The Role of Critical Language Policy Analysis in the “Post”-Civil Rights Era

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

The proposed panel represents approaches to education research in language policy, with emphasis placed on the role of language rights, particularly in light of recent Supreme Court rulings related to Civil Rights in the United States. In the context of civil rights restrictions, these papers consider the constructive role critical language policy (Tollefson, 2013) continues to play in educational research and policymaking. Ultimately, they show that claims around increasing diversity, as well as ethnic and linguistic equity, are over-embellished and inaccurate. For example, claims around diversity and ethnic equity in the United States are resulting in grave outcomes which are impeding progress from decades of policies promoting the ethnic and linguistic civil rights of minority students in U.S. schools and beyond.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Bilingual Education Research

Chairs

• Sarah Catherine K. Moore, Center for Applied Linguistics

• Wayne E. Wright, Purdue University

Papers

• Global Political Economy and Language Rights in the “Post-Civil Rights” Era - Jeff Bale, Michigan State University

• No Holds Barred on Restricting Language Rights: English-Only in Arizona - Sarah Catherine K. Moore, Center for Applied Linguistics; Karen E. Lillie, SUNY - College at Fredonia

• Diversity in Language and Experience: Latino Subgroups in the United States - Molly Fee, Center for Applied Linguistics

• Decolonization Through Language Revitalization: Conversations With Language Warriors on Language Rights and Policy Failures - Rick Gresczyk

Discussant

• Terrence G. Wiley, Center for Applied Linguistics