"I Look Mexican, So They Assume I Speak Spanish": Teacher Candidates' Grappling With Raciolinguistic Policing

• In Event: Decolonizing Bilingual Teacher Education: Reimagining Possibilities for Transformation

Abstract

This critical discourse analysis study examines Latinx PK-12 teacher candidates’ (TCs) reported grappling with and responses to raciolinguistic ideologies that connect speaking Spanish to (not) being authentically Latinx. Data came from a larger qualitative study, in which TCs engaged in reflexive tasks awareness tasks at a large public U.S. university. We center the ways Latinx TCs’ experiences with raciolinguistic ideologies/policing lead them to develop particular perceptions of their linguistic resources/practices in connection to their racial and ethnic background. Our analysis underscores the ways these Latinx TCs have agentively responded to circulating raciolinguistic ideologies and policing. Our findings have implications for the ways teacher educators engage Latinx TCs in the interrogation of language ideologies during teacher preparation.

Authors

• Cristhian Fallas Escobar, The University of Texas - San Antonio

• Kathryn I. Henderson, The University of Texas - San Antonio

• Kristen Lindahl, The University of Texas - San Antonio