Barájamela Más Despacio, I Don’t Understand: Using Pláticas as Pedagogy to Foster Critical Linguistic Consciousness Amongst Spanish-Speaking Language Minority Youth
Open Access
Author:
Serrano, Elisa
Graduate Program:
Curriculum and Instruction
Degree:
Doctor of Philosophy
Document Type:
Dissertation
Date of Defense:
March 12, 2025
Committee Members:
Kimberly Powell, Professor in Charge/Director of Graduate Studies Gilberto Conchas, Outside Unit & Field Member Tiffany Nyachae, Major Field Member Ricardo Martinez, Major Field Member Francesca Lopez, Chair & Dissertation Advisor
Keywords:
pláticas pedagogy LatCrit language ideologies identity linguistic justice
Abstract:
This dissertation examines how pláticas—informal, community-rooted conversations—function as a pedagogical and methodological tool for fostering Critical Latinx Youth Linguistic Consciousness (CLYLC) among Spanish-speaking language-minoritized youth in Texas. To theorize and analyze this process, I draw on Latina/o Critical Race Theory (LatCrit), Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR), and Community Cultural Wealth (CCW). Together, these frameworks illuminate how pláticas disrupt dominant language ideologies, affirm students’ linguistic identities, and serve as a site of resistance and healing.
Using plática workshops as both method and pedagogy, this study engaged Spanish-speaking high school students in critical discussions about their language experiences, the racialization of bilingualism, and linguistic justice. Findings demonstrate that pláticas foster critical linguistic consciousness by centering students’ lived experiences, amplifying their cultural and linguistic assets, and positioning them as agents of change in their own education.
By framing pláticas as a transformative and decolonial educational practice, this dissertation contributes to scholarship on linguistic justice, bilingual education, and Latinx youth activism. It calls for a reimagining of bilingual education that resists English-dominant assimilationist models and instead nurtures translingual realities, critical consciousness, and collective resistance in the fight for linguistic and educational equity.
