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

Abstract

In the US/Mexico borderlands, local language varieties face frequent discrimination and delegitimization, described by Anzaldúa (1987) as 'linguistic terrorism.' The present study uses the three-level positioning framework (Bamberg & Georgakopoulou, 2008) 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.

Framing of COVID-19 in Newspapers: A Perspective from the US-Mexico Border

“…The RGV’S geographical position at the U.S.-Mexico border, poverty, geopolitics, culture, eco-diversity, trade activities, public health issues, and immigration, etc. are among the topics examined [ 46 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 ]. Among public health issues, the RGV gets attention for its higher rates of obesity and diabetes among the people living in colonias [ 56 ].…”

Mediated Bricolage and the Sociolinguistic Co-Construction of No Sabo Kids

“…The process of linking linguistic practices with racial/ethnic categories emphasizes the creation of difference and deficit, allowing for the subordination of multilingual, Latinx linguistic repertoires against monolingual and white language practices (García et al 2021). The linguistic policing that happens has been described as "linguistic terrorism" in Anzaldúa (1987) and Christoffersen (2019). Bilingual speakers face hostile perceptions and actions, like unnecessary repetition requests (as the data here will show) and placement in remedial education programs, for example.…”

Toward a Transnational University: WAC/WID Across Borders of Language, Nation, and Discipline

“…(Please see Gentil, this volume, for a similar attempt to bridge multidisciplinary and translingual approaches to writing in a case study set in the Canadian Francophone-Anglophone context.) Although we (and our institution) are still trying to answer that question, by the end of the project back in 2016, we arrived at a point of convergence, which sees the diverse linguistic and rhetorical realities in our region as a site where writing and language fluidity, hybridity and blurring of boundaries is the norm (Brunk-Chavez et al, 2015;Christoffersen, 2019). Furthermore, this convergence treats students and teachers as experts in languaging (Robinson et al, 2020).…”