A Call for Converse Racialization: Online Linguistic Landscapes of Southeastern US HSIs
Location
Golden Eagles
Department
Linguistics
Abstract
This presentation analyzes the online linguistic landscape (OLL) of Southeastern Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) to examine the role that languages other than English (LOTE), Spanish specifically, play on the websites vis-à-vis English. Similar to results from prior analysis of the OLL of 22 Midwestern HSIs and other supporting studies, Spanish in the OLL of HSIs in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Virginia primarily serves an emblematic function or symbolic function rather than any other communicative or informative function in the digital world. This study adds to the growing research on schoolscapes, i.e., the linguistic landscape of educational settings. HSIs typically began as white institutions that were later designated as HSIs based on their Latinx enrollment. Accordingly, English is privileged on all the sites for the Southeastern HSIs. Nonetheless, the amount of Spanish present in the OLL does range from none (e.g. Cossatot Community College of the University of Arkansas) to full mission statements (e.g. Dalton State College). When there is communicative LOTE on Southeastern HSI websites, it is more often found in contexts where traditional Latinx students appear to be the target audience when compared to prior findings in Midwestern HSIs where the target audiences of communicative LOTE were primarily non-traditional adult students or family members. The choice of language is not neutral, and as Lehner (2022:33) points out, “the meaning of signs is not fixed but emerges in interaction and is, as a result, highly contextual and use-dependent.” Nonetheless, there is still a large percentage of emblematic LOTE on Southeastern HSI websites. The largely emblematic/symbolic function of Spanish leads us to call for converse racialization in the Southeastern HSI OLL which is supported by other recent linguistic studies on HSIs.
Faculty Sponsor
Richard Hallett, Northeastern Illinois University
A Call for Converse Racialization: Online Linguistic Landscapes of Southeastern US HSIs
Golden Eagles
This presentation analyzes the online linguistic landscape (OLL) of Southeastern Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) to examine the role that languages other than English (LOTE), Spanish specifically, play on the websites vis-à-vis English. Similar to results from prior analysis of the OLL of 22 Midwestern HSIs and other supporting studies, Spanish in the OLL of HSIs in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Virginia primarily serves an emblematic function or symbolic function rather than any other communicative or informative function in the digital world. This study adds to the growing research on schoolscapes, i.e., the linguistic landscape of educational settings. HSIs typically began as white institutions that were later designated as HSIs based on their Latinx enrollment. Accordingly, English is privileged on all the sites for the Southeastern HSIs. Nonetheless, the amount of Spanish present in the OLL does range from none (e.g. Cossatot Community College of the University of Arkansas) to full mission statements (e.g. Dalton State College). When there is communicative LOTE on Southeastern HSI websites, it is more often found in contexts where traditional Latinx students appear to be the target audience when compared to prior findings in Midwestern HSIs where the target audiences of communicative LOTE were primarily non-traditional adult students or family members. The choice of language is not neutral, and as Lehner (2022:33) points out, “the meaning of signs is not fixed but emerges in interaction and is, as a result, highly contextual and use-dependent.” Nonetheless, there is still a large percentage of emblematic LOTE on Southeastern HSI websites. The largely emblematic/symbolic function of Spanish leads us to call for converse racialization in the Southeastern HSI OLL which is supported by other recent linguistic studies on HSIs.