Abstract Summary
This ethnographic case study describes efforts by children and adults to hide or acknowledge Indigenous languages in the context of dual language immersion schooling. I explore how Indigenous multilingual children from Guatemala and Mexico navigate linguistic and ideological constraints in a Spanish/English dual language elementary school in the U.S. Midwest.
Abstract :
Minoritized bilingual children sometimes hide aspects of their language identities in school. Monzó and Rueda (2009) describe the silencing performed by and upon Spanish-speaking immigrant children who present themselves as fluent or monolingual speakers of English as a “consequence of the unequal relations of power that Latino children experience vis-à vis their white counterparts” (2009, p. 22). This study explored how Indigenous multilingual children from Guatemala and Mexico express or hide aspects of their language identities as students in a Spanish/English dual language elementary school in the U.S. Midwest. One objective of the study was to understand how Indigenous multilinguals navigate the ideological and linguistic constraints of a dual language immersion curriculum focused on Spanish/English development. A second objective was to examine how the participation of Indigenous students and families may shape the linguistic ideologies and language practices of a dual language school.
Asking “who shows/hides what language (identity) from whom?”, and “how is the showing/hiding done and under what circumstances?”, this ethnographic case study describes efforts by children and adults to acknowledge and constrain the presence of Indigenous languages in the context of dual language immersion schooling. Data were collected over a two-year period of weekly participant observation of grades 2-4 language arts classrooms, library instruction, and an after-school literacy tutoring program, as well as interviews with children, teachers, and the librarian, and digital photographs of the school’s linguistic landscape.
Findings show that dual language curriculum and instruction rarely acknowledged children’s Indigenous backgrounds or languages, and teachers felt unprepared to connect Indigenous children’s home languages and cultures to instruction. Children seldom mentioned or displayed knowledge of Indigenous languages. Exceptions included discussions during free reading, a library project on Latin America, and an art project in the newcomer center. Implications for research and practice are offered.
