The downfall: listening to non-urban communities and their language ideologies

ABSTRACT

Increased mobility due to globalization and other geopolitical shifts has changed school demographics worldwide. In the Midwest, much of this new immigrant population is Spanish-speaking and in need of language support. Consequently, schools play an important role in responding to the New Latino Diaspora. In this paper, we describe how unconscious language ideologies inhibited social change that could improve conditions for new student populations in two non-urban high schools in Nebraska (Stockbridge and Springvale, pseudonyms). This critical discourse analysis draws on ethnographic data from a larger study, including participant observations and semi-structured interviews. Findings reveal language ideologies that use language to mask issues of race/ethnicity that represent a positive “us” and negative “them.” We conclude by suggesting ways in which schools can take responsibility for developing the linguistic and cultural practices and ways of knowing unique to new student populations, rather than using language as an excuse for continued inequity.

Acknowledgments

A shorter version of this paper was presented as part of a panel on “Language as Activism” at the American Anthropological Association (AAA) Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., December 1, 2017. The authors would like to thank the panel members, discussants, chair, and audience members for their comments and suggestions.

Notes

1. We recognize the complex nature of the debate between using “Hispanic” versus “Latin@/Latinx”; however, as a result of this study’s students exclusively using the term “Hispanic” in their self-identifications, we have opted to remain consistent with their terminology throughout this paper.

2. We use the term “non-urban” throughout the paper to encompass both the rural and micropolitan nature of this study’s two research sites. The term “micropolitan” corresponds with the United States Census Bureau’s designation of an urban cluster (i.e., a place with a population between 10,000 and 50,000).

3. In excerpts from participant interviews, words or phrases in bold signify they are points of focus in the analysis.

4. “Deixis” refers to words used for purposes of positioning subjects in time and space such as“they” “them” “here” “there” “now”.