Abstract
This chapter explores the sociopolitical implications of adopting multilingual pedagogies in teacher education. More specifically, the authors draw on data from a qualitative inquiry of how racism manifested and was addressed and ignored within an online undergraduate ESL methodology course for pre-service teachers (PSTs). Classwork from PSTs and interviews with PSTs revealed that race was an uncomfortable topic that PSTs rarely underscored despite the inextricable link between language and race. Using white fragility as a guiding framework, the authors highlight how the predominantly White PSTs understood and perceived the course’s coverage of race. Considering the limited coverage of race in the course, the PSTs’ confusion with key terminology, and patterns of defensive behaviors in response to discussions on race, the chapter closes with suggestions of how to raise racial awareness in an effort to better implement the instruction of multilingual pedagogies in language methodology courses.
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Notes
- 1.
Although the first and second authors have both taught the course before, only two of the nine participants, including Amelia, were students of the first author.
- 2.
The Chinese government recognizes 56 ethnic groups; multiple languages and cultural practices exist which differ from the mainstream Han culture (Central Intelligence Agency 2020).
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Gordon, R.R., Reichmuth, H.L., Her, L., De Costa, P.I. (2021). Thinking Beyond “Languaging” in Translanguaging Pedagogies: Exploring Ways to Combat White Fragility in an Undergraduate Language Methodology Course. In: Lanvers, U., Thompson, A.S., East, M. (eds) Language Learning in Anglophone Countries. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56654-8_22
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