“We Don’t Talk About Race in the Classroom”: Examining Chinese Dual Language Bilingual Education Teachers’ Raciolinguistic Ideologies and Literacy Pedagogy

Abstract

Drawing on a raciolinguistic perspective and theoretical constructs of critical consciousness, this study examines Chinese dual language bilingual education (DLBE) teachers’ lived experiences and the raciolinguistic ideologies shaping their perceived language and literacy pedagogy in the classroom. We conducted semistructured interviews with 10 Utah secondary Chinese DLBE teachers to capture and understand their stories. The findings reveal that teachers’ diverse experiences influenced their ideologies toward language and race as well as their language and literacy instructional practices. While the teachers invested various efforts to facilitate bilingual and biliteracy learning by leveraging students’ background knowledge, they did not engage students in discussing and learning critical topics on race, power, and equity, setting aside the DLBE foundational goal of developing critical consciousness. We argue for the need to support Chinese DLBE teachers to critically examine their raciolinguistic ideologies and practice critical language and literacy pedagogies that challenge oppressive practices and advance equity in Mandarin Chinese DLBE classrooms. Implications for educators, school leaders, policymakers, and families are also discussed.