The Arizona Way to Reinstate Bilingual Education: Small Changes, Major Consequences

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

Abstract

In 2019, emergent bilinguals in Arizona were granted full access to bilingual education after nearly 20 years of restrictions. Rather than repealing the English-only law, access was provided implicitly through legislation that reduced the daily Structured English Immersion (SEI) requirement from four to two hours. Using critical discourse analysis and an interest convergence framework, we unpack the strategic moves utilized in the bill’s House and the Senate hearings to establish the 4-hour SEI requirement as a shared problem that severely harmed ELs and other groups and to convey that SB1014 was a uniquely Arizona solution that restored choice and local control. We suggest that bilingual education advocacy informed by local interests can be effective in conservative contexts such as Arizona.

Authors

• Claudia G. Cervantes-Soon, Arizona State University

• Katie Bernstein, Arizona State University

• Yalda M. Kaveh, Arizona State University

• Sara Rodriguez Martinez, Arizona State University

• Saida Mohamed, Arizona State University