Acquiring and Participating in the Use of Academic Spanish: Four Novice Latina Bilingual Education Teachers' Stories

Abstract

This article presents 4 U.S.-born Latinas'stories regarding their academic Spanish language proficiency development. The stories are examined in light of various factors that influence the development of bilingualism and biliteracy. Each story reveals a sense of struggle to become a participant in the community of academic Spanish language users. Their struggle, however, is tied to institutional constraints, specifically schooling, where access to academic Spanish ought to take place. Educational policy and practice governing Spanish-English bilingualism and biliteracy for this segment of the bilingual education teacher pipeline is at best incidentalandatworst linguicist. Key words: novice Latina bilingual education teachers' stories