The Role of Language Policy Discourses in the Educational Experiences of Mexican Immigrant Families

• In Event: 63.081 - Language Policy for Social Justice: Challenging Educational Inequality for Emergent Bilinguals

Abstract

Educational studies largely focus on policy implementation by school officials, particularly how student achievement is impacted by the interpretation and enactment of policy provisions at the school and classroom level (Honig, 2006). Though federal and state educational language policies target linguistically and culturally diverse students, little is known about how bilingual families interpret, discuss, or even enact such government initiatives. To fill this gap, this study tracks the educational experiences of two Spanish-speaking mothers and their daughters as they navigate schooling practices that center on high-stakes educational policies during middle school—a time of increased academic vulnerability in which educational gaps tend to become more salient for Spanish-speaking students (Thomas & Collier, 2003). Using ethnographic evidence to unpack the language planning and policy process at the home level (Hornberger & Johnson, 2007), this paper recognizes English Learners and their parents as both objects and subjects of educational language policies, and educational agents that interpret, enact, and resist these top-down initiatives.

The focal families participated in a larger 2-year ethnographic study that explored the experiences of Mexican immigrant families with California middle schools during an era of educational reform. Drawing on the discourse analytic and ethnographic methodologies of linguistic anthropology (Duranti, 1997; Hanks, 1996), this study involved a micro-level analysis of the meaning-making processes of the focal immigrant families as they navigated the U.S. public school system. The study design included 24 months of home and school observations, semi-structured qualitative interviews with focal parents, students, teachers, and administrators, as well as archival and artifact collection. Data collection at homes and schools involved participant observation, writing of fieldnotes and memos, and audio and video recordings of everyday interactions. In-depth interviews with participants triangulated the data collected through observations, and continuous check-ins with participants helped capture the situated nature of micro-level interactions.

Study findings suggest that educational language policies are pervasive in the business of doing school for all stakeholders, including bilingual families. Ethnographic snapshots within the homes and communities of focal families highlight the agentive roles the parents play in their children’s education under high-stakes educational reform, and the daily sense-making and negotiating of educational policy and practices involved for students labeled Long-Term English Learner. Specifically, both parents and children referenced federal legislation, policy initiatives, and educational-based labels as they made sense of educational practices and their own educational experiences through narratives and conversations within their homes.

Family members index their educational ideologies and negotiate their knowledge of the school system and structures, their individual roles in schools, and educational opportunities and inequities through talk. Through the use of policy discourse in routine interactions, family members socialize each other into particular affective, social, and political roles and stances. These daily conversations can serve as an impetus for family-led educational activism and school change. Educational policymakers and researchers must consider how policy discourse and implementation is negotiated beyond the classroom level to include the perspective of linguistically and culturally diverse families that are the most vulnerable to policy and educational decision-making (Darling-Hammond, 2004).

Author

• Sera Jean Hernandez, San Diego State University