NJDOE Bilingual/ESL Podcast – Episode 15 Language Education with Nelson Flores
Date: March 13, 2018
Host: Ken Bond
Guest: Nelson Flores, Assistant Professor, Educational Linguistics Division, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education

Episode Overview

This episode features a thought-provoking conversation between Ken Bond and Dr. Nelson Flores, focusing on language education policy, bilingual education, and the intersection of language, race, and educational practice in U.S. schools. Dr. Flores offers both research-based evidence and personal insights about the benefits of bilingual education, the limitations and challenges within current policies, and the concept of racial linguistic ideologies. The discussion is grounded in considerations of equity and asset-based approaches for English language learners (ELLs), with practical reflections for teachers working in diverse classrooms.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Benefits of Bilingual Education

[00:35–02:56]

• Academic Performance:

  • Bilingual education programs lead to better long-term performance on English standardized tests for both ELLs and native English speakers.

    “Students who are in bilingual education programs outperform students who are not in bilingual education programs in standardized tests of English when we look at them in the long term.” — Nelson Flores [00:52]

• Intangible Benefits:

  • Bilingual education fosters family communication, especially in immigrant families, maintaining intergenerational language ties.

    “A very common phenomenon within immigrant communities is that by the second or third generation, children are not able to speak the native language of their parents or their grandparents... Bilingual education is a way of ensuring the integrity of the family.” — Nelson Flores [01:34]

  • Raising cultural awareness and appreciation among students.

2. The Co-Construction of Race and Language

[02:56–06:13]

• Historical context is crucial to understanding how language practices and race are intertwined in American society.

• Colonial society often dehumanized indigenous languages, serving as a justification for historical oppression.

• Eugenics-era discourse shifted blame from overt racism to supposed “biological inferiority” and later to “cultural deficiencies.”

• Contemporary discussions like the “word gap” continue to frame the language practices of communities of color as deficient.

  “Research that looks at the supposed word gap between white middle class children and communities of color continues that legacy of framing the language practices of communities of color as inferior to white middle class communities.” — Nelson Flores [05:20]

3. Challenging Bilingual Education Policies & Ideologies

[06:13–10:19]

• Real bilingual communities use language fluidly, not with strict separations.
• Dual language program policies demanding rigid separation of languages can inadvertently invalidate the lived linguistic reality of bilingual students.

  "If you're telling students that they're never allowed to mix languages, what you're telling them is that the language practices that they use in their home are not valid in a school setting." — Nelson Flores [08:30]

• Effective bilingual programs should:
  • Maintain macro-level distinctions for instructional clarity.
  • Allow flexibility for students’ “bilingual repertoires.”
  • Encourage “translanguaging” — purposeful blending of languages in learning activities.

4. Racial Linguistic Ideologies

[10:19–13:27]

• The co-construction of language and race in deficit discourses continues to marginalize students of color.

• “Racial linguistic ideologies” are structural, not about individual teachers’ intentions, but about deep-seated societal attitudes.

  "A racial linguistic perspective really challenges all of us to really critically reflect on how we may be complicit in reproducing this problematic history and offers us kind of a point of entry for really reflecting on how we can do things differently in our own classrooms.” — Nelson Flores [12:47]

5. Reframing Talk About Students' Language Practices

[13:27–15:37]

• Value all forms of bilingualism/multilingualism, not just what is deemed prestigious (e.g., Spanish learning by white middle-class students).

• The label "English language learners" highlights a perceived deficiency and overlooks students’ bilingual or multilingual abilities.

• Shifting terminology and perspective can transform classroom interactions and affirm students’ linguistic resources.

  “If we were to call them bilingual or multilingual students, that may change how we interact with the students so that the issue isn't a challenge.... their multilingualism can be a resource for engaging in standards based instruction.” — Nelson Flores [15:21]

6. Equity, Agency, and Classroom Application for Teachers

[15:37–19:37]

• Teachers should focus on their sphere of influence: classroom interactions, curriculum choices, and perspectives on student language use.

• Emphasize language diversity as a resource, not a challenge—align instructional choices with students’ home language strengths.

• Standards, like Common Core, can be interpreted to recognize and build upon students’ knowledge of purpose and audience from their bilingual contexts.

  "My reading of the Common Core standards is that it's not necessarily talking about language in these rigid, dichotomous ways... So how can we build on that knowledge that children are already coming in with?” — Nelson Flores [18:20]

7. Asset-Based Approaches and Structural Realities

[19:37–22:31]

• Teachers are not responsible for creating deficit ideologies but have agency to challenge them through classroom practice.

• Example: Using “mentor texts” that blend languages (typically English with some Spanish) to encourage students to recognize and use their full linguistic resources in their writing.

  “Individual teachers are not culpable for the creation of those ideologies. But individual teachers can find spaces for challenging those ideologies in their own classrooms.” — Nelson Flores [21:13]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Bilingual education is a way of ensuring the integrity of the family, ensuring the strong connectedness of families, which of course is important for a lot of different reasons.” — Nelson Flores [01:39]

• “When we look at the history, we see overt racism, that sounds an awful lot like the ways that we talk about the language practices of children of color today in ways that we would think were not racist.” — Nelson Flores [05:36]

• “We want [students] to embrace their bilingual identities... we can have what I would call a translanguaging time, where the students actually have opportunities to create projects or to engage in tasks that really require them to use their entire bilingual repertoires.” — Nelson Flores [09:24]

• “A racial linguistic perspective really challenges all of us to really critically reflect on how we may be complicit in reproducing this problematic history.” — Nelson Flores [12:46]

• “It's not that having students in our class who are English language learners is a challenge. We could think of the multilingualism of our students and how that multilingualism can be a resource for engaging in standards based instruction.” — Nelson Flores [15:22]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:35 – 02:56: Benefits of bilingual education (academic & social)
• 03:16 – 06:13: Historical intersections of language and race
• 06:39 – 10:19: Rethinking bilingual program structures & home language practices
• 10:53 – 13:27: Racial linguistic ideologies explained
• 13:42 – 15:37: Labels, language value, and reframing ELL categories
• 16:09 – 19:37: Concrete teacher actions & interpreting standards through an asset lens
• 20:12 – 22:31: Teachers’ agency in challenging structural ideologies & practical curricular strategies

Final Reflection

Dr. Nelson Flores emphasizes both the importance of understanding the historical and societal forces shaping language education, and the practical, everyday agency teachers hold within their classrooms. He advocates for affirming students’ existing bilingualism, critically reflecting on racial linguistic ideologies, and leveraging teachers’ control over curriculum and discourse to foster equity and inclusivity for multilingual learners.