Welcoming Historically Under-Represented Groups in Higher Education Through Awareness of Standard English Ideology
In the context of changing demographics at regional universities (including our own), we highlight an ongoing project at our university that addresses the last area of acceptable bias in English-medium higher education: bias against speakers of other languages and non-standard dialects of English. W...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2024-12-01
|
| Series: | Education Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/1/29 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832588660438990848 |
|---|---|
| author | John Hellermann Lynn Santelmann Jennifer Mittelstaedt Janet Cowal Steven L. Thorne |
| author_facet | John Hellermann Lynn Santelmann Jennifer Mittelstaedt Janet Cowal Steven L. Thorne |
| author_sort | John Hellermann |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the context of changing demographics at regional universities (including our own), we highlight an ongoing project at our university that addresses the last area of acceptable bias in English-medium higher education: bias against speakers of other languages and non-standard dialects of English. We discuss the hegemonic aspect of the Standard Academic English used by default at most US institutions of higher education and its role in potential discrimination against users of languages other than English and dialects other than the Standard. Data from over 2000 surveys, 55 follow up interviews, and three focus groups from faculty, staff and students in the university community are being analyzed. Preliminary findings show pervasive ignorance of the nature of language variation and how that plays a role in continuing discrimination against those who use other languages and diverse varieties of English even in our very multilingual setting. We conclude by outlining next steps, including the development of onboarding materials for new faculty, staff, and students. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e38c6ff26eed4061b8d84c86fd1098b2 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2227-7102 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Education Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-e38c6ff26eed4061b8d84c86fd1098b22025-01-24T13:30:13ZengMDPI AGEducation Sciences2227-71022024-12-011512910.3390/educsci15010029Welcoming Historically Under-Represented Groups in Higher Education Through Awareness of Standard English IdeologyJohn Hellermann0Lynn Santelmann1Jennifer Mittelstaedt2Janet Cowal3Steven L. Thorne4Department of Applied Linguistics, Portland State University, Portland, OR 97201, USADepartment of Applied Linguistics, Portland State University, Portland, OR 97201, USADepartment of Applied Linguistics, Portland State University, Portland, OR 97201, USADepartment of Applied Linguistics, Portland State University, Portland, OR 97201, USADepartment of World Languages and Literatures, Portland State University, Portland, OR 97201, USAIn the context of changing demographics at regional universities (including our own), we highlight an ongoing project at our university that addresses the last area of acceptable bias in English-medium higher education: bias against speakers of other languages and non-standard dialects of English. We discuss the hegemonic aspect of the Standard Academic English used by default at most US institutions of higher education and its role in potential discrimination against users of languages other than English and dialects other than the Standard. Data from over 2000 surveys, 55 follow up interviews, and three focus groups from faculty, staff and students in the university community are being analyzed. Preliminary findings show pervasive ignorance of the nature of language variation and how that plays a role in continuing discrimination against those who use other languages and diverse varieties of English even in our very multilingual setting. We conclude by outlining next steps, including the development of onboarding materials for new faculty, staff, and students.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/1/29linguistic diversitydialectmultilingualismstudent success |
| spellingShingle | John Hellermann Lynn Santelmann Jennifer Mittelstaedt Janet Cowal Steven L. Thorne Welcoming Historically Under-Represented Groups in Higher Education Through Awareness of Standard English Ideology Education Sciences linguistic diversity dialect multilingualism student success |
| title | Welcoming Historically Under-Represented Groups in Higher Education Through Awareness of Standard English Ideology |
| title_full | Welcoming Historically Under-Represented Groups in Higher Education Through Awareness of Standard English Ideology |
| title_fullStr | Welcoming Historically Under-Represented Groups in Higher Education Through Awareness of Standard English Ideology |
| title_full_unstemmed | Welcoming Historically Under-Represented Groups in Higher Education Through Awareness of Standard English Ideology |
| title_short | Welcoming Historically Under-Represented Groups in Higher Education Through Awareness of Standard English Ideology |
| title_sort | welcoming historically under represented groups in higher education through awareness of standard english ideology |
| topic | linguistic diversity dialect multilingualism student success |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/1/29 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT johnhellermann welcominghistoricallyunderrepresentedgroupsinhighereducationthroughawarenessofstandardenglishideology AT lynnsantelmann welcominghistoricallyunderrepresentedgroupsinhighereducationthroughawarenessofstandardenglishideology AT jennifermittelstaedt welcominghistoricallyunderrepresentedgroupsinhighereducationthroughawarenessofstandardenglishideology AT janetcowal welcominghistoricallyunderrepresentedgroupsinhighereducationthroughawarenessofstandardenglishideology AT stevenlthorne welcominghistoricallyunderrepresentedgroupsinhighereducationthroughawarenessofstandardenglishideology |