Through a narrative about the formation and advancement of Wichita State University’s
community-based health equity initiative Alce su Voz(‘Speak Out’), this article presents a reflection on the author’s role as a community-engaged
scholar and the multiple levels of work in which linguists can engage to support linguistic
social justice. The paper begins with a discussion of the role of the applied linguist
in social change and a discussion of community-engaged scholarship, including community-based
learning and community-based research. Then, using Alce su Voz’sapproach to improving health equity for speakers of Spanish and Indigenous languages
as an example, the author discusses how linguists can bring people together to uplift
communities. She next presents the initiative’s three-pronged approach to improving
health equity for speakers of minoritized languages, which includes (1) community
engagement and education, (2) policy maker engagement and policy research, and (3)
workforce development. Finally, the discussion returns to the linguist’s role as a
teacher-scholar to explore possibilities and challenges for public scholarship and
student engagement and consider how we can overcome the challenges of leadership in
scholarship for social change.
Citation
Showstack, Rachel E. (2024) "Addressing the Big Picture as a Community-Engaged Linguist:
Community-Engaged Scholarship and Applied Learning for Systemic Change," International Journal of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest: Vol. 43: No. 1, Article 3. Available at: https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/ijlasw/vol43/iss1/3
