A Critical Examination of Neoliberalism, Language, and Equity in Georgia’s Dual Language Immersion Policies

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 8:00 am Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Equity in Bi-/Multilingual Education Research and Dual Language Programs (Table 1)

Abstract

This research seeks to understand how neoliberal and raciolinguistic discourses in Georgia’s dual language immersion (DLI) policies interact with local histories of immigrant oppression to produce new forms of educational inequality and reproduce old ones in the era of global capitalism (Rojo & Del Percio, 2020). As a newer immigration destination with historical anti-bilingualism and anti-immigration policies enacted, Georgia has surprisingly joined other states to promote bilingualism. Situated within the critical language policy and raciolinguistics frameworks (Flores & Rosa, 2015; Tollefson, 2006), the research presents a microhistory of Georgia’s adoption of DLI programs and a critical discourse analysis of state and school DLI policies.

Authors

• Hongjie Guan, Georgia State University

• Kristina Brezicha, Georgia State University

• Ana Solano-Campos, Georgia State University