Toxic Ideologies and a Recipe to Save the Day
This is the second blog post in a series: Disrupting the Monolingual Bias. You can read the first post here.
Just learn english
“Why don’t they just learn English?!” Tasha whines. Tasha is taking my graduate course on bilingual and multicultural theories and principles. She is in her mid-40s, of Eastern-European heritage, herself an immigrant on US soil and she speaks with a heavy accent.
These disruptions have been going on for weeks. When I address language-focused pedagogies and the dispositions Villegas (2007) talks about in her work helping teacher educators prepare new teachers for supporting bilingual students, Tasha balks. She is so convinced of her own mastery of the English language, she is constantly judging her fellow graduate students and their so-called unwillingness to assimilate to US culture. Ironically, many of the students in my class are US-born bilinguals and display greater fluency in English than Tasha herself.
Four weeks into the course, Tasha leaves.
The Heart of the Matter
I’m not starting here to shame Tasha (although I can’t say I didn’t clap back, loudly). I’m starting here because this experience brings us to the heart of the matter: the toxic ideologies that are so deeply ingrained in our cultural paradigms, they are often unconscious, and thus are dangerously effective in keeping systemic inequities and power imbalances in place.
“I can’t say I didn’t clap back. loudly.”
Enter my upcoming workbook, Disrupting the Monolingual Bias, which is dangerously effective in flipping these toxic ideologies on their head. No one can fight this good fight alone. So I’m here to provide you with data-driven research and dozens of activities that you can use to explore your own strengths and weaknesses, and that you can bring into the classroom to support your emergent bilinguals.
Appetite for Change
10 part recipe to disrupt the monolingual bias
If you’re here, I’m guessing you’re as hungry for change as I am, so today, I’m going to share an easy-to-follow recipe that you can use as a starting point, then share this recipe with your Monolingual Disruptor allies. So strap on your metaphorical apron and don’t be shy about licking the spoon.
2 parts reckoning with your relationship to languages
1 part tenacity
2 parts acknowledging loneliness, frustration and disappointment
3 parts curiosity for sociolinguistic theories on language learning
1 part humility
2 parts belief that you are someone who deserves to be heard
5 parts gratitude for your journey to bilingualism
En Comunidad, siempre…
But this is not a solo enterprise; you’re going to have to share the cookies. So much of this work relies upon relationship-building. You are going to face off with your own Tashas, monolingual listening subjects* who are noisy and push back, hard. In addition to garnering the courage to speak up, you will need to practice self-care and boundary-setting. You’re also going to get into it with powerful stakeholders, people you need on your side, but who have little to offer beyond deficiency soundbites. It will be crucial to connect with other equity-minded practitioners and mentors.
That’s where I come in. My name is Dr. Lillian Ardell, and I am delighted to guide and collaborate with you. Subscribe now to join the ranks of radical advocates for bilingual education.
*monolingual listening subjects are stakeholders whose bias is so deeply engrained in their thinking that they present as self-righteous, dogmatic, and are nearly impossible to convince of the power of bilingualism. Inspiration for this term goes to Jonathan Rosa and Nelson Flores from their construct “White Listening Subject”.
