This 30-minute webinar, published by the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition at the University of Minnesota, introduces the topic of critical language awareness (CLA) to inform educator preparation programs. CLA is a framework that explores the intersection of language, identity, and power. Using the word “ain’t” as an example, the speaker acknowledges how this word is stigmatized as “informal” or “inappropriate” and is associated with “uneducated, lower socioeconomic status, and rural communities.” This example challenges implicit biases about language and urges educators to think more critically about the beliefs and assumptions they attach to different ways of communicating. Drawing upon prior research, the speaker explores how CLA is effective in world language education and ends with suggestions for how to implement CLA into one’s own practice.