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Learning to Listen to all the Different Voices: A 
Teacher’s Journey to Shifting Paradigms in 

Language Variation and Diversity 

By April Linnea Poindexter 
aprilgardner22@yahoo.com   

Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia 

 
As a veteran educator, I prided myself on embracing a pedagogy that valued 
diversity in the classroom.  However, it wasn’t until I enrolled in a graduate 
course in language variation and learning that I was challenged to deeply explore 
my evolving language paradigm.  

Keywords:  Language, diversity, language variation, professional development, 
paradigm, teacher 

 

Shifting Paradigms Starting with Self 

If you believe that children’s language can be “deficient,” then you 
might be tempted to try to improve their language in some way. If you 
believe on the contrary that the concept of language deficit does not 
make much sense, and that there is nothing wrong with the language 
of any normal child, then you will probably believe that schooling 
should not interfere with a child’s dialects.  And if you believe that 
linguistic disadvantage arises largely from people’s intolerance and 
prejudice towards language differences, then you will probably try to 
change people’s attitudes to language. (Stubbs, 2002, p.79) 

 

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mailto:aprilgardner22@yahoo.com


If the quote above were actually a quiz of multiple choice, could you use 

your natural wit and skill to apply process of elimination and cleverly whittle down 

the responses to identify the “best” answer?  Many people probably could. 

However, what happens when you know the correct response but your actions 

and ideologies force you to select a different choice? I share this example as a 

metaphor for my experience in the shifting and reshaping of my language 

paradigm.  As an elementary educator and a first-year doctoral student enrolled in 

a course in language variation, when I came across this quote in my research, it 

deeply resonated with me. In the margins of the text, I wrote a question for 

myself: “Where do you stand?”  As my language course continued, I had the 

opportunity to reflect on that question from a new perspective. I became 

positioned to understand language as socially situated, and as the core of the 

human experience. 

The Origins of a Language Paradigm 

I had the privilege of growing up in a biracial family.  I refer to my racial 

background as such, because it afforded me the opportunity to dually participate 

in language and cultural variances. I have a White mother and Black father.  It is 

not so much the racial difference as it is the individual social and cultural 

backgrounds of my mom and dad which led to the speech differences between 

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them. Barrett (1999) contends that speakers’ “utterances reflect the nuances of 

identity in multilayered ways that cannot be broken down into smaller 

components” (Fought, 2013, p.389). My mom grew up in the suburbs of Buffalo, 

New York.  Her family was well-educated, and working middle-class.  My dad on 

the other hand grew up in a small predominantly Black neighborhood in 

Memphis, Tennessee.  He came from a working-class family with a single mom.  

These “multilayers” of my parents’ upbringing contribute to their identity(ies), 

which ultimately connect to their language use and child-rearing practices.  

Both of my parents speak, what I always thought of as “Standard English”. 

However, I now realize that by labeling one variation of English as the “standard”, 

other variations are then subsequently positioned as inferior. Today I recognize 

the gravity of the assumptions inherent in this term, and avoid using it. While 

both of my parents use a socially-privileged dialect, my dad often employs 

stylistic, semantic, and speech variances situated within an African American 

Vernacular English (AAVE) that my mom does not use.  For example, my dad will 

say, “I’m going to the store right quick”, or “We gone leave round ten…What time 

it is?” He may use the word “ain’t”. Growing up, my sister and I were acutely 

aware of these subtle dialectal differences used by our dad. At times we would 

poke fun of him, or curiously inquire about a phrase he used or the way he 

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pronounced a word. In retrospect, the linguistic observations I made as child 

formed the beginnings of my language paradigm. In making fun of the subtle 

speech differences of my dad, I recognize that I had subconsciously learned to 

privilege one English dialect over another.  

  I recall upper elementary and middle school as a time when I began to play 

with language. In elementary school, my friend had a book of hand-clap games 

and rhymes for “Black girls”.  We would sit for hours melodically singing the chants 

and clapping the beat. These lyrics and rhymes were in AAVE dialect. I briefly 

considered that I could easily flow from this dialect, to the socially and 

academically privileged dialect. Soon, I began to recognize the value in being able 

to speak other dialects, such as AAVE. The versatility allowed me to fluidly 

participate in both predominantly White and Black social and professional circles 

and institutions. I began to connect pride in my ability to code-switch and utilize 

my dual-culture upbringing as cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1986). “By code-

switching, individuals can capitalize on the linguistic values associated with both a 

heritage language and a variety with broader regional, social, and national 

implications” (Fought, 2013, p. 393). Therefore, code-switching abilities must be 

(re)considered as “linguistic tools”, an asset that allows one to participate in 

varied spaces and successfully communicate with multiple groups (Taylor, 

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Bernhard, Garg, & Cummins, 2008).  As a young adult, I came to know the value 

inherent in different dialects as well as languages.  However it was not until I was 

in my third year of teaching when I began to see the larger and systemic issues 

connected to language.  

