The Problems and Possibilities of Interest Convergence in a Dual Language School

Abstract

The increase and popularity of dual language (DL) or two-way immersion programs nationally, and specifically in California, is due to the acceptability of bilingual programs that are inclusive of students whose first language is English, and who are typically of a White, middle-class background. This phenomenon can be explained through the idea of interest convergence, as discussed by critical race theorists. That is, social policies that benefit the minority population only change when they also benefit the dominant or majority population. We argue that in the case of DL programs, it is beneficial for both the linguistic minority group and the majority for interest convergence to be realized. This theoretical lens can actually be a helpful tool to view whether the interests of one group are being prioritized over the other, as is so often the case when there is a power differential between the two groups, such as White middle-class families and Spanish-speaking/Latino families.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional Resources

1. Henderson, K. I., & Palmer, D. K. (2015). Teacher and student language practices and ideologies in a third-grade two-way dual language program implementation. International Multilingual Research Journal, 9, 75–92.

   Henderson and Palmer discuss the importance of teacher language ideologies in the implementation of language program models—in this case a new dual-language program—“open or close spaces for diverse language practices and development” (p. 76). They argue that teachers are language policy makers at the local level through their classroom language practices.

2. Sung, K. K. (2017). “Accentuate the positive; Eliminate the negative”: Hegemonic interest convergence, racialization of Latino poverty, and the 1968 Bilingual Education Act. Peabody Journal of Education, 92, 302–321.

   Similar to the way Derrick Bell (1980) used critical race theory and the framework of interest convergence to provide an explanation of how the Supreme Court arrived at the historic 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision at a time of great political conservatism, Sung uses the same framework to provide a historical re-interpretation of the 1968 Bilingual Education Act’s origins.

3. Kelly, L. B. (2018). Interest convergence and hegemony in dual language: Bilingual education, but for whom and why? Language Policy, 17, 1–21.

   This article uses critical discourse analysis to examine two state bills (in California and Arizona) that propose expanding bilingual education where English-only was the default. The author uses interest convergence theory and hegemony as analytical tools to understand that although the bills propose expanding bilingual education, the reasons given are for US government interests: economic benefits and national security.

4. Zúñiga, C. E. (2016). Between language as problem and resource: Examining teachers’ language orientations in dual language programs. Bilingual Research Journal, 39, 339–353.

   This author uses Ruiz’s (1984) language orientation framework to analyze two third-grade bilingual teachers’ linguistic ideologies and practices in a dual-language program and the tensions between language-as resource and language-as-problem orientations as they prepare their students for standardized tests in English. Zúñiga ultimately argues for “ideological clarity” (p. 341) of educators, as argued by Bartolomé and Balderrama (2001), and a return to a language-as-right orientation in bilingual education.

Notes

¹ The names of the school, the city in which it is located, and the participants have been changed to provide anonymity.

² This school had a score of 840 in 2008 on the California academic performance index (API). The California State Board of Education established an API score of 800 as the statewide performance target “to which all schools should aspire.” The scale for the API ranges from 200 to 1000. In 2006, 2007, and 2008 this school was recognized by the California Department of Education with the Title One Academic Achievement Award for substantially exceeding academic growth targets for all groups of students.

³ A survey to the fifth-grade households bore this out, but here we focus on the insights provided by the principal of the school.

⁴ Thus, if families lived outside of the established boundaries of the district, they could apply for permission to attend, but priority was given to Spanish-speaking families, to support the goal of primary language maintenance of the school.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

P. Zitlali Morales

P. Zitlali Morales, PhD, is Associate Professor of Curriculum & Instruction at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Joanna V. Maravilla

Joanna V. Maravilla is a doctoral student in the Curriculum Studies program at the University of Illinois at Chicago.