U.S. Educational Language Policy Orientations: A Corpus Linguistics Analysis

• In Event: Examining Language Policies to Identify Opportunities for Equity

Abstract

The paper begins by evaluating how educational language policy discourse creates or restricts spaces for English Learners (ELs) through the presentation of the conceptual framework. The study uses a corpus (body of text) of ELPs collected from a national sample of districts with Dual Language or Two-Way Immersion programming registered with Center of Applied Linguistics. The study was key in identifying the consequences of tolerance or restrictive orientations creating a covert cycle of restricting access and perpetuating monolingual ideology, with potential negative academic achievement and limited opportunity for ELs. Promotion-oriented ELP with language as a right and/or language as a resource ideology is imperative if multilingual students are to be valued and supported linguistically as well as academically.

Author

• Xiomara Enid Rivera, Cricket Media