“False Positives, Reentry Programs, and Long Term English Learners”: Undoing Dichotomous Frames in U.S. Language Education Policy

ABSTRACT

At the core of contemporary U.S. language education policy is the dichotomous dividing of bilingual students into English learners, who are entitled to extra support, and non-English learners, who are not entitled to this support. In this article, we genealogically trace the normative assumptions that have gone into this framing of the issue. We begin by examining the historical development of this dichotomous grouping of bilingual students within the remedial framing of the Bilingual Education Act that, building on the verbal deprivation theory that was prominent at the time, reproduced raciolinguistic ideologies that framed the language practices of bilingual students from low-income families as deficient and in need of remediation. Next, we examine how this remedial framing provided incentives for proponents of bilingual education to advocate for limited English proficiency to be defined as broadly as possible to ensure that more students were deemed eligible for these programs. We then examine contemporary vignettes that point to the tensions that this ideological underpinning has created for contemporary U.S. language education policymakers. We end with a discussion of ways of reconceptualizing U.S. language education policy that reject the remedial orientation that has informed this dichotomous framing and is responsive to the tensions illustrated in these vignettes.

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Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

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Notes on contributors

Nelson Flores

Nelson Flores is an associate professor of educational linguistics in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. His research examines the intersection of language and race in U.S. bilingual education policy and practice. He has served as a research associate for The Center on Standards, Alignment, Instruction, and Learning (C-SAIL), where he has overseen research focused on standards implementation for students officially classified as English learners.

Mark C. Lewis

Mark C. Lewis is the research and evaluation supervisor for the William Penn School District. His work and research have spanned sociolinguistics, school and classroom language ideologies, educational policymaking for instructional change, program evaluation, and mathematics education. He previously served as a research assistant for The Center on Standards, Alignment, Instruction, and Learning (C-SAIL), where he supported research focused on standards implementation for students officially classified as English learners.