Centering Children's Voices: The Language Practices and Emergent Biliteracy of Latinx Children in the Borderlands

Abstract

This study is an ethnographic portrait of a Spanish and English two-way dual language immersion school in the U.S. Southwest borderlands. It sought to understand how languages ideologies were enacted in a predominantly Latinx kindergarten classroom. Focal participants were Spanish heritage learners ranging from ages 5-6. Utilizing a language socialization framework (Ochs & Schieffelin, 1984), the current study investigated 1) what Spanish heritage learners said (articulated) about Spanish and how/when they used Spanish (embodied) and 2) in what ways Spanish Heritage Learners’ language socialization practices aligned or misaligned with the ideologies and practices in the dual language classroom? This research centered on children's voices as they described their relationship to Spanish, how they self-identify, as well as their bilingualism and emerging biliteracy. Audio recordings, video recordings, memos, and field notes were used to observe their language practices and analyze how language ideologies were articulated and/or embodied. Some video recordings were shared with the Spanish heritage students as initial findings. Children’s feedback and discussion of the videos were used as part of the data and as space to interpret their own practices. Findings suggest that while students were labeled English dominant by the institution, they often indexed (Bucholtz & Hall, 2005) a Spanish speaker identity, citing a linguistic heritage, familial connections, and ties to geographic locations such as Mexico. Despite not producing Spanish orally, the Spanish heritage students were both biliterate and bilingual to a certain extent. The focal students were receptive bilinguals (Beaudrie, 2009) and possessed a depth of Spanish knowledge. However, their bilingualism often went unrecognized and unrewarded in the class. Using a raciolinguistic lens (Flores & Rosa, 2015) reveals how Spanish heritage learners’ language abilities and practices are rendered invisible in dual language programming due to the either/or nature of the program and language ideologies. More broadly, this research highlights the strengths, knowledge, and agency that the Latinx children brought to the classroom daily.