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Article published In:
Journal of Language and Politics
Vol. 17:3 (2018) ► pp.366–385

The past is prologue

Language policy and nativism in new immigrant contexts

ORCID logo | University of Iowa
| University of Iowa
| University of Iowa

This article examines reactions to the changing linguistic ecology in the U.S. state of Iowa, which is experiencing a demographic phenomenon often referred to as the New Latino Diaspora (NLD) (Hamann et al., 2002). We first examine the historical processes and social structures that link current language policy initiatives within Iowa to local and national nativism. We then analyze public policies and texts to reveal how language ideologies circulate across diverse texts and contexts, forming discourses that shape the experiences of Latin@s in Iowa.

Keywords: language policy, intertextuality, New Latino Diaspora, English, nativism, discourse analysis
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Critical language policy
  • 3.Method: Intertextual and interdiscursive analysis
  • 4.Community responses in new immigrant contexts
  • 5.Public reactions and scripts of interethnic interaction
  • 6.A history of linguistic discrimination within and without Iowa
  • 7.Official English and legal repercussions
  • 8.Educational language policy
  • 9.Discussion
  • References
Published online: 20 July 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.16038.joh
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