co-facilitated by Masaru Yamamoto, Serikbolsyn Tastanbek, Anastasia Zhuravleva
In this online meeting of LLED Antiracist Caucuses (IBPOC/Racialized Caucus & White Caucus), we discussed raciolinguistics encountered in digital spaces and tools, including those powered by generative Artificial Intelligence. We reflected on our experiences with encountering raciolinguistic ideologies in such spaces and tools, and the ways we can contribute to making them more antiracist (please see discussion questions below).
Required Stimulus Texts:
- Visual Stimuli: Short videos (Approx. 2 mins): AI-powered language learning tools BoldVoice and Loora.ai
- Article (Approx. 10 mins): Why AI software ‘softening’ accents is problematic
- Article (Approx. 7 mins): Large language models are biased. Can logic help save them?
Optional Texts:
- Article (Approx. 7 mins): AI is biased against speakers of African American English, study finds
- Article (Approx. 5 mins): How Automated Tools Discriminate Against Black Language
Discussion Questions
- What was your reaction when you watched the visual stimuli?
- Do you resonate with any of the stimulus texts? If so, how?
- What kind of manifestations of raciolinguistic ideologies have you encountered in digital spaces or while using (gen)AI tools?
- How did you feel?
- What broader sociopolitical issues do these manifestations connect to?
- From an antiracist perspective, how should we respond to racist narratives perpetuated by these tools that promise to eliminate “language barriers” and “accents”?
- How would you prepare students to autonomously and critically engage with such racist narratives implicitly infused in multimodal stimuli they encounter outside the school?
- What potential roles can teachers play?
- What are our limitations as teachers in the face of such pervasive external forces?
- Do you have any specific recommendations for software/app developers, language and literacy educators, policymakers, and any other involved social groups and institutions?