| This linguistic anthropological study focuses on the nebulous borders of language---in relation to other languages and along the vocal/visual continuum. I explore questions concerning the linguistic resources that Latino/a students and their teachers and peers draw upon as they engage in linguistic "border crossings" to communicate within the classroom. Beneath these classroom interactions are underlying assumptions and ideologies about language which affect teachers' and students' language use. The purpose of my study is to understand better how the language ideologies of the educational and the broader community affect the learning experiences of Latino/a students in a historically homogeneous Euro-American midwestern community.;To discover language ideologies in linguistic practice, I conducted participant-observation fieldwork in two elementary schools in Marshalltown, Iowa, in 1997--98. I videotaped and interacted with Latino/a students, their peers and teachers on a daily basis to capture the use of language and gesture in teacher-student and student-student interactions. To discover the language ideologies of the broader Marshalltown community, I explored public discourse on language primarily through the examination of opinions expressed in the local newspaper sources. I compared these ideologies to those of the educational community by analyzing the language ideologies of Latino/a students' teachers through surveys and interviews.;In my examination of the language ideologies of the educational and broader community, I find evidence of two emerging shifts from traditional dominant ideologies. I discuss the traditional language ideologies of nationalist language ideology, which equates one language with one nation, and Cartesian mind-body dualism, which grants meaning-making agency solely to the mind and spoken language. I argue for the shift to newer ideologies of linguistic tolerance, which acknowledges the fluidity between languages, and a semasiological understanding of the integrated role of vocal (speech) and action signs (gestures) in the meaning-making process. I conclude that the educational implications of such a paradigmatic shift among educators include the legitimization of one's whole communicative system, the engagement of Latino/a students more fully in class participation, and the promotion of bilingual education for all students. |
