Valuing Languages Differently is Discrimination
<p>What determines value? Does every language already have “value,” or must a language acquire something in particular to be deemed valuable? Professor Elaine posed a similar question in class the other day, pertaining to the word “culture” instead. “Identity and Activism in Heritage Language Education” talks about the position of language in a society that fosters a certain value system (in this case, that of the dominant white U.S. community). Latinx students are often not permitted to speak Spanish in the classroom, hindering their vocal freedom and linguistic capacity, and potentially destabilizing their identities. The article describes part of this issue as the education system’s tendency to favor bilingual education for monolingual students. In other words, it is more valuable for a white person to speak various languages than a student of color.</p>
<p><a href="https://medium.com/latinxed/valuing-languages-differently-is-discrimination-93f8f1228d66"><strong>Learn More</strong></a></p>