Translanguaging, Raciolinguistic Ideology as well as Afrolatinidad/ Afrolatinx are important terms which should be understood in their entirety when studying world languages. The term tranlanguaging may be defined as a process by which bilinguals and multilinguals are able to use the different of languages from their “brain dictionary” to communicate with others. For example, your Spanish professor can pull both Spanish and English words from her stock of words or repertoire to communicate with her students. In contrast, Raciolinguistic ideology as the name suggests, involves both race and language. This ideology is exhibited when an individual or group of individuals are categorized as being a part of a particular race because of the way they speak (language) and/or their phenotypic characteristics. For example, before a Black Hispanic starts to speak, he might be categorized as being African American because of his complexion. However, when this Hispanic person begins to speak there is a completely different reaction from those who previously assumed his race; in their perspective this Hispanic does not sound like the racial community with which he identifies. This scenario is an example of raciolinguistic profiling which occurs as a result of the race and language notion. Unfortunately, many people become victims of raciolinguistic profiling because others fail to acknowledge that we are living in a multi-racial world. As such, people will be able to speak a variety of languages and language varieties. Afrolatinidad on the other hand, is the term used for Latinos and Latinas who acknowledge that they are comprised of “African roots,” that is, they are of African descent. The term Afrolatinx is similar in meaning to Afrolatinidad, however, the “x” is used for those who choose not to be identified by gender.
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