As Cultures Collide

Abstract

The voices of English-language learners (ELLs) and their families and communities are often marginalized in the discourse regarding the education of linguistic-minority students. Moreover, efforts aimed at improving educational outcomes for ELLs are often rooted in a deficit perspective that views linguistically diverse students of color as inferior and undesirable. Therefore, in an effort to foreground their voices and, at the same time, to critique inaccurate assumptions regarding this community, our chapter utilizes an unorthodox methodology to ensure the inclusion of frequently silenced voices. Our approach draws from cultural sources including print media, documentary films, personal experience, family stories, and academic research. Our approach parallels the “counter-story” methodology described by Solórzano and Yosso (2002) as a “tool for exposing, analyzing, and challenging majoritarian stories” (p. 23) by centering the experiences and voices of marginalized peoples. In this chapter, we forward the subaltern voices of current and former ELL students, as well as their family and community members, with the goal of contributing to a more complex understanding of ELLs and the sociopolitical context of their education. As multicultural teacher educators, we concur with Les Back (1996) that “these muted voices must be integrated into any understanding of the contemporary politics of culture and identity” (p. 6) and, further, that today’s teachers must understand their work in relation to ELLs’ personal and collective struggles, for example, for cultural survival, educational equity, and social justice.