“No Difference Between African American,Immigrant, or White Children! They Are All the Same.”: Working Toward Developing Teachers’ Raciolinguistic Attitudes Towards ELs

Abstract

This study explored Midwestern US teachers’ raciolinguistic attitudes toward English learners. Two research questions guided the study: “How did teachers perceive racism and linguicism” and “How did a professional training influence teachers’ awareness of them?” Critical race theory was used to examine how racism evolved into racialized linguicism. Data analysis demonstrated that teachers tended to conflate the experiences of African American students and English learners, even though they are linguistically and culturally distinct. They also tended to understand the racism and linguicism encountered by the two groups in Black/White and Standard-English/Nonstandard-English binaries. Implications consider the future direction of TESOL teacher education.