“Is This Really the Best Way to Be Educating Our English Learners?” Expressing Language Ideologies in Arizona’s Restrictive Language Policy Context Through Shifts in Footing

• In Event: Research In Progress Roundtable Session 5
  In Invited Roundtable: Policy, Practice, and Identity in Language Learner Education (Table 17)

Abstract

Language education policy (LEP) in Arizona remains restrictive and politically charged for English language learners (ELLs). The purpose of this exploratory case study is to investigate how one state-level official named Angela (a pseudonym) who was responsible for implementing LEP in Arizona was able to communicate authentically and coherently about differing language ideologies and related LEPs within this context, as well as discuss the highly restrictive English-only policy in Arizona that spanned from 2000 to 2019—and to do so in a way that did not jeopardize her position with the state. I use Goffman’s (1981) concepts of footing and production roles to analyze how she signals her alignment, or orientation, to different identities and communicative roles.

Author

• Brandon J. Yuhas, Arizona State University