Putting languages at the centre: developing the Language Across the Curriculum (LAC) faculty seminar at LaGuardia Community College, Queens, New York

Abstract

ABSTRACT Our article presents the development, conceptual toolkit, and preliminary observations of an interdisciplinary Language Across the Curriculum (LAC) professional development seminar at our urban community college in Queens, New York. Although innovative in promoting inclusion and diversity, the college reflects a common monolingual ‘Standard American English-only’ ideology in U.S. higher education. Linguistic difference is celebrated yet often viewed as an instructional and professional obstacle. LAC argues that such an approach compromises our institutional commitment to diversity and fails to use these cultural and epistemological assets as resources in learning. In contrast, LAC puts languages at the centre of a multidisciplinary inquiry and outlines a paradigm shift from a ‘language-blind,’ deficit model to a ‘language-aware,’ asset-based, translanguaging pedagogy. Targeting both classroom and college-wide change, the seminar guides participants in reflective and critical discussion of language ideologies and theories of acquisition before developing and applying new teaching strategies. We connect evidence-based translanguaging approaches with critical insights from anti-racist pedagogy, encouraging faculty and students to develop a nuanced appreciation of linguistic identities and to use and build on their full linguistic repertoires. The article provides an overview of the seminar’s interdisciplinary framework, conceptual foundation, and preliminary impacts on faculty, students and campus culture.