Competing discourses of academic Spanish in the Texas-Mexico borderlands

ABSTRACT

In this descriptive study the efforts of a faculty to prepare a cohort of pre-service bilingual education teachers to pass a newly adopted state certification test of academic Spanish are presented. The faculty’s efforts were aimed at offsetting a low pass rate on this test, but unfortunately efforts fell short. To unpack this outcome, the authors use a theoretical lens aimed at examining the dominant Discourses associated with academic Spanish. Through this analysis the authors maintain that at the national, state, local, and program levels the dominant Discourses associated with academic Spanish work jointly to undermine the acquisition of academic Spanish needed by prospective bilingual education teachers.

Funding

This research was supported by a U.S. Department of Education grant funded through the Office of English Language Acquisition (Grant No. T195N070232: Curricular Assessment for Successful Student Outcomes). The authors have no financial interest or benefit arising from the direct applications of their research.

Disclosure Statement

The authors have no financial interest or benefit arising from the direct applications of their research. This article has not been published and is not under review in any other journal or publishing-related entity.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by a U.S. Department of Education grant funded through the Office of English Language Acquisition (Grant No. T195N070232: Curricular Assessment for Successful Student Outcomes).

Notes on contributors

Michael D. Guerrero

Michael D. Guerrero is affiliated with the Bilingual and Literacy Studies Department, College of Education, at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Maria Consuelo Guerrero

Maria Consuelo Guerrero is affiliated with the Department of Literatures & Cultural Studies, College of Liberal Arts, at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.