Linguistic Terrorism in the Borderlands: Language Ideologies in the Narratives of Young Adults in the Rio Grande Valley

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn the U.S./Mexico borderlands, local language varieties face frequent discrimination and delegitimization or “linguistic terrorism.” The present study uses the three-level positioning framework to analyze how young adults in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) in south Texas construct borderland identities by positioning themselves with respect to “linguistic terrorism” in sociolinguistic interviews. In their narratives, young adults enact, ascribe, and accept but also reject, subvert, and reconstitute language ideologies, including national identities, raciolinguistic ideologies, and standard language ideologies. An understanding of these multiple and contradictory borderland positionalities holds important implications for critical language awareness as a way for language educators to counter “linguistic terrorism” in both physical and metaphorical borderlands.