Race, difference, meritocracy, and English: majoritarian stories in the education of secondary multilingual learners

Urban Community Teacher Education, University of Colorado, Denver, USA In this study, empirical and conceptual scholarship (approximately 100 studies) regarding the education of secondary multilingual learners and their teachers are analyzed through the lens of critical race theory (CRT). Specifically, four common majoritarian stories are identified that are both challenged and endorsed in the research literature: there is no story about race, difference is deficit, meritocracy is appropriate, and English-is-all-that-matters. This article discusses the literature, the four identified majoritarian stories and the specific ways they are both promoted and countered throughout the literature. The implications of these four majoritarian stories on research, policy, and practice are also addressed and the article concludes with a discussion about the value the identification of these stories offers for future research