The Intersection of Language and Schooling  

During my third year teaching, I was hired to teach a summer school 

reading program for students who had failed the state achievement test. In my 

class that summer were two ELL refugee students from Cambodia.  Neither girl 

could speak or read English well, one hardly at all. The entire structure of the 

program seemed to disregard any cultural differences, and unjustly set the same 

expectations for immigrant and refugee students.  I couldn't help but question the 

purpose.  What messages were being sent to these students?  By positioning them 

as deficient by way of language, what claims were educators asserting about their 

identity?  By condemning and penalizing students in school for not speaking 

English, or in particular, a privileged academic dialect, we use power structures 

and authority to cultivate a sense of inferiority in students. In doing so we 

effectively and systematically chip away at their very identity and self-concept 

thereby devaluing them as human beings. 

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 This was an eye-opener for me in terms of the inequity embedded in 

education policy. Espinosa (2009) asserts the following in regard to young Dual 

Language Learners: “Depending on the language-learning context, negative 

emotions such as anxiety and self-consciousness may interfere with learning and 

limit the child's ability to benefit from instructional strategies developed for his or 

her support” (Gutiérrez, Zepeda, & Castro, 2010, p. 377).  Educators, researchers, 

and policy-makers cannot continue to ignore the voices of minority and ethnic 

students, less, marginalization of students is perpetuated. 

Teaching Tolerance through Language Diversity  

If the world of policy is too large to tackle and too slow going, I've learned 

small changes can occur at the schoolhouse level almost instantly by purposefully 

activating conversations on race, culture, and language variation with students 

and creating a space for new meaning making experiences. Presenting language in 

a critical light for children affords them the opportunity to expand upon on their 

own language paradigms. For example, during a unit on the contributions of Cesar 

Chavez, I decided to take a strong focus on Chavez's schooling experiences and the 

discrimination he faced as an English language learner.  I shared a powerful video 

clip with my third grade students from a social experiment hidden camera show 

called, “What Would You Do?” This particular episode featured a Spanish speaking 

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family ordering food at a restaurant in the U.S. while a white male taunts and 

teases the mother, telling her to “speak American” or “Go to Taco Bell”. During 

this video clip some students sat quiet and wide-eyed. Others couldn’t contain 

their disapproval, and yelled out to the antagonistic man that he was wrong. After 

the video segment, students were free to share their own experiences and 

thoughts on language discrimination. Creating a space for dialogue on these 

issues can aid students in thinking more deeply and critically about language 

variation so that they may display both confidence and tolerance in embracing 

their own language varieties and those of others.  Lisa Delpit suggests the 

following for teachers: 

First they should recognize that the linguistic form a student brings to 
school is intimately connected with loved ones, community, and 
personal identity.  To suggest that this form is “wrong” or, even 
worse, ignorant, is to suggest that something is wrong with the 
student and his or her family (1995, p. 53).  
 

 Seeing the impact of bringing critical language conversations into the 

classroom with my students prompted me to extend this opportunity to the 

teachers with whom I work. Therefore, this year I started a professional book club 

at my school.  My hope is that it will serve as a long term platform for professional 

development through exposure to critical literature and discourse so teachers may 

begin to reconceptualize language diversity in our classrooms through culturally-

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responsive pedagogy and paradigm shifts. Thus far, our conversations have 

certainly extended to race, stereotypes, privilege, and access.  

New Experiences and an Evolving Paradigm  

I have been fortunate to work at a wonderful public elementary school for 

the majority of my teaching career. My school is widely known for its academic 

status as a top-performing school in the district as well as the state. However, it is 

the sense of community and the relationships among the students, families, and 

staff that speak loudest to those familiar with our school. The atmosphere is 

warm and supportive, and one in which the values of care and respect are at the 

forefront. Nestled in the historic neighborhoods of a major metropolitan city in 

Georgia, my school serves a population of roughly 600 students. Currently the 

approximate racial /ethnic makeup of the student body is as follows: 60% white, 

20% Black, 14% Asian, and less than 6% identifying as Hispanic, Indian, Pacific 

Islander, or students who identify as one or more races (Georgia Department of 

Education, 2015a). While the racial composition reflect a somewhat diverse mix 

of students’ cultural and linguistic diversity, there is more homogeneity among 

students and families in terms of social economic status.  The majority of students 

come from upper middle-class families, with parents who are well-educated, 

working professionals. But educators, administration, and teacher leaders at my 

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school recognize that these characteristics do not reflect the entire student body. 

