A Raciolinguistic Analysis of the Impact of the English Language Proficiency Act on Colorado Students

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 1:30 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 4
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Analyses and Sensemaking of Language Policy (Table 13)

Abstract

Students who receive English Language Development (ELD) services for seven or more years are labeled as “Long Term English Learners” (LTELs). The Every Student Succeeds Act requires states to track this group of students and the number of students labeled LTEL is growing. This label implies that this grouping of students is taking longer to learn English, an implication that carries a stigma, as previous research has shown. This qualitative interview study uses raciolinguistic ideologies to examine the experiences of students labeled LTELs under the English Language Proficiency Act (ELPA) in Colorado. The findings included widespread uncertainty regarding different aspects of the ELPA, students stuck in ELD services, and students developing deficit perceptions of their fluency.

Authors

• Chelsey Klassen, University of Colorado - Denver

• Sofia Chaparro, University of Colorado - Denver