Racializing Latinx bilinguals in K-12 language learning classrooms in the United States

Abstract

The present study applies critical race theory and a raciolinguistic perspective to understand the orientations of language programs in the United States towards developing bilingualism. More specifically, the study draws on survey and in-depth interview data from self-identified Latinx Spanish-English bilinguals who participated in English-dominant and bilingual curricula. We establish that the practices and policies of extant programs are grounded in injurious ideologies that result in the racialization of Latinx students. In particular, the results point to multiple factors—student assessment and placements, teachers’ linguistic and social profiles, and instructors’ corrective feedback—all of which racialize heritage Spanish speakers by essentializing and homogenizing them and by linking them to notions of ‘other’, often with enduring consequences. The findings from the study provide valuable insights into the ways in which institutions that are meant to promote equality and inclusion instead serve to reproduce marginalization, as part and parcel of an ideologically racializing system.