“They are not losing anything”: preschool educators’ language ideologies and use for young emergent multilinguals labeled with disabilities

Abstract

This study examines preschool educators’ language ideologies and use in dual language bilingual education (DLBE) classrooms for young emergent multilinguals labeled with disabilities (EMLWDs). EMLWDs require services supporting both their linguistic and disability needs; however, current policies either address their linguistic or disability needs. One equity-oriented approach for preparing EMLWDs is through inclusive DLBE. Educators’ language ideologies can enhance or constrain EMLWDs’ access to equitable multilingual spaces. For example, educators’ misconceptions regarding the bilingualism of EMLWDs restrict their access to DLBE. Therefore, there is limited research concerning EMLWDs conducted in preschool DLBE settings. This study aims to fill this literature gap by focusing on educators’ language ideologies and use for EMLWDs in preschool DLBE classrooms, using language ideology and language policy theories, as well as Disability Studies in Education perspective. As an ethnographic study, the data were collected via participant observations, interviews, and recording classroom interactions. The interview data were analyzed using a constant-comparative method, and the video data were analyzed following Erickson’s five-step inductive approach. The findings revealed educators’ three primary language ideologies: multilingual language ideologies, heteroglossic language ideologies, and ideologies that reinforced English dominance. Educators’ language use revealed English as the dominant language and translanguaging for several purposes, such as to scaffold children’s understanding.