| Most public-school teachers have little or no formal | | | | Manning, who assert that earning a graduate degree |
| training in teaching English as a second language and | | | | that includes training in teaching linguistically diverse |
| are not fluent in other languages. Teachers' frustrations | | | | children equips educators with greater sophistication in |
| over not understanding children's languages and | | | | thinking about social, political, and educational issues |
| cultures can easily turn into negative feelings that | | | | related to language diversity and is associated with |
| affect their academic expectations for these students. | | | | educators' positive attitudes toward language |
| Moreover, an English-only movement can influence | | | | multiplicity. |
| education policy and practice, further feeding the | | | | Contact with different languages without this |
| development of negative attitudes toward language | | | | preparation does not lead to positive attitudes. In |
| diversity by education professionals. All of these | | | | addition to external factors that influence responses to |
| factors, in combination, can lead to less than optimal | | | | language diversity, Lippi-Green reports an internal |
| educational outcomes for students. Geneva | | | | factor-language insecurity-that affects one's attitudes |
| Smitherman and Victor Villanueva note that although | | | | toward one's own language in a linguistically diverse |
| most teachers accept language multiplicity, acceptance | | | | context. |
| is not necessarily translated into classroom practice or | | | | Demonstrating negative attitudes toward one's own |
| into the preparation of teachers by colleges and | | | | language invites similar attitudes to the language and its |
| universities. | | | | speakers by others. To the degree that speakers of a |
| In Smitherman and Villanueva's study, teachers who | | | | regional variety (e.g., New York, Midwest, southern |
| reported having received training in topics related to | | | | accents) are less than proud of that variety, other |
| language diversity were more likely to have positive | | | | persons who speak other varieties of regional English |
| attitudes toward language differences and bi | | | | may acquire the same negative attitudes. |
| multiculturalism. Smitherman and Villanueva also found | | | | Further research into this factor may provide insight |
| a correlation between educational level and racial or | | | | and additional questions, for example, regarding |
| ethnic background, and positive attitudes toward | | | | differences between German immigrants to the United |
| language diversity. | | | | States in the 19th century and today's, and that is why |
| The higher the level of education, the more likely a | | | | training teachers in teaching English as a second |
| positive attitude toward language diversity is to exist. | | | | language should be a primary goal to our authorities. |
| This finding is consistent with that of Byrnes, Kiger, and | | | | |