Language and Linguistic Prejudice Related to Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Identity

FAIN: ES-288117-22

Saginaw Valley State University (University Center, MI 48710-0001)
Natalia Knoblock (Project Director: February 2022 to October 2023)
Veronika Drake (Project Director: October 2023 to March 2025)
Veronika Drake (Co Project Director: February 2022 to October 2023)
Natalia Knoblock (Co Project Director: October 2023 to March 2025)

A two-week, residential institute for 30 K-12 teachers to study linguistic prejudice related to race, ethnicity, gender, and identity.

The project on Language and Linguistic Prejudice aims to address the fact that most people renounce discrimination related to race, ethnicity, gender, and identity, but continue holding discriminatory beliefs about language. The Institute will examine linguistic bias and discrimination tied to ethnicity and race as well as to gender. It will discuss the dominant linguistic ideology, Standard English and non-standard varieties, discrimination toward “foreigner accents,” the English-only movement in the US, and the extermination of Native American languages during colonization. The Institute will further analyze gender stereotypes about language use and examine the multiple ways language reflects and further perpetuates such stereotypes, heteronormativity, and homophobia. The goal of the Institute is to increase K-12 educators’ understanding of the nature and function of language and the importance of language choice for equitable and inclusive teaching approaches.