Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T11:38:13.116Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The master's tools will never dismantle the master's school: Interrogating settler colonial logics in language education

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2022

María Cioè-Peña
María Cioè-Peña*
Affiliation:
Montclair State University, College of Education and Human Services
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Racialized students are overrepresented in special- and English-learner education programs in the United States. Researchers have pointed to implicit bias in evaluation tools and evaluators as a cause resulting in calls for more culturally competent/relevant practices/assessments. However, this paper argues that racial overrepresentation is reflective of larger settler colonial frameworks embedded in linguistic standards that continue to drive education and language ideologies/practices globally but especially in U.S. schools. First, through an analysis of an orthoepic test used during the Parsley Massacre of 1937 on the island of Hispaniola, I present how the evaluation of accented language has been used to racialize and pathologize people. Secondly, through a comparative analysis of bilingualism in the U.S. and Canada, I show how linguistic variation is only devalued when it emerges from marginalized communities, affirming the white normative gaze as a mechanism for maintaining inequitable power structures. Finally, the paper presents how these logics are present in current manifestations of bilingual education. By indicating how racially, physically, and/or neurodivergent people are othered, this paper calls on the decolonization of applied linguistics in order to effectively address the over- and disproportionate representation of Black, Indigenous, and/or Latinx students within special- and English-learner programs.

Spanish abstract

Spanish Abstract

En los Estados Unidos, estudiantes afrodescendientes, indígenas, y latines están sobrerrepresentados en programas de educación especial y aprendizaje de inglés. Investigadores académicos han señalado problemas en las herramientas de evaluación y los evaluadores como una causa que ha dado lugar a solicitudes de prácticas / evaluaciones más competentes / relevantes en términos de cultural. Sin embargo, este artículo sostiene que la sobrerrepresentación racial es un reflejo de marcos coloniales incrustados en los estándares lingüísticos que continúan instigando ideologías / prácticas sobre educación y lenguaje a nivel mundial, pero especialmente en las escuelas de EE.UU. Primero, a través de un análisis de una prueba ortopédica utilizada durante la Masacre de Perejil, presento cómo se ha utilizado la evaluación del lenguaje acentuado para racializar y patologizar a las personas. En segundo lugar, a través de un análisis comparativo del bilingüismo en los EE.UU. y Canadá, muestro cómo la variación lingüística solo se devalúa cuando surge de comunidades marginadas, afirmando la mirada Blanca y normativa como un mecanismo para mantener estructuras de poder desiguales. Finalmente, el artículo presenta cómo estas lógicas están presentes en la educación bilingüe corriente. Al indicar cómo se diferencian las personas a bases de raza, físico, y capacidad intelectual, este papel pide la descolonización de la materia de lingüística aplicada para atender de manera efectiva la representación excesiva y desproporcionada de estudiantes afrodescendientes, indígenas, y / o latine dentro de programas para educación especial y aprendizaje de inglés.

Type
Research Article
Information
Annual Review of Applied Linguistics , Volume 42 , March 2022 , pp. 25 - 33
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Selected References*

