English is White: Transnational Students and Struggles over Language

In “English is White: Transnational Students and Struggles over Language,” Francisco Tamayo examines how language serves as a proxy for race. He focuses on the experiences of transnational students, the majority of whom... [ view full abstract ]

In “English is White: Transnational Students and Struggles over Language,” Francisco Tamayo examines how language serves as a proxy for race. He focuses on the experiences of transnational students, the majority of whom are students of color and multilingual, and the ways that English-only promoters portrayed them as linguistically difficult to assimilate and Americanize. These groups use language as an index of national unity and promote racialized language policies. The presenter will discuss how this reflects hegemonic white supremacist ideologies that construct transnational students as threats to American national and cultural identity because they refuse to be disciplined into a monolingual English-speaking model.

Panel 120