education Research: Early Career Scholars and Their Work Poster Session

Abstract

Demographic shifts in the United States have intensified attention to educational inequities, leading to expansion of dual language (DL) programs. Despite equity-oriented goals, research documents significant unequal power dynamics. Furthermore, many DL programs have been created in largely White, homogenous communities where people of color are usually absent or not expected. This study examines how teachers and students in a Midwestern DL program perceive and co-construct their interactional space; how sociolinguistic perceptions and spatial context shape interactions; and how these interactions reflect socially constructed ideas of race, class, and language. Drawing on theories of the white space, spaces of multilingualism, and raciolinguistics, this study examines how DL spaces may reproduce or disrupt inequities, illuminating possibilities for integration and educational change.

Author

• Giselle Del Carmen Martinez Negrette, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign