Market( )ability Overshadowing Equity: How Utah Print Media Positions the Value of Dual-Language Education Policy

• In Event: The Role of Media in Educational Reform Discourses

Abstract

We argue the emergence of a shift in U.S. language education policy from an equity/heritage framework focused on equity for English learners and non-English heritage languages, toward a global human capital framework linked to neoliberal considerations of the language skills of individuals and nations. Using critical discourse and content analysis to test for evidence of this shift in Utah—a trendsetter in the latest boom of dual language education—we analyzed articles from five Utah newspapers from 2005 to 2011 that assigned value statements to dual immersion and bilingual education. Equity values declined over time while global human capital values increased and heritage values changed little. Policy implications are discussed.

Authors

• Veronica E. Valdez, University of Utah

• Juan A. Freire, New Mexico State University

• Garrett Delavan, University of Utah