Teacher beliefs about multilingual learners: how language ideologies shape teachers’ hypothetical policymaking

Katie A. Bernstein, Kate T. Anderson, Kevin Close, Sara Rodriguez Martinez

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Teachers’ language ideologies shape their classroom language policy-making, which in turn shapes students’ opportunities to learn. Attention to language ideologies is therefore critical for teacher educators who seek to support pre- and in-service teachers in becoming pro-multilingual policymakers. This mixed methods, survey-based study explores the language ideologies and hypothetical policy-making of 134 pre- and in-service teachers at a large public university in Arizona. It employs decision tree models to examine connections between participants’ demographics, their language ideologies, and their hypothetical policymaking around Spanish-English dual-language bilingual education (DLBE). Findings show intersections between current and future educators’: (a) contextualized experiences, (b) ability to discuss DLBE accurately (without misunderstandings), and (c) ability to engage concretely with details of hypothetical policy making around DLBE. The study offers a unique vantage point from which to consider how pre- and in-service teacher education can inform teachers’ accurate understandings of DLBE/multilingualism, language ideological stances, and stances toward linguistic diversity.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)191-219
Number of pages29
JournalInternational Multilingual Research Journal
Volume17
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 2023

Keywords

  • Language ideologies
  • decision trees
  • dual language bilingual education
  • policy
  • teachers

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Language and Linguistics
  • Education
  • Linguistics and Language

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