The Department of Spanish and Portuguese will be hosting Dr. Tasha Austin of the University at Buffalo for her talk on "Pushing Back on AntiBlack Linguistic Pushout in World Language Teacher Preparation."
The event will be hosted via Zoom on September 23, from 2:20-3:40pm.
Zoom Link
Abstract:
Within U.S.-based language education, world languages as a discipline acknowledges the centrality of culture in language teaching and learning. Curricular, pedagogical and assessment practices, particularly as they relate to the preparation and certification of world language teachers, however, reflect a lack of clarity on how language and culture are defined. The conflicting conceptualizations of the relationship between language and culture impacts understandings of language instruction with communities of Black and racially minoritized students. The resulting ideological inconsistencies relative to the expectations of how language and culture should be taken up in the discipline extends to the very terms languageand culturewhich become weaponized in ways that promote “linguistic pushout” (Austin, 2022). Drawing from my praxis as a critical language teacher educator, in this talk I will present the ways in which persistent antiBlackrepresentations and ideologies plague those who study languages in formal spaces from primary through higher education. I will share findings from studies which reveal the raciolinguisticideologies (Flores & Rosa, 2015) world language teacher candidates bring with them to teacher preparation as well as those they encounter during their studies. Finally, I will offer interventions at the class and institutional levels, in addition to theoretical considerations for educational policy and research.
