Title: Three Languages, Many Multilingualisms: Pitfalls and Promises of Trilingual Education from a Suburban Arizona School
Registration link: https://aztesol.
Date: Monday, November 04, 4:30 pm Arizona MST
Speaker: Cory A. Buckband, PhD
Session Description: In this presentation, Dr. Cory Buckband will discuss key takeaways from his ethnographic dissertation study with a trilingual elementary school in suburban Arizona. This research used an equity-oriented framework to explore how several languages were differentially and hierarchically positioned at the school, including multiple varieties of English, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese Chinese, and Dine Bizaad/Navajo. Participants will critically analyze 3 key selections from ethnographic observations, interviews, and school documents to explore the meanings and values that diverse actors associate with different languages and language communities. Dr. Buckband will also introduce participants to the most pressing trends in trilingual education, a unique yet increasingly popular educational model in the United States. Throughout the presentation, themes will be highlighted as “pitfalls” (barriers or obstacles to equity) and “promises” (conduits to equity or promising and hopeful outcomes) in order to prompt participants to reflect on the positive and negative aspects of trilingual education, both at the focal school and expressed in national trends.
Speaker bio: Cory A. Buckband, PhD is a 2024 graduate in Educational Policy & Evaluation from the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University. He has taught undergraduate and graduate courses with bi/multilingual teachers and administrators on educational language policy, family-community engagement, and critical qualitative and quantitative research methods. Dr. Buckband is the Program Analyst and Coordinator for the STEM Center of Excellence at Estrella Mountain Community College in Avondale, Arizona. In this role, he conducts applied research and program evaluation to strengthen and institutionalize the college’s co-curricular STEM career development programs.
