“I Look Mexican, So They Assume I Speak Spanish”: Latinx Teacher Candidates’ Experiences With Raciolinguistic Policing

Abstract

AbstractThis critical discourse analysis study examines Latinx primary and secondary school teacher candidates’ (TCs) struggles with raciolinguistic ideologies that connect speaking Spanish to being authentically Latinx. Data came from a larger qualitative project, in which these TCs engaged in reflexive language ideology and awareness tasks, as part of an English‐as‐a‐second‐language methods class at a large Hispanic‐serving university in Texas. In this study, we center Latinx TCs’ experiences with and responses to raciolinguistic ideologies framing them as linguistically lacking and/or ethnically inauthentic. Our findings have implications for the ways teacher educators engage Latinx TCs in the interrogation of language ideologies during teacher preparation. We conclude this article by offering pathways for educators to engage Latinx TCs in challenging the practice of marginalizing Latinx individuals via their language practices.