MRC Speaker Series: Nelson Flores (Penn)

“Technically an EL”: Race, Language and the Construction of Deficiency

Abstract: Raciolinguistic ideologies co-construct language and race in ways that frame the language practices of racialized communities as inherently deficient. One manifestation of raciolinguistic ideologies imposed on Latinx communities is that they have failed to fully master either English or Spanish. This presentation will examine one raciolinguistic category that has emerged from this discourse—students who are institutionally designated as English Learners (ELs) but who are also positioned as L1 users of English. I offer case studies of three students at a dual language school in a segregated primarily Latinx community who fit this linguistic profile. I examine the ways that teachers working with these students struggle to make sense of this seeming contradiction often resorting to deficit perspectives as an explanation. I end with implications of these findings for developing new conceptualizations of the language practices of Latinx students that resist raciolinguistic ideologies.

Bio: Nelson Flores (PhD) is an associate professor in educational linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania. His research examines the intersection of language, race, and the political economy in shaping U.S. educational policies and practices. He has been the recipient of many academic awards including the 2017 AERA Bilingual Education SIG Early Career Award, a 2017 Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship, and the 2019 James Alatis Prize for Research on Language Planning and Policy in Educational Contexts.