Wednesday, June 18, 2025

Presentation Panel: Ideologies I

Heritage language identities, learning and loss 

Yanka Shimi ('Useless Language') and Mishki Shimi ('Rich Language'): Educators’ Conflicting Language Ideologies toward Kichwa-Influenced Spanish in Ecuador

• Katherine Ward, University of Wisconsin-Madison

[Download presentation slides]

Existing research points to the complex and often conflicting language ideologies in bilingual educators’ beliefs and practices, at times evidencing both hegemonic and counterhegemonic narratives across their discourse and practice. This presentation extends that work to the Ecuadorian context, complexifying it even further, in a setting where dominant Spanish language ideologies and raciolinguistic hierarchies impact the Indigenous languages—principally Kichwa. Through qualitative coding of interviews with 36 teachers at Intercultural Bilingual and Spanish-only schools in the Andean province of Imbabura, six widespread hegemonic (or dominant) language ideologies were identified. Teachers’ ideas about their students’ bilingualism reflected beliefs about standard language, linguistic purism, and promotion of monoglossic language ideologies—reinforcing larger racial, class, and cultural inequalities in the region. Yet, teachers also located Kichwa and Kichwa influenced Spanish within a complex web of larger societal concerns (e.g., discrimination, erasure of markers of Indigeneity), and many—particularly Intercultural Bilingual Educators—identified ways in which Kichwa is a resource within the school environment and beyond (e.g., as a pedagogical tool, secret code, for international attraction). As such, this work champions existing calls for a more nuanced understanding of bilingual teachers’ language ideologies, recognizing the tensions at play in this particular sociolinguistic context of Indigenous languages. It approaches language-in-education research though a teacher solidarity lens (Philip et al., 2016)—especially in the case of Indigenous bilingual educators interviewed—given the complexities of navigating curricular guidelines and scarcity of resources in sustaining the transmission of Kichwa linguistic and cultural heritage in Ecuador.

Konkani Transmission in First Generation Goan-Americans: Colonial Influence on Language Attitudes & Ideologies

• Melissa Gomes, University of California, Davis

[Download presentation slides]

Konkani is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by an estimated two million speakers globally and is an official language of the state of Goa, the smallest state of India. Unlike the majority of India which was under British control for about 100 years, Goa was a Portuguese colony for about 400 years. The resulting linguistic history of Goa and by extension Goan-Americans presents a unique and elucidatory case study on colonial influence on language attitudes and ideologies. This study examines the factors that contribute to maintenance and transmission of Konkani as a heritage language (HL) in first generation Goan-Americans through semi-structure interviews with five first-generation Goan American parents. Qualitative analysis of the interview data indicated three major factors for successful transmission: (1) a strong connection between language and ethnic identity and culture (2) ideologically motivated language practices in the home domain, and (3) religious affiliation in Hindu Goans versus their Catholic counterparts. The group factors that uniquely negatively affect Konkani transmission among Goan-Americans seem to largely stem from the ways in which Goa’s colonial history shaped ideological orientations toward language, including increased comfort with English, internalized Eurocentricity via religious conversion, and high levels of migration prior to immigration to the United States. For Goan-Americans, many of the most impactful factors on Konkani HL maintenance stem from long-term European colonization and its effect on language attitudes and ideologies, but with increased globalization these findings might become more common across immigrant populations.

Teaching Urdu as a Non-Muslim: Navigating Pedagogical, Cultural, and Identity-Based Challenges in Heritage Language Contexts

• Rajiv Ranjan, Ph.D., Michigan State University

[Download presentation slides]

This presentation explores the pedagogical, cultural, and emotional challenges of teaching Urdu as a heritage language in the U.S., especially when the educator is a non-Muslim. Urdu’s association with Islamic culture, its complex Nastaliq script, and its diasporic positioning create unique challenges for both teachers and learners.

Urdu heritage learners often demonstrate strong oral fluency but weak literacy skills. For non-native teachers, particularly those trained in Hindi or English, script instruction and language interference pose additional difficulties. Using differentiated instruction (Valdés, 2001), digital tools (Cummins, 2005), and an interlanguage framework (Montrul, 2010), teachers can address these gaps while honoring students’ linguistic backgrounds.

Identity-based challenges are also significant. Non-Muslim teachers may face skepticism about their legitimacy (Rahman, 2011), while classical Urdu literature’s religious themes require critical and respectful engagement (Pritchett, 1994). Emotional labor and lack of institutional support further complicate their roles (Aneja, 2016).

These issues parallel findings by Sehlaoui and Mousa (2016), who show that without active language maintenance, heritage language loss is inevitable. Drawing on Fishman (1991, 2000), they argue that HL erosion impacts not just communication but also ethnic and religious identity. Yet only 16% of parents in their study recognized these broader stakes. This presentation calls for a more inclusive, critically engaged approach to Urdu pedagogy—one that affirms teacher identity, builds community trust, and supports Urdu’s vitality as both a heritage and global language.