Dissertation Defense Announcement Ed.D. in Education Program: Chelsea Crowley “Challenging Standard Language Ideologies: A Design-Based Research Study of Critical Language Awareness in the L2 Spanish Classroom”

Despite the prevalence of Spanish speakers of Latinx varieties in the United States, Peninsular Spanish from Spain is considered the standard for Spanish language instruction. Grounded in dominant language ideology, this practice sends messages to second language learners of Spanish (L2Ls) that only prestigious forms of the language are acceptable and that all other linguistic varieties are inferior, thus positioning L2Ls versus local Latinx communities and threatening language proficiency, as failure to include Latinx varieties leaves L2Ls poorly prepared to communicate with those they are more likely to encounter.

Critical language awareness (CLA), or an understanding of the social, political, and ideological features of language, discourse, and linguistic variation, has emerged as a means of challenging standard language ideologies that promote otherism and limit target language acquisition. However, most research on CLA in Spanish instruction focuses on heritage language learners (HLLs), which places the onus of dismantling inequities on those experiencing them.

This mixed-methods study addressed historically marginalizing instructional practices in Spanish instruction by designing and implementing a CLA-based thematic unit in Level I Spanish instruction, using design-based research (DBR) methodology. This study describes the features of the unit, the perceived effects of the unit on L2 learners (in terms of language use, language ideology, and views of Latinx varieties), and the teacher-researcher’s experience implementing the unit.

The findings that emerged from analysis of audio recordings of class discussions, teacher-generated and student-completed artifacts, reflections, focus group sessions, and survey responses revealed themes and subthemes related to unit design and implementation, as well as, perhaps most importantly, the student experience. Unit content, activities, and instruction revealed a varied and exploratory, yet intentionally scaffolded design that supported learners as they navigated challenging topics and encouraged meaningful participation. Student engagement with unit activities indicated a certain degree of normative thinking, but more so a marked inexperience with many CLA themes, suggesting that future instructional designs can be used to rectify standardizing practices. Findings related to the teacher-researcher’s experience also revealed valuable insight into not only the challenges and successes of implementing CLA-based designs but also the integral role that instructors play in confronting marginalizing practices. The results of this study will inform the design of future secondary-level curricular units, incorporating CLA-based themes that promote continued translingual and transcultural understanding, while also supporting proficiency.