“Generation 1.5” and Its Discourses of Partiality: A Critical Analysis

This is a critical discourse analysis of generation 1.5, a term used to refer to students born outside the United States who received part, or most, of their formal education in the United States. The analysis reveals that surrounding generation 1.5 are 3 interconnected discourses of partiality: a discourse of demographic partiality, a discourse of linguistic partiality, and a discourse of academic partiality. Claiming that these discourses are grounded in a monolingual/monocultural ideology, I offer counterdiscursive evidence that self-described generation 1.5 writers see themselves not as partial but as visible minorities who experience racism in their daily lives. To address racism, I offer strategies for promoting multilingualism and multiculturalism on U.S. college campuses.