Why Linguistic Diversity Matters on College Campuses
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Why Linguistic Diversity Matters on College Campuses
Simple strategies for faculty to avoid perpetuating language-based discrimination against users of minoritized Englishes in the classroom
As writing instructors at BU, a leading host of international students with a growing population of underrepresented minorities, we see every day how cultural and linguistic diversity enriches the intellectual life in our classrooms. But the University’s recent Belonging & Culture Survey reminds us that despite BU’s demonstrated commitment to Diversity and Inclusion (D&I), we need to do more, individually and institutionally, to foster belonging on campus. As teachers of linguistically minoritized students, we believe that linguistic diversity deserves recognition as a key part of our institutional and nationwide conversations about D&I as well as our daily classroom practices.
All three of us are white and grew up speaking English at home. We experienced few barriers in mastering academic writing, which has opened many doors for us. And we want to open the same doors for our students. But we have come to understand that although educators often present academic writing as ideologically neutral and universal, Standard Written English is based on Western, white, middle-class language norms to which students have uneven access.
Many linguists agree that all languages—including stigmatized varieties of English like Black Language and World Englishes—are equally able to convey human experience. But too often, well-meaning faculty suggest that Standard Written English is superior, using words like “proper” and “appropriate” that can gloss over racialized value judgments—such as the belief that double negatives are illogical. In doing so, we risk perpetuating linguicism, or language-based discrimination against users of minoritized Englishes.
In a recent policy report from BU’s Center for Antiracist Research, Cynthia Willis Esqueda and Tyler Press Sutherland, antibigotry convening fellows at the center, trace American linguicism back to Colonial times, when settlers attempted to strip indigenous peoples and African slaves of their languages and cultures through English-only mandates. Today, linguicism pervades US legal and educational systems, where it often goes hand-in-hand with racial prejudice.
Just recently, we were horrified to learn that three college students were gunned down on a street in Burlington, Vt., while “talking in a combination of English and Arabic.” A motive hasn’t yet been established, but the possibility that linguistic and racial prejudice may have contributed to the incident drives home for us the devastating consequences of linguicism and the urgent need to prioritize linguistic justice in conversations about D&I.
BU faculty might feel powerless in the face of such injustice. However, we can counteract linguicism right now, in our own classrooms, with these simple strategies.
Students expect a BU education to equip them with the writing skills needed in the professional world—even though that world is fraught with linguistic bias. But teaching Standard Written English need not disadvantage linguistically minoritized students if we present it with some historical context and a dose of humility. Proceeding as though English has one always-correct, always-understood form does students a disservice. Language is always contextual, and English belongs to all who use it.
“Stroll up and down Commonwealth Avenue and you’ll hear countless languages and dialects,” BU’s Global Programs website says, celebrating our “global DNA.” But BU must go beyond celebrating linguistic diversity to actively resist linguicism in our classrooms and in our institutional values. By recognizing linguistic equity as a necessary component of a safe and inclusive campus, BU can help realize its Strategic Vision of industry-wide leadership in diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Sarah Madsen Hardy is a College of Arts & Sciences master lecturer and director of its Writing Program; she can be reached at smhardy@bu.edu. Christina Michaud is a master lecturer in the CAS Writing Program and its associate director for English Language Learning; she can be reached at cmichaud@bu.edu. Karen Guendel is a College of General Studies lecturer in rhetoric; she can be reached at kareng@bu.edu.
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