ABSTRACT
In this chapter we present the sociohistorical context of SHL education in Texas and Kansas, two diverse geographic regions with very different histories of multilingualism and Spanish usage. The chapter begins with a discussion of why it is important to understand the current dynamics of HL teaching and learning in juxtaposition to what had been done in different historical periods and in different regions of the US. We explore changes in ideological discourse about diversity and multilingualism that have occurred over the past century and consider the ways in which these ideological changes might affect diverse geographic regions differently. As Wortham, Murillo, & Hartmann (2002) point out, educational outcomes in emerging Latinx diaspora regions may be different from educational outcomes in traditional Latinx regions because the educators' responses to the growing Latinx presence in the new diaspora regions may be improvised in response to recent waves of immigration and a diverse ideological context. The discussion of the significance of the sociohistorical context of SHL education leads into a presentation of five students with unique geographic, cultural, and linguistic histories.