Abedi, J., & Faltis, C. (2015). Teacher assessment and the assessment of students with diverse learning needs. Review of Research in Education, 39(1), vii–xiv.10.3102/0091732X14558995CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Annamma, S. A., Connor, D., & Ferri, B. (2013). Dis/ability critical race studies (DisCrit): Theorizing at the intersections of race and dis/ability. Race Ethnicity and Education, 16(1), 1–31.10.1080/13613324.2012.730511CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Artiles, A. J., Kozleski, E. B., Trent, S. C., Osher, D., & Ortiz, A. (2010). Justifying and explaining disproportionality, 1968–2008: A critique of underlying views of culture. Exceptional Children, 76(3), 279–299.10.1177/001440291007600303CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker-Bell, A. (2020). Linguistic justice: Black language, literacy, identity, and pedagogy. Routledge.10.4324/9781315147383CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berg-Schlosser, D., De Meur, G., Rihoux, B., & Ragin, C. C. (2009). Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) as an approach. In B. Rihous & Ch. C. Ragin (Eds.), Configurational comparative methods: Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) and related techniques (pp. 1–18). SAGE Publications.Google Scholar
Bialystok, E. (2018). Bilingual education for young children: review of the effects and consequences. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 21(6), 666–679.10.1080/13670050.2016.1203859CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brantmeier, E. J. (2007). “Speak our language…abide by our philosophy”: Language & cultural assimilation at a U.S. midwestern high school. Forum on Public Policy Online, 2007(2).Google Scholar
Carothers, D., & Parfitt, C. M. (2017). Disability or language difference: How do we decide? American Journal of Qualitative Research, 1(1), 1–12.Google Scholar
Chan, K. L. (2016). The power language index. University of Aruba. Retrieved from http://www.kailchan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/KC_PLI-presentation-at-University-of-Aruba_2018.09.20A.pdf.Google Scholar
Cioè-Peña, M. (2017). Disability, bilingualism and what it means to be normal. Journal of Bilingual Education Research & Instruction, 19(1), 138–160.Google Scholar
Cioè-Peña, M. (2021). Raciolinguistics and the education of emergent bilinguals labeled as disabled. The Urban Review. 53(3), 443–469.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cioè-Peña, M. (2020). Dual language and the erasure of emergent bilinguals labeled as disabled. In Flores, N., Tseng, A., & Subtirelu, N. C. (Eds.), Bilingualism for all? Raciolinguistic perspectives on dual language education (pp. 63-87). Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Cioè-Peña, M. & Linares, R. (2021). What we experience is what we value: Latinx Emergent Bilinguals Labeled as Disabled. In Sanchez, M. T. & García, O. (Eds.), Transformative translanguaging espacios: Latinx bilingual children rompiendo fronteras (pp. 252–276). Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Couzens, V., Gaby, A., & Stebbins, T. (2020). Standardise This! Prescriptivism and resistance to standardization in language revitalization. In Allan, K. (Ed.), Dynamics of Language Changes: Looking Within and Across Languages (pp. 37–55). Springer.10.1007/978-981-15-6430-7_3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Covello, L. (1939). Language as a factor in integration and assimilation. The Modern Language Journal, 23(5), 323–333.Google Scholar
Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against Women of Color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241–1299.10.2307/1229039CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cummins, J. (2021). Translanguaging: A critical analysis of theoretical claims. In Juvonen, P. & Källkvist, M. (Eds.), Pedagogical translanguaging: Theoretical, methodological and empirical perspectives (pp. 7–36). Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Dash, J. M. (2018). We dream together, Dominican independence, Haiti and the fight for Caribbean freedom. Slavery & Abolition, 39(1), 212–214.10.1080/0144039X.2018.1432470CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flores, N. (2021). Raciolinguistic genealogy as method in the sociology of language. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2021(267–68), 111–115.10.1515/ijsl-2020-0102CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flores, N., & Rosa, J. (2015). Undoing appropriateness: Raciolinguistic ideologies and language diversity in education. Harvard Educational Review, 85(2), 149–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freire, J. A., Gambrell, J., Kasun, G. S., Dorner, L. M., & Cervantes-Soon, C. (2021). The expropriation of dual language bilingual education: Deconstructing neoliberalism, whitestreaming, and English-hegemony. International Multilingual Research Journal, 16(1), 1–20.Google Scholar
Fundaciòn Pro-RAE. (n.d.). La institución. Real Academia Española. Retrieved September 28, 2021, from https://www.rae.es/la-institucion.Google Scholar
García, O. (2014). U.S. Spanish and education: Global and local intersections. Review of Research in Education, 38, 58–80.10.3102/0091732X13506542CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garver, R., & Hopkins, M. (2020). Segregation and integration in the education of English learners: Leadership and policy dilemmas. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 19(1), 1–5.10.1080/15700763.2019.1711133CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gonçalves, B., Loureiro-Porto, L., Ramasco, J. J., & Sánchez, D. (2017). The fall of the empire: the Americanization of English. arXiv.Google Scholar
González, T., & Artiles, A. J. (2015). Reframing venerable standpoints about language and learning differences: The need for research on the literate lives of Latina/o language minority students. Journal of Multilingual Education Research, 6(1), 9–34.Google Scholar
Haberland, H. & Mortensen, J. (2012). Language variety, language hierarchy and language choice in the international university. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2012(216), 1–6.10.1515/ijsl-2012-0036CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hammarström, H. (2016). Linguistic diversity and language evolution. Journal of Language Evolution, 1(1), 19–29.10.1093/jole/lzw002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harry, B., & Klingner, J. (2014). Why are so many minority students in special education? (2nd ed.). Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
hooks, b. (1989). Talking back: Thinking feminist, thinking black. South End Press.Google Scholar
Howard, L. K. (2010). Racism and Religious Bias in Castilian Spanish Language Dictionaries [Unpublished master's thesis]. Howard University.Google Scholar
Irvine, J. T., Gal, S., & Kroskrity, P. V. (2009). Language ideology and linguistic differentiation. Linguistic anthropology: A reader (pp. 402–434). Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Kanno, Y., & Kangas, S. E. N. (2014). “I'm not going to be, like, for the AP”: English Language Learners’ limited access to advanced college-preparatory courses in high school. American Educational Research Journal, 51(5), 848–878.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kotok, S., & DeMatthews, D. (2018). Challenging school segregation in the twenty-first century: How districts can leverage dual language education to increase school and classroom diversity. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 91(1), 1–6.Google Scholar
Kraemer, R., & Fabiano-Smith, L. (2017). Language assessment of Latino English learning children: A records abstraction study. Journal of Latinos and Education, 16(4), 349–358.10.1080/15348431.2016.1257429CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kutlu, E., & Wiltshire, C. (2020). Where do negative stereotypes come from? The case of Indian English in the USA. Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America, 5(1), 74–82.10.3765/plsa.v5i1.4669CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lorde, A. (2020). The selected works of Audre Lorde. WW Norton & Company.Google Scholar
Lorde, A. (1984/2003). The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house. In Lewis, R. & Mills, S. (Eds.), Feminist postcolonial theory: A reader (pp. 25–27). Routledge.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Cioè-Peña supplementary material

Cioè-Peña supplementary material

Download Cioè-Peña supplementary material(File)
File 22.5 KB