Introducing LangCrit: Critical Language and Race Theory

Abstract

Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) scholars have recently drawn on critical race theory (CRT) to critique and understand the propagation of Whiteness as a norm associated with native English speakers. However, the area of language studies, more broadly defined, has yet to develop the same link with CRT. To this end, this article proposes and introduces an emerging theoretical and analytical framework called LangCrit, or Critical Language and Race Theory. LangCrit puts the intersection of the subject-as-heard and the subject-as-seen at the forefront of interpretation and analysis. This article urges language studies scholars, both within the field of English language teaching and beyond, to continue to look for ways in which race, racism, and racialization intersect with issues of language, belonging, and identity.

Translanguaging: Definitions, Implications, and Further Needs in Burgeoning Inquiry

“…Examples of translanguaging by speakers' age in publications presenting empirical data All together, 37 of the 53 analyzed texts presented empirical data on translanguaging, either through transcripts of oral language or through samples of written language. Works that did not analyze or discuss participants' translanguaging, even though they may have cited or alluded to empirical studies and their findings, included literature reviews (Lewis, Jones, & Baker, 2012a, 2012b, historical analyses (García 2011a, summative works and guides aimed at practitioners (Ascenzi-Moreno et al, 2013;Baker, 2011;García, 2009a;García et al, 2013;García & Kleifgen, 2010), and theoretical essays or articles (Crump, 2014;García, 2009bGarcía, , 2011bGarcía, , 2014aGarcía, , 2014cGarcía & Flores, 2014;Orellana & García, 2014). With 27 instances, preK-12 school settings accounted for the majority of examples of translanguaging, and within this sample, the primary grades were particularly well represented.…”

A critique of the principle of error correction as a theory of social change

“…Critical race theory explains the persistence of racism by highlighting the material consequences for those it targets and for those it benefits. Most relevant for understanding the PEC, CRT argues that racism's persistence partly relies on dominant discourses on racism that obscure its origins and consequences (Delgado 1989;Delgado & Stefancic 2001;Hill 2008;Crump 2014;Richardson 2015). In this article, I apply a CRT framework to sociolinguistic scholarship to reveal notions about racism that have been taken for granted through PEC-inspired work.…”

Race and language teaching

“…The complicated crossroads of race and language offer a fertile space for exploring the multilayered intersectionality of these identities. Therefore, given that race intersects in complex ways with other social and identity markers, research in language teaching must address a gap in understanding how this intersectionality explicitly operates in language teaching (Crump, 2014). Romero (2017) argues for moving away from a variable-by-variable approach, which would have us focus on one facet of identity at a time, noting that such a perspective limits our ability to engage with 'diversified identities and identification practices' (p. 325).…”