Language Standardization and Linguistic Subordination in the English-Language Learning Classroom: Lessons for Culturally-Sensitive Teaching
 
Meilyn Farina (August 2024)
 
Abstract
 
This paper reflects on linguistic subordination and language standardization
in public schools to demonstrate how English-language learning (ELL) students are harmed academically, emotionally, and socially due to a lack of culturally-sensitive English instruction. While ELLs are talented individuals who navigate various speech communities, educators with deficit thinking misrecognize their intelligence. As a result of white monolingual speech practices being the norm in the U.S. education system, students who do not use Standard American English are deemed as uneducated, improper, and disorderly. ELLs’ self-confidence and mental wellness suffers due to anxiety and trauma they experience inside and outside of the classroom, which
negatively impacts their second-language acquisition and their academic growth. Using social and emotional data from District of Columbia Public Schools, this paper demonstrates the significance of incorporating students’ cultures and home languages into the classroom, ending with recommendations for how educators can eliminate language standardization from their classrooms and create inclusive environments.