Teacher Agency in Bilingual Spaces

Institutional representations of ‘Spanish’ and ‘Spanglish’: managing competing discourses in heritage language instruction

“…Layla would have benefited from an instructor training program that allowed her to question the ways in which she delineated the boundaries of language and positioned her students and their bilingual practices through interaction in the classroom. The findings support an argument made by Palmer and Martínez (2013) that teachers in bilingual contexts, and the teachers who train them to teach, need to (1) rethink prevailing views about language and question the 'monoglossic ideology' described above and (2) 'think beyond language' to account for the interactional dynamics of the classroom (p. 288).…”

“…According to Palmer and Martínez (2013), 'if teachers develop an understanding of how power operates at the interactional level, they will be better equipped to disrupt the hegemonic discourses and ideologies embedded in classroom interaction ' (p. 288). The findings of the present study suggest that there is a need for HL instructors to reflect on the stances toward language value, language users, and language learning that they represent through their linguistic and interactional practices in the classroom.…”

Self-Reflexive Inquiry Into Language Use and Beliefs: Toward More Expansive Language Ideologies

“…Teachers' metalinguistic awareness impacts teacherstudent interactions and ability to scaffold language for students of various proficiency levels (Andrews, 1999). Teacher educators and monolingual teachers need to investigate their own language uses and beliefs and move past a tendency to question students' diverse language uses (Palmer & Martínez, 2013). A reflective stance shifts from treating language as problem to language as resource and right (Ruiz, 1984).…”

“…Understanding language in their own lives and "taken-for-granted characteristics of everyday talk" may be prerequisite for teachers to effectively support linguistically diverse students (Valdés, Bunch, Snow, Lee, & Matos, 2005, p. 127). In addition, monolingual teachers must problematize their monolingualism rather than questioning students' linguistic diversity (Palmer & Martínez, 2013). Through various pedagogical tools, teacher education may create transformative possibilities of self-reflexive inquiry as method in fostering knowledge for more equitable teaching and learning of linguistically diverse students.…”

“School within a school”: Examining implementation barriers in a Spanish/English transitional bilingual education program

“…This case study shows that teachers in both programs at Cruz felt similar levels of isolation and lack of access to critical dialogues regarding language, culture, and schooling that would have enabled them to identify misconceptions regarding bilingual students and programs. For transitional bilingual programs to support student learning to the highest degree, all staff must be part of the discussion and be provided with the knowledge and training to question power relations (Palmer & Martínez, 2013), value students' cultural and linguistic knowledge and develop an effective program (Ricento & Hornberger, 1996). Critical dialogue will help teachers and administrators develop political and ideological clarity (Bartolomé, 2008).…”