Indeed there are students whose lived experiences consist of single-parent 

households, homelessness, low socioeconomic status, limited access to resources, 

and undervalued home language and literacy practices. 

The desire to examine these issues of inequity in a school and community 

context has prompted us to create a new initiative; a space to better understand 

all of our students and explore our own cultural biases that may exist.  As luck 

would have it, shortly after the administration began efforts to partner with 

university professors and a representative from the National Association of 

Multicultural Education, we received news that our school district would redraw 

the local school boundary lines in order to relieve severe overcrowding in certain 

parts of the district. The rezoning efforts would address a cluster of schools which 

serve a predominantly Latino community. This news meant that my school would 

take part in these efforts by enrolling nearly 300 English Language Learners, all of 

whom speak Spanish as their native language.  

To say this will be a big change is an understatement, especially considering 

our ESOL (English for Speakers of other Languages) classes are currently made up 

of less than five percent of the student body. It is also important to consider the 

additional changes and challenges. Many of these students come from a lower 

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socioeconomic background and have parents who do not have transportation. 

They will be bussed from their former neighborhood school, near their homes, 

approximately 30 minutes across town. The logistics of this change have brought 

resistance from many families. 

In speaking with teachers and parents at my school, feelings range from 

apprehension to excitement. What will academics look like now? How many ESOL 

teachers will we need? How do we help our new students fully participate in all 

that our school has to offer? What if I can’t speak Spanish? Many teachers have 

expressed an interest in becoming ESOL certified.  For me, the chance to work 

with ELLs in a larger capacity is serendipitous. My school has a wealth of 

resources at our fingertips and are positioned to gain support from the district as 

we begin this endeavor. There is much we can offer these students. Additionally, I 

know there is much we can learn from these students! I hope to use our culture 

and diversity initiative as a platform to support other teachers in their 

understandings of students of diverse backgrounds and their philosophies on 

language acquisition and development.  

While there is great promise and possibility in this rich blending of 

backgrounds, there is also the reality that if students, teachers, parents, 

administrators, and the school district do not fully embrace this rezoning effort, 

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the potential for two schools within a school will exist (Oakes & Rogers, 2006). 

This kind of de facto division is highly undesirable, and must be proactively 

avoided. A positive mind frame, rather than a deficit perspective will be necessary 

and critical.  

 Today, as I reflect on the journey of my own language paradigm shifts, I am 

excited about where I am and where I am going. I realize that agency is a key 

factor in the development of my paradigms. I am now more perceptive to the 

power, assumptions, and ideologies that languages and dialects carry. I know I 

must consciously act upon my learning and new understandings to make an 

impact in the school and community.  Thus, rather than adding to a hegemonic 

social discourse that emphasizes linguistic differences as deficiencies, I have 

chosen to espouse and reify languages and their variations as instruments of 

identity, unity, and agency.  

  

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References 
 

ABC (2013, June 21). Spanish speaking family discrimination on Route 66  

[Television series episode]. In What would you do? New York, NY: ABC 

Broadcasting. 

Barrett, R. (1999). Indexing polyphonous identity in the speech of African America  

drag queens.  In M. Bucholtz, A.C. Liang, & L. Sutton (Eds.), Reinventing 

identities: The gendered self in discourse. (pp. 313-331). New York, NY: 

Oxford University Press.  

Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital.  In J. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of  

theory and research for the sociology of education. (pp. 241-258). New York, 

NY: Greenwood 

Delpit, L.  (1995). Other people's children.  New York, NY: The New Press.   

Espinosa, L. M.  (2009). Getting it right for young children from diverse  

backgrounds: Applying research to improve practice. Boston, MA: Pearson.  

Fought, C.  (2013). Ethnicity.  In J.K. Chambers & N. Schiling (Eds.), Handbook of  

language variation and change (2nd ed.). (pp. 388-406).  UK: John Wiley & 

Sons.   

Gutiérrez, K., Zepada, M., & Castro, D.  (2010). Advancing early literacy learning for  

all children: Implications of the NELP Report for dual-language learners.  In 

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D. Alvermann, N. Unrau, & R. Ruddell (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of  

reading (6th ed.). (pp.375-384). Newark, DE: International Reading 

Association. 

Oakes, J. & Rogers, J. (2006). Learning power: Organizing for education and justice.  

New York, NY: Teachers College Press.  

Stubbs, M. (2002). Some basic sociolinguistics concepts. In L. Delpit (Ed.), The skin  

that we speak: Thoughts on language and culture in the classroom. (pp. 63-

86). New York, NY: The New York Press.  

Taylor, L.K., Bernhard, J.K., Garg, S., & Cummins, J. (2008). Affirming plural  

belonging:  Building on students’ family-based cultural linguistic capital 

through multiliteracies pedagogy. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 8(3), 

269-294. 

 

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