Language and Discrimination in the Classroom

Since the conception of public education in the United States, assimilation practices to the Anglo-Saxon culture and English language have been prevalent in schools. Even though the United States does not have an official language (despite attempts by Congressmen to establish that), the use of English has been part of that. Restrictive language policies are discriminatory tools that attempt 'to support and perpetuate social structures and unequal power relations'.

In the United States Standard English is the main language of education and often teachers will only accept this form of English in their classroom. Historically this has led to discrimination of speakers of Nonstandard English or speakers of other languages than English. In the late 19th century for instance, students of the Carlisle Indian School were forbidden from speaking their own indigenous language. In 1977 a lawsuit filed by African-American mothers who claimed that their '...children were disproportionately placed in special education classes and speech/language pathology services' because of their use of African-American Vernacular English. This lawsuit led to the Ann Arbor Decision that mandated more appreciation of language diversity in that school district.

Language discrimination still occurs on a regular basis in the classroom and should be a focus of the abolitionist teacher. Standard English is the language that is associated with Anglo-Saxon culture and whiteness. People that have been historically discriminated against for their use of a different dialect of English or an other language have been predominantly (but not exclusively) non-white. Discriminatory practices against people not adhering to the norm of Standard English is a form of oppression within a society of white supremacy. Teachers should educate themselves on embracing and celebrating linguistic variety in their classroom, instead of perpetuating discriminatory practices. This is what this post it about.

Dr. Bancu and Ms. Weissler claim that 'Language is an often unrecognized factor in discrimination, particularly for people who speak minoritized linguistic varieties. Through schooling, we internalize pedagogies that emphasize the idealization of native English speakers and the standard language: standard US English is promoted as the proper/correct way of speaking English, and schoolchildren who speak minoritized dialects and languages are admonished for their way of speaking.'

Dr. Ariana Bancu (NEIU - Linguistics) and PhD candidate Rachel Weissler (University of Michigan - Linguistics) share thoughts and insights about language and discrimination in the classroom in this video:

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On Friday November 13th Dr. Bancu and Ms. Weissler will facilitate a Professional Development Seminar about Language and Discrimination online for NEIU. More information about this seminar (that will most likely become a webinar) can be found here. Instructions for signing up can be found in this brochure.

You can read more about the workings of Language and Discrimination in this article, co-written by Ms. Weissler

Lisa Delpit's chapter 'Language Diversity and Learning' is a great additional reading as well, especially for educators who want to create a linguistically inclusive classroom.